Monday, March 09, 2009

Norberta

I'm still knitting, but I've lost my camera (again). That's why I haven't been posting. I did take some pictures of my last finished object at work using a work camera last week. Happily, it's a much better camera than mine. I can't even complain that the color isn't right. I finally found the time to e-mail the photos to myself today. It's been cuckoo at work. I have to keep changing all my appointments and driving all over town because of work stuff. My car is starting to feel like it's falling apart. It doesn't seem like it's the potholes. We've got another bumper crop this year. The car is 2 years older than the cats and the cats are starting to show their age. I love my cats. I like how they drape themselves on me when I compute. I don't like when they can't find a good spot, though. The kneading of and the getting hooked in cloth of the claws and the standing on the precise painful spot on the hip bone--that I hate. Really, really hate. Fickle, moi?

So this is my Norberta. Actually, it's our youngest Harry Potter fan's Norberta because it was her birthday present. If you go and visit the Norbertas on Ravelry, you will see that many other knitters complained about how hard the sewing up was. That was true for me also. The arms and legs were especially hard to position. I think I may have omitted a step on the legs that would have made them more leggish and easier to attach, but I like them anyway. By the time I got to attaching the legs I was done reading the pattern. It was the home stretch. The only big modification I made was the tail. I'm not sure why, but the original was really short, more of a squib than a tail. Maybe I misread the pattern. It was the classic case of knowing that something isn't right, yet going ahead and trying to "trust the process" but having to frog and reknit even though you've got the body stuffed and the chassis nearly complete. The new tail could have been upturned somewhat to lay better, but even I wasn't about to redo it again. Hey, it's not easy to frog 2 strands of boucle from the cast-on edge. (It helps if you read the last line as Rodney Dangerfield.) If I make another Norberta, I would try to remember to add a couple of extra rows to the head because the undercarriage is knit in garter stitch, which makes it a little too long for the nose. That's why Norberta's neck glands look swollen.

Norberta takes over the planet.

Hear her roar.

A little scoliosis won't deter Norberta!

No real dragon has a body like a model. Models are actually freaks of nature. And the skin? Please, it's all air-brushed.

I love myself because I am green enough and fat enough and crusty enough. I love myself because I am green enough, and fat enough, and crusty enough. I love myself because I am gre . . .

8 comments:

Knitter's Journey said...

Norberta is so cute! I love the pictures

Sue, aka seiding said...

Norberta is cute and cuddly and just a tiny bit scary. Did you get singed by any hiccups?

Oh, and even though my verification word accuses me of being so, I am not a dockho! Sheesh!

Elizabeth said...

God, that's cute!


Sue is a dock ho! Sue is a dock ho!

And my word is
sanis

Not quite sane?

Kitty Mommy said...

Awwwww, what a cutie-patootie! Love him!!!

Helen said...

I found his legs odd to knit as well. they looked funny and I kept thinking I missed something. Hard to sew on as well.

And yes, it must have to do with the garter vs stockinette because his belly was much longer (because garter is stretchier) and he has a bulging belly. His tail spikes are also much to long. Mine is on Rav if you hadn't seen it yet. I knit it last year

Kathy Kathy Kathy said...

I will now go to visit Helen's Norberta.

Daniel Mount said...

Kathy it seems your Dinosaur blog is more popular than your dirty bacteria blog, I like that you are starting to move in a biological direction though. Of course I probably missed the blog on how wool grows, or extracting natural dyes from plants. I have not read any Betty Macdonald books, or even seen the movie.I just got Onions in the Stew. Michael and I are going out there this weekend for a writing retreat. Sounds posh, huh? probably lots of naps and walks on the beach with the dogs seeking inspiration. CAN YOU KNIT A NEW CAR?

Molly Bee said...

OMGosh! That's fantastic! If I was still married to a dragon loving husband I would make it myself. But I'm not. So I won't