NaNoBlogMo 30 - In Summary

Welp, I did it. This entry marks 30 entry for the 30 days in November (not counting the short entry about the name of my project). After this post, my self-imposed NaNoBlogMo challenge is complete.

I couldn't decide what I wanted my last entry to be about. I thought about doing some leftover bits that I had to talk about that didn't seem worth a full entry. I thought about talking about projects that I am currently working on. I thought about talking about upcoming stuff. So, in summary, I think I am going to do a little bit of all of that. Coherence be damned.

Here is a picture showing all my current knitting projects. Or at least all the ones that I could think of/find. Going clockwise starting from the top left we have the back of the body for my first attempt at knitted chainmail, a lengthwise knit scarf in a pattern called Henry made with a lovely baby camel blend yarn, my Pippin scarf (which I am thinking might be a bit too bright, but I'm ignoring that voice and keeping on with the knititng), and a simple garter stitch scarf with Homespun on my lightup needles that I started while watching a movie with friends and continued knitting since the lightup needles were helpful during the power outage.

For Thanksgiving, I made an apple pie. I wanted to try something a little bit different. I did my usual crust, tossed the apples in my usual dry mix (sugar/cornstarch/spices), but then before I did my lattice top I poured a bit of caramel sauce over the filling. Not sure how much of a difference it made, but the results were tasty.

On the improv front, Sea Tea is doing great. My teammates won the most recent improv cagematch, we have another monthly show at City Steam Brewery on December 11th (hosted by the fabulous Kate), we got our cast picture framed and hung on the wall of the comedy club (which we've been looking forward to forever), we just started some more long form classes with a pretty talented comedian/writer/actress as our teacher, and I will be making my City Steam hosting debut in January. Keep you eyes on THIS page for news about upcoming shows!

My friend Emily sent me these lovely pictures a few days ago. This scarf is one of the first 5 I ever made. I remember picking out yarn in the tiny yarn shop near my college before I even knew how to knit, planning out my first projects. I thought this warm orange color would be perfect for Emily and her sunny smile. Its been so long since I knit this that I can't really remember much, other than that this was made back when I used to wear each scarf I knitted out once when it was done, because I was so excited it was done.

So there are my leftover bits and bobs. I suppose I should be all reflective on this last month or something. Honestly, a huge part of me is going to be glad its done. I don't have too much free time to begin with, so giving myself a daily assignment was a bit much. I think my fledgling gym habit might have suffered a bit this month. And posting has given me another excuse to hide from my very sad (and full) inbox.

On the whole, though, I'm glad I did it. I set a goal for myself and I met it. It has been a great opportunity for me to collect pictures and stories from projects as recent as this weekend and as old as seven years ago. As for the reason I even started this project, to revamp my blogging mojo, whether or not it has worked remains to be seen. I did mention to a friend that I was slightly worried I would be so sick of blogging after this that it would have the opposite effect, but I don't think that will happen. I am again finding myself phrasing in my head the blog post to go with a project while I am still physically working on it. That's probably a good sign. It will probably be most effective if I give myself a new assignment, such as making sure to post at least once a week. I think that might be a schedule I can keep, as long as I keep busy enough with projects to write about. What do you think?

Thank you to everyone that helped, everyone that sent me pictures of old projects, everyone that suggested topics, everyone that has been commenting and reading. I really appreciate it. It helps a lot to know that I'm not just sending these posts out into nothing but that people are reading them. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I hope you'll stick around.

-S

NaNoBlogMo 23 - Using "Leftovers"

I am a pack-rat. I have a hard time getting rid of anything. I am terrified that the moment I let something go I might end up needing it. This does end up being helpful sometimes. For example, I happened to have a spare single shoelace (the other broke and when I got new ones I couldn't rationalize throwing away an unbroken shoelace) which I was able to use to tie the battery pack for the musical skulls to my belt for my Mystique costume.

Yarn is one of those things that I just can't bring myself to get rid of. If when I am done with a project, the leftover yarn can make a ball bigger than a pingpong ball, I can't just throw it away. Often these bits and bobs can sit for a long time, but they can come in handy. I made a rather insane scarf for my friend Claire using many different leftover bits of yarn. If the main project is big enough, the leftover yarn can end up becoming its own project. Or in the case of my Lizard Ridge Blanket, two. Now, when I say the leftover yarn was enough to make two more projects, I don't mean the extra skeins of yarn (that ended up going to make the Paintbox blanket I made for my parents anniversary). I mean the pieces that were leftover from the 33 skeins I used to make 33 squares in China. Most left me with a pingpong or so ball of leftover yarn in a wide range of colors.

My first idea with how I could use the leftover bits of yarn was to make a scarf. It was just about Christmas time and I figured I could make a "leftovers" scarf for my mother and send it to her as a gift. It would also give me an excuse to knit something other than squares for my blanket. I unraveled all my bits and tried to connect them in a way that made some sort of coherent color scheme. You can see the scarf's color changes clearest above, but since my mother showed up to have her picture taken wearing the scarf like you see here on the right, I had to share that one too.

