Nerdy Knitter

Merry Christmas!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 7:16 AM 3 comments

All kinds of stuff

First, I was going to post a big, picture-laden tour of the mayhem that is our bathroom demolition, but now that I'm on vacation (I'll repeat: I'm on VACATION), I don't have high-speed internet, so no photos for today...

To sum it up--Nerdy Hubby started a small(ish) bathroom fix-up job that uncovered more trouble, which we thought might mean tearing down whole walls, and replacing whole floors, but after a consultation with fix-up guys, we've learned it's nowhere near as bad as we thought. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief on that one. Ready? One. Two. Three...breathe. Aaah.

Let's see...on the knitting front, I've been having a grand time doing my sample knitting project. Finished the seaming last night, and blocked it this morning. I had serious gauge issues--I went down 2 needle sizes, and still barely got gauge. I actually had to moosh the side together to pretend it's smaller than it is (by about .5"). But it's the right length, and it looks lovely. The yarn changed quite a bit when I blocked it, which was interesting to see.

That very lesson should inform my next project, for which I knit a swatch, but did not wash said swatch...I'm living dangerously, I know.

So what is my next project, you ask? Here it is: http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=95&d_id=33&lang=en (Sorry I can't hyperlink with my Mac...its weird). I bought 2 different federal blue yarns from elann (elann.com)--1 cotton and 1 alpaca. They look nice when knit together, although I was a bit nervous when I saw them side by side. Not to worry--it's looking very nice. I'm getting a loose gauge with the recommended needles. I'm almost ready for the armhold shaping on the left front, but it looks quite small...I'm going to measure what I have and compare it to the schematic before I do anything else.

More knitting fun--my friends C & J came over for a knitting afternoon on Friday. What fun! We swapped presents, which is always fun. I don't have photos, but trust me when I say I got cute stuff--a frame decorated with snowflakes for the time when I get "the" Christmas photo of the Beast (I've been unsuccessful at getting him to sit still), a Lab ornament for the tree, and itty-bitty knit mittens for the tree. Oh, and a spinning gadget whose name I've forgotten...distaff? It has jingle bells, and is pink/green. Very cool.

And yesterday was a fun afternoon at my other knitting friend, E's house--we went for a nice long walk in the woods near her house & had yummy homemade squash soup & chatted about this and that. Very nice way to spend my vacation!

The rest of today is dedicated to helping Nerdy Fixer-upper Hubby when I can, and to knitting on my new project. What a life!

I promised one of our volunteer consultants that I'd knit a pair of socks to thank him for his help--he's in a Civil War reenactment group, so they'll need to be gray wool...I searched the web and found a Virginia-based organization that provides the text from an authentic pattern from 1865. Pretty cool. Sadly, the socks are knit on fingering weight wool, and are 13" tall. Gulp. I hope he won't need them too soon.

So that's all of the fun stuff happening here in ol' Virginia.

I don't think my vacation will really sink in until tomorrow when I get to stay home instead of trekking to work. Yahoo!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 1:48 PM 1 comments

Pay It Forward

I saw this over at Arts & Quilts, and think I was one of the first 3 to sign up, so I'm posting about it here.

This is how it works:

Be one of the first three bloggers to leave a comment requesting to join my part of the Pay It Forward, and you will receive a handmade gift (might be knit, might not be) from me at some point in the next 365 days. That is my promise to you. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by promising to do the same on your blog. (If you're a non-blogger who wants to play, let me know and we'll work something out.)

Doesn't this sound like fun? I love this idea!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 7:06 PM 1 comments

Look what I did!

Rubik Cube Generator

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 6:12 PM 2 comments

Sharing birthdays is fun

My birthday was Saturday (yahoo!), and our friends' little guy's 1st birthday was Sunday, so we went to Maryland to see the birthday boy and his family. Before we left, Nerdy Hubby & I celebrated my birthday a day early by going out to the very same restaurant we go to every Friday night. Sigh. We decided it was our favorite for a reason, and that's where we wanted to go, so we went. Not very glamorous, but oh so yummy.

Plus, we went out in Baltimore with our friends & had a fancier (Indian) dinner on Saturday. So I got the best of both worlds, really.

Here's a sample of my birthday loot:



I got flowers and tickets to see "White Christmas" on the big screen, complete with a dinner date and a little shopping, from Nerdy Hubby. A beautiful pottery bowl & cool-as-heck bamboo sewing needles from my friend J and her hubby. And a fizzy bath "bomb" to make me smell good. And money. And cards. And flowers...and lots of emails & phone calls. I'm a lucky nerd!

Meanwhile, part of my birthday wish was to go to see our friends & their family, which we did.

I had a chance to do some photography sessions with knitted items on display. Here's the Wonderful Wallaby I made last year, now finally the right size for its recipient:



And here's the one I just made, for the birthday boy:


It was nice to see something I made fit for once--the sleeves are a tad long, but other than that, it fits very nicely. Phew!

And then, on a different (knitting) note, here's the hat I finished last week. It's from the 2007 Holiday edition of Interweave Knits. The pattern is something like Koolhauss, but I forget the exact spelling. The yarn is Kid Hollow Farms sock yarn in "Blue Black." I love the colors!

Now I'm working on my sample/test knitting project for Lorna's Laces. I'll post photos when I can.

Happy early December, everyone. Brrr!

posted by Nerdy Knitter @ 2:37 PM 2 comments