Join the Geek Games!

[Miss Crochet]

"Join the Geek Games training," said my bf, as he leaned over me to pour a cup of tea.

"Sorry?" I said distractedly. I was correcting a pile of exams and had C'Ville open on my laptop in front of me.

"Join the Geek Games," he repeated. "Who are the Geeks?"

I looked at the screen.

"The GREEK games," I pointed out. "The Crochet OLYMPICS!"

A big smirk spread across his face. "So they really are the Geek Games, then."

 

Ha ha, not.

I can't "compete" in our Greek Games because I'll be preparing for my wedding at that time and probably won't even have time to pick up a hook. So I hereby declare the 2008 Geek Games Open! You may enter whichever category you choose, below are some suggestions.

 

 

• Crochet Gymnastics: ever bent over backwards to get some crochet done in the most extraordinary of places?
  
• Marathon Crochet: what's the longest stretch of uninterrupted hooking that you've done?
  
• 100 metre sprint: what's the most you've spent on crochet supplies in the shortest period of time?
  
• Crochet Relay Race: ever decided to stashbust but had to buy more yarn in order to do so? Tell us about it!
  
• High Geek Jump: confess the nerdiest aspect of your crocheting personality.
  

 

"And on the field in the 2008 Geek Games, we have Miss Crochet. She takes a deep breath... and she's off!"

 

High Geek Jump

I'll begin with the latter category, as I spent a happy hour yesterday doing this: I like to lay out all my yarn and look at it. My stash isn't very big, so I can easily lay it out on my bed and match colours. Then I bag them in freezer bags so they're ready to go for new projects. A week later, I do it again, empty all the bags and recombine the skeins with other colours and re-bag them. I just like looking at them...

 

Crochet Relay Race

As followers of the Crochet for Charity thread might know, I decided to get rid of some of the little granny squares I had been doing to make blankets for e.g. Project Linus. I was seriously going to stashbust. No new yarn, come what may. Maybe the babyghans might look a little crazy, but I was just going to sew together all the squares I had and voila. ... but I discovered I couldn't. They babyghans had to be, well, pretty. So I supplemented my stash with a skein or two to make matching borders and crochet the square or two missing from the babyghan. I ended up using 5 skeins and buying 8. I am stashbusting, I swear.

 

"Well done, Miss Crochet! Will it be enough to get her the gold? That remains to be seen, ladies and gentlemen! The other contestants are warming up... let's see who's up next..."

[Gran]

Brilliant idea, Miss Crochet!

 

High Geek Jump: confess the nerdiest aspect of your crocheting personality.

 

Why, this category appealed to me instantly. True confessions: I research the fiber content and chemical finishes on yarns and threads before I'll consent to using them. I research the material and finishes used on hooks before I'll use them either. The history of the development of hooks, yarns, threads and notions is an area I find very fascinating. I always search the threads on C'ville to see what Hooklady has posted! The hooks-and-tools section of C'ville is one of my most favorite dep'ts!

 

I find your High Geek Jump a completely natural part of the creative process of designing. It's no different in composing music!

 

And I'll give you two GOLD MEDALS, if that's allowed, for creating the Geek Games, and for having such a lovely High Geek Jump! Why, come to think of it, I'll give you THREE GOLD MEDALS, as your Crochet Relay Race makes perfect sense to me.

 

Hmmm, while I'm at it, I'll also give you a PLATINUM MEDAL for creating, designing, and producing such a perfect game.

[Ellie 13]

Marathon Crochet: 3:30 (+/-) during a power failure (heat wave, too many AC's, fans, etc). I also got my freezer defrosted that day .

Crochet Relay Race: I started making squares using partial rainbow skeins. I needed 1 skein of yellow and 3 skeins of black to finish 2 afghans.

Ellie 13

[Krystal16]

Ooh, I'm in!

 

* Crochet Gymnastics: I used to breast-feed and crochet at the same time. My kids learned at the ripe age of 2 months that it was very fun to twist their toes in my yarn. I then learned to use my own toes as a yarn guide and put the skein on the floor so they couldn't get it..