I was a bit worried that my mother wouldn't like the scarf as I hadn't seen her wear anything like it before, but she assured me that she does like it. Its a bit psychedelic with its odd color changes, but that is apparently my knitting style if my Ridiculous Scarf is any indication. I also like that this scarf is like a bastard cousin to my Lizard Ridge blanket. I ended up using up all of my leftover bits I had at the moment to make the scarf.

However, I knitted more squares and ended up with more yarn leftovers. That's when I came up with another idea. The yarn is 100% wool and I hadn't really done much felting before, so I thought I would try to make a felted guitar strap. In a more obvious homage to my blanket, I cobbled together a version of the Lizard Ridge wavey pattern and once again knitted all the leftovers that I had. I tossed what I made into a pillow case and ran it through the washer and dryer a few times, then did a bit more hand felting to get it all a bit more even. It became pretty apparent that what I had made was going to be a guitar strap cover and not a guitar strap in and of itself. I think it's pretty.

The only real problem is that I never actually use my guitar strap or fancy handmade guitar strap cover. Whenever I play I am usually just sitting cross legged on my bed with an audience of only myself. But its still nice to know that if I ever do decide to go and play guitar in a situation where I need a strap, I have a very unique one that screams knitting-dork.

I think I have gotten better recently at buying only the amount of yarn I need for a project, which both fortunately and unfortunately means I am left with less leftovers.

NaNoBlogMo 15 - C2/Rainbow/Pride Scarf

I pretty much only make things once. Whether I am knitting, cooking or making jewelry, I would prefer to try to learn or create something new than remake something I've already done. That being said, there is one project of mine that I have remade so many times I've really lost count.

Let me backup. My junior year of college I spent a lot of time with my friend Carolyn (or Crazy Carolyn or C2). We would go on wild adventures together to get sushi or to secondhand stores, and we could always tell if it was a successful trip if we got a good parking space back on campus. One day, Carolyn was describing to me how she wished she could find a scarf that was essentially a rainbow: six lengthwise stripes going from red to purple. I was thinking how hard it would be to constantly switch colors every couple of stitches in each row when it hit me that you could just knit the entire scarf lengthwise. Suddenly a whole new universe of knitting opened up for me in my mind. I saw through time. I tasted colors. It was pretty epic.

When I told Carolyn I could make that scarf for her, we immediately went off on another adventure, this time for yarn. She picked out Caron Simply Soft Brites in the colors she wanted. We made a deal that I would make the scarf for free if she paid for they yarn and let me keep the leftovers.

I cast on what felt like a million stitches onto some circular needles and started knitting. I think it might have been this project that helped me to realize that I really preferred knitting with circular needles over straights. When I switched colors, I left the tail ends of the yarn long and just hid them in with the two tassels per stripe I added when the scarf was done.

My biggest thing I had to learn or overcome with this project was the bindoff. I had only ever had short bindoff rows before at the end of scarves so it didn't really matter if it was a little tight (as they always ended up being). However, a tight bindoff for a lengthwise knit scarf would mean an uneven and likely uncomfortable scarf. I read a bit about different bind offs, such as a suspended bindoff, or using a yarn needle. However, I ended up just knitting the last row before the bindoff extra loose and then doing a normal bindoff (also extra loose). It worked, so I ended up doing that for every scarf.
I ended up making a bunch more. Above, you can see me selling them (as well as some knitted cell phone covers and chainmail jewelry) at my college's craft fair. I have no idea whose hand is sneaking in to feel the scarf, but I don't blame them. The Caron yarn isn't the best quality, but it is very soft. Also, I promise I was having a nice day at the craft fair despite how I look in this picture. I was just tired because I had just gotten off a train to get back to college after spending the weekend at home. Travel always makes me sleepy.

I sold a few at the two craft fairs I went to in college. I sold a few directly to people that wanted them just out of my dorm room. One of these scarves was the first thing I ever sold during my short lived stint as an Etsy seller. I made one and donated it to my college's GLBTQ alliance to be given as a prize at an event. And I still have at least two in my stash ready to sell (if you are interested, let me know!). If I had to guess, I would say that I probably have made about 12, but I haven't kept track. The only picture I have at the moment of someone actually wearing one of the scarves I made is from my friend Michelle, who was kind enough to take and send me this adorable picture when she heard about my crazy NaNoBlogMo project.

I am really grateful to Carolyn for helping me design the scarf and pick out the colors. I haven't deviated from the original design/colors/yarn (other than the length of the scarf, as people have different preferences) since the very first one I made for her. In my mind, this will always be the C2 scarf.

