Swiftly Stitching Squid

I made this guy from another Hansigurumi pattern for Khristine, the lovely owner of the Swift Stitch. It turned out really great, but was a bit of a bear, more difficult than the octopus anyway.

Crochet Coral Reef

I have been neglecting the crocheted bits of my life lately, but I'm back to working on the coral reef project now. I was re-inspired by an odd hank of yarn Khristine at the Swift Stitch gave me. I'm not sure what is was, maybe mohair? I couldn't figure out what the heck to do with it, when I remembered my good old friends at the Institute for Figuring. Here's what I cam up with. It's intentionally asymmetrical, kind of like my life.

Deadly Huge Waves!

That's what the local news said, deadly huge waves. They added, "don't go to the beach and try to take pictures." So, I went to the beach to try and take pictures. Not impressed Jim Vanderzwaan, I was not impressed. You just didn't want me to observe tiny waves and reveal you as a fraud. Shame on you.

Get Ready!

St. Patrick's Day is coming up soon!!!

Swift Stitch Ravelry Meet-Up

DPN Point Protectors

I finally procured finger puppets to make the DPN holders! Here is a picture of one of them, the others will be door prizes at the Swift Stitch Ravelry party! You can't see it very well on this picture, but there is elastic holding the ladybugs together snug across the needles.

Circular Needle Filing System

I had previously made one of these for somebody else and got around to making one for me this weekend. There are about 8-10 inner felt pockets for holding circular needles, it closes with a button and elastic loop. I really liked this sushi fabric.

Gourd Art

Last weekend I was invited to a gourd decorating class by my friend Linda. This was intriguing, because I didn't know what that would be... It turns out these people are dead serious and even have gourd conventions. In a tragic turn of events, I ended up getting a nasty migraine and had to ditch out. I was very sad, even more so now that I see their fantastic projects. Pictured from left to right: Heidi's arm, Hilde, Linda, and a lady I don't know.

Hats for Nuns

I saw this invitation to knit hats for Buddhist nuns and couldn't resist. They must be wool, and they must be burgundy, but aside from that, no other specs given. My first attempt was coming out really nice, 4x2 rib on number 5 circular needles with cascade 220 wool. I was almost completely finished, just needed to make the decreases and close up the top, but it was lost in the woods somewhere between the garage and my office. I was convinced that since the hat was for a venerable, it would surely find its way back to me, but no such luck thus far. This hat is Patons classic wool and Skye Tweed, double stranded, 4x2 rib on number 10 circular needles. I was afraid I wouldn't make the March 3 deadline...

NAUTILUS

YELLOWSTONE

LAKE

EARTHQUAKE

VOLCANO

Evelyn's Geology Primer

I have been working on the following project for about 2 years now, off and on of course. It's kind of like a book made out of felt with a geologically relevant item for each letter of Evelyn's name. I plan to drop it in the mail soon, hopefully it will get where it's going before I reveal all of the pages.
The first page is : EMERALD.

Octopus in trade

I would much rather barter for goods and services rendered, thus I presented a hand-knit octopus in return for a wireless network card. Pattern from Hansigurumi.
I don't think they accept cephalopods on amazon yet, but this trade was with my brother...

P.S. to Evelyn... yes there is another one waiting to be mailed to the land that is round on the ends and high in the middle.

Teaching Assistant Assistants

These knitted pals of mine made by the ever talented Crowe aka rockcozy, (photos stolen from her Flckr stream) helped out in class today. The task for the day was to engage the students in a lively discussion about the causes of the End Permian Mass Extinction event based on articles they had read at home.

I forced my 4 sections of disinterested non-majors to duke it out in an academic competition for prizes. They were split into "team sea slug" and "team sea star", borrowing my friends here for moral support. No responses were registered as valid unless the responder had physical possession of said mascot.

The success of this idea varied by class, and because I'm a wimp... everybody got a prize in the end.

Secret Visitors

Someone has been walking on my balcony. I have long wished for feline visitors, and even planted catnip in a window box at one point... but alas no visible friends. These recently discovered tracks have gotten me hopeful again. My fingers are crossed that it's not a skunk.

Trilo- BITE!

I have long coveted this knitting pattern, and my skills have recently advanced sufficiently to give it the 'ole college try. This little guy will probably get chewed on quite a bit as he is filled with catnip and going to a feline. Ironically that will probably just make him stronger as I imagine the wool felts with cat spit.

Foliage

Here's the finished Foliage I mentioned in the last post. I think it came out really well and I like it... a lot. Many of you who know me primarily as a crocheter might be wondering why I'm knitting so damn much. Well, I blame knitty.com. I just enjoy the patterns so much, the layout of the website, the humor injected in the form of often eccentric objects to make. I'm just not sure I get the same warm fuzzy feeling from the re-vamped Crochet Me. I like having a professionally produced, fun, free magazine. But I digress...

Because I do so love this hat, and as a thank you to the lovely gifter of South African yarn, a rare self portrait.