Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

     Round One, and subsequently October is now over.  I've made some changes in my personal life which has limited my knitting time.  Sadly I only completed two and a half challenges.  So knitting news first.      As I stated in my previous post, October is the anniversary of Nerd Wars for me.  It has involuntarily become a tradition for me to celebrate this fact by making a pot holder each October.  It was my first ever submission to Nerd Wars, two years ago and these crazy pot holders keep popping up.  So my first project this round was a pot holder: I used left over cotton scraps from dishcloths.  I have a little basket I put these leftovers in, once it gets full, I make one of these pot holders.  The pattern is: Double Thick Potholder.   I've used the pattern many times.  Its very simple and make a very thick and durable pot holder.  I submitted this one to the Zoo challenge.  The orange and blue looked like the markings that some lizards have.       The next projec

     I find it interesting how my life revolves around Nerd Wars.  For us Nerd Warriors, September is a break month between tourneys.  Its a relaxing, no points, fun times month.  We re-group and re-power when the rest of the world is getting off of summer vacation routines and getting those kiddos back to school.  Collage too goes back in session at the end of August, so they're at full swing come September.  Me, I'm getting ready for the next tourney, planning, catching up and putting my house back together.  Once the tourney starts its all knitting all the time.  Dishes, laundry, vacuuming, pashaw!  Points, darn it all, I need those points.  I've never been the competitive type, I never played sports or anything.  I did do two academic type things in high school but I've never been the team oriented person.  'Til I found Nerd Wars.  Stargate Command is most certainly not about the points, or the number of projects, or Dwarfing the Nebula.  We are all about each o

     So that's it for me.  I just turned in my last project, Tournament 8 is done.  I'm even four days early.  That probably means I'm forgetting something important.  So what was my last project?  It was Snappy Hat.   The Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride made it go quick.  I finished it today in one sitting.  Finally, after nine or so years of living in this apartment, we got lawn chairs for the balcony.  I spent my afternoon out there with the cats.  It was the perfect temperature and the balcony is high enough off the ground that the cats stay put.  Well almost, Mongo jumped down once, but he didn't really like where he ended up. Mongo enjoying all the new smells. Jack chilling under the air conditioner.       Now that I'm done with Nerd Wars knitting, I should be working on that list of things I should get done for other people.  I know me though, too well, and I'm probably going to start a little pocket bag thing that I just queued the other day.  I

     I've been on vacation this past week.  I haven't gotten much done, which was the point of this vacation.  My Husband, myself and my in-laws went to the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park on Monday.  I didn't take any pictures 'til we got to the farm animals.  The Thompson Park Zoo only keeps animals that are now or were historically native to the Northern New York area, so the zoo is limited on animals for the most part.  I've been there before, many years ago and it hasn't changed much.  It was still fun and I got to meet a very friendly goat and three alpacas. She/he very much enjoyed being scratched behind the ear. The Alpacas had just been fed, so they ignored me, but it was great to see them up close.  I was tempted to ask what is done with the fiber after they shear them.  I also thought it would have been nice to have demonstrators there spinning or at least a mention that these were yarn producing animals.  There is a petting zoo Old MacDonal

     There it is.  The pattern is Brain Wave .  I'm using Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi.  Its a fingering weight yarn.  This is the only yarn left in the Mochi line that I hadnt used yet.  Its a single, lightly spun Merino.  Its very very soft, but tends to show wear and tear pretty fast.  Despite that its still one of my favorite yarns.  The softness and warmth just cant be beat, and the colors...oh lovely!  So as I stated in the title I'm doing this one two handed, as in one strand in the left hand one in the right, so I just switch hands when I need to switch colors.  Its faster and the yarns dont get tangled.  It took me a little bit to get comfortable.  I've tried knitted contental a couple times but it felt funny not doing much with my right hand.  Since I'm knitting with both hands there's yarn in my right hand, so switching over to my left feels "right", for whatever reason it all just clicked for me and I'm finding it very addicting.  Th

     This summer has absolutely flown by.  I have no idea where the month of July went!  So, I left you with updates on my projects for May and June and an update on my transportation dilemma.  That has been resolved successfully.  Let me re-hash quickly.  My husband and I bought a new vehicle, a 2013 Toyota FJ Cruiser.  We traded in one of our 2002 Pontiacs and kept the other 2002 Pontiac.  The day after we brought the FJ home the car we decided to keep died on us.  So we muddled through with the one vehicle for a couple weeks and three weeks and one day later this is what I brought home: A 2013 Toyota Corolla S Special Edition.  The color is "Hot Lava".  That's the FJ beside it.  So we should be set on cars for a least a decade now, in theory.        There was a massive heat wave in July, so I didn't do much in the line of complex knitting in that time.  I did complete a few dishcloths for the round two challenges.    I had been wanting to get my stash back up t

     I just looked through my last update, wow.  I've done a few things on both the knitting and dyeing front.  So I'll attempt to do this in cronological order.       Back in May I was working on a dishcloth and dish towel set for my MIL.  I finished all the knitting on those before Nerd Wars started in June.  I have a picture of the dish towel.  I took the picture before I wove in the ends.  I just did that today, now I just neen to attach a button and I have to locate my sewing needle for that.  (The heads on tapestry needles are too big to fit through button holes, I have this problem every time I need to put a button on something...)  The towel is huge, but its a towel so I think thats a good thing.  The matching dishcloths are also large, so I think in the long run it will work out okay.  The pattern is:  Mitered Ballband Hanging Towel .  The top portion is knit with two strands of yarn held together so its very thick and strong.  I really like the effect of holding the

I just realized its been exactly a month since I last posted.  I didnt drop off the face of the Earth or anything, I've just been busy.  A new post will be forthcoming.  I need to take pictures of some things.  Today is June 22.  Its been exactly 10 years since my graduation from High School.  I'm feeling old today. 

     Alright lets cut right to the chase.  I've been bitten by the yarn dyeing bug.  He's big and ugly and leaves a really itchy welt that only can be scratched by dyeing some more yarn. I don't have pictures from yesterdays excursion, since one its just now dry and two it looks almost exactly like another skein I just did.  More on why that is later.  This is what I dyed on my day off last week: The two orange skeins and the purple skein are new.  The orange and purple spotty skein is that muddy one, now touched up.  I used straight grape to make some purple spots, the blue is a perk of the heating process.  It is much more in tune with the May KAL:  Spots.  That skein was handpainted.  The orange and purple skeins are kettle dyed.  Kettle dyeing is another dyeing technique.  The dye and the heat are applied at the same time.  In my case it all happened in a pot on the stove.  Kettle dyeing can also be done with a crock pot.  I did the purple one first.  It is a mixture

     Okay, I've been meaning to post for a week or three, lets see what I've been up to.  Tournament 7 ended in April so I'll start with the rest of my projects.  I finished the fingerless mitts: The pattern is Peridot .   I used Jack as my tie in since he states on numerous occasions that peridot is his favorite color.  Peridot is also the birthstone for August which is what originally drew to this pattern.  (My birthday is in August.)  The pattern in the cuff and fingers is berry stitch.  It ends up looking very pretty, its a fiddly stitch though.  You increase and decrease every other stitch and then purl in between those rows so its actually very open.  The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Cool Wool, its a DK weight 50/50 cotton wool blend.  The colorway is Peridot too.  These turned out snug on me and I have small hands.  If I do them again, and I probably will since I still have half the skein left over, I'm going to add at least a pattern repeat.  The gauge is already