Camp Loopy — Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara

Camp Loopy Package Arrived

May 16, 2013 · by JudyL

The Camp Loopy package arrived today and even with Vince home, I was able to get to the mail box and get it without him ever noticing that a “Box of Fun” had been very cleverly slipped into the house without him ever seeing it. I’m good! :)

Camp Loopy

There’s the Camp Loopy bag, the yarn (Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in the Storm Brew color) and my Camp Loopy pin . . all part of the Camp Loopy goodies. A few more items may have been included in the box!

More Yarn

It’s so worth it to spend an extra small amount (well, maybe sometimes it’s a bit more than a small amount) to get free shipping! Why spend $6 on shipping?

We cannot start knitting on the Camp Loopy project til June 1 so until then, I have a few projects to finish up.

Hat

This is the hat that goes with the cowl. Good grief! I started the cowl on April 1 and finished it on April 9 and probably started the hat on April 9 and am still not finished with it!

Then there’s the Cream and Sugar Cowl.

Cream and Sugar Cowl

This is the third one I started. The first one was for me. The second one was for Nicole.

And lastly, and probably not going to happen, I’d like to get my pooling socks finished.

Pooling Socks

For those of you doing Camp Loopy, do you have projects you’re trying to finish before June 1?

· Filed Under: Knitting & Weaving · 14 Comments

Camp Loopy 2013

May 14, 2013 · by JudyL

Camp Loopy has started and despite Vince’s threat, he did not withdraw me from Camp Loopy! You know me . . I would never try to talk someone into doing something but . . there are advantages to doing Camp Loopy. You get a discount, you get a prize at the end if you do all three session, it’s good, friendly competition . . even if you don’t finish, it’s fun!

I think this is my third summer to participate in Camp Loopy. No . . maybe it’s the 4th summer. I can’t remember. All I know for sure is that during the summer of 2011, we were moving and that was quite a crazy summer. Every year about this time, I come up with a million reasons why I can’t or shouldn’t do Camp Loopy but I know the minute it starts, and everyone else is doing it, I would be so sad if I weren’t do it. I’m in!

So, for the first camp session, we have to use a single skein of lace weight or fingering weight yarn and use at least 375 yards. And, it has to be a yarn we’ve never used before. One skein of yarn! I don’t have a clue what I will make but half the fun for me is going through all the patterns on Ravelry and planning and scheming. I don’t know why I feel the need to order my yarn the instant I know what the rules are. We can’t start til June 1 but .. I ordered my yarn yesterday as soon as I saw Sheri’s blog post.

The yarn I ordered is Three Irish Girls Adorn Sock in the color Storm Brew. (I don’t know if that link will work once they run out of yarn and there’s only one skein left as of the writing of this post.)

Camp Loopy Possibilities

After spending hours, literally, going through patterns, I’ve narrowed it down to these . . but I could add more to the list! :)

Storm Warning
Afternoon Tea
To Infinity and Beyond
3S Shawl
Summer Flies

The real problem with Camp Loopy is that on Ravelry, everyone is showing the yarn they ordered and what they’re going to make and I want to order all the yarn and buy all the patterns. That’s not good!

Right now, I’m leaning towards Storm Warning, or Summer Flies, or . . maybe 3S Shawl. Heck . . I don’t have a clue what I’ll make.

· Filed Under: Quilting · 19 Comments

Camp Loopy Project 3 Completed

August 27, 2012 · by JudyL

This project turned out so pretty and I love it but I didn’t love it for a while. In fact, several times I thought about giving up. For Camp Loopy, we had to start on July 27 and be finished by August 27. I started right on July 27 but messed up and had to start over three times. I put it aside for several days and then about the time I got committed to really getting it done, Adalina was born and my heart wasn’t in knitting . . I just wanted to get to MO to see her.

When I went to MO for a week, I thought about taking this project but with all the counting and instructions, I figured I needed something more mindless and even messed up that simple project.

Then when I got home from MO on August 21, I had less than a week to finish this project and I wasn’t even halfway done. As the project progresses, it gets larger and each row takes longer to complete. Twice during that week, I convinced myself to give up. You get one skein of yarn, as well as double shopper points, for completing the project but I decided it just wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t finish . . no way! Then I told myself that I am NOT a quitter and I decided to finish but promised myself I would not do Camp Loopy again next year. I would announce on the blog that I was never doing it again and then you all would say “You lied!” when I signed up to do it again next year.

At 1:30 a.m. today, the last day to finish the project, as I was blocking this shawl, I said “Yes! I am doing Camp Loopy next year. I learned a lot. I made two things I probably never would have made had it not been for Camp Loopy!” What I will not do next year during Camp Loopy:

Get interested in a series book that I cannot put down. I read three of the four books in the series during the month when I should have been knitting.
Have a grandbaby in the middle of when I should be knitting (Hear that Chad and Nicole?).
Buy and roast 50 pounds of Hatch chili peppers on the day before the deadline for the project. I should have been knitting furiously when I was out roasting peppers.

The project is Shaw’s Cove Shawl and it’s a very well written pattern and it was quite easy once I got the hang of it.

About 1:00 a.m. last night, I finished knitting.

Before crawling into bed, I blocked it.

This morning, I couldn’t figure out where to get a decent picture so I draped it over the outside fan!

And then I hung it over the back of a chair.

It’s beautiful, I love it, I’m glad I did Camp Loopy but I’m tired and I’m sleepy and I still have 50 pounds of peppers to get skinned, seeds removed and canned. No knitting for a few days!

· Filed Under: Knitting & Weaving · 19 Comments

On the Needles – August 3, 2012

August 3, 2012 · by JudyL

This is my Shaw’s Cove Shawl for the third Camp Loopy project.

There are several sections that have to be repeated and there are three or four rows in Section 2 that give me fits. The first time, I got about three inches in and had to rip it all out. During these frustrating rows, there are all kinds of cross overs and knit two together backwards and it’s almost impossible to rip out right. I was trying so hard to pay careful attention and the phone rang and I got messed up. So, I just cut it all off and started over. I got to the same point again and Vince was watching the Olympics and he said “Look at this!” and I did and got messed up again and hard to start over. The third time, I decided to add a life line before I got to the hard part. I got through it just fine and added the second time, I got messed up again and had to rip back to the life line . . thank goodness I had put it in there.

For those who have never had to use one, a life line is some kind of waste yarn (it’s the orange string you see in the picture) that is pulled through a row as that row is knitted. Then if I have to rip out, I can rip back to there and the waste yarn stops that row from being ripped. I can then pick up those stitches and go from there.

I’ve learned to go to a separate room, close the door and get those hard rows done without interruption. I think I have to do them two more times before I’m finished.

The pattern is well written and the problems are my own fault for not paying enough attention.

What are you knitting?