Holly Jolly Knitted Holiday

Well, my ravelry swap folks have been spoiling the heck out of me. I have received stitch markers galore, teas, wine spices, cards, ornaments and German chocolate (from Germany, for reals). Last night I got another package with tons of wonderful goodies in it, and these two ornaments which I have to share.

 Are you ready to come play yet?

:)
Frances

Stash!!

My mother off-loaded a bit of her stash on me. I'm not complaining. Stash is good. In particular when it comes in massive quantities. :)

But now I have two GIANT cones of mohair and I don't know what to do with it. Yeah, this is the kind of dilema I can really live with.

They are somewhat halloween colored, but there is SO MUCH yardage I find myself wanting to go big, complex, monumental!!!!

And so instead of working on my edits (which I'm supposed to be doing) I am in fact searching for appropriate patterns. (which is way too much fun)

Any Suggestions?
(they have to be crochet, I am knitting disabled)

Don't forget to Craft, folks!

I have been less than pleasant this last month. I know. Who would have guessed? :D

Seriously, though, I've been down, worn out, cranky, and generally feeling the blues, seasonal or not. I mean, school started, and for a homeschooling mom that means work started. I have novels coming out others coming back in with big, lovely rejection letters attached, I have a release coming, a preschool co-op to work into my regular school day, holidays coming, a birthday party to plan, costumes to make for Halloween, etc.

And I've been feeling the stress. Not just a leetle.

But in the midst of all that, I decided to sign up for another Ravel Trek tour. I just had way too much fun this summer to miss out on the next round. Anyway, today they assigned ships and announced a "mini-mission" and I was off. I'd been waiting for this, and here it was. Time to crochet!

I made a soap sack. Just a wee project. It took me less than half an hour.

AND I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!

How is it that one little selfish indulgence can off-gas all that stress? I don't understand the physics of it, but dang. I need to remember that little trick. Play. Dear heavens yes. PLAY.
Don't forget to craft folks, it might just save your life.

:)
Ensign Neffis of the USS Noro (as of today)

The Most Fictional Fun I've Ever Had

I started this blog for a silly reason. You see, my best friend talked me into signing up for Ravelry and I needed a way to get photos into posts easily, and I couldn't figure out the tech angle. The only thing I worked out is that if they had a url already (like from a blog post) that I could easily get them where I wanted them. Hence, I started a blog specifically for fiber arts and to host photos of stuff I wanted to share there.

Have you played on Ravelry yet? Man, get on over there and dive in.

Anyway, I obviously got hooked. No pun intended. I filled up my queue with projects, loaded up on favorite patterns and added every fiber book I own (and some I want to own) into my Ravelry library.
I joined groups. I crocheted like a fiend for a month or two. I chatted about Once Upon A Time, Harry Potter, Literature, Amigurami, and Star Trek....

you know, all the cool stuff. :)

This last summer I even participated in the Ravelympics and earned a sweet medal in Shawl Sailing.
Check it out:

But by far the most fun I've discovered has been in something called: Ravel Trek

yeah, if you know me, you can hear the squeeing already.

They play Star Trek on Ravelry, and it. is. beyond. cool.
I joined Starfleet. I was a cadet at the academy, I got assigned to a ship, went on a deep space tour of duty and completed a few missions (including one disastrous away mission) all from the comfort of my laptop and with my thread and hook in hand.

I even printed out the Official Ravel Trek Star Fleet Fiber Corps New Recruit Guide.
In short, I geeked out.
Here is where you can play too:

And I have to show off my little badge for completing a mission:

Amigurami Animals

Amigurami Animals

Tiny crochet critters I made for the fair this year. More tiny ami things to come I feel. 

Just made this one for a Ravelry CAL

Friendship Shawls

My new Love. I'm going to do one for myself eventually, but with a more cloak/cape drape and using this delicious super bulky red yarn I was given. As long as possible and with a hood added if I can make the yarn stretch. THAT one will be inspired by the recent Red episode of Once Upon a Time...another of my favorite distractions. ;D

Wasting Time

Welcome to Unraveled.
If you know me, you'll notice one thing missing. That's because here is where I'll list, blog and share all the wondrous distractions that KEEP ME from writing. One of my favorites is fiber arts, and I got the name for the blog from my absolute newest distraction from working: Ravelry.com
If you do anything at all with fiber, yarn and needles or hooks or looms or what have you, then hop on over there and sign up. :)
Here are my latest projects of that variety:

time to organize!