* Marathon Crochet: Several 3-hour stretches in the same day. We drive on vacation for 12 hours (each way) and I crochet the entire time. We drive for 3 hours, stop for potty, drive for 3 more, stop to eat, etc....

 

* 100 metre sprint: what's the most you've spent on crochet supplies in the shortest period of time? Last year I went through JoAnn's inventory clearance sale, online sale, garage sales and Ebay all in a span of about 2 weeks. I'm pretty sure I spent about $100 in that time - that's A LOT for me!

 

* Crochet Relay Race: Yep, I remember my autumn ripple that I ran out of Carrot mid-way through. Got some from a member here, or would have had to buy!

 

* High Geek Jump: confess the nerdiest aspect of your crocheting personality. I absolutely CANNOT have an uncoordinated color scheme. Scraps? NO WAY. I'm OCD when it comes to colors.

 

(And I do take all my yarn out and rearrange it into bags quite frequently too. I just don't do it every week because... well.... um.... there's quite a bit of it!)

[ChayaSar]

• Crochet Gymnastics: Well not bending over backwards, but I've crocheted while waiting to check out in Wal-Mart
  

 

 

• Marathon Crochet: The Longest I have ever crocheted in one sitting is 6 hours straight, I completed an entire baby blanket in that time using Homespun Yarn and my Chophook!
  

 

 

• 100 metre sprint: The most I've ever spent in a short amount of time is in 2006, when we got our taxes back, I spent roughly $400 in about a month on yarn, hooks, books etc... mostly yarn (still havn't used it all, but got it ALL on sale, so felt justified )
  

 

• High Geek Jump: Um, I've named my crochet hooks, one in particular is Lacey, she's a hook made by Jimbo made from Lacewood and she's so beautiful, and I've been caught telling her how smooth she is.... I also call the hook my in-laws bought me for Christmas "Beauty" she's made of brazillian tulipwood and from Turn of the Century.... and I call my Chophook Clark.... and I make it a point to look at and hold these three hooks EVERY DAY even if they aren't used that day.... but I do choose projects that would have me use them! And when Jessica (Traveling Hook III) was here I made up a soap opera for my hooks.... don't judge me!
  

[RainbowAzalea]

Crochet Gymnastics: I've crocheted at church during a long sermon, and also in class several times. I have discovered that it's easier to get away with in lecture classes than it is in discussion based classes.

 

Marathon Crochet: Probably seven hours...I got to the airport, took out my crochet and started working on a blanket I was making, got on the plane and kept going without ever putting the project back in my bag, got off the plane, continued working through my layover, and then the next flight, and finally had to put it down. Haven't worked on that blanket since, and it's 2/3 the way done.

100 metre sprint: Probably when the yarn at hobby lobby was on sale and I ended up with 31 skeins/balls of yarn...

 

Crochet Relay Race: Frequently...I know my cotton project probably doesn't really fall into that category, because it's like stashbusting in reverse (I'm making a 3 round granny off of all non-white balls before I use the rest of it) and I am going to have to buy several cones of white for that when all is said and done, and a couple of my baby sets started out as stashbusters...

 

High Geek Jump: Umm...I recently commented that one of the democratic candidates for state legislature had the same last name as a crochet designer.

[Gran]

High Geek Jump: Umm...I recently commented that one of the democratic candidates for state legislature had the same last name as a crochet designer.

RainbowAzalea, thanks for the chuckle. That one's really good!

[Ellie 13]

Marathon Crochet: 3:30 (+/-) during a power failure (heat wave, too many AC's, fans, etc). I also got my freezer defrosted that day .

Crochet Relay Race: I started making squares using partial rainbow skeins. I needed 1 skein of yellow and 3 skeins of black to finish 2 afghans.

Ellie 13

 

I just thought of another category I can enter.

