sosoclever knits!

Busy busy busy . . . kind of

sosoclever — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:20:02 +0000

So, I’ve lost another job. There just hasn’t been enough business at my sister’s sandwich shop to justify having two people there, so, I’m unemployed again. I really, really need to find something, or win the lottery. Or come up with a design that goes viral. I’m working on all of those.

Obviously, that viral pattern is not going to be As a Flower Blossoms. I can count the number of sales of that pattern on one hand of the guy who gave us a tour of the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory about fifteen years ago. He’d lost a couple fingers on each hand. It was a really awesome tour, but I never, ever want to work in a glass-making factory!

Among other things I’ve been doing (like looking for a job, buying lottery tickets, and trying to come up with the next big knitting pattern), I’m one of the captains for Team Epic in Nerd Wars for Tournament 4. Sign-ups are open until midnight EST on 1/26/12.

Not sure what Nerd Wars is? According to the Game Master, EyeAmElise, “This is a silly game designed to help motivate you to finish projects you wanted to do anyway!”

In a nutshell, you join a team based on the things you enjoy (outside of crafting), like Jim Henson’s creations (Team Fraggle), musicals (Team Jazz Hands), or playing role-playing games (Team Epic, the best team out there!). (For a list of teams and what “nerdery” they encompass, see this chart.) Each month of the tournament, there are six challenges posted. You answer as many challenges as you want by crafting something within the month of the challenge, and earn points for your team. You can also do a dissertation, which is a project that will take you the whole tournament, or three months. You also get to meet new people both in your team thread, and by participating in the chat room, Otaku Lounge. Mostly what you can win are new friends, bragging rights, and a feeling of accomplishment, but there are opportunities for actual prizes, too!

The team to join is, of course, Team Epic! We are the home for social role-players (tabletop, MMORPG, on-line text-based games, LARPing . . . one or two player games, like Zelda and Baldur’s Gate, are covered by our sister team, Team 1-Up). Whether you play Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft, GURPS, or Spirits of the Earth — or something no one else has ever heard of — we’d love to have you join and tell us about your latest adventure!

You do need to join Ravelry before you can join Nerd Wars, but joining Ravelry is free, easy, and worthwhile even without Nerd Wars!

Nerd Wars is intended for adults. If you are under the age of 18 and would like to play, please contact one of the Nerd Wars mods.

Now, I have some projects I’d really like to get done before the tournament starts next week, so I’d better get knitting!

This year it’s gonna be different

sosoclever — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:43:58 +0000

I know, I thought that last year, too. I was going to do the whole post-a-week thing, and look how well that went over.

I’ve been really busy the last month, knitting, knitting, crocheting, and knitting some more. I made bunches of stuff for holiday presents/Nerd Wars, and even got a little mystery knitting in.

But, now I’m going to get back in the swing of reading other people’s blogs (I haven’t in a month), and writing here.

I am the captain of my soul, the tailor of my fate. I am going to take control and put my life back into some semblance of order. Really. I’m going to fight against my natural pessimism, ennui, and apathy. (And not use the little quick post thingy on the dashboard anymore, because then I do things like post before I’m finished.) I’m going to do things that need to be done, and make my little ~~rubber room~~ corner of the world a better place, at least for me.

Wisdom of the Ages

sosoclever — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:25:07 +0000

I just have to share this tidbit from Thing Two (my eleven year old son):

Mayonnaise hiccoughs don’t taste very good.

I have been remiss

sosoclever — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 23:10:17 +0000

I have been very busy knitting and crocheting for holiday gifts/Nerd Wars/Mystery 220. And there’s still so much to do, not to mention the baking.

And I need to figure out spinning with a drop spindle, too. One of my Nerd Wars teammates gave me one of her old spindles (and some roving and a small pot of the Knitters’ and Spinners’ Balm she makes and sells in her shop — it smells really good, and does soften my rough spots nicely), and I’ve borrowed my mom’s book Respect the Spindle, and I’m trying to do it. I finally got the hang of just using the dowel and spinning on a stick (I looked for an example on-line, but I don’t see anything), but once I get some spun, and try to draft some more . . . it breaks. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do, how thick I leave the draft, it still breaks. I know, this takes practice, and I haven’t been at it very long (like maybe . . . twenty minutes total?), but I’m very frustrated. I want to get drafting to the point where I can do more than ten inches of yarn before the fibers come apart before I try the spindle again.

And I need to finish the shawl I’m designing. Not to mention the other couple of designs I’ve got started.

Next year I’ll get cracking on updating this more often. Really.

Oh, and just so’s you know, 7-UP Mixed Berry (I get diet) is awesome, and I really wish it wasn’t a “limited edition” flavor.

In Loving Memory

sosoclever — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:24:01 +0000

When I finally finished the D4 Bag of Dice Holding, my mom told me she was very proud of me for doing it. In her memory, I’m offering a half-off sale on the pattern, through Ravelry. Just enter the coupon code “lovemom.”

I’m also trying to think of something I can design for her. I have to decide what she would have liked. Something for her? Something she’d like to knit for someone else? She was very proud of her Swedish heritage, but I don’t think I’m up to doing something Bohus style! And I haven’t tried tvåändsstickning yet, but maybe this is the impetus I need to do it. I actually had a pattern idea several years ago that I might resurrect now, something with some traditional Swedish motifs. We’ll see what happens.

