I-Cord Cat Bed of Doom!

If you've read my blog before or encountered me on Plurk or Ravelry, you know that I'm a participant in the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup on Ravelry. I've just completed my first term, and I love it so much that I just enrolled for my second.

(P.S. if you think you might be interested in such fun, mosey on over to the Rav group and sign up. It's tons of fun, and you get so much knitting done!)

Anyway. Each term there are class selected, and each month of a term, there are assignments for those classes. One of them this term was Herbology.

The February assignment for Herbology was to create something that involved at least 1 yard of i-cord. For those of you who are not knitters or crocheters, i-cord is the devil, and most of us fibery folk would rather run and hide than to make it. There were lots of fantastic projects that used an insane amount of the stuff.

I, myself, made a hat that had a decorative i-cord trim, and I'm pretty happy with the results, even if I have know other use for this hat than to humiliate my cat, Nuisance, with it.

My original idea for this assignment, however, was to process and entire Lion Brand Pound of Love into i-cord and to knit it into a Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. Obviously I wouldn't be using it as a dishcloth, but I thought it could be something that Nuisance would enjoy curling up on. But, we were prohibited from using an i-cord mill, so I put aside the idea.

Well, now that we're on "April Break" between winter and the spring/summer terms, I decided to finish this project, both because I liked the idea and because I really wanted to get rid of my Pounds of Love.

I discovered that one Pound of Love isn't enough for this project. I need most of a second ball, so I have an interesting two-color effect. I knit up the resulting i-cord on US 15 needles and used my fingers to weave in the ends. Here's the resulting hugeness

I think Nuisance approves.

Let's help a knitter do good things...

A knitter named Gale is trying to win this contest that is sponsored by Microsoft. Her idea is to raise the public profile of Heifer International, and organization that provides livestock and training to impoverished peoples around the word to help them to establish self-sufficiency, and hopefully help to raise their position in the world.

It's a wonderful organization, I've heard of impoverished families sending children to college based on receiving a single animal from this organization.

Anyway...to find the information on this contest is available here.

If you want to just get there to vote for her, go here. You'll have to register, but it's free, and you can use a junk email address if you want.

Paw Print Illusion Dishcloth

Ok...I want to point out and make it very clear that I did not design this chart. The Paw Print Illusion comes from Gimpy Kat's Patterns Blog. I merely made some alterations to the stitch counts so that I could place a small garter stitch border and put a little more stockinette-ish section around the actual illusion. I did this to make it more dishcloth sized. Anyway, I decided to share what I did in case anyone was interested and didn't want to do any extra counting. I promise I will post a picture as soon as I can get it uploaded.


CO 32 sts MC (I used long tail, and recommend the same). Work 2 rows in garter stitch. Then 2 rows in CC in stockinetter. Then follow the stitch pattern below. When you've finished the stitch pattern, do 2 rows stockinette in MC, then 2 rows garter in CC. Maintain a 2 row color change throughout.

Row 1
Color A- K32
Color A- K9, P13, K10
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P6, K13, P7, K3
Row 2
Color A- K32
Color A- K7, P16, K9
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P4, K16, P6, K3
Row 3
Color A- K32
Color A- K7, P16, K10
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P4, K16, P6, K3
Row 4
Color A- K32
Color A- K8, P14, K10
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P5, K14, P7, K3
Row 5
Color A- K32
Color A- K9, P12, K11
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P6, K12, P8, K3
Row 6
Color A- K32
Color A- K11, P9, K3, P2, K7
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P8, K9, P3, K2, P4, K3
Row 7
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P3, K6, P7, K3, P7, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P9, K7, P3, K10
Row 8
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P4, K1, P2, K4, P3, K5, P7, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P5, K2, P4, K3, P5, K10
Row 9
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P3, K1, P4, K12, P2, K1, P3, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P4, K4, P12, K2, P4, K3
Row 10
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P3, K1, P4, K3, P2, K4, P2, K4, P3, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P4, K4, P3, K2, P4, K2, P7, K3
Row 11
Color A- K32
Color A-K3, P3, K2, P2, K3, P4, K2, P4, K3, P3, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P5, K2, P3, K4, P2, K4, P6, K3
Row 12
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P3, K7, P4, K2, P4, K3, P3, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P10, K4, P2, K4, P6, K3
Row 13
Color A- K32
Color A- K3, P3, K8, P2, K4, P2, K4, P3, K3
Color B- K32
Color B- K3, P11, K2, P4, K2, P7, K3

Enjoy!

