120 projects and counting

Yup, I have 120 FINISHED projects. Seriously.
And I did knit 4 kilometers of yarn this year only. Nerd wars helped that in a big ways.
It helps me feel better about my stash :) But I do plan to stick to the plan :) of not buying more yarn except for presents till Stitches West... February next year.

Nerd Wars again - Tournnament 6 is starting on October 1st and I am in Team Rangers! Again :) And I am excited!Again :) I sound like a Vir Cotto :) But I realized that in last tournament I missed my Rangers, so I started to watch B5 again... and got to that famous episode when Technomages are leaving and Drazi are fighting, hence ta-da:
 Here's my new Ravatar:

Off to think about dissertation - should I do Delenn socks or something for my DS...

Icelandic sweater

On vimeo - such a haunting song and cool sweater on the kid:

http://vimeo.com/27307766

and Iceland is so beautiful!

Nerd Wars

 It should be Geek Wars, but what can I do - I signed up anyways. :)

 What is Nerd Wars? It's a 3 month long crafting tournament, in knitting, crocheting, weaving and spinning on Ravelry. You sign up for a team (Team Rangers here! - from Babylon 5) and each team earns points by making something that will answer to one of 6 monthly challenges.You don't have to do all 6, or any, it's for fun and enjoyment. If you can tie your project with your team, you get extra points.
 On top of that, you can opt to do dissertation - 3 month long project that will bring lots of points if finished, and even half finished half the points...
  Here's the list of categories:
 >

Category Descriptions
The samples listed below with each of the categories are for demonstrative purposes only, to give a general idea of the type of challenges that may be issued. Actual challenges will be more detailed.
Giving Geeks
This category focuses on challenges that benefit charities, community-building, and other local outreach. This is the only challenge category that will not necessarily require a crafting project.
Past Challenges:

• Donate mittens to a mitten tree, donation center, or charity
• Finish a WIP for someone who no longer can, through age, injury, etc.
• Help the victims of the Japanese earthquake and Pacific tsunami through donation of money, FOs, or other means
• Donate a new baby item to a local organization that distributes such items to families
• Do something for an animal to make that animal’s life better
• Donate something that will bring a bit of comfort (and hopefully joy) to an older person or to a nursing home, assisted living home, similar facility or an organization local to you that accepts and distributes such items to the residents of such facilities

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Scientific
This category focuses on challenges of scientific knowledge.
Past Challenges:

• Craft something inspired by or resembling a nebula
• Craft something inspired by capillary action
• Craft something inspired by the environment and creatures of the deep sea
• Craft something inspired by lightening or electricity
• Utilize the Scientific Method to explore your craft
• Create something that incorporates waves as a mathematical model or a natural phenomenon

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Nerd Culture
This category focuses on challenges of demonstration of the culture of geekiness - what it is to be a nerd, and the shared experiences of those who consider themselves dorks.
Past Challenges:

• Craft something that would be appropriate for a convention
• Let your nerd flag fly proudly by crafting in public or yarnbombing a public place
• Craft something related to books, the calling card of the nerd.
• Craft something inspired by your favorite YouTube video.
• Craft something representing a Nerd Wars team other than your own.
• Craft something reminiscent of “the good old days” of your fandom.

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Intellectual
This category focuses on challenges of demonstration of intellectual abilities. This is where cleverness shines.
Past Challenges:

• Complete a project utilizing prime numbers
• Inspired by an Anglo-Saxon riddle, craft a literal or metaphoric shield
• Craft something inspired by or utilizing pi
• Craft something which illustrates or is inspired by a proverb or adage
• Craft something which illustrates or is inspired by a myth
• Finish your WIPs

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Technical
This category focuses on challenges of technical ability. Show off your mad skillz.
Past Challenges:

• Inspired by ionic bonding, craft something using two different fibers
• Complete a project that uses more than one craft
• Using the same pattern, create something at two different scales of size
• Craft a three dimensional item
• Seek out and find new materials to use as yarn
• Craft a project which exhibits a technique you feel is your guilty pleasure

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Team Spirit
This category focuses on challenges of showing one’s devotion to their team’s geekiness.
Past Challenges:

• Craft a valentine for a character in your nerddom
• Craft a creature from your nerddom
• Inspired by fools and tricksters in your nerddom, finish your WIPs
• Demonstrate what you love about your geekery
• Craft an item for or inspired by a villain
• Craft an item inspired by a tool or invention

Sewn Bind Off

 Good video tutorial for sewn bind off - you get stretchy bind off for socks, and it's really easy! I am starting to understand why people like Elizabeth Zimmerman so much.

Sewn Bind Off by Knitpurlhunter

First Cowl

 This project was a balm to the wounds after those 4 frogs - it was fast, easy and looks awesome. I think I need one for me now :) It's done in Malabrigo Chunky that's not as soft as worsted but still very very soft and smooth. It doesn't bother my sensitive skin on the neck at all.

Foggy froggy days

  UGH!
  It's been a rough couple of weeks :( On the top of everything it's cold and foggy most of the time, in the best of San Francisco cold summer tradition and I had to frog 4 projects!
  First one is my attempt to make Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) hat for uncle. He is huge fan of that iconic Belgrade soccer club and I wanted to make vertical red and white stripes hat for him (star is too much for my abilities right now anyways). So I used Boy Hat pattern and did 4 knit in red, 4 purls in white.
  Well... first of all, it turned out too small, despite my best efforts to do do fair isle very loosely. It fits me but not uncle for sure :( And second, white stripes (purled) looks thinner and stand out (nature of the beast for colorwork as I've learned). And last, it's so hard to unravel this hat, I did such a good job of weaving ends that I am still struggling with it! Plus, I've just learned that to unravel the hat, you have to start from the top, if you knit from bottom up, you can't frog it from the bottom!!! Ask me how I know :(

   Then, I started with longies for DS and was 3/4 done when I checked for the size and realized that I've forgot to change needle size from 5 to 7 so longies are too narrow! I had to go all the way to the waistband :(

Then I was trying to understand how to do short rows heel on socks without making holes and turned out that my socks are way way too loose knitted and will be uncomfortable to wear, so I had to frog them too... I used  needles size 1 (2.5mm) and yarn is very light fingering, so I am planning to do them again with size 0.

 And the last one was the least painful , just 6 rows of ribbing. I am trying to do Pembroke Vest and pattern is not in the round, so I am still on the beginning, trying to figure out how to convert flat pattern to the one in the round...