T10 R1 Teamwise Woo Hoo!

The Team Hellmouth captain released the stats for the first round of Nerd Wars T10 Round 1.

"We had 94% participation. 50% of the team dwarfed the nebula! We have 69% of the team attempting a dissertation. You guys are amazeballs!!!!!"

I concur.  Wow!

Rambling and Growing Leaves

This month has been a whirlwind particularly on the job.  I need to work but sometimes I feel as if I'm bot appreciated for the extra work that I do gratis… Oh, well.  I just have to keep on keeping on as I am not ready to retire.  I've been sick for 5 days and it's making me think about my future.

On to YES - back into Nerdwars!  The challenge project I am most proud of this T10R1 is the Growing Leaves Cowl.

It's a good thing that I finally learned to read crochet charts.  One day a chart suddenly made sense when it did not before.  The CAL I'm working on is Lisa Gentry's Hooked on Stitches which is a stitch pattern a day for the month of November.   The written directions were a bit confusing so I got clarification from the chart.  Go me!!  

Now if only I could read knit charts.  It will happen someday.

I did not sign up for Nerd Wars T9 but I just can't keep away so I will probably ninja some WIPs for the Flexible Schedule challenges and get something done at least.  Nerd Wars is a motivator.  This entire month of September had me doing very little crocheting or knitting even though I thought I would finish some socks,  Just meandered along and did a few rows at a time which for sock knitting looks like nothing.

OK,  I've checked out the ninja thread.  One of the competitors is a guy in Australia who designs men friendly items.  Score for Christmas presents for my sons and I will figure out how to scale it down for my grandson.   The pattern is Enchanted Cowl by David on Ravelry.

Chart reading success!

Chart and diagram reading usually escapes me.  I can kind of read simple knitting charts but the thing is the symbols seem to change from one designer to another.  And crochet,  (pshht),  totally could not get! Until I found a pattern that I would like to modify the width to make a prayer shawl.   It is by Annette Patavy and it is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/echarpe-pointes-violettes-violet-points-scarf on Ravelry.    I understand the easy chart!!

State Fair Musing

It's officially the end of summer.  I went to the State Fair yesterday.  I knew the cooling was coming but was amazed at the speed.  Last week it was 90+ F every day.  Yesterday I wore a jacket to stay warm and lots were complaining because they were not dressed for the weather.

Anyroad, this is a blog about knit and crochet.  The Craft Building did not disappoint.  I was very pleased to see that two of the SWEEPSTAKES winners were crochet.  I'm not the best crocheter but I have a huge admiration for people who are really good.   Those top winners were a fine lace tablecloth in ecru color and a Tunisian crochet tapestry of dinosaurs.  Unlike many Tunisian tapestry work,  this was not done in cross stitch over TSS.   The person used colorwork in TSS to make the dinosaurs.  Unfortunately,  I used an old school camera and had run out of film by the time I found these treasures. There were some really nice lace crocheted shawls also.  The downside was one ignoramus loudly declaring "I don't like crochet" as she was pulled into the section.

None of the knitwear stood out for me sorry to say.  There was some spectacular weaving work though.

My style as an older woman is simple and practical.  I tend to wear a-lines, jumper dresses and flat Mary Jane shoes.  In fact, I have two jumpers which I wear to the karate dojo and people don't even have to see my face to know it's me.  Sadly when I did a search on Ravelry for seamless jumper dresses,  most were for children.  When I narrowed the field to adult,  I got young style short tunics.  There were only a few that caught my interest.  Unfortunately,  the one pattern that stood out as perfect for me is only in German.  Someone suggested the group "Excuse Me?" as the group in which to seek translations.  The process is afoot and I will probably have a translation soon for Vamplakleid. by Utlinde.

T8 is over and I succeeded in knitting and crocheting a total of 30 baby hits for Click for Babies as my dissertation.

I absolutely abhor that Google has taken over Blogspot!   They really mess with my password and it is so hard to sign in!   Hence my being absent for 3 months...

OK with that off my chest.  T8 R2 is on.  I dwarfed the nebula for Round 1 and that will probably be the only time this round.  So much is happening in RL.

My dissertation this round is 30 baby hats.  Right now, I'm only 10 in so I need to be at 15 by next week to be on time.  Hopefully I can get ahead of my schedule so that I have more time for the challenges.   More points are on the line.

