2015

Letting Out my Inner Knitting Geek

stargrace November 2, 2015 0Comment

I spend a lot of time on Ravelry just browsing different patterns and thinking about whether or not I actually want to attempt said pattern. I fit some where into the ‘medium ease’ category. I typically set patterns to a level of 2-3 on the difficulty setting. I don’t think I’m quite ready for category 4, but I’m hoping that as time progresses I’ll get better, and learn more skills. Eventually I’d love to be able to attempt very complex difficult patterns. Since I’ve only been knitting for three months so far, I won’t beat myself up too much over the level at which I’m knitting.

A lot of patterns have very few differences between them. Take hats, for example. They are all created in basically the same way, with variations at certain parts. They start off with a set amount of CO stitches, are worked with ribbing (often, so that the hat sits properly on your head) or cables acting as ribbing, and then you work up a few more inches before you start to decrease, closing up the hat. How the decrease is achieved can vary, but a lot of the time it’s a simple Kx, K2tog pattern that repeats until you’re left with just a few stitches. Then you weave your tail through those stitches and close up the hat. Really not complicated, and the more you knit these types of things the more familiar you become with any adjustments that you may need to make. What you decide to do in the ‘fun’ parts of that object are up to you. One thing I’ve been having a lot of fun with, is finding patterns and designs that are a bit ‘geeky’ in nature. Take the hat on the far left side as an example. That hat is knit with Minecraft creepers going around the circumference of it. It was incredibly fast to knit up (took a single day) and the pattern I planned out with graph paper. It’s not unique as I’ve seen others create items with the same pattern, but on graph paper patterns like this become much easier to visualize and plan out. For this hat in particular, I did a few inches of K2P2 ribbing, then worked straight stockinette stitch in the round while doing stranded colour work for the creeper faces and the green stitch above and below the faces. Then I did a few more rounds of stockinette so that the hat would be long enough, and started my decrease rounds. I don’t own DPN in the proper size yet (they’ve been ordered but haven’t arrived) and I really do not enjoy the magic loop method of knitting, so finishing them became a bit tricky. Thankfully I have a set of “shortie” knitting needles from KnitPicks that just arrived last week, so they have been seeing lots of use. When I have 6 stitches left on my needles I finish the hat off with the kitchener stitch, and then tuck the tails into the hat and weave them to secure. Overall, I’m quite pleased. The hat posted here was my first one, and I’ve made two more after that one. I have one more left to go, I’ve knit three of them for a friend who wanted them for her children. Two are in the green pictured above, and one is done with the creeper icon in pink, and has a pink / black pompom attached to the top. I think that one is my favourite.

In the meantime, I’ve also still been working on my cable scarf. I’ve also got a November KAL (see previous post if you’re not sure what a KAL is) that is a cable hat – and I’m hoping to complete this hat in the same yarn that the scarf is being knit in. That’s the Brava Bulky yarn from KnitPicks, in the Fairy Tale colour. It’s a wonderful rich colour, and the price was perfect (I bought it on sale, $1.99 for a 100g ball). The yarn is not the most fantastic, it splits quite easily, but it is very warm and like I said the price was right. Anyway, I’m really hoping to be able to knit the hat to match the scarf (even though I know the cables are not the same, it shouldn’t matter much I don’t think and hopefully it’s still very beautiful). With that being said, I’ve had to ask for some help in how I would adjust the pattern. The weight suggested is a worsted weight yarn, and I want to create the hat in a bulky weight yarn, so it’s a bit tricky for me as a new knitter to understand what I do in that situation. The people on my KAL forums are amazing though and I’ve asked for some help, so I’m sure they can get me situated. That’s one thing I really enjoy about Ravelry, there are so many very kind people there.

Once I complete the rest of the Minecraft hats, the cable scarf, and the cable hat, I believe I’ll be switching back to socks for a bit. I want to learn how to knit them toe-up, and how to add patterns like lace or cables to them. So far I only know one sock pattern, and while it’s delightfully simple, I’d like to widen my experiences and knowledge a bit.

Happy knitting!

Gaming

Market Roads

The Rag and Bone Market (located on Xanadu at P22 for anyone who may want to stop by and place a merchant) is coming along nicely. There are market stalls up, an inn, pens for horses to be sold, a craft hall, a public mine, and other amenities. We’re also working on dredging the canal for larger ships, right now only knarr / sailboat depth boats can pass through. My next task was to join the market by road to a highway that runs North and South along the map. The highway is West of the market, a few hundred tiles away, through a desert and into the woods. It’s right beside a nice guard tower and travelers spot. I spent most of the weekend working on that road, flattening the path and then paving it. Then I went back and lined the cobblestone with gravel on either side, so that it’s three tiles wide and considered a ‘highway’. I can only place 1 sign every 24 hours if it’s off-deed, so I put one at the end of my new road that points towards the market and lets people know what direction it’s located at. I also added a fountain along the side of the highway so people can stop for drinks. I may eventually also plant a barrel in that spot and fill it will meals for travelers. I don’t actually know how many people use the highway, but I think it’s a great start.

