The last few days have been a whirlwind of crafting and posting classes in HPKCHC. Now that the first month of term is over, I thought I would take a moment to see if I had met the goals I set for this month. I have three finished projects that have not yet gotten their own blog posts: the MAPLE LEAF shawl, the Ladderstitch Dishcloths, and some dyeing experiments. I will be writing up detailed posts on those projects and posting them over the next couple days. In the mean time, here’s the overview!
The Goals
Here’s a list of the projects I planned to complete in May:
HPKCHC Classes / Detention
- Finish Baltic Blue Quinn Bag WIP
- A Palindrome Scarf
- One Ladderstitch Dishcloth
- One Granny Square
- A MAPLE LEAF Shawl
- A Monster
- Dyeing Experiments
Quidditch
- Round 1: Three Granny Squares
- Round 2: A Monster and Irish Hiking Mittens
- Cast on for Round 3 (May 30 – June 8): Palindrome Hat
HPKCHC Advanced Studies
- Order of the Phoenix
- Submit BROOM for Begonia Swirl Shawl
- Knit 12.5% of the Shawl each week, beginning May 18
- Be at 25% complete by the end of May
- OWL
- Submit Proposal for 24 ounces of spinning
- By the end of the month, spin 8 ounces of pin-drafted wool
Completed
So how did I do?
HPKCHC Classes / Detention
- Baltic Blue Quinn Bag completed and submitted to Detention.
- Palindrome Scarf completed and submitted to Care of Magical Creatures!
- Seven Ladderstitch Dishcloths, not just one! I submitted two for Charms homework and five for Flying homework.
- Eight Granny Squares, not just one! I submitted two for Divination homework and six for Herbology homework.
- MAPLE LEAF Shawl completed and submitted to History of Magic.
- Dyeing Experiments completed and submitted to Potions.
- I did not do a Monster for classes.
Quidditch
- Round 1: Three Granny Squares completed and submitted.
- Round 2: Two Monsters completed and submitted. I did not do the Irish Hiking Mittens.
- Round 3: I cast on the Palindrome Hat on May 30. I knit, knit, knit on it the last couple days, and am almost at the decreases. It will be done today or tomorrow!
HPKCHC Advanced Studies
- Order of the Phoenix
- BROOM submitted and approved.
- 25% of the shawl knit before the end of the month.
- OWL
- Proposal submitted and approved.
- Spun approximately 2 ounces of the pin-drafted roving.
This was an incredibly productive month for me. I have not gotten this much crafting done in any single month since last fall. Of all the projects I had planned, the only one that did not get done was the Irish Hiking Mittens. That was an intentional decision. I need the Palindrome Hat to be at least 200 yards for it to fit into Quidditch. The mittens and the hat will be knit from the same skein of yarn which has 440 yards in 200 grams. The mittens say they take about 220 yards and the hat about 200, so the skein should have just enough yarn for both. But I didn’t want to finish the mittens only to find mid-project that I had insufficient yarn for the hat. I decided to do the hat first, and then decide what to do about the mittens. I may do them for a class, or I may not do that at all. If I don’t do them at all, I will use the rest of the skein to make another hat with a different pattern.
I am worried about my OWL. I have participated in 6 or 7 terms of HPKCHC and proposed an OWL every time. I have yet to actually finish one. I tend to get distracted by all the shiny classes and focus on meeting the shorter term goals to the detriment of longer term goals. But I try every time. I want to knit all the things!! I knew the OWL I proposed for this term was ambitious, but still thought it was doable. Traveling so much in May hurt my OWL more than anything else because I can not spin while I am on the road. I will be traveling twice in June: I will be in Hartford, Connecticut for 4 days to help my sister unpack, and I will be in Saint Augustine, Florida for a long weekend on a business trip with my husband. Still, I’m home a lot more in June than I was in May and I might be able to bring my wheel to Saint Augustine if I want to do so. I will be working on a June crafting schedule, and plan to prioritize the spinning.