First Challenge

As many of you know I am on a site called Ravelry for fiber arts.  There are, at any given time, different competition groups on the site.  NERDWARS, is one such competition.  There are 14 teams based on various nerdy pursuits.  I am on Team Bazinga- fans of the tv show The Big Bang Theory.  Since it is a show about nerds, there are many different facets  to our team.  The guys on the show love physics, astronnomy, engineering, sci-fi, video games, super heroes & comic books.  So we have, I think the most well rounded team.  

There are three rounds to the competition.  Each round is a month long.  Within each round there are 6 categories, and a challenge is issued within that category.  Using one of the crafts of Ravelry, each team member choses the challenge or challenges they wish to answer, knit their project and then it is judges for points.  There are also dissertations- in which a competitor can propose a project that will take the full three months to complete, and can be tied in to one of the six categories.  My dissertation proposal is going in this weekend.  More on that if it is approved.


I did choose to do a quick project to answer to one of the challenges to get myself moving.  I answered the Scientific challenge, which was to create a project inspired by Nebulae.  Several people have chosen to use multicolored yarn that resembles the colors of a nebula, others are creating swirly harts and shawls that resemble swirly nebulae.  As usual, I wandered off in a different direction.  




I thought about my favorite nebulae (yes I have favorite nebulae) The Madonna, The Horsehead, Orion, The Crab.  I decided to use the Crab.  It was a special nebula in my childhood, what can I say I had a bizarre childhood.  The weather in north Jersey, has been rather a challenge in and of itself this week.  So I had to find a way to use The Crab with yarn I already owned - which did not include swirly colored yarn.  I also had to find a way to tie it into my team's inspiration The Big Bang Theory.




Leonard's mom is a cold fish.  She would seem to be better suited as Sheldon's mom not Leonard.  I think, some time on the sunny beaches of California might thaw her out a little bit, but evenings on the beach, when the wind starts to blow, can be chilly.  I am already "working" (the project has been an UFO - unfinished object since two springs ago) on a cotton beach throw. One of my goals for 2011 is to finish or frog(undo - when you unravel knitting it goes "rip-it, rip-it" much like a frog) 12 projects.  So this would help both things.  I found a pattern for a dishcloth square with a crab on it.  A slight modification made it fit the size needed for my throw.