Nerd Wars-- To Join or Not to Join?
I was (briefly) considering joining a team for Nerd Wars over on Ravelry. But then I saw all the "rules"/guidelines... and I decided that maybe I don't want to follow any rules (however go-with-the-flowy) during my crochet / knitting time. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to tie my up-coming projects into a team theme... Or how much free craft time I'll have in the next few months, given that I already have WIPs I want to finish... Or how I would even choose a team, because my geekiness is not asobsessive steadfast as it might be. What can I say? I'm a fickle, capricious nerd with varied interests. ;o)
...I don't know. I guess I might change my mind and try it, anyway. There's time to think about it.
Slacker!
Before I even consider committing to a Nerd Wars team, I probably ought to catch up on the Sampler Favorites CAL, Part 2 (or whatever it's called... I can never seem to remember). It's not like anyone's really counting on me to catch up, but I'd still like to do it. I'm behind by two or three squares, so I could easily catch up in a few days. ...And then I think it's nearly done. (Twelve squares total.) So I'll need to decide if it's big enough or if I want to make a few more squares to bump it up in size. I want to add a fancy border to it, eventually, but at the moment I'm somewhat bordered out. Because...
Citric Acid Retroghan is DONE!
I finished it earlier this week. Well, finished all but weaving in a few tails and washing it to block. I'll try to do that today or tomorrow and get it photographed. (Get your sunglasses ready for the "big reveal" post; it's bright and kooky.)
I ended up edging it with a double border (two border patterns from Edie Eckman's book of edgings), and by the end of that, I was thoroughly sick and tired of borders. Long, seemingly interminable borders...
Don't Really Need Another Neckwarmer, But...
A look through my Ravelry queue leads me to suspect that I'm developing a neckwarmer/cowl addiction. They're just such handy projects! Not too time-consuming, so you can finish them fairly quickly. No time to get bored of a pattern; no reason to be intimidated. Great way to practice new types of stitching. Perfect for smaller amounts of yarn/colorways (which I seem to have lots of). The only question is how many neckwarmers a girl can reasonably possess, and how many she can give to various family members before acknowledging the suspicion that they're not being worn... (Yes, we live in Alabama, but it still gets chilly here for a few months of the year. C'mon! Wear the darn things! ...Meh. Whatever. At least I have fun making them, and they'll be prepared in the event of an unexpected ice age.)
So, my latest new project is (who'd have guessed it, after that intro paragraph?) a neckwarmer! It's made in the crochet "crocodile stitch". It's a highly textured stitch-- an interesting change of pace from standard "flat" crochet. Though it's not difficult once you get the hang of it, this may be one of those projects that takes a couple tries to get started.
I read the instructions, worked a bit, then watched the demo videos. I found the videos helpful, but I’m not working the stitch exactly as demonstrated. Whereas she turns her work and is sometimes crocheting with the "wrong" side of the fabric facing her, all my stitches face the same side. That’s not really important, since every other row is completely hidden, anyway, but for whatever reason, that’s the way that feels most comfortable for me, so that’s how I’m doing it!
This stitch really slurps up the yarn, by the way. It's probably wise to make sure you have more yarn than you think you'll need.
Photos soon.
ETA: Here's the pattern I'm using for the neckwarmer: Crocodile Stitch.
I was (briefly) considering joining a team for Nerd Wars over on Ravelry. But then I saw all the "rules"/guidelines... and I decided that maybe I don't want to follow any rules (however go-with-the-flowy) during my crochet / knitting time. Also, I'm not sure how easy it would be to tie my up-coming projects into a team theme... Or how much free craft time I'll have in the next few months, given that I already have WIPs I want to finish... Or how I would even choose a team, because my geekiness is not as
...I don't know. I guess I might change my mind and try it, anyway. There's time to think about it.
Slacker!
Before I even consider committing to a Nerd Wars team, I probably ought to catch up on the Sampler Favorites CAL, Part 2 (or whatever it's called... I can never seem to remember). It's not like anyone's really counting on me to catch up, but I'd still like to do it. I'm behind by two or three squares, so I could easily catch up in a few days. ...And then I think it's nearly done. (Twelve squares total.) So I'll need to decide if it's big enough or if I want to make a few more squares to bump it up in size. I want to add a fancy border to it, eventually, but at the moment I'm somewhat bordered out. Because...
Citric Acid Retroghan is DONE!
I finished it earlier this week. Well, finished all but weaving in a few tails and washing it to block. I'll try to do that today or tomorrow and get it photographed. (Get your sunglasses ready for the "big reveal" post; it's bright and kooky.)
I ended up edging it with a double border (two border patterns from Edie Eckman's book of edgings), and by the end of that, I was thoroughly sick and tired of borders. Long, seemingly interminable borders...
Don't Really Need Another Neckwarmer, But...
A look through my Ravelry queue leads me to suspect that I'm developing a neckwarmer/cowl addiction. They're just such handy projects! Not too time-consuming, so you can finish them fairly quickly. No time to get bored of a pattern; no reason to be intimidated. Great way to practice new types of stitching. Perfect for smaller amounts of yarn/colorways (which I seem to have lots of). The only question is how many neckwarmers a girl can reasonably possess, and how many she can give to various family members before acknowledging the suspicion that they're not being worn... (Yes, we live in Alabama, but it still gets chilly here for a few months of the year. C'mon! Wear the darn things! ...Meh. Whatever. At least I have fun making them, and they'll be prepared in the event of an unexpected ice age.)
So, my latest new project is (who'd have guessed it, after that intro paragraph?) a neckwarmer! It's made in the crochet "crocodile stitch". It's a highly textured stitch-- an interesting change of pace from standard "flat" crochet. Though it's not difficult once you get the hang of it, this may be one of those projects that takes a couple tries to get started.
I read the instructions, worked a bit, then watched the demo videos. I found the videos helpful, but I’m not working the stitch exactly as demonstrated. Whereas she turns her work and is sometimes crocheting with the "wrong" side of the fabric facing her, all my stitches face the same side. That’s not really important, since every other row is completely hidden, anyway, but for whatever reason, that’s the way that feels most comfortable for me, so that’s how I’m doing it!
This stitch really slurps up the yarn, by the way. It's probably wise to make sure you have more yarn than you think you'll need.
Photos soon.
ETA: Here's the pattern I'm using for the neckwarmer: Crocodile Stitch.