Off and Running... I Mean Knitting

I've now completed three projects and submitted to one challenge. I think I've figured out what I'm doing for Giving Geeks as well, which will not involve crafting. So onto pictures.

I made a hat in answer to the Simple Machines challenge. I used Lion Brand Tweed Stripes and the pattern Chunky Dean Street Hat. This pattern is also available in a worsted weigt version. I've used the Tweed Stripes before, its 100% acrylic. Its not horrible but I prefer some wool mixed in there. The tweed effect is accomplished from the two plys being slightly different colors. I found the yarn slightly splitty due to this feature. Its difficult to see the stitch detail in this picture, but the twists aren't cables. When knitting the Right Front Cross row, one inserts the needle into the third stitch in and knits that, leaves it on the needle and then knits the two in front still on the left needle. That's where the twist comes from and its a really nifty effect. This is where I noticed the splitting from the yarn. Its a tricky stitch though for any yarn to pull off. This was a request from one of my co-workers. She wanted a hat to match a scarf she got from me previously. I wouldn't have gotten more of this yarn otherwise. I chose the "cable" pattern since the scarf was Rambling. Rambling was my first cable project way back in the day. I don't know if I ever blogged about that...

I think the tweed color of the yarn overpowers the cables, but it was a really great pattern to start out with. Its a completely random thing. The pattern is by Susan B Anthony, she explains who to do the cable stitches then where to put them is up to you, so every scarf will be totally unique. I should make some more, it such a great concept.

Okay back to Nerd Wars. The second project I've completed is only half of a challenge. The Flexible Schedule challenge requires two projects to get full points. Its designed to be a WIP challenge, but if we don't have WIPs we can submit new projects. So I made a hat to go with the little mitts I made last tournament.

I used Lion Brand Amazing (which I personally don't think is all that amazing). That pattern is 'Lil Nightowl. Its written for DK weight but I found modifications for worsted weight. I think it came out narrow and long, I would increase the cast on number if I was to do this again in the future. The hat and the mitts went to the recipient this past Sunday.

I finished the knitting on a third project last night but I don't have pictures uploaded yet. Its the scarf for my Mom from the MadelineTosh Pashmina. It needs to be blocked before I can call it totally done. So many pictures of that will follow.

I still haven't submitted my dissertation proposal. All the modifications I plan to do are throwing me off I guess. I want to do it with the modifications, but I don't want to go through the effort of figuring it all out. I think what I'm going to do is use one of those websites and make a chart for the cabled portion since the existing chart isn't that great from what I've read. Proposals are due on the 14th which is yes, two days from now. I need to do my swatch and get my proposal in, I can worry about the modifications later. I really want to do the sweater and if I don't have the motivation of Nerd Wars it will probably never get done.

I have volunteered to be the Team Blogger this tournament. I'm still waiting for my password to access the Blog on the official NW website. Its powered by Wordpress which I'm not familiar with in the least. Lets face it, I still have no clue how to really use Blogger... I hope to do a recap of projects soon. I will say that one of our newbs has submitted several projects already, go newbs! That's it for now. Must go swatch! Happy Crafting!
-Q

YOP: Week 29

The fair was a success. My items did well and Liara got some ribbons as well. We went to the parade on Tuesday, then down to the grounds once it was over. We stopped by one local vender to grab some jewelry, grabbed some donuts from the Donut Diner then went to see how we placed. Liara entered earrings that she hand-made with clay. They did not place. She entered a beaded bracelet that got first. She also entered three of her drawings. A Pegasus, a bunny and a magical worm. The bunny and the worm received third and the Pegasus received second. The bunny is my personal favorite of all the drawings she's done. There is always a really good turn out in the drawing and photography categories, so she was up against some stiff competition. I'm really happy she received some ribbons. My items are as follows: Rotini Beanie; First Enchantress MKAL; First. Sunburst Potholder; Second. Cow and Hen Dishcloth set; ...

YOP: Week 52

As the year comes to a close, I've been looking at my queue and starting to plan out a few projects for 2025. After having to cold sheep for the majority of this past year, I'm going into next year with some guidelines. When I purchase yarn, I really want to stick to purchasing for specific patterns. I took advantage of Miss Babs annual gratitude sale and purchased specifically for two patterns. I also want to continue to knit from stash whenever possible. I have paired up yarn with patterns for several and they've been moved up in my queue. I'll have more time, so I plan to participate in several swaps in 2025. I'll be getting yarn from these so I'm going to try to stick to swaps only for "unplanned" stash acquisition. I have several carry-over projects I didn't get to this year, which seems to be a theme every year. So tentatively this is my meager list for 2025: - Butterfly--Papillon with Urth Ya...

Year of Projects: Week 53; El Fin.

I thought I'd do a quick review of my Year of Projects. I started participating around week 5 so I'm summing up my year from that point to present. I have 24 project entries on Ravelry. (If I do several dishcloths back-to-back, I usually only make one project entry, so there are more than 24 individual finished items. Direct Link to Goal Post: YOP first post I finished: -3 pairs of fingerless mitts -2 pairs of mittens -2 pairs of socks -5 hats -2 cowls -2 baby blankets -16 dishcloths -1 potholder -1 shawl I have one sock that's going to be frogged and half of another dishcloth that's sitting around because I ran out of that colorway of yarn. I do have a few other WIPs still hanging about from prior to August of last year. (We're going to keep pretending they don't exist.) I made a simple little picture "movie" of my projects, enjoy: As far as my quickly thrown together list: I completed 3/5 of my projected projects......

Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

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