One Geek to Craft Them All

I’m not working on much right now. Or let’s be honest, I’m not counting anything that’s on the needles I haven’t touched in a few weeks.  *Cough* Hitchhiker *cough* or put aside in mistake purgatory, Lothlorien, so with those asides. I’m actually only working on one two projects right now.

Not that you can tell as scrunched as it is on the needles but that right there is my Honey Cowl in the now discontinued Nerd Girl Yarns – For the Win Superwash in Weasley Wizard Wheezes.  I’m having fun with it and it will be a splash of Comic Book bright when I wear it.

The other project in progress. The silk hankie gloves.  I have started on the second hand, and it continues to live on the coffee table though, I have been distracted by Monday’s spinning lately so this hasn’t grown in a week or two.

Also not helping the glove grow is the fact that the hand I’m making now is much smaller than the other one, by about 8 stitches, still a good fit for me but looks a bit odd. The idea of frogging silk hankies fills me with dread so I may just live with oddly sized gloves. As they will be going under fingerless mitts, I don’t think it is too much of a worry.  Something to keep in mind for next time I guess. That pesky writing things down thing…

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Look it’s Vivian, with me about two rows into a seed stitch collar when I noticed something. Cables. Sleeve cables.

It turns out my “memorizing” of the pattern had forgotten one thing, the cables every 4 regular repeats cross out into 2 sets of cables before crossing back into a single center cable. On the body I missed one near the top. I could live without fixing it. The Sleeves though, the sleeves.

That long stretch of center cable should be broken up by two cable crosses like the ones  below.

As you can see from the back of the sweater, both the crosses and right where I stopped doing them as I focused on all the other steps in the pattern and “in pattern” wasn’t quite what it should be. The back is missing one cross as well. And like the front I could live with it but the sleeves keep getting me.

The problem is that all the decreases and changes that were happening to the sleeve for the shoulder saddle mean I will have to rip back that section. It took a couple hours to do so I could make up the time. The question then becomes do I rip back the entire shoulder saddle? Not too bad, or do I rip back to fix all the cables? And can I get this done by Saturday? Yep.  Or really Friday when we pile into the car and head to Rhinebeck?

At this point I am really deciding how much frogging and knitting I will be doing while watching the debate tonight. I can always block the sweater on Sunday right? And who needs a zipper, its been unseasonably warm…right? Opinions?

Tune in next time for As the Cable Turns 

Until then I leave you with  ”River Song” taking care of “Eleven’s”  fez at the Doctor Who photo shoot at NYCC.

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Knitting, WIP cables, Doctor Who, nycc, rhinebeck, sweater, vivian

So it’s been a week since I tasked myself with finishing Vivian. In that time I went to Maker Fair, taught adults & children, to knit, crochet, and spin.  Wandered around, met the awesome dyer, Lisa,  from Roman Hills and made off with two skeins of new colorways! A red tweed (Doctor Who inspired)  and, a black sparkle. Really someone stop letting me near the sparkle yarn.

Now the sweater is doing very well for not having worked on it for three days.

• Finish the right LEFT sleeve
•  Make the left Finish the RIGHT sleeve
• Attach sleeves to body and continue working
• Make hood
• Block
• Attach zipper

The right sleeve is attached to the body, the only reason that the  left is not currently attached is that I have to put it back on DPNs  and even I can’t do that in the ten seconds I had between  putting the stitches for the underarm on waste yarn and getting off the bus. As tonight is geek knitting I expect to get lots done tonight.

Looks like the 19th may be possible as I am seriously considering not adding a hood so the sweater seems more work friendly. Note the small ball of yarn remaining on the sweater? Well halfway through the sleeve on Friday, I decided to wind the second skein. The reds seemed different but I thought, maybe it’s the light, maybe its just because it’s a skein and not a cake, they will look more similar when they are done.

No.  I actually had the tags for both yarns.