Coyote Dishcloth

I've been somewhat disappointed with the near complete lack of good coyote patterns out their for the online knitting community. As part of the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup, I designed this dishcloth for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Our assignment was to knit or crochet something that had to do with our Patronus.

As I understand it, the Patronus in the Harry Potter universe is similar to, if not the same as, a spirit guide. As I am of the Neo-Pagan persuasion myself, I have identified a couple of spirit guides in my life, but the primary, and often most obvious of them is a coyote by the name of Buffalo.

According to Wikipedia, the "coyote often plays the role of trickster, god of tricks, although in some stories he is a buffoon and the butt of jokes and in a few is outright evil. His positive traits include humor and sometimes cleverness. His negative traits are usually greed or desire, recklessness, impulsiveness and jealousy. Coyote is often the antagonist of his brother Wolf, who is wise and good natured but prone to giving in to Coyote's incessant demands."

Buffalo has made appearances in my life when I'm under a lot of stress, and at times I can feel him laughing, as if over my shoulder. A friend once pointed out to me that he could be the spirit of an ancestor who has been charged with the task of watching over me as he tends to be more present and obvious when I "need" him.

This spirit appeared after I joined my school's now-defunct Anthropology fraternity, where I was the elder of the Coyote Clan (we had a clan system in our fraternity, Coyote was merely one of seven). Naturally, it seemed the affinity for the coyote spirit guided me towards being sorted into the Coyote clan.

Naturally, when I read the assignment from the DADA professor, I felt it was necessary to pay tribute to my coyote spirit. But I was disheartened when a Ravelry pattern search turned up very little in the way of patterns. I found a loom-knit dishcloth pattern, but I didn't like it. So I decided to make my own.

I dug out my graph paper and drew pictures. Then I knitted.



Below is the pattern I came up with. If you are on Ravelry and would like to see pictures of completed dishcloths, or to queue the pattern yourself, click here. Enjoy!

Yarn: Worsted Weight Cotton
Needles: US 7, 4.5mm
Gauge: Gauge is not critical, but feel free to swatch in stockinette and make sure that you like the drape of the knitted material versus the tightness of the stitches.

CO 38
Row 1-4: Knit
Row 5, 7: K3, P32, K3
Row 6, 8: Knit across
Row 9: K7, P23, K8
Row 10: K7, P4, K19, P3, K5
Row 11: K3, P4, K23, P5, K3
Row 12: K8, P2, K3, P3, K1, P11, K10
Row 13: K3, P6, K12, P1, K3, P3, K2, P5, K3
Row 14: K8, P2, K4, P3, K2, P4, K1, P6, K8
Row 15: K3, P5, K7, P1, K3, P1, K3, P5, K2, P5, K3
Row 16: K8, P2, K6, P2, K2, P1, K1, P4, K1, P3, K8
Row 17: K3, P4, K3, P2, K5, P1, K4, P6, K2, P5, K3
Row 18: K8, P2, K7, P9, K3, P3, K6
Row 19: K3, P2, K3, P4, K9, P4, K5, P5, K3
Row 20: K8, P5, K4, P8, K6, P2, K5
Row 21: K3, P10, K8, P4, K2, P1, K5, P2, K3
Row 22: K5, P5, K1, P2, K4, P7, K14
Row 23: K3, P12, K6, P7, K2, P1, K2, P2, K3
Row 24: K5, P2, K1, P2, K8, P4, K2, P1, K13
Row 25: K3, P10, K2, P1, K4, P8, K2, P1, K2, P2, K3
Row 26: K5, P2, K1, P2, K8, P6, K14
Row 27: K3, P11, K6, P8, K2, P5, K3
Row 28: K8, P2, K7, P5, K16
Row 29: K3, P13, K5, P7, K2, P5, K3
Row 30: K8, P2, K7, P3, K18
Row 31: K3, P15, K2, P15, K3
Row 32: K18, P1, K19
Row 33: K3, P32, K3
Row 34: K across
Row 35: K3, P20, K6, P6, K3
Row 36: K7, P9, K22
Row 37: K3, P19, K11, P2, K3
Row 38: K5, P2, K4, P6, K21
Row 39: K3, P18, K5, P6, K1, P2, K3
Row 40: K13, P4, K21
Row 41: K3, P18, K3, P11, K3
Row 42: K14, P3, K21
Row 43: K3, P18, K3, P11, K3
Row 44: K14, P2, K22
Row 45: K3, P20, K2, P10, K3
Row 46: K12, P2, K24
Row 47: K3, P32, K3
Row 48: K across
Row 49: K3, P32, K3
Row 50-54: K across
Bo all sts.