I've completed the Rise Up Rise Up challenge and got this nifty avatar from Team Paranormal.

These are the dishcloths that I did for 4 challenges in T7.

TUP rambling T7R3

The last round has not even started of Nerdwars T7 and we have our Team Unity Project  picked.  We just have to wait until April 1st for the challenges to be announced.  Then we can pick whichever we can use for Team Unity.  Sadly, our team did not get any team unity points on Round 2 as not enough of us submitted projects.  We only needed 40% and we did not make it.  Groan..

Anyroad, we need to make something for Joss Whedon based on a team crossover with Team Browncoats.  I'm guessing we will see lots of Jayne hats.   Here is an interview with Joss by Kim Werker of CrochetMe.

http://www.crochetme.com/blogs/kim_werker/archive/2008/12/6/joss-whedon-on-crafts-and-craftiness-interview-transcript.aspx

Finally made it to halfway with my first (and hopefully not last) February Lady.

Practiced and practiced the buttonhole technique but I just could not get it to look right so I used a double YO for a medium size buttonhole.   The February Lady at 288 stitches a row is going slowly for me plus I sprained my wrist shoveling the knee high snow last week.  My mom called last night worried that I would get caught in the "blizzard" she'd heard on a forecast for today.  Fortunately when I looked outside, same old snow.  Nothing new.   The predicted snowstorm will probably go south.

This T7 of Nerdwars has some different rules.   Each successive round offers more points.  I am used to doing fewer projects in the second round so as to make more progress on my big project for the check in at the end of the month.  Better get stitching!   I have three small projects printed out and ready to go.  Our Team Unity Project is partnering with Team Impala to tie in a flashback from Supernatural.  Since Jessica burning up on the ceiling is technically a flashback as it's in the show's opening,  I want to crochet a red and orange dishcloth.  Yeah.  I think that will work.

Gah!  Knitting the February Lady Sweater which requires a more complicated buttonhole than I've done before.  So it is watch over and over this video from KnittingHelp.com.

This is my project Woven Cables Coffee Mug for Nerdwars T7 R1 Nerdology Challenge.   I really like the garter edge.  

OK,  T7 is in progress.   There are fewer challenges but the categories are new and we all have to get used to them.  It is slow going for me.   I only have 3 projects done plus I'm working on a February Lady cardigan.  Here is the hat finished yesterday.

Would you believe I lost my own blog which is why I haven't posted? !    I'll be back soon with pix.  This is a rush time at work for me.

Here I go again!

So I signed up for Tournament 3 of Nerdwars.  Still with Team Bite Me.  The roster is nearly twice as big!  Unfortunately, not nearly enough have submitted dissertation proposals.  I did submit mine.  With this deadline of end of the year,  hopefully I will finish an afghan which has been in my queue for awhile.

It is the Autumn Lace/Winter Lace/Mayfield afghan on the Lion Brand site. Winter Lace Afghan
You do need a membership in order to view the pattern on the site.  This will be my first large lace project.  It is exciting!  Plus two rows of the 20 row lace pattern contain a centered double decrease.  Last tournament,  I found a suitable substitution given my slight hand disability.

Should I?

T2 is over.   Currently working on a 'rayer Shawl with Two Crosses" for my mom.  Her birthday is mid October and I would like to finish before 10/1/11.  Why?  That is when T3 starts.  Right now, I am trying to decide whether or not to join a team or be a ninja. 

I really don't have the time to commit for 18 challenge projects plus a dissertation.  Home repairs are calling.  I need to get a leaking window repaired plus replace wood logs in the retaining wall out front.

Team Hellmouth won which really pleases me.  However, I am sure that there will be a HUGE list of people wanting to join them.  Of course, I will put it as a choice but since I can do the Buffy vampires in Team Bite Me, I might as well stay on this team.  Fortunately, there are newbies lining up to join in.  Maybe I won't feel the pressure for a huge output. 

Tentative dissertation proposal...The Lion Brand Mayfield Afghan.  It is large enough to take 3 months as I want to do it in worsted weight instead of bulky. 