The bands were not the same color, let alone the yarn. So I had a moment of panic, finished my Apple Martini and said I would deal with it in the morning since it was after midnight.  In the morning, I looked up the yarn, and realized Jimmy Bean’s Wool  had the  right yarn in stock. My yarn arrived on Monday, because they clearly have a yarn Tardis.

That may be a Lego Tardis that was on Display at Maker Faire as well as a team, one needs to Assemble.

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Socks are cool.  I mentioned that I was giving away a prize at Rock + Purl’s Mystery sock KAL. ANd now with 3 incomplete sets of size 2 (2.75mm) needles I have enough to cast on both socks and have a few needles to spare.  Not that I would have had enough if I tried to do 4 needles per sock. I may have a wandering DPN problem.

Clue two, came out a bit early yesterday, but I haven’t made much progress there at all, and as the socks are next to my couch there will be no knitting on them today as I work on the Spidy Blanket on the bus.

I also in between weddings, and plague I finally got around to blocking my Nerd Wars Dissertation. Apollo Shawl Mark I.

Near the end it was odd working on a project that you know you are going to change immensely, but I did want to see what the edging would look like as an edging.  I have a couple ideas and a few vague notions I have to get through, not to mention to get another yellow yarn.

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Knitting, WIP 12shawls2012, mysterykal, shawl, socks, WIP

The next square is done.

Soon to be followed by X – men and the Avengers? Only time will tell.

Now if only this was travel knitting, but straight needles and my desire to work until the last possible moment make this a bad idea and messy.  Which reminds me I have to start picking projects for my flight Tuesday. London here I come!

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I have a lot of projects in progress. And keep casting on new ones. I don’t usually have this problem but I am enjoying it, except for the weight of my purse with so much yarn in it. 1 and 1/4 gloves. Started these during the Superbowl and am plowing through the pattern.

Welig once again, I’m always surprised at how fast a knit this pattern is.  I have another set of these to work on. And a pair of gloves to go with these in gray.

Here are the Octopus mittens once again this time two at a time on circular needles. I have just gotten to the cuff work and haven’t had any time to work on it in a few days but yay progress.

The start of rock Island, I have to repeat the same 8 rows over seventy times, I think I am at repeat 14, I am sure once that is done I will move along on this shawl much more quickly. And if you know I do more than one repeat every time I picked it up.  Speaking of not picking something up.

Lothlorien. I think I did one repeat in the last two weeks. Sigh.  And poor Vivian looks like this, still. This picture is from October.  Fail.

I need to finish things, not start new ones but its hard to tell myself that, especially when I want to knit things, to wear in March. What is happening in March?

I am going to LONDON Weee! I still have no idea what I will be doing during the time but I will be there for about a week, with some work commitments when I land then free time the rest of the week.  More awesome my trip falls the same weekend as the Doctor Who convention.  Not sure if I will actually go, unless magic happens with the conversion rate or I have a surprise cash windfall but that is amazing timing. Sadly the Doctor Who Experience will be closed before I arrive.

So I need to find things to do, I went to London in 2008 so I did a lot of things then, London Eye, The Tower, Tate Modern, The National Gallery, Imperial War Museum, Platform 9 3/4,  that I likely won’t repeat. Though somehow I didn’t get to The British Museum which will be rectified. Any ideas? I’ll be poking my native friends, so I won’t totally be at loose ends but I’d like to have a list of sorts. Case in point I had a list of 20 or so attractions, grouped by location, on my first trip and would see how many I could get to on any given day.  Then repeat the next day.  It meant that I was free to as much or as little on a day and not feel crushing guilt.  And you know any secret Yarn and Fiber havens are things I would like to know.

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Knitting, WIP gloves, london, shawl, travel, WIPW

Vivian has been trucking along, and after my adventure in ripping back and knitting back up.

You can see the finished piece on the top and the K1 P1 error on the bottom half. After that fun evening  I resumed knitting an created a spreadsheet for the pattern.

And after that initial fun moment I don’t seem to have had any more problems with the pattern.

