Get It Out

How are your Ravellenic games projects coming along?

I must admit that I haven't gotten very far.

To be fair, though, I had a rather busy weekend that didn't really avail itself to delicate lace knitting and bead work.

Friday, we went to the Harps and Thistles pj party. John hung around rather than going to see a movie as he usually does. I knit a couple more rounds on the damnable void that is my second sock, but mostly just enjoyed hanging out with Vi.

This is from Thursday.

Now I have about an inch and a half left before the toe, but it seems like no matter how many rounds I knit, it's always an inch and a half left. At this point, the damn thing is in timeout. I'll pick it back up after the Oly- sorry, Ravellenic games. (Don't want to get sued!)

Saturday, John and I met up with Bethany and FINALLY went to the ren faire. There was a nice breeze blowing, so we didn't absolutely melt. I picked myself up a pair of pretty nifty tiefling horns. I'm starting to work on my D&D character costume and these things are perfect for it.

I also got to see Caitlin run around in her fairy garb. She volunteered for the Fairy Forest this year.

Here she is trapping Gluteus Maximus, who was forced to recite something from Sir Disney.

Sunday, Vi and Emmy came over for a damning (and damn funny) round of Cards Against Humanity. We didn't actually keep score, just played until we ran out of black cards. Just saying, though, I had more black cards than anyone else. But who's keeping track?

On Monday, I ended up going out to lunch with both my sisters and my grandpa. It was fun, if exhausting for me and my anxiety, but I ended up coming home with a few new books and a Sherlock Holmes graphic novel. I'm also starting the Legend of Drizzt and it's really, really good. Like, I powered through the entire first book in a couple of hours.

I came home to an absolutely lovely surprise on my front porch. Kevin and Renee (check out their shiny new website!) had went to the 127 sale and brought me back some absolutely delightful skeins of yarn!

Which I'm just now realizing that I haven't taken a picture of yet. Remind me to do so for next time, would you?

For now, here's a picture of some of their beeswax they so kindly gave me. I needed it for waxing my cord for book binding.

Speaking of my love-bee (heh) neighbors and binding, I recently finished this journal for Renee.

It's leather that I (somewhat badly) embroidered. And this puppy is big. The pages are 8.5 by 11.

Well, I heard that Kevin kept walking by and petting it, so I spent yesterday putting together a little something just for him.

I'm not going to lie, this thing almost stayed here with me. The buckle and hinges are functional. And the leather is just beautiful.

Alas, I am a kind person and I did give it to him. And it was much appreciated.

The idea of this journal has been stuck in my head and I just felt the overwhelming need to get it out and get it done. It's pretty good for a prototype. And my brain seems to have emptied itself out enough that I think I can finally work on my shawl.

Which brings us to today. I've got my knitting beside me and some podcasts loaded up, so I think I'm going to dive right in and get some proper work done on this thing. Assuming I can resist the temptation to read the other two Drizzt novels I have...

Going for the Gold-en Fleece

As most of you know, the Olympics start this Friday in Rio. What some of you may not know is that Ravelry (the yarn smith's favorite place) also hosts it's own set of games.

And this year, we've got us a team.

That's right, this is your official welcome to join Team Black Goat and bring home some golden fleecy glory.

Why bother, you ask?

Because anyone who participates, even if you don't finish, will be entered in to a prize drawing for some scha-weet prizes.

We have an Official Chatter Thread to hang out in and talk amongst ourselves.

Now, there are rules to the whole shebang, and Ravelry has set up some great FAQ's to help you along.

For those of you new to the games entirely, check out A Good Place to Start.

When you're ready, create your project page or pages. That's right! You can do more than one project! For help on making sure the project is properly set up for the games check out Ravelry's Guide to Project Creation.

Not sure what event you want to join? Check out the Event List.

This year, laurels are being awarded by team captains. These are elements that your project may contain, like beads or cables. That list is also included on the Event List link right above. You may also want to take a glance at the Events FAQ if you have any questions.

Now, your project page is going to need some fancy tags to make sure it's put in the right category. DON'T PANIC! All of your tagging questions will be answered in the helpful Tagging Tutorial.

JUST A NOTE! TO MAKE SURE YOUR PROJECT IS PART OF OUR TEAM, IT NEEDS TO BE TAGGED WITH OUR TEAM NAME!

Use the tag teamblackgoat (all one word, all lowercase) when adding the rest of your tags to your project.

As you can see from my project page, I am entered into the Shawl Sailing EVENT. I have added the bead and lace LAURELS as well. I've joined Team Black Goat and my project is an official part of the games.

I have used the Official Ravellenic Games graphic as my placeholder image. If you'd like to do so as well, the image can be found HERE.

I plan on making an official Team Black Goat avatar soon. When I do, it will be posted in our Chatter Thread.

Now, prize info. What you're really interested in.

My plan is to have two giveaways. One is for everyone who participates under the Black Goat team. Join the team and become an official "athelete" to be entered. This means that you'll have to have a properly tagged project page.

The other is for everyone who COMPLETES their project. It will have a little extra umph to it, too.

So, I think that pretty much wraps it up. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the Chatter Thread or ask them here.

This is going to be so much fun, people.

For Gold! For Glory! FOR THE YARN!!!