Tournament 2 Over

Well, I meant to do a project by project posting but things work, like and the challenges plus my sweater took up a lot of time.  The last two rounds, I really had a hard time coming up with answers to meet the challenge and all my projects were turned in at the last minute which meant I had to start over again since a new round of challenges was issued.  The third and last round was crunch time for my sweater too.   I did complete it and it fits!   That is it feels wonderful hugging the excess bumps which I am continually trying to lose.

One to Go!

I have 5 challenge projects in and 5 approved!!  Just one day to go and I am more than 3/4 done with the 6th project.   It would look nice for us to have someone with 6 completed challenges done on the Ravelry Nerd Wars visible site.

Fell Behind in Posting

It had gotten so fast and furious that I did not have time to post here also.  Will place those up after this round.  I did 5 of the 6 challenges and one more to go which I cast on this morning.  It is going to be a book cosy.  Debated whether to knit a book cosy or an ereader cosy.  Decided that having books in a photo will make a better impression in a photo and I will link it to the outward bookish vampire,  the bespectacled Dalton, Spike's too human for a vampire, minion.    Of course, Spike was Oxford educated..(shh..Slayer's not supposed to know) and he was a poet as a human.  Also that was what he thought would be his final act,  reading poetry at a poetry slam, before the huge all out demon battle at Angel's finale.

Still Waiting

Last posted on Wednesday for the I See What You Did There Challenge.  Well I am still waiting for an approval or nay.   Another challenge I posted after that was approved and I had not even put it up here.  Sigh.  Possibly the CD for the video challenge is busy in her/his personal life.  Yes, I found out that they were not all women.

Today at my LYS, found out the owner is a huge Buffy fan!!  I have been going there for 3 yrs and only found out today because someone thought music playing was from Buffy and I corrected her..it was the Charmed theme.  Then I showed them my watch to indicate that I knew my Buffy.

"Ooh, don't show that to A because she will want to know where you got it!"

T2 R1 Nerd Culture Challenge: I See What You Did There

This is the challenge:"Since 2005, one website has been grabbing your (and my) nerdy little eyeballs like few others, making you laugh, making you cry, making you ask “WTF?”: the great time suck of your late-afternoon work/study sessions, YouTube. You’ve seen the cartoons, the cute cats, the mashups, and the webseries. Your challenge now is to make something inspired by your favorite YouTube video.

A few restrictions before we start, because I know you Nerd Warriors are sneaky Petes.

    * No basic instructional videos. I don’t want you to justify a pair of socks because you watched a Judy’s Magic Cast-On How-To.
    * No clips of TV shows or movies, unless they’re more popular on YouTube than they ever were on their original medium. Be prepared to defend the increased popularity.
    * Music videos are okay with me, as are TV commercials that were clearly designed to be viral sensations."

TEAM:   Bite Me

RAV HANDLE:   akarateka

CRAFT:   Knitting

Queen of The Damned is just about my favorite vampire movie because of its stylistic qualities.   In that way, it differs from the other movies from Anne Rice's works.  Slow and moody in spots because vampires have a lot of time and thus they can take their time.    The movie got cult status after the death of its star, Aaliyah.  Plus Stuart Townsend is to die for :D.

Anne Rice wrote in the book "He found rings and cuff links of gold. Now he was beautiful, as he had once been in other garments long ago. .."

Those gold cuffs really drew my attention.  Alas, no gold to work into a project so gold colored yarn made these cuffs.   I can wear them as a symbol of this movie. 

I don't have a tripod so I put my hands in front of the camera to take a picture of both.   

Just Touching Base

Another project done which took a couple of days.  It is for the  video challenge "I See What You Did".  I am using a music video...very nervous because I have never posted a video in a forum panel before so I need to get it all on text and post very slowly.  The project is cuffs.  After I post it, I will start the next challenge project which will be a bat dishcloth. 

I am afraid that I have not timed myself properly.  The month is nearly half gone.  In a month, I will need at least half of my sweater done.  Last night I knit a bit on it but the rounds are going slowly even though it will be an easy knit until I get to the collar.  So I am not dubious about being able to have half done by July 15th.    Just need to put in the time.

Two members of Team Bite Me got nominated for bonus points!  WOOT!   That gives us more of a chance to move out of the middle.

