Since it is Halloween, I thought I’d just share that in the town I live in we had a Zombie walk yesterday.  My husband and a few of his friends got all decked out

yeah, they rock

my hubby is the one on the left in the Khakis, he’s a cute undead flesh eater isn’t he?

Any one else ever participate in a Zombie walk?

Have a great Halloween everyone!

-emily

Now that Cassie is back you are getting double the posts!!  Put on your reading glasses kids!

I saw this on Tokyo Mango today.  Holy Crap!

I though all of you would appreciate this in the deepest way possible

Check out this chick’s Etsy shop.  There are a ton of cool Corsets there!

-emily

Renee of The Domestic Scientist just had her cross-stitch pattern on Craft Magazine’s blog. I know Renee reads the blog, so w00t w00t!

So freakin’ sweet! And congrats on making it to Craft’s blog, Renee!

Today I substitute taught at a middle school and things didn’t exactly end up like peaches and cream. I left the school feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. So I did one of the only things that can help a situation like this. No, I didn’t drop into my LYS and load up on sock yarn… that’s for other emergencies. I instead ended up at a chain bookstore making purchases from the educational reference and yes, the knitting section (I do try include knitting-therapy in some form).

After taking a moment to review a few great classroom management tips, I turned to my new knitting-related purchase: 2-at-a-Time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes. I flipped through the pages of gorgeous patterns, studied over the two socks on one circular needle technique, and congratulated myself on a great purchase. What the heck does this book have to do with the scarf, you ask? Mostly nothing. It wasn’t until I flipped to the glossary, the home of basic knitting techniques, that I found a tip I’d never seen before. A wonderful tip. A GLORIOUS tip.

A lot of my knitter readers are familar with the intarsia technique I’m using and probably already know about there. I also know that some of the beginning knitters out there are scared senseless of intarsia and my friends, fear no more. Melissa supplied an essential tip for fair isle and intarsia knitting that blew my mind because of its simplicity and wonderfulness. As you’re carrying yarn over one color (for example: the question boxes featured in the pictures from the Nintendo Power article), it’s best to twist the working yarn and the carried yarn every three to four stitches.

Here’s a picture showing what not to do and exactly what I’ve been doing for clouds and my question boxes:

See how the blue yarn comes over the white cloud part? Exactly what not to do. If I had twisted the blue yarn with the white yarn as I was knitting the cloud, the blue yarn would’ve carried over nice and neat, without pulling across the cloud. On the “right” side of the scarf, the clouds look puffy because the blue yarn is cinched across the back like in this picture.

Hopefully what I’m trying to explain is clear. I feel like a bit of a dummy because twisting seems like such an obvious solution, but it’s proof that knitting is a continuous learning process. Beginning knitters, be proud of yourselves if you’ve only accomplished knit and purl. The rest will come and there will always be people and resources to guide you on your way.

I’ve received a request for this week’s Weird Knitting Wednesday. With the Holiday season approaching it is time to start our present projects, but what to knit your nerdy friends…

An iPod cover is a wonderful gift for your geeky friend, but you can totally nerd it up a notch by making it this Doctor Who themed iPod case

If you have a geek that loved Firefly you can give them Jayne’s famous hat

“A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he’s not afraid of anything” – Wash

Send your geek a message with a Binary Scarf, you can even decide on the message by typing it in here

Your favorite Star Wars fan needs this, no, they really do

Gamers need love too, give them the extra boost they need with 1up mushroom gloves (I suggest making them fingerless so that they can continue playing their games unhindered)

If your geek is as messy as me they could use this to help clean up their desk, it’s way more fun if you hum the Katamari Damacy tune while you do it

-emily

I substitute taught in a kindergarten class today (my mom’s class, actually!) so I didn’t have much time to knit. But I did learn that the most popular Halloween costumes among 5 and 6 year olds in her class are ghosts and princesses. Only one kid was going as something I’d consider remotely cool- a Transformer. Optimus Prime, even. The kid wore a Transformers shirt, shoes, and even his backpack was Transformers.

Post a comment about what you’re going to be for Halloween!

Check out this awesome little boy who went as a Transformer to Dragon*Con 2008 here in Atlanta: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGhDgtBe1lo

Helloooooooo! Long time, no blog. Thank you so much, Emily, for holding down the fort in my absence. Sorry, everyone, for taking a bit of a hiatus. Internet fame can take a toll on a person. I needed to take a break from the scarf- oh I know, blasphemy! Never fear. I’m all charged up and ready to get to some serious knitting. After all, I’m now all cool and official and stuff.

Some of you may know that Nintendo Power magazine has a simple, but very sweet, profile of the scarf in the December 2008 issue. I referred to this happening in August, but didn’t want to jinx myself. But now I can celebrate with all of you and share this very awesome moment in my life.

