Nerdy Knitter

What's my excuse this time, I wonder...

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted!

I won't bore you with excuses (I can't quite recall the reasons for my absence, honestly).

So I'll just start fresh with the fun things on my plate:

1. I finished (but haven't blocked) my Trellis Scarf. I think it might become a future gift...not sure for whom yet.



2. I finished 2 bath mats (Absorba the Great from Mason Dixon Knitting, and a plain garter stitch rectangle)--1 was the stealth project posted earlier.
3. I finished a baby sweater (1-piece Kimono sweater from Mason Dixon Knitting) for a friend whose wife is due in just about 6 weeks.
4. I have 1 clue left to the Mystery Stole3 project--we've learned that the theme is "Swan Lake," which makes me very happy as I was once completely obsessed with all things swan. It's an asymetrical pattern in that the ends are different. I don't know how I will feel about wearing it, but I'm happy to be making it that way.
5. I've started making MaryEllen from Knitty--it's a beaded bracelet using crochet cotton thread and 000 needles. Oh, and about a million little, tiny beads. It's very pretty--I'm already toying with the idea of doing it again, but alternating bead colors to make a pattern within the beaded sections. Not sure if my little brain is up to that, though--you have to pre-string the beads. There's no way to do the cool crochet-hook method I learned in doing MS3. I'd have to have the pattern all worked out and then make sure I strung them in the right order. Hmm...I'll let that one ferment in my brain for a bit.
6. Oh, and my knitting class? The one I haven't mentioned on my blog at all? Well, I've got 7 students! That's the minimum required for the class to happen. Hooray! So now it's official: I, Nerdy Knitter, am going to teach Knitting for Novices at my local community college (it's part of their non-credit department). Hip-hip hooray! It's going to be 4 Saturdays, 2 hours each session, and it begins October 13. I'm a little nervous, but also very excited.
7. I'm in love with two patterns from MagKnits, but don't know if I have the yarn to make either one, and I'm still knitting from stash. . . for another 2 months. I want to make Lemonade & Sunny Sky (not sure if I got that name correct). I love them!
8. For some reason I'm obsessed with the idea of making a shrug, even though I have no idea if a shrug will suit me. But I want one!
9. I've been Big Mean Doggy Mommy since Thursday evening; I'm ready for a little non-dog time, which I'm getting this afternoon when I go to knit with my friend, J. (My opinion of the Beast has been colored by a barking episode at 1:30am...and his need to go to the bathroom right around the same time.)
10. I have been so lax about grocery shopping (see, it's not just the blog that I've been ignoring), that there's no bread, no eggs, no cereal, and no something-salty or something-sweet in my Nerdy House. That's not good! So, it's a trip to the fun grocery store after my knitting date.
11. Henry & I have discovered turtles hiding in the weeds 3 times since Thursday. Oh, no--once the turtle wasn't hiding--it was right under the pine tree next to our driveway. It's so weird to me to discover turtles just hanging out in various places in our yard.
12. We're conducting a science "experiment" to find out what type of critters are swimming in our rain water on the lid of our recycling containers. They swim around like tadpoles, and are TEENY. But I don't think the're frogs...we're wondering if skinks might start out that way--we know we have a skink living under the deck. So, we're watching them to see if they live long enough to show us what they're meant to be. The "experiment" would go a lot better if we could convince the Beast to stop drinking the tadpole water when we come back from playing in the yard! Ick.
13. We have a family of deer visting us every day for whatever yummy weed grows in our lawn. There are 2 fawns and at least 2 bigger ones (adolescents? parents? not sure) eating our lawn every day. The fawns are soooo little, all covered in their little spots. Oh, so cute!
14. I'm currently obsessed with Jersey cows. Why? Because we went to the animal tents at our county fair last week and I saw one up close. So beautiful! And they're dairy-only cows, so my vegetarian self wouldn't feel sorry for the cow, destined for slaughter. AND we learned that Jersey cows produce more milk-per-pound-of-body-weight than any other type of cow. And they're beautiful! The look like the cow version of a deer, if that makes any sense. Their coats are fawn-colored, they have big beautiful eyes, and they're just so sweet. So, in my next life, I'd like to have a small farm, with a Jersey cow or two, some alpacas, a few goats, and a few donkeys. That's not too much to ask, is it? I didn't think so.
15. Wednesday is Nerdy Hubby's birthday, and I don't really have a present for him. I think I'm going to give him a 4-week class in creating your own organic butterfly garden, but that's not very fun--he kind of picked it out. I'm funny that way--I like to surprise people with their gifts; it makes me sad to just give something the recipient knows he's getting. But I don't have any brilliant ideas, so I think he's just getting the class. Sigh.

Wow--lots of random thoughts running through my brain, and I didn't even know they were all in there.

Ooh--it's time to get upstairs (I'm writing in my office, of course. So cheery!). I've got to forage for lunch-making material and get the Beast outside for a run around before I leave him (hooray!) for my play date. Hooray--getting out of the house is a good thing. Here I go...

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 11:08 AM