Tribbles

This was the month that the team I'm in for Nerd Wars on Ravelry (Team Enterprise) decided to knit a lot of tribbles. I think the last count was 61. Here's one from last month and another from this month "guarding" the cat food.



And, here are a few more... on the mantle where they can survey almost everything going on in the house. (I used this tribble pattern.)  They were all made with fun fur -- some with just fun fur, some with fun fur and Wool-Ease, some with fun fur and Homespun.  The ones with just fun fur are softer and squishier.  The ones with 2 types of yarn are easier to toss from person to person.



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As a side note: My DS2 is going to be participating in a charity speed demo marathon to benefit Doctors without Borders (and, in particular, their efforts in Japan). The marathon will run from April 7th to 10th.  Instead of having the marathon run from one central location, participants will be streaming their chosen video game from their home computers.  The marathon starts at 4:00pm EDT.

March 2011

Nerd Wars on Ravelry has gotten me to try things I probably wouldn't have -- at least not for a while.

I've done some double knitting -- which I'd never attempted before. I'll probably do more double knitting. I really like the feel of double knit.

I've done some serious crocheting -- and my first pineapple doily. (Pineapple doilies are a staple of crocheting -- though not nearly as popular as afghans. But, I'd never made one.) I still don't see the excitement for pineapple doilies, but I enjoyed crocheting with a size 10 steel hook and size 30 crochet thread again. I did hit a major snag. I just discovered that I didn't have enough thread to finish the doily. Luckily the edging is done in 12 separate sections. I'm doing every other section in a different thread -- a variegated purple instead of the variegated purple and yellow I'd used for the rest of the doily. (The link is to a tutorial on making the edging.)

I've designed and knitted a couple of dishcloths, Red Rectangle Nebula and Diamond Mosaic. And, I even designed and knitted a Star Trek hat.

It's gradually starting to get warm here. Here's a picture of the deck from March 6th. (The paw prints may be of our neighborhood coyote.) Now the deck is completely free of snow. Daffodils are coming up. And, the only snow left is from the large piles of snow left by last month's snowplowing.

Prometheus

As a result of the recent devastation in Japan, one of my favorite designers -- Monika Eckert (Wollklabauter) -- decided to create a shawl, Prometheus. Proceeds from the sale will go to either Wings of Hope or Doctors Without Borders.