One Geek to Craft Them All

Five days into the games and there is progress. One project done. More about that tomorrow.  And my  Featherweight cardigan is  doing well for something that is mostly ignored while I stare at my sports of the day, which has so far included, diving, volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, and basketball.

It  is much more purple than this photo gives justice to but I am about a dozen rows off from separating out the sleeves. Let’s see if I can finish my first sweater, and do it in 17 days.

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Knitting cardigan, Ravellenic games, sweater, WIP

The Ravellenic Games that is. I’m starting moderately large for me.

That would be 2200 yards of purple lace-weight destined to become the Featherweight Cardigan and will be my main project for the games. Other things I’d like to work on include finishing all the wip’s languishing around me.  Like that  four inches of sleeve for my Vivian I have tucked away somewhere and my poor Rock + Purl socks living on the coffee table since I cast on. I’m on the heel for one sock. I’m nearly there.

But for the winter games all I managed to do was finish the purple dalek on 000′s for a very late Christmas present. So we’ll start with the cardigan which would be a feat since it would be my first completed sweater.

Also I believe Cast-on/Opening Ceremonies  is in less than an hour, I should go find my needles and appreciate the additional joy of working from home today.

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Knitting olympics, Ravellenic games

There’s been a lot of  Spinning. But I have been knitting things, that I can share. First up is my first project with my hand spun.  My first loop batt that became about 132 yards of a mostly worsted single ply.

It is going to be a cowl designed using a stitch I think looks a bit like flames. Because the stitch is out of a giant dictionary the cowl is only worked on in my living room while watching Teen Wolf.

I also finished my Habitat in Midnight in Manhattan yesterday.

I haven’t decided if I shall keep the hat or give it away so I shall be sticking it in the  gift bag. Which is a giant tote in the craft room.

But having made one before I know that I have enough leftover yarn for something small. I have cast on for a pair of fingerless gloves, using the larger cable from the hat.

Our office if moving so I will be home the next couple days as one office is disassembled and reassembled. It will mean a longer subway ride but a much shorter bus ride, less than half an hour so I will see how that hits the knit time.

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Knitting cowl, FOs, handspun, hat

So the Tour wrapped yesterday.  I finished my Loop batt, but I’m not done spinning, as I want to ply this with the orange yarn I have been working with and that is barely started.

Though my plan is to make a hitchhiker  from the yarn as I hope to have the needed yardage. We’ll see what happens. as I expect this will be the most yardage I have ever spun though I don’t know that I will make it near 500 yards let alone over it.

I still have plenty of orange to spin.  Looking at  how much orange I have it will likely not be done by the end of the month. Though the Loop batt is my fastest complete spinning project to date.

So what did I learn/accomplish through the Tour?

- I work faster when I draft with my right hand and turn my spindle clockwise.
- With this I will tangle the project every time I pick it up due to a habit of placing the fiber on my left side without thought. (I have spinning habits?)
- True Blood is great spinning TV.
- I think I looked at 3 posts related to the tour the entire time. Alas. Let’s try to be better for the Ravellenic Games.
- I did not spin everyday. But I did spin at least an hour any day I did.
- I did love spinning this loop batt, and I want more and think I would like to turn the remaining batt into a cowl/hat on worsted weight as it is grey whites and blues.
- This makes me want a spinning wheel even more.
- This also makes me really want to get on making a project with yarn I have spun.

We’ll see where I am by this time next year.

And I started a project on my way to the Dark Knight Rises, and while waiting in line Thurs night a bit. But we were outside in the dark, so not the best place for cables, and the line was generally mad. More working Saturday while waiting in line for IMAX. Why yes I have already seen it twice. I even got a couple more inches on the Batman Scarf.

It’s another Habitat, in the Midnight In Manhattan Color way which I thought was fitting in so many ways.  I have a little more than 20 rows to finish the project and a few more rows until I start the decreases.

Spoiler Free thoughts as I understand it’s been 3 days and not everyone was quick to get to the theater. I thought TDKR was a great movie, and a good end to the trilogy, even if some things caused a raised eyebrow, it wasn’t enough to throw me out of the movie. A couple of the twists I knew but it was more from reading the comics. Though one bit of information had me going 1 + 1 =5 uh, okay Nolan & friends, we’ll let this slide. Nothing that filled me with rage, (I’m looking at you ‘Superman Returns’), and it was just as good on a second viewing when you’ve lost the tension of not knowing how things will turn out.

