So You Might Be a Geek If...

It is easy to recognize 'geek' in someone.  I mean come on, you know them when you see them, right?  Urkel comes to mind.

It is considerably more difficult to recognize it in oneself.  So here are a few examples to help with self awareness:

You might be a geek if you have owned (or perhaps still do!) every single Apple product ever sold.  Every. Single. One.  Taking the brand to cult-like status.  Even own black mock turtlenecks...You know who you are.  Yes, I'm talking to YOU.  Just sayin'.

You might be a geek if you purchase items from ThinkGeek.  I personally love this online store and own some of their products.... Like Smart Mass Thinking Putty (like Silly Putty but  cooler),

 and Flying Monkey Balls (I think they changed the product name, but this was the name when I purchased them),

and the bestest thing ever... the Slanket.  My bro turned me onto them and they are way better than the Snuggie.   Warmer, bigger, more couch potato.  Yup.  Geek.

OK, so you might be a geek if you spend hours researching a camera bag.  The. Perfect. Bag.  With the goal that it doesn't obviously look like  a camera bag.  It arrives in the mail,  it is loaded with camera gear, and slung over the shoulder.  You show it to the 'wife unit' and announce, "Hey isn't this cool?  It doesn't look like a camera bag."  OMG, you're right it doesn't look like a camera bag> It looks like an airline approved carry-on bag hanging against your hip.  All it's missing are wheels and a retractable handle.  And that messenger bag strap doesn't make it cool.  Yup.  Definitely a geek.

But here's some geekiness that snuck up on me.  Yes me! 

My birthday is approaching and I asked for a yarn swift and yarn winder.  So, the Sweetie, looking at me like I was hooked on prescription drugs, said OK and ordered them for me.  See how nice he is?   Even after I dissed him about the camera bag!

Recently, the doorbell rang and it had arrived!!  And the Sweetie allowed me to open it early.  I am such a lucky girl!  So the yarn swift is the gadget at the yarn store that you put the skein of yarn on, the yarn winder takes yarn from the swift and makes a ball. 

Doesn't everyone have a whirligig thingy attached to their dining room table?  What?!  You don't?

So I promptly set it up and and proceeded to make several yarn balls. 

It was a blast! It sure beats winding balls of yarn by hand.  Yeah, so, um, I might be a geek.

And where's there's yarn, there's Max, one of my Unusually Helpful Helpers,  With yarn hanging from his ear.  He's a geek too.

Snow

It snowed this weekend in Seattle.  I was running errands on Saturday and literally turned the corner and snow began coming down.  Hard.  I think we have a couple of inches, which is no big deal in much of the country, but it can be a bit snarky here.

I am not snow's biggest fan.  I figure that I can drive a couple of hours and visit it in the mountains if I really want to see it.  Which I do - every 5 years or so.  But if it is going to coming visit me then I should make the best of it.  My new banner, celebrates the snow and the witch hazel in bloom in the front yard.  A little bit of hope for spring peaking out from under the snow.

I had planned a different post, but let's go with the snow theme.  Since the beginning of the year I've been working on (wait for it...) another stranded knitted hat.  I used Mountain Top Vail for the cream which is 70% alpaca and 30% bamboo.  The green is  Malabrigo Lace, which is I doubled.  It is 100% merino wool, which feels heavenly.  I used a US 1 (2.5mm) circular needle.

The entire project took about  2 weeks, including commute time on the bus.

When finished I washed and felted it lightly which helped even out a few wonky stitches.  It is soft and light weight.  Perfect for a snowy Seattle day.

Another Stranded Hat

I had sooo much fun with my first stranded knitting project I began another right away.  It was as much fun, but I ran into issues.

The good news?  My tension improved.  Yes, the stitches were larger than straight knitting, but they were consistently big.

The not so good news?  I cast on way too many stitches.  This bad boy could have fit Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

See what I mean?  Humongous!  Pattern is cute, but good grief it was big!

I used my 'go to' cure for all my wonky knitting issues.... felt it!  It shrunk considerably but was still very, very large.   While it was still damp, my sister-in-law popped it in the dryer.  That helped a little more.  Still big, for me anyway, but no longer unwearable.

And the end result?

What?  You thought it was going to look like every other hat walking down the street?  Nooo.   My sister-in-law asked for tassels, and there you go.  Tassels.  Adds a certain whimsy, don't you think?

Pretty darn cute, if I do say so.  And found a new home with my sister-in law in Alaska.  She was a huge help in salvaging this project. 

Learned a BIG lesson on double checking one's math before casting on. 

Finished - Stranded Knitting Hat!

This project was a great deal of fun and I learned a ton about stranded knitting!

1. It was not as hard as it looked.  Following the pattern is a lot like counted cross stitch.  If you can count to 20 and keep track of which line you're on in the pattern, you are in great shape.
2. Find a way to hold the yarn that works for you.  There are a number of great videos on YouTube showing different ways to hold the different colors.  I settled on Continental, holding the yarn in one hand, a different color around two different fingers to better tension control.  There was a fair amount of trial and error involved.
3. Felting the project at the end solved a world of issues (see item 2, above)... Like puckering and inconsistent stitch lengths.  It also made the fabric more dense and warm.

I think it turned out to be pretty cute.  Much cuter on my niece (but what isn't cute on a twenty somethings), but she wasn't available for the photo shoot.

This project was so much fun that I have completed another project, have one underway, and just purchased yarn for a third!