Tasered Spike N2 R1 Scientific Challenge - Electricity

Team:   Bite Me

Rav Handle:   akarateka

Craft:  knitting

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer,  vampire Spike came to Sunnydale once again with the intent to kill the Slayer.  While he was concentrating on watching her,  The Initiative snuck up on him and blasted him with a large jolt of electricity via taser.


My project is a cloth that represents the zigzaggityness of electricity.

Yay...One Challenge Accepted!

My 2nd attempt in the Scientific Challenge was accepted I just found out!  Will post it later today.

Shot Down

What can I say? The CD (Challenge Decascus) thought my dishcloth was a stretch to link it with lightning.  Looking at the others..yes...they DIRECTLY related to lightning.  Last tournament a woman used a spider in the nebula challenge and got her 18 points.

Trying again with this pattern, Zig Zag Dishcloth:

http://www.sew-funky.com/2010/02/zigzag.cloth/

T2 Nerdwars Round 1 Scientific Challenge

This was the challenge:

June 15, 1752, Ben Franklin conducted his famous kite experiment, proving lightning is actually electricity.

To honor Franklin’s June discovery, the June challenge is all about electricity!

Electricity (n): any phenomenon associated with stationary or moving electrons, ions, or other charged particles

Whether it is lightning, the current powering your computer, or the sparks that flash when your cat tries to curl up on a fleece blanket in the winter, electricity is everywhere! Let it inspire your creations this month!

Begin and end this project within this month (Eastern Time).
--------------------------------------------

Team:  Bite Me

Rav handle:  akarateka






Lightning leads to thunder.   The vampires in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight need lightning and the accompanying thunder to hide the thwops of their hard hits of baseball bat meeting ball.   My project is a a symbol of the instrument, baseball bat, knitted in a dishcloth to answer this challenge.

Vampire Baseball Dishcloth

Finished the Baseball Dishcloth.  When I get it blocked and photographed, it will be posted to meet the Scientific Challenge.   I guess I gave it away in the title...so excited.   There is a lot of vampire genre to peruse to meet challenges that's for sure.  

Nothing Like the Learning Process

Participating in Nerdwars is a great learning experience.  I am not a techie but it seems that you have to know how to do geeky nerdy techie things in order to get your points across in posts.  Before I presented my dissertation, I had been on Ravelry for 3 yrs and never had occasion to really use pix in posts.  (As if it is not obvious by the lack of technical skills in this blog!)   I had to find pix and link those pix to make my presentation.  By July 15,  I must have made the halfway point in progress and prove by pix and measurements that my project will be what I started it out to be.   It's like being in school.  It is a wonderful way to improve your skill.

It is good that the mods know that many of us nerds are book types as opposed to computer types.  There is an entire thread titled The Resource Room that has all the instructions about posting images on Ravelry etc.  

Last night I started on a project for the Scientific Challenge related to Team Bite Me.  Because I am doing the major project or dissertation,  I am looking for small projects to aid my team in the challenges.  It is a dishcloth of a baseball bat.  I am not writing about the tie in just now until the project is done.  I made it to Row 16 of 55 rows currently.  Hope to finish it today after shopping and yard work.

I missed church this morning because I forgot about the Summer Hours.  So I went to a rummage sale and did the bag sale thing.  The bag was so heavy that I could not hold it properly walking the block home.  My back hurt so I put placed it on my head and carried it easily.  Now I know why African women carry things a long ways on their heads without stress.    

Yippee!!!!

Woot! 

Woot!

The moderators liked my dissertation proposal and the Team Captain congratulated me.  Most of the folk participating in the tournament are about half my age or younger or more familiar with the style of presentation.  Heck, I graduated from college 40 years ago!! 

Here is my dissertation proposal for T2:

Rav handle:  akarateka

Team:   Bite Me

Pattern:   Corona


Yarn:  Plymouth Galway


Summary:

Submitting a dissertation on Corona by Canary Sanctuary.  Pam on True Blood is inimical and thus fascinating.  On the show, most of her wardrobe is very tight and sexy.  However in the Sookie books, Pam is much more conservative and wears muted colors like pink.  Occasionally, she does wear pink on True Blood (attach picture).   This picture captures her in a  pink sweater with cables which is rare from my not recent watching of the show.


My project is a compromise.  It is the standard stereotypical red which attracts the attention of other vampires but it is just curvy enough to be sexy but it has a cabled collar. 

