Did I Just Break Physics?

Dad is one of those people who are difficult to knit for.

Aren't most guys?

He's fairly easy to buy for, but I honestly haven't had much time to go poke around in the shops thanks to extra shifts at work.

Thankfully Cat Bordhi came to my rescue, with her wonderful Moebius cast-on tutorial:

Dad is obsessed with motorbikes, his beloved Harley Dyna has pride of place in the garage. Colours were most definitely NOT an issue: H-D Brand colours of Black and Orange in Ashford's Tekapo 8ply. Very warm and very thick for maximum wind-breakage if he ever deigns to wear it on the bike.

Oh yes, I punned that!

Due to time constraints the scarf came out a bit on the narrow side, but that's not much of a problem since it's supposed to loop around the neck twice.

What I like about Moebii is that you don't have to worry about them blowing away if an end comes untucked or the problem of doing head-checks with a ton of bulky fabric jammed just inside the neck of your jacket.

I'm quite ridiculously proud of myself, even though knitting it felt like I was somehow breaking physics. It is darn weird to knit an object whose shape you can't hold in your head.

The usual colourwork problem of having to designate a "Right side" and "Wrong side" for your work was completely eliminated by this type of object only having ONE side. Trying to work out how you would go about giving it a right side ad a wrong side to look all neat and pretty nearly made my head explode.

My brain is obviously made for strictly Euclidean physics -.-;

Happy knitting!

~Topaz

Colossal Sook

Yeah, I know we've just had a really mild winter and Spring officially starts in less than a week, but. . .

I'M STILL COLD!

So I made a cover for my hot water bottle.

If I can't grasp it directly in my icy cold hands then I'll be able to resist the temptation to warm the hands too quickly and risk a late-season crop of chilblains.

(I hope!)

Here it is, just finished and sitting on my messy couch waiting for the jug to boil. Dralion was trying to steal the camera. Little brat!

Simple garter stitch in an unidentified 8ply acrylic from the NEV Knitting Squad Yarn Bank (I deposited bright 8ply for people to make Christmas Angels out of so I felt less guilty at appropriating this yarn when I really need to stashbust). It's a little big, which is all to the good because it's very snuggly and if I accidentally shrink it somehow then it'll be a perfect fit!

Happy crafting!

~Topaz

Adventure in Bad Planning

This week I have been attempting to make birthday gifts.

Key word: Attempting.

So far they've all been an utter bust.

The first failed gift was a hot water bottle cover for a nephew who has recently moved back to a Dunedin winter after a year in the sunny North Island. I've never really bothered with gauge swatches before, but since I was working with an unfamiliar pattern and some unidentifiable acrylic from my stash. I figured that I had better try swatching it up to make sure I had the right gauge.

Five changes in needle size later and it's still too big! Laurie got a bag of shiny new colouring gear and assorted  stationary for his first week at school, while the hot water bottle cover remains unfinished and in dire need of girth reduction.

Sigh.

Gift two is intended for Dad's birthday next Wednesday. I figured a nice, quick garter-stitch Möbius/Moebius scarf would appeal to a fifty-something sometimes-nerd.

What nerd WOULDN'T want a monosurface knitted object for their birthday??

But. . .  I screwed up again.

I didn't check the length of circular needle required to knit a Moebius before going to get the yarn.

*Facedesk*

I already have a circular needle of the appropriate diameter for the yarn, but it's less than half the length required to properly knit a Moebius. I could probably use it if I could break the laws of physics, but alas I'm not that awesome.

As I work weekends, I'm going to be unable to get into Knitworld to purchase a long enough needle before Monday, which would give me about a day total of knitting time to it finished around work.

A Klein Bottle hat would also be awesome, but I'd prefer to make something that there is a chance of him actually wearing.

Time to prepare for a marathon knit of non-Euclidean garter-stitch madness.

Good luck for all your gift-intended projects!

~Topaz

Where Did The Time Go?

Wow, it's August already?

And I've been neglecting this blog since WHEN?

Oh my.

Time to make a 2/3rds Year Resolution (New Year's Resolutions are so 1999) to breathe some life back into this poor blog.

Be warned, it'll probably only start staggering around and groaning "Braaaaainsss", but it's better than nothing, right?

I wasn't wasting the time spent absent by not crafting. As soon as the winter's crop of chilblains cleared up enough I finished Mum's Birthday Socks.

Opal's "Fisherman" colourway and the Sunday Swing pattern from Knitty. Have a horrible inside-light photo:

No I didn't block them. I don't know how!

I adore Opal's sock yarns and this colourway is absolutely delightful. It reminds me of a fishing trip out to the Mackenzie Country with Grandpa where we caught ONE salmon in the entire week of sitting beside lakes and canals. Oi!

I'm still a very slow sock knitter, so these were about 1.5 months late ^.^;

All the best gifts are a little late, right?

~Topaz