Monthly Archives: December 2012

Knits for Nerds: Update #2

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Well, it’s been one week since I started my Knits for Nerds: Doctor Who scarf knitting project. According to my estimates, it is 18% complete. Here’s what I learned thus far:

Week 1 progress

  • Just like learning to play the guitar, knitting can be rough on virgin fingers, and after a while you’re forced to take breaks. I’m now starting to build up callouses.
  • Yes, they make apps for counting rows, and no, an iPhone does not work well as a row counter. It was worth the few extra bucks to buy a clicker.
  • Covering your legs with a blanket while you knit may be cliché, but it’s the only way I roll.
  • I knit too tight.
  • Someone suggested trying bamboo needles. I love this person. Bamboo works so much better for me than the metal ones.
  • Now when I see people wearing sweaters, vests, scarfs, etc., I’m beginning to wonder if they knit them. Believe it or not, this is a new habit.
  • Brands matter. Some brands of yarn are easy to work with while others I am beginning to loathe.
  • I was tempted to set targets for myself to hit, but with the holiday season in full gear, I don’t want to make this a stressful endeavor. I’ll just keep on trucking along at my own pace.
  • I can’t yet knit and actually watch TV 😦

So far, so good. No major mistakes or hangups. My daughter likes to click the clicker for me, which is really cute, but now I have to watch she doesn’t run off with it. She wants to knit, too, but I told her she’s still too young. Really, I just don’t want to get schooled by a four-year old. Of course, I do want to include her as much as possible, so instead we picked out three colors of yarn to make a friendship bracelet. After some instruction from daddy, she made me proud by weaving the rest of it herself. I thought she would lose interest, but she could see it coming together and became excited.

Friendship bracelet

Playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like a Boss

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TMNT Mug

My wife and I were shopping for Christmas presents for our kids when we came across the only completely vacant shelf in an otherwise well stocked store. The empty space was for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) toys, and they were completely wiped out!  I knew the Ninja Turtles were making a comeback with a brand new cartoon series, but I had no idea that they had already become so popular. Turtle power is back!

The TMNT toy line was the only franchise for which I absolutely had to have every single action figure that was available. Yes, I fully admit, l still played with them when I think other kids my age had probably moved on to bigger and better things, however, I played Ninja Turtles like a boss!

I put my toys through the mill doing all sorts of nutty things with them, but there was one brilliant moment in particular that stands out.  I had discovered that if I jammed a yardstick into the hinge behind the lid of our old top-loading washer, it tripped the switch that  allowed the washer to run with the lid wide open. From that point on, my turtle antics were launched into epic new territory. Mikey, Donny, Leo, and Raph now had an interactive setting for their adventures. One day they would be trapped by Shredder in a liquid deathtrap seething with bubbly toxic foam (green food coloring and  Tide), and the next day they would do battle with the foot clan while surfing the raging white water rapids. Of course, being amphibious, the boys in green always had the advantage.

When the normal wash cycles got monotonous, I could up the ante by manipulating the washer dial to create instant waterfalls and other special effects. The scene would inevitably crescendo to a dramatic finish as I deviously rotated the dial to spin cycle, upon which the green gang would be introduced to the swirling vortex of death!

Obviously, for safety reasons, it’s for the best that my son can’t use our own energy-efficient, side loading washer, complete with child locks, to play like I did in our old family washer.  But I do hope he has the same creative spirit as I did at that age, before the lure of digital toys, when you had no choice but to be imaginative in play.

On the way out of the toy store, my wife asked me, ” What makes you think our son will even like Ninja Turtles?” And to that, I say, show me a boy (or Dad) who doesn’t!  Cowabunga, dude!

Raphael

Robot Part Roundup #1

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Robot

The other day I was pulling out some christmas decorations in the basement, and when I leaned on an old lamp, the base of it just completely broke apart and I nearly went headlong over it. Don’t worry, I escaped unscathed and live to tell the story.  I was about to take it out to the trash when I realized I may be able to salvage some parts. I’ve been wanting to build my kids homemade robots for some time now, but I never seem to  have  enough materials lying around to work with. Even though the lamp is a good start, I’m still going to need a lot more parts, so I’m dedicating a box in the basement for random robot parts, and whenever I come across something I think may be useful, I’ll just toss in the box. Hopefully, I’ll look in that box someday after amassing enough random roboty junk, and I’ll be struck with inspiration to build the perfect robots for my kids. Better than Wall-E and Number 5! (Notice that I set the bar much lower than R2D2 and 3CPO, ’cause they’re the best!)

I Love Lamp

Santa and the Car-Toon Truck at AACA

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We stopped in to see Santa during his visit at the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) museum in Hershey. He ditched his usual sleigh for the day. Check out his new ride:

Santa's Ride

My kids must have sensed something was off when Santa arrived in an old convertible, without Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer gang, because today neither of them would sit on his lap, and usually they fight over who gets to go first.

It was my first time in the AACA museum, and unfortunately, with all the hubbub around Santa, I ended up having to rush through all of the exhibits. I’ll definitely be going back to more throughly explore the entire museum. If nothing else, I need to get another look at the 1920 Ford Model A “Car-Toon” Truck. The entire car is detailed with thousands of cartoons, comic book characters, and movie personalities, using brush and airbrush techniques. It’s fun and quite amazing to stare at it for a few moments and then begin to focus in on all of the dozens of characters. I only had a minute to see it, although I could easily have spent an hour or so soaking it all in.

Ford Car-toon Truck

Click here to find more images of the Car-Toon truck. What famous personalities or fictional characters can you spot? Go ahead and list them in the comments. I call Spock!

Bonus question: What is the make of Santa’s car?