Did Someone Say Roller Derby?

Look at that - you go without blogging for a year and all sorts of things happen.

Like joining a Roller Derby team.

For those who've missed the revival, yes, it's back.  Roller Derby - the biggest, baddest fad of the '30s, '40s, '50s, '70s, '80s, and 1999 is back - but this time it's all real, (almost) all-girl, and wilder than ever! (Except without the alligators.)  Starting around 2001, Roller Derby has been re-invented as a flat track  contact sport, and now there are over 1,000 leagues all around the world.  I joined one of them last April.  So I spend a couple evenings a week practicing skating, blocking, and hitting other skaters, preparing to skate against other leagues - and I spend almost all of my free time thinking about Roller Derby, talking about Roller Derby, surfing websites about Roller Derby, traveling to Roller Derby bouts, or being otherwise preoccupied with Roller Derby.  In that way, it's kind of like knitting, but with more bruises.

There's even some crossover.  One of the skaters from the Naptown Roller Girls of Indianapolis, Joan of Dark, has a book called Knockdown Knits: 30 Projects from the Roller Derby Track, full of knitting patterns for the derby skater or fan.  Here's one of the projects - the Know Your Jammer hat.  (The Jammer, the skater who scores points for her team, is identified by a helmet cover with a star.)  This is a fast knit and funky construction for a hat - it's knit flat with an intarsia star, then seamed up the side.  I have a feeling I'm going to be knitting a lot of these.

So, that's what's slowed down my knitting, and my blogging, and pretty much everything else.  But it's helped me roller skate a lot faster!

A New Leaf

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog, hasn't it?

Planning to spend more time on the Internet probably isn't the greatest New Year's Resolution, but I think that's mine.  I'm going to get back to blogging - and knitting - regularly.  I've completed some projects, started many more, and tried my best to keep the VeryBadDogs out of trouble.

What's on the needles now?  This is my current favorite - the Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Välimäki.  It's a funny design - a triangle that begins in the center of the long side, and works out to knit the other two sides at the same time.  Short rows make the triangle lopsided, with wedge-shaped stripes.  I'm using Zephyr lace-weight yarn, purchased from Ursula's Alcove, one of my favorite SCA merchants.

I love the graphic, modern look of this shawl.  I'm thinking of adding a white stripe or two to the bottom, but I'll decide that when I come to it.  It's a great pattern, because it's easy to memorize, so it will be perfect for in-car knitting.

Many other things are or should be in progress, and I'll update those as I go.  Today I'll be spending a lot of time on my stripe shawl, as I'm off on a long trip with the Roller Derby team (see, there's a story there!)

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