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 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:
I can't believe it's already the middle of August. I haven't posted since...well since my last day at USEF, so what does that tell you about the difference in my lifestyle working there and working exclusively as a waitress?
Anyway, a lot has happened this summer, including NERD WARS! As I wrote before, I'm on Team Bite Me, which is showing impressively around the middle of the table. Instead of recounting all of my projects for the tournament (some of which are pretty pathetic), I think I'll just share the highlights. (If you're unfamiliar with the tournament and want to learn more about it, check out their website).
Tournament 2, Round 1
For the 3D challenge in the Technical Category, I made an anatomically correct heart:
It was a really quick project that turned out very well. Project page here.
For the Team Spirit challenge, I made my first ever pair of socks, entitled My Vampire Boyfriend, in honor of my vampire boyfriend, Spike:
Mmmmm....man candy.
I completed three other project for that round, so if you're really interested, you can find them here.
Tournament 2, Round 2
This round, I managed to complete all six challenges and my dissertation mid-point check in.
The Nerd Culture challenge was to show your love for another nerdom. I had just gotten a Kindle for my birthday, which I named the TARDIS (it's bigger on the inside, and it allows you to travel in time and space). With that kind of name, it needed an appropriate cover:
The Scientific challenge asked us to create an experiment and use the scientific method to report on the results. My experiment answered the age old question, which is cooler, sparkly vampires or sparkly socks? The socks won:
The last highlight I want to share didn't fit into the challenge very well (I didn't get a lot of bonus points), but the result is super cute so I want to share it anyway:
Isn't he adorable? I'm going to put him up for sale on etsy.
Tournament 2, Dissertation Mid-Point Check In
This was the halfway point for my Gwendolyn Shawl, until I decided that I wanted to do the big version after all, since I hadn't even used one ball of yarn by the halfway point. So now this more like the 1/3 check in. It's still pretty!
Alright folks, that's my link- and picture-heavy check in from the last days of summer!
I'm going through an optimistic phase. Probably because I'm actually succeeding in my waitressing job. It's amazing how much succeeding or not will affect my mood. I don't like not being good at something...it's not a bad foible to have.
That being said, I do have two days off from O'Charley's in a row, starting tonight. Additionally, this is my last full week at my temp job. I'll probably work one or two days next week. Then it'll be summer! And I'll be waitressing, and hopefully bartending, full time. So it's easy to be optimistic.
Let's see...this is a knitting blog, I should probably put some knitting stuff in here... I'm currently working on this tunic from Stefanie Japel's amazing book Fitted Knits. I'm so glad I picked that book up. In the grand scheme of my evolution as a knitter, books like Fitted Knits are a huge help in my eventual goal to become a published designer. I'm enjoying making the tunic too. I'm learning a lot about short rows and how they shape a garment, as they're used to shape the hips and neckline of the tunic. I'm also enjoying the nontraditional construction, as it's knit lengthwise instead of top to bottom or bottom-up. And what shapely girl doesn't love vertical lines?
Sarah's messenger bag (see last post) is still drying with my books inside it, and as I left my camera in my car, I couldn't take pictures again this morning. They will happen eventually though, I promise! I messed up a bit by sewing the inside pocket in before fulling, and I didn't sew it in very straight (I kind of suck at the whole construction thing...) so there's a bit of a wonky line in the back. I'm not too stressed though since that's the side that's closest to your body, you'd really have to be looking for it to notice. Overall I'm pretty proud of the bag.
I also forgot to mention that I finished a gift for my friend Nick and his wife Rachel, who are expecting another baby any day now. Nick is a huge Cincinnati Reds fan, and wanted to name their second son Votto for his favorite player. Rachel wasn't hearing it, though (no, not even for the middle name), so I made them a little baseball shirt for Caleb Patrick that says Votto on the back. This I do have pictures for:
I finished Patrick's Celtic Scarf (finally-only took three years!) and I have now perfected the methodology for executing a football scarf - or any color block knitting project, really. I also finished a very basic lace scarf that isn't much to look at but served the dual purpose of letting me play with bamboo yarn and practice lace. I did the lace on a stockinette background so I'll need to block it to make it wearable and I'm pretty lazy when it comes to blocking (I still haven't done Sami's halter).
Anyway, here are the pictures of the Celtic scarf, as well as a link to the charts on Ravelry.