In the meantime, my priests, Oshi and Maivis, have traveled to F25 of the Xanadu map. There they are participating in sermons that have been going on since July or so, in an attempt to raise their faith. Maivis (my Vynora priest) is sitting at 82.54 faith at the moment, and Oshi (my Nahjo priest) is at a quaint 61.61. I’m really trying to get Oshi to 70 so that he can cast genesis and strongwall, the two spells that I started a Nahjo priest for to begin with. There are enough others at the sermon that each time we preach the counter for prayers re-sets, so I’m getting quite a good gain. It should only take a week or two of preaching to reach 70, I’m hoping. A lot of that depends on who sticks around and how many are active listeners.

I’m hoping with the addition of the market, the area gets a bit more use. It’s on the East side of the server, so it’s close for those traveling from other servers. It’s not exactly coastal as it’s a mesh of waterways to get to our destination, but it’s accessible by the ocean which also helps a lot. There’s a ton of space in the area (which is the nature of Xanadu, the server size is gigantic) and it’s not too far away from Estron, one of the starter towns. Whether or not this attracts any new players we’ll just have to see.

I’ve seen a few new players coming to explore Wurm Online thanks to Wurm Unlimited. On that same note, I’ve seen a fair amount of older players selling their characters and leaving for Wurm Unlimited. I played Wurm Unlimited for a few days, but after my hard drive crashed (it had the server on it) I was once again reminded of why I prefer to play the MMO version of the game, and not the (much smaller) solo-esc version. There are just too many community aspects that I adore about the base model of the game. I’m hoping that Rolf doesn’t decide to terminate the MMO servers any time soon, and that the steam version of the game only enhances and adds to the support that the MMO version requires. I suppose only time will tell. I’ve seen my share of games shut down over the years and if that has taught me anything it’s that when you enjoy a game, you should play it. No matter what anyone else says about the game. I’ve enjoyed Wurm more than a lot of other games I’ve played, and I’ve come across a lot of naysayers over the years. None of this has ever bothered me, and I’ve always just continued doing my thing. Honestly it has been the best thing for me and as long as I enjoy playing, that’s what matters.

Anyone else have games out there that they enjoy playing, that perhaps the general populace does not enjoy? Did you continue to play it anyway?

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Knitting Yarn

What’s a KAL

stargrace October 27, 2015 0Comment

Sometimes even though I love knitting, I just don’t know what I want to make. I think about the yarn I have, the projects I have stored up, people in my life, and none of it wants to come together into a project. That’s where KAL projects can be a great filler. There are all sorts of them, for every type of knitter. “KAL” means “knit along” – and it’s typically a project you (gasp) knit along with others. This allows you to have discussions about the piece, get help, show off your progress and all the rest. Even though you’re all making the same project, using different types of yarn and having different sets of skills and tensions creates very different projects. I spent some time looking through the Ravelry groups and eventually settled on “Beginner’s Knit-Along” which is an active group with quite a few members. They have three types of knit along projects. Special KALs, Monthly KALs, and Mini KALs. The patterns are all free, and they keep the old ones up in the group so there’s no required ‘end date’ you can take as long as you want, you can begin the project when ever you want, and you can choose whichever project you’d like. I like this method quite a bit. It’s a great friendly place for beginners, and you’ll learn lots of skills. The first thing I decided to do was the mini KAL 2 for October, which is the lace headband that I’m wearing in the picture on this post (apologies for the quality, the bathroom mirror is not the prettiest place to take a picture). It was a very easy piece to knit up, it only took an evening. It fits well, stretches, and taught me that I’ve been doing my SSK stitches wrong. The mini KAL can be found here, it’s called February Lady Lace Headband. I’m trying to be a bit more social, knitting is a great activity and it’s nice to meet like-minded folks of all ages. I know previously knitting was seen as something only grandmothers did, but these days people of all ages are getting involved. Especially now that there has been some studies released about the benefits of knitting.

Some of the KAL projects seem a bit too advanced for me at this time – but I can’t wait to dive in. I WANT to keep challenging myself, I want to keep knitting bigger and ‘better’ projects, and getting more complex. I would also like to learn to read charts properly, for now I still go by text instructions, which is fine, but being able to read charts is also important. There’s a vote up for the project for November, it looks like the hat is winning out at this time, but that could change. In the meantime, I am still working on my cable scarf. I’ve finished the first skein and it’s a bit over two feet long, I’m aiming for a scarf 5 feet long (general rule of thumb is that scarves should be as long as the wearer is tall) as a Christmas gift. I should be able to get it done in plenty of time. It’s also time to cast on another pair of socks! This time I’m knitting them in a worsted weight yarn, so I need to re-make a gauge swatch so I know what size needles to use. I’m guessing I’ll need to get down to a size 1 or so to make gauge, but we’ll see.

Happy knitting!

