Nerdy Knitter

Photos, photos, everywhere

This is what happens when I don't blog regularly: photo mayhem! We'll begin with knitting content (gasp!) because I have some, and it's not the cheating kind where I show already completed things to fill in gaps. This is a recently finished object and secret pal loot.

First, let me announce that I finished Nephew#2's 3rd birthday present in the car on the way to visit the family. Thank goodness it was a 2-hour drive, or I wouldn't have been completely finished. Talk about cutting things close!

What did I make, you ask? Well, I made a backpack from New Knits on the Block, that's what. It was fun to do because I'd never done that shadow knitting technique before. The pattern was a bit of a challenge, with a few teeny typos that I found frustrating, but they didn't really change the way the pattern worked. It was a case of needing a copyeditor, more than the designer making mistakes.

I kept stopping as I knit to check out the cool way the pattern was appearing. I think Nephew#2 is too young to figure out the magic face hidden in his bag, but his older brother enjoyed being in on the secret.

It was a toss-up whether Nephew#2 would ever get his bag back from his brother, actually, so now I know what Nephew#1 needs for Christmas!

Here's the bag:



And here's the only photo I have that shows the way the face shows up:



I wish I could have gotten a better shot of it, but I'm not a professional photographer by any means. You'll have to use your imagination to see the rest of it appear out of the stripes.

The only bad thing about making the bag was the cotton yarn; my index finger was really sore and my wrists didn't feel so good, either.

So what am I working on now?

Good question! I haven't returned to my ballet neck cardigan yet because I'm working (ahead of schedule, I might add) on my gift for my One Skein Secret Pal, which isn't "due" until August, but I needed a small project to work on in the car on the way back from visiting the Nerdy In-Laws. I can't tell you what it is, but I can tell you that I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out. I should be done in the next day or two. Yahoo!

I'm using wool purchased on our honeymoon in Nova Scotia, and it's a little scratchy. I'm thinking of doing one round in the washing machine to soften it up and to felt a teeny bit. I just hope it doesn't felt too well...

Speaking of my One Skein Secret Pal participation...my secret pal is so cool! I call her the Mysterious Ms. M because she told me her first name starts with 'M' and is so unusual that she wouldn't be a secret pal any more if she told me more than that. Mysterious, no? And she's also very talented--she made a gorgeous handspun skein just for me, complete with its own label! I couldn't get a really good photo of the colors, but this is the best of the lot:



The colors aren't as dark as they appear--they're just right. Very autumnal, very Nerdy Knitter. Aah, I love it! I hope my pal is ready today so she can read my gushing appreciation for my new skein!

And now on to the non-knitting photos...as I mentioned, we were visiting Nerdy In-Laws this past weekend, partially because Nephew#2 turned 3, and partially because Nephew#3 would be 3 months old (it's today, actually). I didn't take a ton of photos, but I took one cutie one of Nerdy Hubby with Nephew#3:



(You won't be able to click on it and see anything because I think I have viewership restricted to family and friends. So unless you're family or friend, you'll have to be satisfied with the little photo you see here.)

We had a very nice weekend, playing with all 3 nephews, letting the nephews terrorize the pooch, and enjoying the fact that Henry actually behaved himself in the car. . . both ways!

Don't believe me? Here's proof:



He struggled at first, but then settled down quite nicely. I was so proud of our boy! And, as if riding in the car wasn't enough, he went for a walk in a "foreign" neighborhood, and behaved fairly well. He's making major strides here, people!

So that's the short update on my knitting and our outings. Stay tuned...I won't be gone so long next time, honest.

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 3:03 PM