Weekly Check in

Hello Sunday! I feel like the past week has been a super-struggle to get back to normal after my Michigan trip. I think maybe I have finally fallen back into my normal routine. I am trying, anyway.

I found out I have been pronouncing the word mauve incorrectly for about two decades. It rhymes with "grove". Why didn't you guys tell me?

Blog Stuff: Nerd Wars post. I said I was going to do it last week, but I didn't. It's kind of good that I didn't, because when I write it this week, I have something awesome to add to it. That is all I am planning, in addition to my regular posts. 

New from the babies: Tomorrow, Gabriel turns 4. I look at him, and I still see this:

About 5 days old

The reality is that he was hitting on one of Steve's friends today. She is 21. Gabriel seems to think age is just a number.
Mara has started answering questions for real now. No longer is "no" the answer to all questions. She appropriately says "yeah" and "no!".

Crafty things: I have not finished anything this week. I got close to finishing a sock; I only have to do the toe. But... I should have that sock and its mate done by next Sunday, and a shawlette, too. And maybe an ami.

In the mail:
I got a lot in the mail this week. Well, I got two packages. But they feel like a lot.

Package 1:
This is the small package. I got two squares, and a set of four stitch markers. I LOVE the stitch markers. I want to make a project that requires stitch markers just so I can use them.

Package 2:
I was part of a bag swap where person a sent to person b, person b sent to person c, etc, and the last person sent to person a. Package 2 I mentioned yesterday went to my person, and from the person ahead of me, I got:

I know you are completely jealous of this gorgeous bag. If it weren't mine, I would be jealous, too. It has two exterior pockets that are the perfect size to hold a skein of sock yarn each. The interior has a divider that has it's own pockets. This makes six sections/pockets on the inside.

The person who sent the package to me is a girl I know from high school. Her name is Michelle. It was really cool to have someone I knew IRL as a partner. She spoiled me rotten. She sent a translucent green folder to hold patterns, 2 skeins of sock yarn that I will be using for me, a skein of bamboo yarn, a set of DPNs, a mini sewing kit, and a plastic organizer that she filled with stitch markers, buttons, and stitch holders. Dukki looked over the bounty with approval.

Weekly Check-In

Hello, Sunday! It is time that time again. (I can't believe it has already been a week!)


Blog Stuff:
Last week, I said I was going to write a few things this week. I didn't. Don't worry, I will. They are on my list of things to write about. Sorry for being a flake this past week.


I want to start something this week - "Sewing Tuesday". I have A LOT of sewing to do - for the holidays, for some prizes I donated to competitions. I would like to start pulling my sewing machine down once a week and start putting a dent in these projects. This week, I will be sewing a bag. I don't know yet if this is going to be a "how-to" thing, or a show off thing - possibly a bit of both.

New from the babies: 
Mara learned that wearing a super hero cape does not make her indestructible. Gabriel learned the color "gold". 

Crafty things:
I finished all 4 squares for Rachel's afghan - I am all caught up! Just in time for the next batch to come out in the middle of this week... 


 

I made 2 can cozies for Bryan. They are the same pattern, but with different techniques.

Mandi's double moss socks

For Nerd Wars, I caught my dissertation up. Also, I used helping Becka move (see the rest day in this post) for the Giving Geeks challenge. For the other two challenges:

Mittens for the Geek Pride challenge

And the Heart toe socks for the Nerd Culture challenge

For the coming week:
I plan to spend the next couple days working really hard on Ravellenic projects. Tuesday I will start sewing a project bag. Wednesday, I will get a whole slew of challenges, so I will figure out the rest of the week from there.

In the mail:
Look! I made a new section. This probably won't happen every week, but this week I got some awesome things in the mail.


Remember the arm warmers I finished last week? I sent them to my barter partner on Monday, and she sent me her part of the barter - hand made buttons and stitch markers! Aren't they gorgeous?

Remember hearing about a my fiber-fairy godmother? Well, she struck again. When I checked the mail on Monday, there was a huge box outside my door. Inside I found a letter

and a LOT of fiber (that white rectangle is a piece of printer paper):

From Nistock Farms

Blue mystery fiber:

Purple mystery fiber

Babydoll Southdown

I felt so grateful when I opened the package. It is just amazing that someone would send me so much fiber, just because I mentioned I had run out. Thank you, Carrie.

Nerd Wars

If you are not on Ravelry and you do any type of fiber art, you should check it out. (My name is BunniPhish - send me a message or a friend request when you join!) Nerd Wars is a game that is played by the Nerd Wars group (surprising, I know). The basic idea is that teams are formed around a common nerdy interest. There are nearly 30 teams,  including: Team 1-UP (video games); Team Mythology; Team OneMorePage (series fiction); Team Tardis (Dr. Who) and Team UU (Discworld). Each month of the tournament, there are six new challenges. A player can enter one, or all, or any number in between. Each challenge completed wins points for the team. The team with the most points at the end of the tournament wins.

Nerd Wars is my new favorite thing, period. We are in the middle of tournament 5, round 2 right now. I missed the deadline for team sign ups, so I am not on a team. Instead, I am a Ninja Warrior. Ninjas don't earn points for teams, just for themselves. Ninjas can come and go as they please, finishing as many or as few challenges as they want without worrying about their efforts affecting a team. Ninjas are also able to tie their project to any team they want. Also, ninjas can join the game whenever, so if you are just signing on to ravelry, consider becoming a ninja!

Aside from being able to play a creating game with other nerdy people, I LOVE that Nerd Wars has deadlines. This tournament, each round begins on the first of the month, and ends on the 28th at 11:59pm. I need deadlines, otherwise things don't get done. So far, I have only made things that I had been planning on making anyway. Ready to see what I mean? Here come the pictures!

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I am making a blanket for my SIL as part of a Block-A-Month Crochet-A-Long. I have answered two of the challenges with squares:

 

The square on the left answered the round 1 Scientific challenge, and the squares on the right answer the round 2 Scientific challenge.

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I am a part of a Granny Square Swap. Every month that a person chooses to participate, they swap two 6" squares with another person (and maybe little extras). I made one of my squares for June to answer the round 1 Technical challenge.

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A friend of mine wanted me to test out her crochet pattern.

I made the shawl to answer the round 1 Intellectual challenge.

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Last Christmas my nephew asked me to make him a dragon.

The round 1 Nerd Culture challenge offered me the perfect opportunity.

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I've been planning on making my sister a Tororo.

The round 1 Geek Pride challenge was perfect.

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I sent a care package to my cousin, and I wanted to send him something with a personal touch. So I made a washcloth to put in the package.

This fit into the round 1 Giving Geeks challenge.

Pretty cool, right? I hope to finish up a few more challenges for round 2 this week. Look for them in my next general update!