Category.

This project will take me three months as I have never knitted sleeves, a collar, nor a  hood. My skill level is Advanced Beginner.  Hence it is being placed in the Technical Category.   The collar will be the slow portion as much counting is required to get the sequences right .



Time Justification:

See Category. In addition,  my jobs take over 50 hours a week.  Plus I have an old home to maintain, a garden,a grandson to visit  plus keep up (karate) training .

Swatch:

The only gauge specified in the pattern is 5 stitches to one inch of stockinette  which I made with a size 7 needle which I get with Plymouth Galway worsted wool.

T2 Challenge more elaboration

I was holding off on doing certain challenges because I could not figure out a tie-in to my geekdom, Team Bite Me.   The game master explained that we do not need the geekdom tied in in order to meet the challenge.  The team spirit points (3) will not apply but it is better to go for those 10 points if it meets the challenge instead of the 13 we had to get.

Competitiveness

I have been competitive most of my life.  Nothing gets me going as much as going for the win.   Our team is the smallest but I figured if we all went for the 100 point dissertation for a large three month project, we would be in the running but we all must do in.  Got shot down today when one person blythely stated...no dissertation.  What a sinking gut feeling....  But I know this Nerd Wars is mainly just for fun.  The moderators state so..but then there are people like me on other teams and some teams filled with those who push themselves.   

Surrealness

Now I realize just how fortunate I am to even be on a team.  Over 75% of applicants in Nerd Wars got their first choice but some got their 3rd, 4th choice or even did not make it onto a team.  I suppose I am a bit bummed because the enthusiasm within the team I am on is so much less than on my first choice team.  But I'm going to work with it and do the best I can.  The team captain has only posted ONCE for goodness sake's!  I feel she should be out there encouraging us and getting up the team spirit.  Hopefully she is just resting and waiting until the start on June 1st to be more communicative with us.

As a Christian, it is surreal to be a team member with a real life Lady of the Night.  In this person's country, that occupation is legal.  And she seems like a nice person from her posts..so I will just ignore the occupation then.

Nerd Wars

http://deliciousstitches.blogspot.com/2008/01/lace-panel-raglan-pattern.htmlWell, as much as I'd hoped to get onto Team Hellmouth, it did not happen.  I am now a proud and willfull member of Team Bite Me!  And I still can incorporate my favorite Buffy verse vampires...very much of the good.   Just have to hurry up and revise my dissertation plan.  Maybe I can use the sweater I picked as being for Pam from True Blood as she likes to wear pink/lavender.  Originally,  I'd planned it for Dawn,Buffy's human sister, which won't be acceptable for this group.

Easy Summer Tank

Buffy KAL ideas

So psyched!  On Ravelry, I joined Nerd Wars and hope to be a member of Team Hellmouth which supports the universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I am a huge Spuffy fan!  The site linked can give some ideas of items to knit.  Currently rewatching and getting ideas.  One woman wants to knit kitty beds to support the poker kittens.  That's an allusion to the currency of kittens used by the demons in a poker game. 

Nerd Wars

Lately, I have not been really satisfied with my projects.  In fact, I have felt downright incompetent because of all the frogging done.  But whenever there is set deadline, I seem to have no problems rising to the occasion.  Recently also, started a new business venture which means less time to devote to projects.   Between my full time, training for the part time business, karate  and other geeky interests, the time for knitting/crocheting has decreased significantly.  However, always can devote the half hour before I get out of bed and the hour before going to sleep to knitting and crocheting.  Just slower ..that's all.

Anyroad (yes, Lennon fan here), Nerd Wars is scheduled to begin 6/1/11 and I am in on a Buffy related team.  Probably small projects due to my time limitations.  Currently thinking, patrolling beanies and a vampire themed pair of socks.   

A Young Person's Musing on "Handicrafts"

I saw this on Ravelry and just had to save it here.  Ravelry got mentioned in the New York Times!

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/25/a-young-reader-asks-is-there-an-elitist-oligarchy-in-the-underworld-of-knitters/

Back on Track

My knitting/crocheting have sucked lately.  There was always something wrong...CO wrong amounts, item too big or just blah and I ripped.  And I did not go to my fall back project (socks) either.  Well that is over now.  