Gaming

There’s Just So Much To Do

stargrace October 24, 2015 3Comments

Yesterday I sat down and finally got into the ‘meat’ of the Guild Wars 2 expansion. Wow. At first I was frustrated. I felt like I couldn’t actually accomplish anything or make any progression without dying in a million new ways. It started when I couldn’t get back to the proper zone in order to work on my masteries. See, there are two types. Both “level up” by you participating in events. Personally I feel that they take way too much experience in order to ‘level’ but I suppose that’s the point, extend the content. Anyway. The masteries for the expansion are things like gliders, unlocking some languages for merchants, and being able to use the random mushrooms to bounce on. They also include things like being able to use the updrafts with your glider. When you finish the opening scene you’re expected to go back and start doing events so that you can level up these masteries. Of course for the ‘good’ ones you need to do it in the proper zones (ie: the new ones). Turns out that I just missed the entrance to the new zone, and a guild mate came along and fixed that for me. Took me over an hour of wandering around The Silverwastes to have a small tiny door pointed out to me. Sigh.

Once I was back in the right location it was time to find events. Of course with my map not even started I couldn’t port around to any of the happening places, and things hurt. Eventually though, I did manage to unlock my glider. That made things a bit easier. I began working on unlocking mushroom jumping, which is required for story progression. Again it took me a while (longer than I feel is necessary, but c’est la vie) but by the afternoon I had also unlocked that. Once those two things are unlocked the zones got much ‘easier’ in terms of survivability, though they were still incredibly confusing because there are different ‘tiers’ to them. I progressed the story to the second map, and I think I’m still only about 33% done the first one (there are four maps total).

The story is amazing, and I won’t get into any details about it here but if you’ve ever been a fan of the GW2 lore it won’t let you down.

If that wasn’t enough to keep you busy, there’s also the Halloween event going on right now. I took a run at the Mad Clock Tower (and failed, utterly, I am just not a jumping puzzle person) and then attempted a few runs through the labyrinth. We spawned the skeleton lich but we didn’t have near the number required to take him down. I did get a few achievements and about 300 candy corn. Unfortunately you need at least 1,000 before you can even get anything useful, so. I’m not sure if I want to spend that much time farming it. I may just look on the broker for the handful of items that I want.

Besides the things mentioned above, there’s guild halls (which I haven’t even looked into yet in any capacity), there’s the new class (I have no intentions of making one, it doesn’t really appeal to me), there’s the new specializations for your current class (I haven’t gotten the 60 points required yet to unlock the Chronomancer but I do plan on going that rout one of these days), a new crafting class (Scribe, in order to get to that point you need a guild hall) and a number of other QoL changes and additions.

Over all I’m having a great time, and I like the way the content is presented. It’s still a bit confusing as far as “how can I progress my gear” – because I haven’t the slightest idea. Right now I’m wearing exotics, but I’ve got no clue how progression for gear actually works. If anyone happens to have a handy site that explains it, please let me know!

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

Gaming

Wurm Unlimited Releases on Steam

stargrace October 22, 2015 2Comments

I’ve been playing Wurm Online for many years, and I’ve loved it for many reasons. It’s the ultimate sandbox game, and while aspects of it may seem outdated (graphics, this game uses java after all) it still incorporates every single aspect of a sandbox that I adore. I’ve made some great friends in game and I belong to an awesome alliance. I have three active accounts and two deeds but I’ve owned countless more.

When Wurm Unlimited was announced I was of course a bit concerned. I had visions of population decreases and a lack of development on the ‘main’ game. Then I realized that this version of the game was never intended to entice people who were perfectly happy playing Wurm Online. This version of the game was meant to capture those who have always wanted to play, but didn’t want to pay a monthly subscription, or who were concerned about griefing, or who could never find a nice place to settle down. This game is made to encourage those 5 friends of mine I have who used to play Wurm but left for whatever reason, to come back to the world that they could enjoy if it was only tweaked a little to their specifications.

In that regard, Wurm Unlimited is perfect. Right now I’ve got a dedicated server running with a few mild tweaks. Skill gain is 10x faster than normal. Actions are 5 times faster. There’s no deed cost. I created an adventure server which means there’s still kingdoms and this also enables the starter towns (pre-created) along with treasures and hidden items in the world. There are also quests. The server is protected by a password which I’ve given to a few friends who were interested in playing, and we’ve started our little set up just outside of the Mol Rehan starter town (the mine is pictured above).

There are of course some ‘downsides’ to playing Wurm like this. It’s MUCH quieter. There’s no real ‘community’ aside from those you invite along. The economy won’t exactly thrive in this play setting. The server could poof one day accidentally if my computer dies. These are just things that have to be dealt with.

On the other hand, it could encourage others to try out WO and meet the wonderful community there. It could mean extra money in the pockets of the developers which would be a good thing for both versions of the game. It gets word out about the game which is also never a bad thing.

Over all, I’m optimistic. I purchased the game to support the developers and I enjoy the small server I have set up currently. It’s not perfect, there are a few glitches here and there and the game still has a huge learning curve, but I am hoping that more people come and experience what this game has to offer and that they appreciate it and maybe even enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Letting Out my Inner Knitting Geek

Market Roads

What’s a KAL

There’s Just So Much To Do

Wurm Unlimited Releases on Steam

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