Just me and my 2nd sleeve, ... and some badges ...

So, today I'll show you sleeve number 2, progress on the garter rib jersey, the badges I think I've earned, and finally I muse about the impact of Ravelry on knitting web activity. And no - I'm still waiting for my invite.



Sleeve number 2, well on its way, last night there was a little frogging, I discovered I was out by 3 stitches in my 'dot' placement on one needle 4 rows below, and initially thought I could tink down to each erroneous stitch and knit back up. It soon became clear that frogging back 4 rows as going to be quicker, neater and save my sanity, so I did.




I usually knit Fannigan at night, when I have time to focus on the colour work, and snatch 10-20 minutes in the morning and while dinner is cooking to knit on garter rib jersey at other times of the day. But despite not knitting a lot on the garter rib I am making progress, see 9" already!
















And these - well I've awarded myself 3 of Brenda's badges.

1. The “Proselytize Knitting” Badge - A requirement for all Knitting Scouts, the recipient must do his or her bit to present knitting in a positive light, whilst at the same time avoiding all references to “hipness”, grandmothers, and yoga.
   
   I've earned it because I have a knitting blog, knit in public, knit gifts for non knitters and proudly wear my knitting, as my sleeve!
   
2. The “I Will Impress You With My Math Prowess” Badge - The recipient is a whiz at substituting yarns and calculating gauge, can space increases and decreases evenly and is fully comfortable with the basic math encountered in all knitting projects.
   
   I've earned it because I usually use my own patterns and usually try and find the math reasoning behind the patterns of others.
   
3. The “MacGyver” Badge (Level Two) - The recipient must demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario. For instance, recipient has used a strand of Regia Bamboo to slice cheese, or repaired a small appliance with a metal knitting needle.
   
   - Earrings reformed into stitch markers and using toy rings as stitch markers a few posts back

and lastly (and no I'm not going to admit publicly to doing what it takes to earn the badges for knitting things with no practical purpose or under the influence ...well maybe coldrex?).






... and Ravelry, I feel almost uncomfortable saying this, but it is a thought that has been nagging away for quite some time. My favorite knitting forum, actually my only knitting forum (but thats because it is the easiest to use) seems very quite, and for a few weeks my knit-blog-sphere seems less active, yet is full of comments about how much time/fun/friends people are having behind the closed doors of Ravelry. Now I'm not a gated community kind of gal, and I'm very into non-discrimination - I've been quite vocal and proactive in getting my wee special boy into a Montessori classroom despite a principles reluctance, but right now while Ravelry is still beta, and invite only - well .... is it me or are the spaces away from Ravelry quieter just recently. Of course there are 183,000 hits when you Google 'ravelry knitting', and there are by my count 10496 people in, and 18832 people waiting ... thats a lot of knitters! 29,328! Still there should still be 18,832 knitters outside to play and knit with me?

Today I am

• You signed up on July 2, 2007
• You are #12039 on the list.
• 1543 people are ahead of you in line.
• 17289 people are behind you in line.
• 35% of the list has been invited so far