Tag Archives: scarf

Knits for Nerds: Update #1

Leave a reply

This is my first update on my Doctor Who scarf project. It turns out that you can’t just sit down for the very first time and expect to start knitting. I’m not sure who gave me that idea, but whoever it was, they were grossly misinformed. Like most things, there is a learning curve involved.  You have to practice first and acquire an adequate base skill level, figuring out what works, making mistakes, fixing mistakes, all while struggling to develop a natural rhythm and the necessary muscle memory. I learned this lesson right off the bat.

First attempt – Lumpy Space Princess?

That being said, I am currently a knitter in training, working on my craft with intensity whenever I can grab a few spare minutes. You could equate such training to Rocky Balboa prepping for his mammoth fight against Ivan Drago, except that I am actually Russian…so, flip it. Never mind, it was a bad analogy anyway.

I started on size 10.5 needles and after a few failed attempts, I actually started to become fairly comfortable.

See, getting much better!

I just moved to the suggested size 8 needles as indicated in the book.

Size 8. That hole is intentional. It serves to anchor the piece.

I’d like to actually start knitting by December 1st, a nice and neat date. I’ll need a little more practice with the size 8 chopsticks (sounds better than needles, eh?), then I’ll need to figure out how in the world to change colors on the fly. Yikes, better get back to training…

Knits for Nerds

2 Replies

Project materials – who knew Vanna had her own yarn line?

Our local library is a favorite weekly stomping ground of my family. My kids love to go to the children’s area to play with puzzles and games, and to pick out some books and movies. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad flip a coin over who is first to actually supervise this fiasco versus who gets first dibs to browse the rest of the library. My favorite area lately is new arrivals, because it’s a mishmash of all sorts of new books.  This week I came across the book “Knits for Nerds,” by Toni Carr. It features 30 sci-fi, comic book, and fantasy projects. Even though I don’t knit, I thought it’d just be fun to flip through it at home, so I tossed it in our tote bag.

That night I paged through the book and enjoyed looking at all of the pictures of the various sci-fi, comic, and fantasy knitting projects. Then I came across the iconic Doctor Who scarf, and I thought, gee, that can’t be too hard to make, can it? Maybe I should just figure out this knitting thing and this can be my very first project. Then I can always level up to making all sorts of cool stuff for the kids! AND I’m in the midst of getting caught up with the new Doctor Who series (only half way there), so it surely must be fate telling me to get my knit on. Maybe I can unite the two hobbies and do my knitting while actually watching the Doctor Who series at the same time, only that would  probably require some level of actual skill.

Now, I’ve sewed some buttons and patches here and there, but knitting!? I’ve never given it a moment’s thought. Until now. I called my only knitting resource I could think of, my mother-in-law, and picked her brain the best I could while simultaneously watching two screaming kids. According to her, scarves are considered “kids’ stuff” in the world of knitting projects (I don’t think she realizes the length of this particular scarf!), and it uses the garter stitch, which is also said to be easy for beginners. So now my mother-in-law is giddy as a school girl to teach me how to knit, and we are scheduling our knitting time during our time together at Thanksgiving, when conveniently, the whole family will also be around to promptly ridicule me. I can see it now…. “how ’bout an afghan to keep your legs warm,”  and “can I get you some Werther’s Original Hard Candy?”  between choruses of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Yeah, wish me luck.