On a Happier, Knitterly Knote: Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup

I love Ravelry. Seriously folks, if you're a fiber artist and you're not a member of this site, get thee on the list!

It contains a neverending source of distractions for when I have nothing else to do, or when I don't feel like doing anything else.

The most recent thing is the HP Knit/Crochet House Cup. This is the brain child of one very enterprising Raveler. She has lots of helpers, and creates a virtual fiber-arts themed Hogwarts. We seem to be a trimester system, though there has only been Fall 08 and now Winter 09 terms so far...hmm...we might be on quarters now that I think about it. But we'll have to see.

There's a sorting ceremony, and there are classes, and for the adventurous there are even OWLs. If you happen to be adept a broom-flying, each house has a Quidditch team who creates one large project to donate to charity. There's something for everybody, and that just makes me happy.

I was sorted into Slytherin (which is not at all a shock, both because that was my first choice, and because I really don't fit into the others), and chosen to play Chaser for the Quidditch team. I signed up for all of the classes, and so far, I don't think it's too much. I want to do at least one OWL, in fact, I think I could pull off three of them, but we are advised to only do one.

For Arithmancy class this month, I am knitting something of my own design. It's not extremely complicated or crazy, but it's making a very nice product, and I think I'll make a post in the next day or two with the pattern so I can set it up on Ravelry. I also need to take some pictures and get them up here so everyone can see my progress.

Anyway, I'm starving....off to find some foods.

No Money For You

So...I'm a graduate student. I started my first semester of courses in September, and I was given a small pittance of a Teaching Assistantship as funding. It was nice having my tuition and most of my fees waived. I even got a stipend in exchange for teaching an undergraduate course along with taking my own classes.

I just heard that there isn't enough money to go around, so in an effort to be fair to all of the graduate students, money was shifted to those who didn't get the TAship in the Fall, and I will not be getting money in the Spring.

So now, the only financial aid I have amounts to a Federal Loan, which I had last semester, but I'll never see any of that loan money, because it will be directly applied to my tuition and fees next semester.

My parents are insisting that I take a full load of courses, and they'll "help" me next semester because all they want is for me to finish on time. Frankly, I'm not sure I want to keep going.

I'm nearly $60,000 in debt from school. If I keep going, I'll just add to it, and the last thing I want to do is take help from my parents. I'm sick of being under their thumb. I'm almost 28 years old, I should be able to do this myself.

The boy is being "solution boyfriend" again. Didn't even make a single move to hug me, which is what I need. Instead, I'm being pushed to apply to another school for next year. And because it's already January, my options are limited, and I have looming deadlines. All I want to do today is veg. I don't want to be looking at other schools that might make me start over with my courses, which would make the end result more expensive.

Admittedly, applying for another school isn't a bad idea. The current one's program is very much falling apart, and it's clear that the only difference between this one and my undergrad school is the existence of an M.A. here.

I don't know what to do, I don't know if I even care. This whole education process is so stressful, and it feels like at every level I get bombarded with hints that I'm not cut out for higher education.

Maybe I should just go get a job at Wal-Mart or McDonald's...and be done with it.