Your Knitting and Crochet Time - 2KCBWDAY7

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys?

I have a few typical crafting times. First, on the bus to and from school. "On the bus route" was one of my top requirements for choosing an apartment, and it's a great time to knit. Not only does it turn my commute into a productive time (it's usually too bumpy to read or do work) but it also tends to scare away other commuters, so I often get a seat to myself. Yes!

The second crafting time has a few facets, and it is "sitting in front of a screen" time. Facet #1: Watching TV or a movie at home by myself. I have a few must-watch shows (Big Bang Theory, Castle, Doctor Who) and often catch others, either new or in reruns, and this is a great time to knit. Certainly good for brainless knits, and also good for slightly more involved projects, e.g. anything for which I need to look at the pattern/chart. Very productive knitting time! Facet #2: At the movies! Yep, I'm a movie theatre knitter. Projects must be very carefully chosen for this. Requirements include thick yarn (worsted is ideal), big needles, and a completely brainless pattern. Light-colored yarn is also a plus. For the sake of the other movie-goers, I try to use wooden or bamboo needles because they make less noise. Facet #3: Watching TV or movies with friends. We often get together to watch movies or sporting events, and since most of my friends are also knitters, we definitely break out the WIPs!

Speaking of sporting events, I knit at those, too.

(Kyle Field, Texas A&M)
I have two special scarves specifically for sporting events, one for Texas A&M and one for LSU that are made of custom-dyed yarn in the school colors. They are good luck!

Where's your favorite place to knit?

Something to Aspire To - 2KCBWDAY6

Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? 

Well, there's nothing that I don't feel I'm ready to tackle, but there are a few things that I don't particularly want to tackle now, although I'd like to try 'em in the future. Does that sentence make any sense at all? For example, Fair Isle/Stranded Knitting. If someone said "I'll give you $200 if you knit me a Fair Isle headband," I'd be all over it. I know that physically I can do it. But is it something I particularly want to do? Eh, I could go either way. I actually do have a FI headband picked out that I'd like to make (this one), and I think I even know which yarn I want to use (yay stash diving!), but do I really want to extend that much brainpower on knitting? Not right now.

For posterity, a list of skills I'd like to learn/things I'd like to accomplish, knitting-wise, at some point in the future:
*Fair Isle/Stranded Knitting
*Large scale Intarsia (I've only done small scale before)
*Finish a sweater for myself!
*Complicated lace shawl made out of laceweight yarn (e.g. the Swallowtail)

Seeing as how I'm entering into my dissertation writing year (that is freaking scary just to write, FYI), I don't see myself picking up a lot of new knitting skills any time soon, but who knows!

And now for something completely different! - 2KCBWDAY5

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create. There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog.

A day in the life of a WIP, specifically, an Adipose.


"First it took her days to attach my hands and feet, and then she just stuck me in this bowl to sit here. It's been weeks now! Will she ever sew on my eyes and mouth? Doubtful! She'll probably wait until the night before she has to mail her swap package to *finally* finish me up. Geez!"




"If she doesn't finish me soon, I'm going to jump out of this tree and splat all over the pavement. That'll show her!"

Don't worry, I rescued him (her? it?) before he jumped. But he still doesn't have eyes or a mouth. Hmm...