August 2014 Preview

I know we are a week into the month, but there’s still 3 more weeks to go, so I’m still calling this a preview!  August is a HPKCHC break month.  I use break months to finish anything that is lingering from the end of term and get all my plans made for the beginning of the next term.  Chris and I are vacationing the last week of August (heading to New Jersey to visit his mother), so I need to plan for some portable projects that I can bring with me on that trip.

Finishing

I have several projects that are close to complete that I would like to finish during August.

  • MAPLE LEAF the Third  I just need to finish weaving in all those ends.  I started on this, and have been doing a couple at a time, as breaks between bouts of housework.
  • Granny Square Blanket  I have a couple more squares to crochet and I have to assemble it.
  • First Ever Socks  Last fall, I started my first ever pair of socks.  I am using a self-striping yarn, so doing afterthought heels.  I got the socks totally knit, except for the heels, and discovered that the bind-off was too tight for the socks to get over my ankle.  I have to unpick the bind-offs, bind-off again looser, and knit the heels.
  • Baby Blue Hugo Monster  I knit this monster last fall.  All the pieces are knit; it just needs to be assembled.  Stuff it, sew the arms on, sew on the face.  Done!
  • Lux Top Spun  I am about 1/3 through the spinning of the Lux Top braid that I had started late last month as part of my OWL.  I would like to get that finished this month.

New Crafting

In addition to finishing up those nearly there projects, I have several things I have yet to start that I would like to complete in April.

  • Three MAPLE LEAF shawls  I have 9 more to knit for Christmas presents.  I want to be totally finished with the knitting by the end of October so that I have November and December to dye them.  Done by the end of October means I need to knit 3 MAPLE LEAF shawls per month in August, September, and October.
  • Mini Maple leaves  I have several different ideas about how to dye the big shawls.  I want to knit some small leaves (about the size of my hand) so I can practice different dyeing techniques over the next couple months.  By the time I am done knitting, I want to have a plan for techniques and colors that I will use on the shawls.

Planning

I need to make a plan for the Fall HPKCHC term.  I have a few ideas already.  Obviously, I will be knitting MAPLE LEAF shawls in September and October.  I also want to do one spinning project, one crochet project, and one dyeing project for each month, but do not have specific selections yet for what they will be.  I have to decide what to do for my OOTP Mission and for my OWL.  I have a couple ideas, so need to look at patterns and do some swatching to come up with a solid plan.  And what about Quidditch?

At the beginning of this year, I said that I wanted to knit 12 shawls, 12 pairs of socks, and 12 Hugos this year.  I will blow the shawl goal out of the water on MAPLE LEAF shawls alone, but have not made much progress on the other two goals.  I will be looking at options for advancing those two goals and fitting them into the HPKCHC structure.

I also have non- HPKCHC planning to do.  Some of that is related to this blog.  I have ideas of what I would like to do with the blog and need to get the ideas out of my head and in to an actual plan.  I have other fibery projects in the works that I am not quite ready to share, but it is all quite exciting.  Hang on folks!  August is going to be a wild ride.

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