Zero-to-Perl

DIVING RIGHT IN!!


[Image Description: 'A pivot table, showing I crafted over 47 hours in October on 11 different projects.' title='October 2025 Crafting Spreadsheet]

So yes! I tried a lot of projects in October! Some of which were abandoned! But I did have some finishes, so let's check them out:


[Image Description: A sticker puzzle featuring a Day of the Dead decorated skull.]

I got this sticker puzzle from my library several years back as a Take and Make kit. Man, I miss those kits! So much fun and they were FREE! Anyway, I finally did this one for The Lab challenge in Nerdopolis. The theme was "Science Lab" and this was my writeup:

Did you know Post-It notes were an accidental invention? A 3M scientist was attempting to create a super-strong adhesive when he accidentally created a weak adhesive instead. This adhesive was low-tack and responded to pressure. For this challenge, I did some experimenting with the weak adhesive on the back of my sticker puzzle (a Take and Make kit from my local library!). I tested to see if I could remove and replace the stickers to perfect their position (I could!).

Team shout out for Nerd Cred: My sticker puzzle is of a decorated skull for “El Dia de los Muertos” (The Day of the Dead). In Final Fantasy XI, there is an infamous quest to unlock your subjob that requires farming three items from monsters, one of which is a Magicked Skull that comes from skeleton enemies.

I've opted not to include the "before" picture here, showing the sticker sheet. This was fun and just challenging enough to BE fun and not annoying. It probably took me about an hour - I didn't time myself. I have another one of these sticker puzzles (a Monet print) that I hope to do for a future challenge in The Lab.


[Image Description: A pair of bright red lacy knitted legwarmers, worn.]

I only did one legwarmer this month--the other was completed in a previous month for a different challenge. I had to alter the pattern because my yarn was more of a bulky than worsted, and so I didn't get gauge. I guessed on pattern alterations which I thought worked well at first, but the truth is that there's not enough negative ease, and these slide down. Boo.

This legwarmer was submitted in the Nerdopolis Challenge "The Games We Played", with the writeup:

My family used to vacation in Hayward, WI when I was quite young, and we always brought board games along to play. Two of the games we played were Hungry, Hungry Hippos (which has a red playing board) and Hi-Ho! Cherry-O! (in which you collect red cherries). In honor of these memories, I’ve made a red legwarmer.

[Image Description: A crocheted water bottle carrier, with an attached pocket for a cell phone.]

This was a necessity. See, I've acquired a pair of earbuds which means I am now taking my phone to the gym so I can listen to Final Fantasy music while working out, as one does. Well, carrying phone AND water bottle AND keys AND towel AND spray bottle is a bit much, so I made this to combine two of the items into one convenient carry package. It works pretty well. Not perfect, but much better than juggling everything. I submitted this in Area 51, the challenge for finished WIPs or stuff made with stash yarn. This was from stash.


[Image Description: The start of a sleeve for a knitted cardigan. The generous amount of ribbing at the wrist is done, along with a few rows of the sleeve body. The sleeve is gray with a teal cable running down its middle.]

This is one of my Summit Seeker projects--those projects that will take more than a month to do. I decided to start with a sleeve and use it as my gauge swatch. My first attempt was last year, and I (a) cast on the wrong amount of stitches (b) used bigger needles at the time, and well, I just didn't like the fabric I was producing. So I frogged and started again with smaller needles AND the proper cast-on amount. Much happier now!


[Image Description: A crocheted approximation of Emet-Selch's soul crystal. It is purple and has an embroidered constellation on it, similar to the Gemini constellation.]

There was a challenge this month in which you were to make something related to a "bad guy" in your nerdery and I WAS NOT ABOUT TO MAKE AN EMET-SELCH DOLL, NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WANTED TO because ain't nobody got time to do a doll AND clothes in a month's time. I considered several options, included double-knitting something, but in the end I just winged it with crochet. It's... okay. Fulfills the challenge, but eh.

Some of the things on the list of things i tried are things I intend to go back to and finish (I *need* the Cat Lady Bag). Others, well, probably won't return to. But I had fun this month, for the most part.

Not fun: I worked on my Motion Picture Mosaic Cardi. FINALLY finished the sleeve I was on, so moved on to the right front. Problem: the edge of the back did NOT meet the edge of the front. I tried to hack a fix, but it didn't work (would have looked really stupid). So I need to frog at least SOME of the cardi. It's still in time out because I can't bear to look at it and figure out how much I need to pull back.