Crochet Gymnastics: I really needed to finish squares for an afghan, so I was while waiting in a line. When the line moved I walked and . My brother said "You can do that, and walk too?" Some people thought it was funny, one lady said "I knit, but I'm not that good."

Ellie 13

[enCrochet]

Crochet Gymnastics: Iused to crochet while sitting on the Grand Jury (I was told by the baliff to put it away when the judge entered, out of respect).

Marathon Crochet: Sunday afternoon is my crochet time, probably 3 -4 hours at a stretch.

Crochet Relay Race: I inherited a single skein of Noro Kureyon, so I decided (since Noro is expensive) to combine it with other similarly colored yarn. I ended up buying 5 skeins of Lamb's Pride to get "just the right colors", using only 2 - 4 rows of each to make a vest.

[frogrockr]

Crochet Gymnastics: In the dentists chair whilst waiting for the anaesthetic to kick in.

 

Marathon Crochet: five hours whilst sitting waiting for a very sad flight to return to an Air Force base...

 

100 metre sprint: This is embarrassing... $845 in one weekend on etsy yarns. The Security Lady from Virgin Credit cards called me to ask if my credit card had been stolen.

 

Crochet Relay Race: Last week.... Making more bears.... used three from stash, bought another 38.

 

High Geek Jump: That I doodle crochet patterns and symbology when filling in time during meetings. Or that I fall asleep whilst crocheting and coccoon myself in the yarn....

[snapdragon928]

This is a fun and funny game. I love it. I crocheted sitting in the car in the dark waiting for my daughter to get out of work. I didn't have a light up hook either, but wish I had. Didn't have to pull out a single stitch. I also crocheted at a cemetary. It was my mom and dads cemetary. My grandma is there too, she taught me to crochet.

[Gran]

Just crocheting at all is sometimes an athletic feat. I think you all are great!

[Miss Crochet]

Last night I dreamt I was in our local dept store and I bought a huge skein of rainbow-coloured yarn for the Holidays in July.

 

This morning after breakfast - despite all logic and contrary to all sensible thinking - I hot-footed it into town to the dept store to look for the yarn in my dream. I didn't find it, though. Something similar, but not half as nice.

 

I am an obsessed geek

[Gran]

High geek-jumping may be the core of my crocheting. The time and effort I spend doing research about crochet, planning crochet, and such as studying thread work, is greater than the actual time with hook in hand.

[Lubba_my_kiddos]

Crochet Gymnastics: ever bent over backwards to get some crochet done in the most extraordinary of places?

I crocheted while breastfeeding my son. Poor little guy's face got tickled by the yarn dragging on his face.

• Marathon Crochet: what's the longest stretch of uninterrupted hooking that you've done?
  

I crocheted for like 3 hours at a time in the hospital after I had my son (I was in there for 10 days so that's ALOT of free time!)

• 100 metre sprint: what's the most you've spent on crochet supplies in the shortest period of time?
  

When I was first setting up shop I would spend $150 at a time buying yarns, hooks, and project bags.

• Crochet Relay Race: ever decided to stashbust but had to buy more yarn in order to do so? Tell us about it!
  

There have been many times that I have bought 5 or 6 skeins to do a project that was supposed to be a stash buster.

• High Geek Jump: confess the nerdiest aspect of your crocheting personality.
  

Before going anywhere (amusement parks included) I ALWAYS think "should I bring a project?" also I will have a full blown panic attack if my husband packs my project bag in the back of the van on long drives. But I'm a total freak. LOL.

[Gran]

Dear LMK, don't we all want our crochet bag right up in the front seat by our feet? If it's not where I can reach it easily, I have to go get it and place it in a comforting spot close by. Did you actually crochet at an amusement park?

[Ellie 13]

High Geek Jump: Sometimes I dream I'm . When I wake up, I draw sketches because I don't want to forget. I've even started in the middle of the night before. I've created some of my best designs this way.

