Team BROWNCOAT!

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!

Get ready for LOTS of pictures

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:

Giant stash...

First project: Froot Loop Gloves

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

Inara Serra

or Ginny Weasley

Project Two: Alpaca Sox Legwarmers

Three characters:

Martha Jones

River Tam

or Neville Longbottom (going a completely different direction with this one, but I couldn't exclude Neville)

Project number three! Ginkgo Shoulderette Shawl

Which will represent:

Rose Tyler

Kaylee Frye

or Luna Lovegood

Righto. Moving right along to project number four...Coupling

For:

River Song

Yosaffbridge

Ron Weasley

And the last project: Hourglass

Who will be:

Doctor Donna (Noble)

or Zoe

or Hermione Granger

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.

Owlie Socks

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.

Summer's over?!?

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!

No Longer Temping, More Knitting, and the beginning of Nerd Wars

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!