Divided my vest and was explained how to knit the fronts and back on this one piece item.  Feeling good about that...THEN I cast on a fall back socks project.  So happily knitting both now.

Just a bit Knitty: First pattern I've ever designed

Just a bit Knitty: First pattern I've ever designed: "Cabled Baby or Toddler Scarf. Materials: 1 X 50 gram ball Aran weight wool/yarn, 1 pair 5 mm straight needles, 1 cable needle. You star..."

Another Compensation

Brain tumors leave a lasting signature of not only scar tissue on electrocephalograms but in my case a weakness on the right side.   I learned to knit because I could not crochet for long periods after surgery than I could before.    There is no way I can knit the usual English or throwing style because why do that when crochet would hurt a lot less.  So I knit Continental or picking style using my left hand to hold the yarn just as if I were crocheting.  No way can I do the usual bind off because it involves small muscle use in the right hand...so I crochet bind off.

Lately, I have caught the lace bug and it is fun!  I want to branch out but many patterns have a central double decrease which involves not "slip one, knit 1, pass slip stitch over" but "slip 1, knit 2, pass slip stitch over" or ""slip 2, knit 1, pass 2 slip stitches over".  I can compensate for the slip 1, knit 1 or purl 1, pass slip stitch over by SSK( slip,slip,knit).  Not the same but it will do for me.

Now after perusing a magazine, I see there is very little difference between the others and the knit 3 together.  So I have my doable/painfree substitute.  Now if only I could loosen up those stitches to get my needle in 3 stitches at a time.... 

Summer Doldrums

Summer brought about a laxity regarding working with wool.  At the beginning of the year, I said I would try to make a pair of socks per month.  However, that makes me horribly overextended.   I have a baby grandson that I would like to make more things for but his parents are very fortunate and prefer to buy him things.   I made him a blanket which was well accepted for which I am very grateful.  So I suppose I should plan more afghans/blankets as they are not dependent upon size.

The one who really needs help is my grand nephew (great nephew?  my brother's daughter's son).  The parents are having a hard time and I think hats, socks etc would be appreciated. 

I am itching to cast on a Toddler T-Shirt Vest by Sam Lamb
http://samlamb.blogspot.com/2010/07/toddler-t-shirt-vest.html
as it looks fast and very utilitarian.

So That's What Happened

I just found out that silk fabric drops after it's knitted or crocheted via notes on a pattern on Knitty.   A couple of years ago, I crocheted a Swing Jacket which I love...it was fun to do etc.  However, it has grown via the droppage and needed some stitching to keep it around my shoulders.  That's what I get for using a silk yarn around the yoke.  Won't happen again when I do that pattern. 

It is nice to know that there ARE patterns out there specifically designed for silk.

Organizing

Today I managed to organize my Ravelry queue by matching some old yarn with potential projects.  I have some SW Melody ribbon yarn which I plan to make a Trellis shawl sometime soon.  Looks like an easy project.

A couple of years ago, I tried in vain to crochet  Moda Dea Dream mohair yarn and got frustrated.  That has been matched up with a knit Dream Shrug.  Nice that that name matches too. 

A Crocheting Record Set!

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/06/06/2010-06-06_record_stitched_at_citi_field.html

And two nationally famous people involved....Deborille Norville and Lily Chin except maybe Lily is only known to crocheters and knitters.

Color in Photos Online and Macs

I just read a post where a woman was surprised that since she purchased an iMac, her project photos showed in true color. Really astonished that she didn't know that. It shows the superiority of the mac in photo reproduction. Some of my projects show too dark on Windows monitors.

Finally Doing This!

Politics is getting me down..so this is my fiber therapy blogging. It's about time I did this. It will provide a place for me to blog about my adventures and misadventures in the land of fiber. Right now I do a bit of it on my pieces of Ravelry but not enough to vent my fascination and frustration with crocheting and knitting although right now more of the former. Just unraveled a second sock for the first time! OOH, it's frustrating. At least the start looks better than before. I should not have set such time constraints for myself. Rushed and messed up.

Also on the back burner, there is a crochet project from last year that I REALLY wanted to finish. However after showing it to a local person I consider an expert, she advised me to frog the shoulder and turn it around as I had the right and wrong sides mixed up.

So you see, fiber wishing ..much?