Knit-Nerd-Rant

[ via ] First, I've been so overwhelmed by the positive response on Ravelry and the sudden, dramatic uptick in hits that Blogger told me about after I posted my recent knitting patterns! I'm so excited that people actually bothered to look at my silly little posts! So here I present you with one of my favorite new creatures in the world, Grumpy Cat . Grumpy Cat makes me giggle like I've lost my marbles (high likelihood that it's true). And one quick update, I'll be out on a boat with the boyfriend's family for an extended holiday vacation. Should there be some sort of cosmic catastrophe on the 21st, should be interesting. Massive tidal wave/tsunami, I might be more safe than most or get totally destroyed. Zombie apocalypse on land, I'm gonna be just find. Enormous asteroid impact, we're likely all screwed. One way or another, I may be back. Until then, gaze into the infinte grump of Grumpy Cat surrounded by a Christmas wreath.

This is a very simple blanket, and pretty mindless to do.  I had a bunch of donated yarn from a friend - a collection of inexpensive craft store yarn - some boucle and some fleece.  I wanted to get rid of it, and thought this would be a great gift for someone who needed something warm and fuzzy. Supplies: I used a size 8 long circular (and also a size 6 circular, details below) I used up 2 very large skeins of the purple boucle, 2 skeins of pink fleece yarn, and 1.5 skeins of the acid green 4 stitch markers to mark the corners Cast on 80 stitches on a size 8 circular (or straight, depending on preference). I used long-tail/slingshot cast-on. Work 6 rows in stockinette Row A: Knit 5, [yo, k2tog], repeat [] until 5 stitches remaining, knit 5 Row B: Purl 6, [turn stitch around and purl, purl], repeat [] until 5 stitches remaining, purl 5 Repeat Rows A and B until the piece is nearly square Work 6 rows in stockinette Keep 80 stitches on needle - don't bind off...

So this funky little thing is a Moebius plush that I decided to make for my father, a geometer. I had some difficulty wrapping my brain around it, and reached out for help to Ravelry when my brain felt overwhelmed.  Got some great tips that went straight into the pattern for this little guy. Materials: I used size 6 double-pointed needles (4) Ancient, mind-bending green worsted-weight acrylic yarn (less than 1 skein) and about 3-4 feet of a contrasting darker green for stitching. Using a very thick yarn for this size needles meant that the piece is fairly stiff and sturdy.  If you're a looser knitter, try a smaller needle or thicker yarn to get this combo for yourself! Cast on 33 stitches on dpns (I used slingshot/long tail cast-on). Transfer 11 stitches to each of 3 needles for knitting. Row 1: knit, join into round Row 2: [knit 1, slip 1 stitch purlwise at end of dpn], repeat [] 3 times Continue rows 1 & 2 until piece is about 30 inches long an...