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!
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:
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 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 super stoked for nerd wars. Like, I'm giddy about it. I'm doing a dissertation (a large, 3 month long project). If I had been more on the ball, I may have been able to order my yarn and complete my swatch before the tournament begins in about an hour, but I'm a slacker, so I have to wait for my yarn to come in the mail before I can cast on. I'm making this shawl with this yarn. I've never made a shawl before, so that'll be interesting. I also spent several hours today bookmarking patterns and projects that might prove useful during the tournament. And I bought the book Vampire Knits. Like I said, I'm giddy.
In addition to my Nerd Wars insanity today, I also worked on blocking 3 projects that will be for sale on Miss Anthropy Knits. Here are photos of my adventures in blocking:
They're all wrong-side up for the blocking process, so it's not really a pretty sight. I'll post pictures when they're all finished. In fact, I'll be listing them on Etsy once they're all finished.
I also have pictures of Sarah Bee's messenger bag, finally:
If I made one of these again, I'd probably make it taller and narrower. Not by much, but the proportions seemed a little off to me. My first adventure into fulling went well regardless! I'm proud of the finished product!
Well, that's all for now, but stay tuned for updates on Nerd Wars and Miss Anthropy Knits. 45 minutes until the tournament opens!
I only have time for a quick post, but it is of upmost importance that I discuss my team posting for Rav Nerd Wars. I applied for team Hellmouth (Buffy & Angel) with team Browncoat (Firefly/Serenity) as my back up. Clearly my loyalty to Joss Whedon runs deep. In the comment box I also listed a number of other teams I would be happy to be on (Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Battlestar Galactica, Bones, Psych...) but I don't think I listed Team Bite Me. Maybe I did. But pretty much everyone who listed Hellmouth as their #1 choice and didn't make the cut got Bite Me instead. So anyway, I was marginally bummed when I saw my placement.
Then I got to thinking, the new season of True Blood starts this summer. And they're doing my favorite story line from the books as the major theme for this upcoming season. And I'm almost as obsessed with the Southern Vampire mysteries as I am with Buffy. So maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all. I was bummed because the group category isn't as specific as I would like. I prefered Hellmouth to Bite Me in the first place because I love Joss Whedon and the characters he created and wanted to showcase my fangirldom. However, the broad category is likely to be a boon rather than a burden when I'm trying to come up with project ideas that are not only fitting for the competition, but also sellable. And not all vampires are red and black, although I have plenty of red and black yarn. So I've rationalized myself into approving of my team assignment. And you bet your ass I'm gonna knit like hell to beat the pants off of team Hellmouth. Bam.
Okay, it's Friday afternoon and I'm leaving soon, so that's all I wanted to post. Look for future vampy knittings!
