Nerdy Knitter

Do you believe in magic?

I'm sitting in my comfy, happy office, listening to our local oldies station, which is playing Shaun Cassidy's "Do You Believe In Magic." Ah, life is good!

Here's a random piece of Nerdy Trivia: Shaun Cassidy is the only person to whom I wrote a fan letter when I was a little girl. I was smitten. I never heard back from him, now that I think about it. Hmph! Anyone reading this know Shaun Cassidy? Tell him he owes me a letter!

Knitting news? You want knitting content? Sheesh!

Okay--I finished my Swallowtail Shawl and blocked it yesterday. No photos yet. It's teeny, but usable. I'm glad I increased it by 60 stitches, though--I don't think it would have covered my shoulders much in its original size. I used almost exactly one skein of Malabrigo laceweight...that's 470 yds. Now I have another skein to play with since I bought 2. Yahoo!

I've joined another knitalong--this one's a mystery like MS3. It starts 10/5. It's called the Secret of the Stole, and is a group in Yahoo. I would link to it, but I'm at home and my mac doesn't let me do hyperlinks for some reason. So, go to groups.yahoo.com and do a search for "Secret of the Stole" and then request to join. Hurry--it's closing soon!

My friend, Michelle--see sidebar for her blog link since I can't hyperlink--told me about this KAL. We both did MS3, too. Fun!

So right now, I've joined a secret theme swap (see previous post for the link to that) and the Secret of the Stole. I think that's enough for now.

I'm hoping to knit a few things for Christmas gifts this year, but I'm not sure yet what they might be. I'll need to reserve some time in my knitting schedule, though. I really like the net shopping bags I've been seeing around; I think that might be a fun gift. And I love my Newsboy Cap so much I'd like to find someone else who might wear one...I could make one in a day or two.

Phooey--the radio station switched over to some psychedelic weirdness. What happened to Shaun? Sigh.

Miss Marple (Agatha Christie character) is calling me (I've got a netflick), so this is all for now. The radio's going off, the DVD's going in, and I'm picking up the never-ending pinwheel baby blanket (gets bigger on every other round, and is on size 4 needles; what was I thinking?).

Happy weekend!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 4:12 PM 2 comments

This is a quick heads-up

I just joined this swap---registration ends next week. So if you're interested, sign up soon!

Here's the link:

http://mysteryswap.wordpress.com/

Happy Tuesday!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 1:39 PM 0 comments

photos (or, proof that UFOs don't exist)

Blocking and finishing was the name of the game last week. Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

This is my Mystery Stole #3, which has a swan wing on one end, and a lovely lacy point on the other end. The middle is a field of "flowers" (otherwise known as Cat's Paw).

Here's the vest I made for Afghans for Afghans...all it needed was 6 buttons. Done!

Here's the bracelet (MaryElla) I sent to our friend who's expecting her first baby:

Here's the Trellis Scarf from IK (Sorry the photo's not so great--I was in a rush to get it taken before I left for work):



I'm sure you're all wondering what I could possibly be doing with all of my time now that I've completed all of these things. Never fear--I've got a few projects in the works. The one I'm most obsessed with right now is the Swallowtail Shawl from IK. Here's my progress:



And last, but definitely not least, is Nerdy Mommy, in her natural state: knitting. The beast at her side is just an afterthought...he'd had a play session with his pal, Diddy, and collapsed like a doll on Nerdy "Grandma" on the couch. How cute is that?! I'm sure the knitters reading this blog are wondering what project is on Nerdy Mommy's needles, so I'll tell you--it's the Moonlight Sonata shawl from Elann. The designer has graciously given Nerdy Mommy permission to donate the shawl for fundraising at Nerdy Daddy's church.





Nerdy Parents were with us for the weekend, and we had a lovely visit. We managed to do nothing, and something, all in one weekend. Now they're flying back to their Nerdy Parental house, and I'm back at work. Sigh. At least I have my shawl to keep me company. And the photo of Nerdy Mommy's "If You Take That Photo, I'll Kill You" face. Hee hee hee.

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 3:22 PM 3 comments

UFOs sited in Virginia!

From left to right we have:

1. the WIP baby sweater for friends whose baby is due in February (I'm ahead of the game on that one!).
2. the orange/green thing is a lovely seed-stitch scarf made using the yarn I received from N. It's thick-and-thin, and looks lovely in seed stitch.
3. the little cream thing with what looks like red stripes is my MaryElla bracelet. It's all done, but the snaps need to be moved to fit my wrist a little snugger.
4. the pale purple mound is the Trellis Scarf from IK. It's all done except the blocking. I think the blocking will be really important for this project because the diamonds aren't quite showing the way they do in the magazine.
5. The darker mound is my Mystery Stole 3 project--all complete except the blocking.
6. the little cream strip is a Perdita bracelet from Knitty that I made (and blocked) ages ago, but never sewed buttons on...the buttons are on, but now it needs some more blocking.
7. the other orange/green thing is a smaller version of Calorimetry from Knitty. I gave the original to a friend before I took any photos, but I'm hoping I'll see her wearing it and get to take a photo then. My version needs the 2 ends sewn in. I don't think it really needs to be blocked.

Phew! That's the whole stack. Sadly, that stack has been sitting on my coffee table for a week or more. Wait--more, definitely, because I was away for a good portion of last week...
Where was I, you ask?

Here's a hint:



We went to sunny Florida for the long Labor Day weekend. Yahoo! Nerdy Brother-in-law and sister-in-law-in-law live in the Tampa area, and we spent a fabulous weekend with them. We went to 3 beaches, to an aquarium, to many, many restaurants, and--here's a shocker--to a yarn shop. A good time was had by all (even the Beast, who was with his grandparents, eating steak for dinner, while we were sunning ourselves in the tropics).

Speaking of the beast, here's a photo Nephew#3 took of him when the boys visited last month. I love it because Henry looks so relaxed and happy. Isn't he just adorable? So darn cute!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 12:14 PM 2 comments