Today, April 23 is Impossible Astronaut Day, when Whovians will go forth into the world with Silence tally marks on their arms just to freak people out.
In this spirit of this, ahem, celebration, Team TARDIS will congregate in the Team TARDIS chat room to watch our final 50th Anniversary Watchalong episode, The Doctor's Wife.
Here's how it works
Up to this point everyone who reported watching one of our Watchalong episodes has received a raffle number; showing up for the chat room party will earn you another raffle number for our mega drawing. On April 23, 2013, at 7pm NW time (EST) we will start watching The Doctor's Wife. About that time, I'll start randomly drawing numbers for our prizes! All you have to do is show up!
Hey all, I'm planning to continue blogging here, but my focus will shift a bit from crafting to more whatever-I'm-thinking-right-now-asshat. The knitting blog will continue over at Miss Anthropy Knits for the time being. The first post over there is about my etsy store going live, so be sure to check it out!
I finished my first shawl of 2012! Most of my previous shawls have been leafy, flowery, but this one is very geometric. Plus, I've been dying to use this 100% alpaca yarn I picked up from a Ravelry friend who discovered she was allergic. The yarn is gorgeous, and the pattern is even more so, if possible. These pictures don't do it justice; I'll have to wait til it's done blocking to get decent photos. But here are my humble offerings:
I really enjoyed making this pattern. Knitty is so good about making patterns easy to understand. These charts are very straightforward and moved very quickly. I'd love to make this pattern again (once I get through all the other patterns I want to make!) with a lace- or fingering-weight yarn.
I've started working on shawl #2, this time in a gorgeous colorway of Malabrigo Lace. The pattern is Moonlight Sonata, and it's again a departure from my previous style shawls - this time I'm essentially making polka dots! It's pretty awesome. This is (theoretically) what it should look like at the end:
So far, I'm kind of obsessed with this pattern. It's repeated over only 12 rows, but it looks soooo awesome!
So I've decided (after much urging from my boyfriend) not to partake in T4 of Nerd Wars. I get pretty intense about it every time, so I understand why he wants me to lay off. I'm still competing as a Ninja Warrior, but I'm going to concentrate on making things to sell and things that I actually want to make. However, last year, after participating in two tournaments, I completed 49 projects over the course of the year. Not too shabby :)
Since I decided to knit what I want to knit, I ended up knitting a scarf and hat set that I didn't want to make for a co-worker who offered me monetary incentive. It turned out really pretty, but it was a super pain to make.
I did start one project that I'm pretty pleased with: this Semi-Precious Shawl. In that vein, my goal is is to complete 12 shawls in 2012. Not too difficult or time consuming I think. This is what it'll look like when it's finished (in another couple days), only in shades of blue:
I'll of course take requests for specific projects to sell, but this year's gonna be about queue and stash busting.
Many computer companies try to make things easier for their users, but actually end up making things epically complicated. My HP has this other operating system called Splashtop that boots before Windows. For the most part, it didn't bother me, but it adds several seconds to my boot time and I decided I wanted to try to turn it off. I googled it and all I could find was stuff about editing my BIOS, which makes me really nervous, so I decided to try to figure it out myself.
And I did. Cuz I'm awesome.
All it took was getting into Splashtop's general settings, resetting it back to factory defaults, which causes the computer to reboot, then when I click the button to start Windows, the option to turn Splashtop off popped up. Yup, I am a genius. It's still there, but I don't have to look at it. And if I ever decide I want it back, it's still there for me to dredge up again.
So I've accomplished a lot in the last couple of days. Knitting-wise, anyway.
Since I finished the legwarmers, I blocked the Pembroke (as always, yardstick for scale):
...I finished my third of five dissertation projects (my mid-point for the end of the month check-in):
Note how this shawlette takes up considerably less space than the gigantamous one above it. Two blocks barely covered vs. three above. Still, very pretty :)
I also made two blanket squares for our team unity project. One of our team members is assembling the squares into a blanket to donate to a veterans' charity. Anyway, the pictures are really dark because the yarn is a maroonish brown and it's kinda hard to see the patterns. We'll give it a go anyway:
This one's supposed to look like flames, and the one below is a repeating leaf pattern.
Finally, I cast on a basic pair of toe-up, two-at-a-time socks for my Nerd Culture crossover challenge. I bought some Knit Picks Felici in the colorway Time Traveler and I'm making these simple socks to show the colors inspired by the scarf Tom Baker wore as his tenure as the fourth Doctor. Even though these socks are bare-bones, I think the self striping and the colorway's inspiration will make them my favorite (and most wearable) socks to date. Granted, that's not saying much since I've only ever made two pairs previously.
Overall, Nerd Wars has been a great motivator for me. I love being on the Browncoats team. Not only is it nice to be doing as well as we are in the game (second place as of right now!) but the sheer enthusiasm of all my teammates for the game, for each other, for what the show means to so many people; it's really amazing. Also, for the crossover challenge this round, we're all exploring nerdoms that are unfamiliar, and it's quite extraordinary to hear from people who are just discovering the show and loving it.
I could pontificate for hours on why Firefly means so much to me, and what it means to so many people, but I think I've probably been sappy enough for now. Suffice it to say, this new-re-found passion for fiber arts of mine has only been fueled by this silly game I love so much and encouraged by all the people I've met while doing it. I haven't been passionate about anything, really, since I graduated college jaded about academia and my area of study. This creative outlet has been an incredible boon for me, in filling my days and giving me purpose, to create things that can be appreciated by like-minded (dare I say?) artists. And the "deadlines" of this game help set structure for my left brain, making sure I get it all done in a timely fashion.
Phew, that was long winded. For that, I offer you David Tennant:
So my team for Nerd Wars is in second place after the first round of play, trailing by only 16 points (which is pretty durn close). I'm super stoked.
Also, I finished my second of five projects for my dissertation (see previous post here for more info about my dissertation). I just have to finish one more by the end of the month (the pink shawl one) for my mid-way point. It's super exciting to be on a team that's doing so well!
Anyway, here's pics of my most recently finished projects (pop over to ravlery for pics from October...that stuff was sooo last month)
Looks like I'm a big damn hero for this nerdwars tournament. Update to come soon for my dissertation...but for now I have to get ready for work. Grr, arg!
I think the reason for my seriously lacking blogging skills is that my life is incredibly boring. Let's talk about the upcoming Nerd Wars Tournament.
I put in for Team TARDIS, Team Browncoats and Dumbledore's Army, but I'm on a huge Dr. Who kick right now, including the original series, so I'm really hoping to get that one. Regardless, I planned out my dissertation for all 3 teams, and I've already swatched. I'm just waiting until tomorrow to see which one I'm on before I write my proposal. I had a bag full of Knit Picks Stroll that I wanted to stash bust, so I'm planning 5 projects. I tailored my project choices so I could use them for any of my three team choices. And presenting:
So this project will represent one of three characters. I'm not going to go in depth about my reasoning, a) because I haven't really planned it all out yet and b) because I'm not going to work three times as hard as necessary. I'll find out what team I'm on tomorrow. I'm being zen, cool, not being a hugo nerd.
Amy Pond
Also, if I get on the Harry Potter team, of course I'll have to do a project for Harry, but since it's the only contingency for which I'd need a sixth project, I haven't swatched it.
Alright, that's the plan, now I just need to find out what team, write out my justifications and get started on the knitting! Super excited (if you can't tell).
On another note, I took this really awesome nerd test, which makes me pretty durn happy. I'm a highly dorky high nerd.