It was time to go

sosoclever — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:35:11 +0000

We took Mom off of the respirator and the vasoconstrictor she was on around 5:00 tonight, and she was gone in less than twenty minutes. It was a hard decision to make, even knowing that she didn’t want to be kept alive by machines, but since she went so easily and quickly, we’re sure it was the right one.

Thank you for all your kind words and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

A very sad day.

sosoclever — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 04:17:51 +0000

My mom is in the hospital. She is, as they say, gravely ill. Basically, any minute, I could get a call from my sister saying that she’s gone.

Mom is 82. She raised ten kids (four from my dad’s first marriage, the rest her own). She has sixteen grandkids (I think I’ve counted right), and I don’t know how many great-grandkids.

She taught me how to knit and crochet (even though she really didn’t like crochet, herself). She taught me how to bake.

She told me last week that I’m her favorite.

In fifteen days, it will have been six years since my dad died.

Maybe she’ll pull through. It seems unlikely, but, maybe.

Things to do, the rough draft

sosoclever — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:30:13 +0000

To do in October, I hope. Thankfully, some of the Nerd Wars and Mystery220 stuff can double as holiday gifts.

Oh, crap, would you believe I wasn’t even thinking about Hallowe’en costumes? I had thought that I should dust off my pictures from last year when I tried to put together a tutorial for a trick-or-treat bag, though.

Nerd Wars
Colortastic challenge: Laura Nelkin’s Gee’s Cabin scarf in black and two shades of grey.
Prehistoric challenge: plesiosaur.
Birthday challenge: find out what Daphne would make for Andy if she ever learned to crochet.
~~Best-Dressed challenge: Bracers of Defense (for Cindy Lou Who)~~

Mystery220
Finish September Mystery #2, which means buying buttons.
October Mystery #1, which needs buttons and maybe ribbon, and will have to be finished this month if it’s going to answer the Well Dressed challenge in Nerd Wars. I don’t know what it is, but it sounds like something my old Cougar Ridge character Starre Jacoby would wear. Especially since I’m going to be making it in black.
October Mystery #2
October Mystery #3 (which hasn’t started yet).

DAL
I need to figure out ~~how the heck to chart the lace portion, and~~ what I’m going to do for the border, then I’d better get it knitted up. Then hopefully I can get it tested and tech-edited in November, in time for the 11/25 deadline.

Other Stuff
The sooper-seekrit test knit for Tinyknit is supposed to be done by 10/10. I started it tonight (last night? It’s after 1 in the morning now), and it’s a tiny (heh) little thing, so it should be quick to finish. (It’s not quite finished, but I’m done with the knitting and checking the instructions.)
My sooper-seekrit design #1.
My sooper-seekrit design #2. I’d wanted both of them to be done and ready for testing by the end of last month. Hopefully, if I can get them done this month, that will still be enough time to get them tested before submitting them.
Trick-or-treat bag tutorial.

Holiday gift list (some of these are only if I have time)
Thing One
Thing Two
Little Cat Z
Cindy Lou Who (it’s more fitting for Sweet Baby F than the Lorax)
Gracie
Susie
Mitch
Keri
Ali
~~Fred~~
Hadley
Fritz
Nancy
Mom
Dave
Carl
Nick
Julie
Amy
Ashley
Carol
Stacy
Lauren
Heather
Davey
Wally
Nene?
Kids’ teachers? (felted flower bowls?)

Craft has stalled. Immediate action required to regain control.

sosoclever — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 18:19:10 +0000

I know I have been uncharacteristically optimistic in my plans for everything I’m going to get done in the next three months, but now I’m starting to think I may have really taken it too far, and I’m kind of looking at the list in my head and going a bit tharn.

I think I should write (or type) out an actual list, so I have something concrete to go on. Things to do for Nerd Wars, the things I’m designing, the gifts I plan to have made in time for Christmas and Monkey Day, the mystery KALs, the test knit for Tinyknit . . . I’m sure there’s more. It’s always nice to be able to physically cross things off as finished, which I could do if I’d make a list.

I’ll put making a physical list on my mental to-do list.

Glitter and Be Gay

sosoclever — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:37:21 +0000

If I’m not pure, at least my jewels are!

“Glitter and Be Gay” is an awesome song from Leonard Bernstein’s operetta of Candide. (I really, really like Dawn Upshaw’s recording of it, but I’ve never heard a bad one from anyone else, either.) And I feel like it’s appropriate for me right now.

You see, I just had some ice cream (Blue Bunny Premium Super Fudge Brownie, to be exact), and I’m also the proud owner of a copy of Laura Nelkin’s Adorn collection.

I didn’t cheat! I told the good spouse about my plan to not buy ice cream for three weeks, and he said I didn’t have to do that. So I got excited and went and bought some ice cream (along with the rest of the week’s groceries), and came home and bought Adorn. And in my excitement forgot all about Laura’s blog post with the coupon code for 15% off through October 26th. But she was awesome about it, and now I have even more patterns for beaded, knitted jewelry. I told the good spouse that now I have to spend more money and get beads. He said, “Okay.”

See, there’s a reason I call him the good spouse.

But, I feel a little guilty for having the ice cream. So I’m thinking seriously about not buying any more for three weeks. Maybe not too seriously, but I am serious.