Anne Hathaway – Win. But I  have yet to see her in something I didn’t enjoy.
JGL – Fun and packed full of surprises
Gary Oldman – Really is there any doubt? Siriusly? (sorry, sorry)

Did anyone else who knows NYC or Chicago very well have many of moment during TDKR where they went NYC, Chicago, New York, hmm. I later found out there were parts also filmed in Pittsburgh. Either way Gotham was a fun integration of a lot of my home town, and a city I hope to visit. And like during the Avengers, I still have a twitch when landmarks like the Brooklyn, Manhattan, & Willamsburg Bridge, are damaged/destroyed though it wasn’t as bad as Grand Central Station.

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Knitting, Spinning batman, TDF, TDKR, tour de fleece, WIP

Another week down even more yarn spun.

Still working my way through the brown on Monday. I may have to invest in a small scale.  So I can have information other than “more” and “some”.

On Weds, I hit the pink/red area of the fiber for the first time and started to wonder about my orange plying plot.

Thursday/Friday (yes both days)  were nights lost to  the wind, or drinks with friends if you must. Leading to more spinning on Saturday.

Leading to the usual pile of spinning during True Blood.

Monday I decided to go for a bit of a switch and started  spinning some of the orange I was thinking of plying with the rest of my yarn. I wonder if I will have enough and if that is the best color scheme.

All is currently quiet on the knitting front though I am heading to a Midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, so I feel I must bring the Batman Scarf and try again, and yet again at the IMAX viewing I shall be doing Saturday.  I’m also drafting and writing up a couple designs, so very little to show for that right now.

I feel like I am letting my nerd warriors down a bit, but I do have a quick project I have been delaying working on for no reason so I can do that before the 28th.

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Spinning TDF, tour de fleece, yarn

It’s possible the Batman scarf is in a corner again.  For some reason the black yarn I’m using is full of breaks, and at some point during the Amazing Spider-Man I got irritated shoved it deep into my bag and ate more popcorn then I likely have in 5 years.

And back to the Tour de Fleece. I have set up shop in a corner of the living room. I spun Thursday but on missed 7/4 due to bbq adventures.

Thursday’s progress was small as I was working from home, and had plenty of work to do.

Friday even with seeing Spider-Man I got some spinning in.

Saturday I got distracted with Avengers Markers to round out the set so now I have Loki, Thor, and Hawkeye.

All up in the Etsy shop. Speaking of the Etsy shop, my Facebook page has reached 100 likes. So I have a 10% off coupon in my shop until Sunday, just use the code Facebook100 when you check out.

Sunday I worked on an old project that will get it’s own post but there are some parts that needed hours to dry and I wandered off to spin and then there was  True Blood.  I’m still working on getting it bigger on the inside.

I’ve gotten to the second of the four colors  the brown and it makes me wonder more about plying as there is much more of these colors,  then the later reds, and I don’t want a giant swatch of brown on brown. I’m wondering if I should ply it with something else. I’m leaning towards an orange or gold, I mean Mordor. There needs to be more volcanic colors.

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Spinning avengers, spiderman, stitch markers, tour de fleece

So the Tour de Fleece started up on Saturday and I completely missed.  Granted there was Magic Mike and a birthday party so I was completely justified right?  During the movie I pulled a long neglected project out of the bag of shame. According to Rav its been on the needles since 11/10 – sigh.

That’s right my sister’s Batman scarf. Maybe she’ll get it by Christmas, we’ll see. I’m making no promises, its safer that way. I don’t know why I am so adverse to the miles of ST on this particular project but I usually make it an inch or two before tossing it into the bag of shame once again.  It’s been free two days. That might be a record since I cast on.

Seriously I have no idea why this project fills me with such apathy. Batman is awesome, knitting is awesome. Knitting Batman should be doubly awesome.  Eh. To spinning!

So I started with my Loop batt, titled ring of fire.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Two days instead of 3 of spinning but progress. I don’t have any goals really set for the Tour de Fleece, though I have joined team Nerd Wars.

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Spinning batman, spinning, tour de fleece