Nerd Wars!

Yes, I am a nerd.  I mentioned that in this post.  Well, imagine my utter delight when I stumbled across the 'Nerd Wars' group on Ravelry!  What's it all about?  As best as I can understand, differently themed teams of crafters  (Angel, Buffy, Firefly, Doctor Who, etc) compete in a three-month tournament, during which they knit or crochet different projects to meet different challenges and earn their team points.  At the end of the three months, the team with the most points wins.  Wins what?  Beyond bragging rights, I'm not sure.

Anyway, today marks the beginning of the fourth round of the tournament and I've joined the Writers Group.  Our team consists of fans of amateur sleuths--think Rick Castle and Veronica Mars, as well as Jessica Fletcher from 'Murder She Wrote'--and our first challenge is to create a Valentine's Day gift for our favourite character.  There are also different tournament-wide challenges that tie into the monthly team challenges.  I'm thinking of using Boy Child's alien amigurumi for both the tournament-wide technical challenge (showcase a particular stitch or technique that we've mastered) and for Castle's Valentine's Day gift.  (He and Beckett were 'abducted' in S03, E09 - 'Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind'.)  Hopefully, I'll get this project approved and help my team clobber all the others into submission!

In other, non-nerd news...
I finished my niece's teddy bear last night.  He turned out awfully cute, if a little lopsided.  I made him a blanket and a scarf because it's cold here and even stuffed teddies need something warm to cuddle up with.

Pensive Bear is pensive.

He looks thoughtful...or surprised.  Maybe surprised to be thoughtful?

Teddy's blanket.  A granny square with scalloped edging.