Project 3 for Camp Loopy was announced last Monday. The theme for the last project is “Field Day” – something to put everyone on an even playing field.
“Project Three: you can knit anything you’d like to knit. The only requirement is that you use 800 or more yards of yarn for the project. (731.5 meters) All 800 yds. must be used in one project. (So it doesn’t count if you make a hat plus mittens to equal 800 yds.)”
My initial reaction was “What?!? EIGHT HUNDRED YARDS?!” I had really been hoping that it would be something small, especially considering I took on quite a challenge for Project Two. Had I known what Project Three would bring, I wouldn’t have committed to knee socks for Project Two. As it is my wrists have been rather cranky with all the knitting on tiny needles I’ve been doing and at this point I’ve just been hoping I could hold out until Project Three and do something smaller on larger needles.
I admit I really considered dropping out completely at this point because Project Two has sucked a lot of fun out of the knitting for me and I didn’t want to commit to another project that would continue to to do that. I thought about it for a while after reading the post because I wasn’t at home to look at yarn choices or patterns. Ultimately I decided that I’ve come this far and I should really just see it through.
After deciding that, I needed to pick a project and yarn. I knew right away I wanted something that wasn’t a sock or knit on tiny needles (something above a US 5 at least). I went to The Loopy Groupies forum on Ravelry and looked at what others were going to knit.
There was a suggestion early on that one could double strand their yarn effectively knitting a 400 yard project out of 800 yards. I would have definitely been upset if people did that, since I think it was clear that was not the intention of the project, so I’m happy that Sheri amended her post to clarify that the project must be 800 yards, single stranded, and doubling your yarn wouldn’t count (unless of course you’re double stranding 1600 or more yards).
With the 800 yard requirement in mind, I started looking at my queue. I wanted a project that I didn’t already have yarn for and wasn’t a difficult knit. Not that I don’t want to be challenged, but I know myself well enough to know that if it’s a complected or intensely charted design, I won’t be able to finish it in a month’s time and would just be setting myself up to fail. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that a) I need to clean up my queue because there’s a lot of things I’m no longer interested in making, especially in the sweater department and b) I should knit a sweater. I decided that I would knit Eadon. It’s a new pattern, so I don’t already have yarn for it. It’s also a sweater that could be knit and still fit me once I get to my goal weight.
After browsing The Loopy Ewe for a few hours, I decided on MadelineTosh Vintage in Ms Taylor. I thought it wouldn’t take quite so long to get the yarn, but it seems that the elves over at TLE have been quite busy, so it just arrived yesterday.
MadTosh Vintage in Ms Taylor
I’ve seen a lot of chatter in the Loopy Groupies board on Ravelry about projects. I’ve seen a lot of folks going after some pretty ambitions projects and quite a few who aren’t sure they’ll get their project done. I’m just hoping I don’t have any problems like I did with the German Stockings! I think I should be okay after reading through the pattern, but you never really know how a project will go until you are working on it.
Are you participating in Camp Loopy? If you are, what are you knitting for Project 3? If you aren’t, what would you knit given this challenge and a month time frame? I think it’s interesting to see what challenges each of us in our craft. 🙂
Ms Lindz - My little corner of the internet 
I didn’t participate in Camp Loopy and I wish I would have. It might have been just the thing to motivate me. It is so frigging hot here that if I had to knit something with that much yardage it would probably be a shawl. Something light! Two on my wish list to knit are Irtfa’a and Near Solstice. They are both over a 1000 yards! I would need a deadline to keep me working on it!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sihaya
This is what I am knitting and its lovely. Just enough interest to keep me going but still enough purling to allow me to watch tv. And you can use up all your 800 yards. Just remember to weigh your balls before and after the first 3 rows of rib.
I didn’t take up the loopy challenge. I find its too much pressure to do things like that but I do look and see if I want to do part of it every once and a while. Good luck!
I love the Ms Taylor colorway! It’s such a pretty color. I can’t wait to see your Eadon, which I’m sure you’ll finish! 🙂