Jason was kind enough to scan the article for me and for those of you who don’t have a copy, I’m posting the image and the article in case it doesn’t read very well on your monitor.

THE WHOLE WORLD AROUND YOUR NECK
by Andrew Hayward
December 2008 issue of Nintendo Power magazine

Scarves come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, patterns, and colors, but here’s one scarf you won’t find at your local mall. Dubbed simply “The Mario Scarf,” the homemade garment is the handiwork of 23-year-old Cassie Smith, a substitute teacher from East Atlanta, Georgia. Smith estimates that she is one-third of the way done with the scarf (it was over six feet long at press time), which aims to re-create the entirety of World 1-1 from the classic NES platformer Super Marios Bros. in a wearable format.

The idea came from her boyfriend, Jason, who like Smith, is a long-time gamer with an affinity for 8-bit classics. Smith began the massive undertaking last summer, utilizing a fan-made image of the entire level map as a template. Initially she attempted to use a grid-making Web application to map out the project, but instead opted to freehand the entire scarf. Smith knitted off and on for months while Jason temporarily relocated to California for a job, but when Jason returned home, he offered her a bit of extra motivation to complete the project. “He told me that if I could finish the scarf he would propose to me,” says Smith. Marriage by way of Mario- now that’s something we can get behind.

With about seven years of experience (she began knitting in high school), Smith considers herself an intermediate knitter, but says aside from the usual Internet hecklers, fan reaction to the scarf has been overwhelmingly positive. She’s been blogging (http://themarioscarf.blogspot.com) about the project since July, and the goal is to be finished by Thanksgiving this year. The little details- such as the enemies and Mario himself- will be the last bits added.

While she’s open to knitting other game-inspired items, World 1-1 will likely be Smith’s only Super Mario Bros. level scarf, as she believes crafting additional worlds would diminish the thrill and originality of the initial project. And what will become of the completed scarf? “There is talk of hanging in like a tapestry in Jason’s game room, and I’m sure he’ll attempt to wear it,” says Smith. “The one thing we absolutely will not do is sell it. Unless [Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto requests it for his personal collection, we’re not giving this up.”

———————————–

A few personal notes about the article:

1. Thank you, Andrew Hayward!!!!!
2. I’m now 24 (early October birthday).
3. Obviously the website is no longer at the Blogspot/Blogger address, so if anyone asks, just remind them there’s a link to the new site.

I’ve decided over the past week to make up for my absence by attempting to post about something scarf/my knitting life/SMB-related until this thing is finished and HOPEFULLY, by the standards set forth by myself and reiterated in this article, that should happen around Thanksgiving. So here’s hoping. I’ll need your encourage and cheerleading to see me through the next thirty days, but I know it can happen.

Thank you already SO MUCH for your support and interest in this project.

I’ve found several Pac Man related Items lately. You may recall my previous post about Pac Man Haute Couture; well I’ve got some more Pac Man goodness for you now.

These look like the perfect addition to Tetris brownies if you ask me

These Pac-o-lanterns are quite festive….

And this scarf could keep you warm while you trick or treat.

Or you could just go as one of the Ghosts, that should be warm

I think Gabe would be proud

-e

There are so many knit toys out there, so let’s look at a few of my favs for Weird knitting Wednesday

Perfect for the child allergic to bees!

I wish I had one of these when I was a kid. Hell, I wish I had one now!

I have earrings made out of these! Not knit ones, the real deal (because you rock Oneika!)

It’s an educational tool, help the children learn!!!!

In case you want to show them the difference between amphibians and mammals there is a rat version.

-e

After wrestling with a broken server for the last few days I need some levity, I’m sure you will all laugh with me

USB drives are probably the best thing ever to happen to data storage. They hold way more than a floppy ever did, they don’t get damaged as easily as a CD, and they conveniently fit in your pocket. Perfect. In the last few years they have even become an outlet for creative expression. This is part one of a multi part series on the crazy stuff USB thumb drives look like. We will start with Asian food!

Sushi. So good. So few are willing to eat it with me and even fewer can afford it. Now you can store your pictures from eating sushi on your sushi thumb drive.

Dimsum. Delicious, normally steamed, a fun snack to be served with tea; or to put a term paper on.

Tempura Shrimp. A wonderful shrimp dish dipped in a tasty batter and fried to perfection (also very good as part of sushi!)

Sake. Mmmmmmm, Sake. Warm so you don’t even notice the alcohol burn, dangerous, but so good. I don’t recommend using Sake and your computer at the same time. Alcohol and email just don’t mix!  That’s why Gmail has Mail Goggles available in Gmail Labs

-emily