In which I am a joiner

I’m not much of a joiner, never have been. Most of the time I’m perfectly happy doing my own thing, at my own pace, in my own way, but apparently not this summer.

It started with the KnitGirllls’ Stash Dash. (Here’s the official Ravelry thread). I’ve never done a stash down or a yarn diet before, mostly because I like my yarn stash, and see no need to stress out about it, or try to get rid of a large chunk of it. Plus I’m a student which is kind of like being on a continual yarn diet, without a solid end in sight. But the stash dash isn’t so much about getting rid of stash as it is about knitting (and spinning and crocheting and weaving) a crazy amount (5 kilometers, 5000 meters, just under 5500 yards) in a relatively short period of time (between May 27th and August 15th), which makes it ok because crazy goals are fun, and there’s nothing saying I’m not allowed to buy yarn. I’ll be at 2258 yards, once I add my latest shawl by the way.

Then there was Tour de Fleece. (Rav group). Never participated in Tour de Fleece before either, but I figured it would help with stash dash, and I had 1/2 a pound of a green merino/silk blend that I knew I needed motivation to spin, and keep from languishing. So I figured heck, why not. 1.6 ounces are spun and plyed so far, plus some more are singles. I don’t know what the weight of the remaining fiber is, but I’d guess about 5 ounces (I’m not measuring for fear that I’m really far off in my guesstimate, and I have something much closer to 8oz left).

And yesterday afternoon, it was 11 shawls in 2011. (Again, here’s the Rav group). I like shawls, and I like a challenge, and I might be a touch crazy. ‘Nuff said, I’m doing it. Plus there are some stunning shawls and amazing knitters in that group. (I haven’t dared count how many shawls I’ve knit so far this year, but I don’t think it’s very close to 11 yet).

I guess I should probably get back to knitting.

PS. The pattern for Mirror World should be out later this week. Fingers crossed.