Love your nerd

Nerd, geek, dork, and weirdo are all affectionate terms in my house. They connote someone that thinks about a thing and loves it passionately. (Wil Wheaton's blog post and open letter about being nerd are simply fabulous!) Everyone is passionate about something in different ways. Lucky for me many friends share some passions and are totally stoked about others - such that they are inspiring.

My most recent inspiration comes from a friend's and my own past experiences with chemistry. (Not quite as wide spread a passion as doctor who, I know!) I'm quite fond of the seamless yoke sweater, and have concocted a way to make another sweater with a new chart - a chart based on mass spectrometer readings! (Or the element read out that becomes a line graph not lines in a bar chart format.) Something like this, but not rare earth minerals.

The yoke portion will be repeating charts of the line graphs representing a chemical compound. My current plan is to use iron oxide, rust. Those charts seem to be quite varied, visually appealing, and meaningful to the recipient.

Yes, this is a man's sweater. And my current challenge is to add a zipper to the front instead of doing buttons. I think a zipper is totally doable. It is more enjoyable to start a new project when there is some challenge, but I'm not quite ready for steeks, they still terrify me.

In other nerdy news I would like to share a photograph from a BBQ this weekend where a friend kindly brought her lawn sized version of Settlers of Catan. I had tried to imagine what it be like to play on a giant board, and now I'm planning more giant versions of games. Imagine if candy land was giant and there were real fudge pits?!?

That's all for now.

Be excellent to each other!

 

Into the wardrobe

The weather has begun the slow shift from warm evenings and ample sunshine to soft golden rays and a cool breeze that sends me running to the closet for a shawl. Oh, fall. I'm already rummaging in my closet for the bin of sweaters and other warm articles. I spent some time last weekend playing with the shawls and thinking of how to use the new found space (vacant as the sweaters were unpacked). I theorize that the space will now be used to store Christmas gifts.

After going through all my shawls this week, selecting favorites, and wearing them again I realized that I have made over two dozen shawls. To commemorate I put together a collage.

Some I've kept, others have been given as gifts. I am quite pleased that there is a rainbow of colors.

Circling back to above, Christmas gifts. It's the season to plot, plan, and buy the yarns. There are a few projects lined up for this festival season. A sweater, maybe a shawl/hat and another hat. Lucky for me one project is done! A hat! But as its a Christmas gift, even if the recipient doesn't read this blog, I can't post pictures yet. Darn. Because it is so awesome!

Let me chat about it, even if I can't post full pictures.

I started designing the hat last year as an entry in the WWMDFK, What Would Madame DeFarge Knit, online publication. They do nerdy/literature themed project collections. And they are fabulous! A key component to all projects submitted is the ability to customize or enhance the pattern in some way as it is created, blocked or dyed. I remember a project that was knit in natural 'un-dyed' yarn and dyed after it was finished.

I devised a pattern with modular charts. These charts could then be used in a variety of projects and yarn weights. The charts themselves would only be about 10 wide x 20 stitches high. Being the same size would mean you could pick any number of the charts to use in your project and be sure that the finished dimensions could work. There are a total of 26 charts, hint hint. Oh, and one other chart to mark the 'end' position.

Charts in hand I picked ones I wished to use and cast on. I knit the brim of the hat and stopped. How in the world could I finish this design in some intereting yet uncomplicated way. I hunted, I searched, I checked every stitch dictionary I owned. I stumbled across an awesome slipped stitch colorwork cheat pattern in a Japanese stitch dictionary. I figured it out and set the hat aside for a year.

Fast forward a year and I picked the hat back up. I finished the faux colorwork with the slipped stitches (see below - cause I feel safe posting that). And blocked the hat to within an inch of its life. I have never made a hat that fits anyone besides myself. If I'm giving it as a gift it has always come out too big, too small, too short, or too tall. Cross your fingers that this one works. But worst case scenario, at least it fits me.

Once completed the hat went ... Into the wardrobe. As it is for a friend I did not want to risk it being seen if left in my usual piles of completed projects around the apartment. So, hidden away, it is safe until the snow flies.

Now I shall begin preparations for the holiday sweater, for which I am so stoked! Nerdiness here I come!

More about it next post.

Be excellent to each other!