NaNoBlogMo 11 - My Ridiculous Scarf

I have one scarf that I wear the majority of the time during the winter months. When I want to be fancy I wear one of the nice pashmina scarves I got in China. When I want to be warm I wear my Homespun scarf (which I think is the first scarf I made for myself, out of leftover sweater yarn). The rest of the time? I wear my Ridiculous Scarf. My Ridiculous Scarf is ridiculous for two main reasons, it is ridiculously long and it also a ridiculous mix of different patterns. And I love it.

When I started my Ridiculous Scarf I wasn't sure what I was making. I had a bunch of bits and pieces of variegated sock yarns in different patterns and colors leftover from making cell phone covers and arm warmers. I tied them all together with no thought of matching, cast on and started knitting in the round. I remember thinking it could be arm warmers or maybe even an arm to a sweater, but I just kept chugging along knitting the tube. At some point it occurred to me that it could be a scarf and the thickness provided by the fact that it was a tube and not one flat piece would add warmth.

At some point I ran out of bits and pieces and I had to start massacring whole skeins of variegated yarn to continue the OMG WHAT IS HAPPENING pattern I had already started. The scarf started getting scarf-length. Then it surpassed scarf-length and started to getting long. Then it became ridiculously long and I knew I was done. I am 5'11" and if I drape the thing around my neck it nearly reaches the floor. I have to be careful not to close the car door on it (Seriously, I actually did close the car door on it yesterday when I got to work. Now I know how dogs feel when the reach the end of their leash.).
For the tassels I made sure that each tassel was different but that each was made out of only similar bits of yarn from the same skein, as an echo of the weird striped effect the scarf has.


This scarf goes with everything because it goes with nothing. I am pretty sure it has every single color on it somewhere. It is a little like Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat except its Sproffee's Ridiculous Scarf.

Being made both of variegated yarn and of many different yarns tied together, I think that the inside of the scarf is as interesting as the outside (though less polished looking). And since I left the ends of the tube open, I actually can turn the entire scarf inside out if I so desire. Keeping the ends of the scarf open has had other benefits as well. If I forget my gloves and my hands get cold, I can just stick my hands through the ends of my scarf for a little warmth. Occasionally I will scrunch the entire scarf on one arm to make a ridiculous arm warmer. Honestly I think my ridiculous scarf is as much toy to me as it is functional piece of clothing.


My Ridiculous Scarf led to a kind of fantastic moment recently. On November 6th I went to an improv performance by the students that were taking a class taught by my Sea Tea Improv colleagues. I was zipped up in my improv sweatshirt and wearing my Ridiculous Scarf. As I found a seat in the theater a woman and her friends caught my attention and asked "Excuse me, but is that a Tom Baker scarf?" (Tom Baker, aka the Fourth Doctor on Doctor Who and the bearer of the fantastic scarf that was one of my options in my "What Geeky Scarf Should I Knit?" poll). I was sad to say no, but then remembered what t-shirt I was wearing and unzipped my sweatshirt to reveal my "The Angels Have the Phonebox" shirt, a reference to the amazing DW pisode "Blink". We all had a laugh at the chances of it all. I then went on to tell her about my recent poll and if it had won I would be knitting a Doctor Who scarf, but instead pulled out my in-progress Pippin scarf to show them. She asked for my contact information, saying she may commission me to make a Doctor Who scarf for someone on her Christmas list. That would be amazing, but even if it doesn't happen, its a funny story. I later found out they were there for Karyn, someone I made friends with at an improv mixer earlier this year.

That of course meant I could stalk them later on facebook and find the picture they took of me as proof for when they told the story. It shows me in my full dork pride, improv sweatshirt at my back, Ridiculous Scarf (sadly not Tom Baker scarf) across my knees, Doctor Who shirt and knitting a Pippin scarf.

Yep, that's me.

NaNoBlogMo 2 - Starting Off Small

Starting off easy in my NaNoBlogMo challenge, with something small and cute. I wish I could say I made the adorable creature you see in the picture above, but I can only take credit for his jaunty scarf.

That's Zeraffe (as in part Zebra/part Giraffe). My friend Benno (real name Paul), had Zeraffe with him in college. I remember the months were getting cold and Zeraffe has a rather long neck...clearly he needed a little something to keep warm. I dug out some leftover chunky red yarn I had from making a friend's blanket and whipped up a simple garter stitch scarf.

I was surprised and happy when I saw this picture on Benno's facebook about two years later, with Zeraffe still wearing his scarf. The picture above was taken in Nanjing, where Benno studied for a semester (apparently Zeraffe did too!).

I can't really remember at what point I went from buying only what I needed to make my current knitting project (and using up most if not all of it), to buying yarn with no project in mind and collecting any leftovers. When I first started knitting, if I didn't have a project in progress then I had no yarn. Now I have a stash of yarn that I think would make any seasoned knitter proud. While it does tend to take up more than a fair bit of room, it does allow me to do projects on the fly, such as Zeraffe's scarf.