Over the weekend I  headed to  a friend’s housewarming and decided to try my hand at the SnapDragon Mits once again.

I made a hand at Dragon*Con during panels and it was much too big for me and not really in a universal color.  These done in sock weight instead of DK seem to be coming out pretty well, and I’m about 30 rows in.

Eventually I will start Christmas Knitting. Until then…well I have a Zoe from Firefly costume to put together for Halloween.

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Knitting, WIP gloves, sweater, vivian, WIP

After doing 2kcbw I wanted to find another way to keep up my posting.  It helped that this was a pretty quiet week as far as life things go, so I will start by trying a WIP Wednesday post every week. We’ll see how that goes.

Right now I have three things on the needles that I am actually traveling with and in theory working on.  The  newest one being Oak Grove by Never Not Knitting, who also has a fun podcast if you weren’t aware.

I started these gloves on Sunday to replace a pair of black and red skull and cross  bones fingerless gloves, made of acrylic, and so old they are coming apart at the seams and the elastic is non existent.

That is more or less what they looked like in the good days. I’ll try to remember to take a picture of their current state.

A gift from long before I started knitting, so at least 4 years old, they are  dear friend to someone who always has cold extremities.

So this is the start of the first mitt, I think I will make them with fingers, but we’ll see how i feel when I get to that point. I have made a longer than stated cuff, but I  have long arms, and gloves then to work on that space between wrist and coat that always exists.

I’m knitting them in Madeline Tosh Sock in Tomato. We’ll see how they turn out and hope I start poking on my other two WIPs soon.  Both Shawls are in the same state as they were  Monday and the Monday before that.  Sigh.

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Knitting, WIP gloves, WIPW

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

I have so many projects in so many places, both known and unknown.  The Dalek I dropped at some point at Dragon Con, which I like to believe is exterminating with wooly goodness somewhere.

It’s possible,  mostly I hope whoever grabbed it knew what it was and it’s not lamenting in a trash dump somewhere.

Though the project that really comes to mind I know exactly where it is. The WIP box on my desk at home.

The Marvel Scarf.  Oh the  Marvel Scarf.

When it comes to  comics, really I’m a marvel girl at heart. Even if I can argue why Batman is way better then Superman, at the end of the day Spider-man holds my heart in a way they never will.  Don’t get me started on that “Musical”.  X-men, The Hulk, Iron-Man,  the Avengers, all things I’ve been known to geek out about.

But the one thing I will always Give DC over Marvel are the Logos. I designed and knit this scarf in under a month to wear to Comic Con.  Who doesn’t know the bat symbol? Superman’s S (yes yes I know not an S, point still stands).  Wonder Woman, or Aquaman may give you pause but the theme becomes clear.

Justice League Scarf

Its battered, and has seen better days now, but I knit another version for a friend.

This scarf has been knit as potholders, pattern has been put up, it has been knit for the boyfriend by another knitter. This  scarf is going far and wide.

The Marvel scarf on the other hand  is still 2 squares, with some drawings and sketches of what will  come next but it has been in the box for the better part of a year. I stole the needles out of it at one point. Sigh.

Maybe by 3KCBW I will  have another square? A whole Scarf?

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So August seems to be vampire month. Which works for me as I get to work a lot in my two favorite colors. Its  also new craft time for me as I’ve been to AC Moore and Michael’s for the first time and picked up things to pick up my beading again and start working with polymer clay.  I’m sure once I get a work station set up those projects will be in here just as often.

This will become a Tru Blood pillow or a bag, based on the picture below,  via Dupicate stich. Despide the lovely colors my camera saw fit to   add. Its Lamb’s pride bulky in black.

But Tru Blood aren’t the only vampires on the brain I have also created this bookmark:

Based on  the cover for Eclipse.  A bag is also in progress that incorporates all 4 covers. Well not New Moon, unless I get fabric with that print for the lining. And I am off to Knit!

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Knitting, WIP bag, bookmarks, duplicate stich, vampires