Ellie 13

[dragonpuck]

• Crochet Gymnastics: hockey games- sat in MY seat and put by yarn bag in the one next always hoping it wouldn't get filled up - i got really good at crocheting while moving out of the way for people down the row- the only problem was that often the game was so good i didn't get anything done!
  
• Crochet Relay Race: this is constant, i always seem to need a matching color or border so far i am staying on the positive side by NOT buying that extra skein until i really need it to finish tht way i use up some before i get more
  

[LondonLaura]

Great thread! I love your concept of Crochet Relay Race, that one really tickles me. I was supposed to only be using stash, but my LYS had a sale on...so what's a girl to do? Amongst my huge purchase were four balls of yarn for a charity blanket. Belatedly I decided to make a log cabin blankie, which meant that I needed more colours, which meant that I went back to the store, which meant that I paid full price for the extra balls of yarn

 

I'm sure I made a saving somewhere though...right?

 

My Geek High Jump is that my projects have to look attractive even when I'm not crocheting I arrange them in a basket so that they are draped nicely with a ball of yarn on show etc. I guess you could call it Crochet Interior Decoration?

[callen610]

Cute idea!

 

Marathon Crochet: About 2-3 hours while trying to finish up a christening gift.

 

100 Metre Sprint: Ugh - I hate to admit this....probably over $150 online at the Knitting Warehouse - just on yarn (see below).

 

High Geek Jump: Well...I really fell in love with Simply Soft a few years ago and wanted a color chart. So....I ordered every single available color (including brites and variegated) and made my own swatch collection.

[Gran]

Callen, thanks for the chuckle. I'd wanted to do that with the simply soft and didn't. Was it worth it?

[RebelCrochet]

Crochet Gymnastics: Last winter, while I was waiting for the train to/from work, I would pull my arms into my coat and crochet in there so my hands wouldn't get cold. I also like to crochet in bed, on my back, with my project held above my face. Can't do this for very long. Oh, and I can crochet while I walk, too.

 

Marathon Crochet: It was a struggle to finish my flower girl dress before the wedding, so I coccooned myself on the couch one day with food and drink and finished the thing the day before the wedding shower. It probably took eleven or twelve hours. I never wanted to see purple acrylic again, but HOLY COW was she adorable!

 

100 Metre Sprint: I bought two bazillion skeins of Elsbeth Lavold's Hempathy when it first came out. The stuff is only $5.85 now, but then it was something like eleven dollars. I spent about $200, I think. Totally worth it, though

 

High Geek Jump: My friend, for whom I make hats, was so in love with alpaca yarn that he actually had me research the making of yarn from the other South American camelids, llamas and vicuna. I came back to him with a dissertation-level report on why yarn is best made from alpaca (because vicuna is engangered, turns out) and why alpaca is so much better than wool and how to raise an alpaca and where you could get the best alpaca yarn and...yeah.

[Gran]

Rebel, those are great. You do wonderful geek crochet.

[EEE_mom]

• Marathon Crochet:
  

well, i'd say it's not unusual for me to go 3 or 4 hours straight depending on deadlines or how cooperative my baby girls are being

• 100 metre sprint:
  

Well, as most others have said, usually wind up going out for just one skein - and then you see those little sale signs and everything goes out the window - few weeks ago, i spent 49 dollars in one trip and then liked the colors so much went back the next day and spend about another 70 dollars, so that'd prolly be the most in the shortest for me

• Crochet Relay Race:
  

yeah - and see above haha - EVERY project starts out as a stashbust for me :-)

• High Geek Jump:
  

I have this thing about working out of the center and NOT touching the skein - I work very gently with the shell thats created and see if I can crochet the entire skein without having to wind a ball, and the larger the skein, the more adamant I am about creating the shell - it's more challenging - and LORD help the child that decides to TOUCH IT - ugh.....ruin all that hard work!

 

Um... I also use my lighted I hook as a flashlight

[EEE_mom]

Uh yeah, so add to the geek part that I'm spending SO much time trying to keep up with some of the posts here that i'm just sorta LOOKING at my crochet and not actually DOING it...