Nerd Wars - round 3

Challenge (Team Spirit): EXTREME ULTRA MEGA BIG CHALLENGE OF DIFFICULTY

Your challenge this month is to Finish those WIPs! Here’s the breakdown:

It can be ANY work in progress, not just a project you didn’t finish for Nerd Wars. Simply “finishing” (sewing up, weaving in ends) will not count as completing a WIP.
Before and after photos are required.
Competitors may turn in up to 2 (two) projects. If multiple projects are submitted, each will be worth 5 points. Projects must be turned in at the same time, to ease CD grading.
There will be no Team Spirit points awarded this round. However, bonus points from the Independent Referee will be.

Challenge (Giving Geeks): EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI RELIEF

The earthquake off the coast of northern Japan, and the consequent tsunami has been devastating. The events that followed, and continue to transpire in regard to both the aftermath of nature’s wrath, as well as the nuclear emergencies and other effects of the destruction of man’s creations, are hard to comprehend.

What we can comprehend, however, is the innate desire to help other people, particularly in the face of such tragedy. Your challenge is to help.

Options for completing this challenge:

Knit/crochet a pattern from p/hop and donate to MSF Doctors Without Borders. Participate in a month-long KAL, then donate based on how much you enjoyed the pattern. Another thread will be opened for this option as people work through the patterns together. Please post your results in this thread for points.
Participate in the Nerd Wars eBay charity auction, with 100% of proceeds going to Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund - a GlobalGiving Project. To do this, post in the thread a photo of what you want to put up for auction, as well as a description. The item MUST BE a) knitting related (a handknit item, yarn, stitch markers, etc.) and b) of value. This is not a yard sale. Your photo and description will be used in the eBay listing. PM eyeamelise for an address to ship the item to. To make things more streamlined, eyeamelise will be shipping out all the auction items to the winning bidders. Once eyeamelise receives your package, you will be awarded points in the thread, along with the link to your auction item.
Donate directly to the Red Cross. You can text REDCROSS to 90999 in the United States to donate $10. Or, send a check made out to the Red Cross and send to Knitting Fever, the US distributor of Noro yarn. They will match your contribution before sending it along to the Red Cross. Your employer may also be matching donations. Ask. Donate. The 1000 Amigurumi Crane Project is also donating to the Red Cross in several ways. Check it out here. (Thanks to unforth who came up with this.
Donate socks to Socks for Japan. You can craft them or not, but they must be new, and each pair in their own zip-top baggie. You will be shipping them directly to Japan, so please keep in mind that this may be expensive - you may wish to band together with other Nerd Warriors in your area to save on shipping costs.
No matter what option you choose, or if you cannot participate in this challenge, please spread the word about the different ways we are trying to help, such as links to the auction, the 1000 crane project, etc.

The options above also are mostly guidelines - if you have another charity or way to help Japan, let us know and go for it. We are trying to do the most good with the amazing people in Nerd Wars.

Ninja Warriors are also invited to submit their projects right in this thread, so we can be most aware about all the ways we can help folks affected by the earthquake and tsunami.

Challenge (Nerd Culture): READING RAINBOW

From the time I was a little nerdling, I have loved to read. When I read, I can be anything (unlike sleep, where I’m a viking), or go anywhere. While I don’t specifically remember this happening, the first book I read on my own was Are You My Mother. My paternal grandmother, rather than being impressed by her grandchild’s mad skillz, spent hours quizzing me on the book, convinced I had just memorized it.

Since then, I’ve been known to read almost anything I can get my hands on, and little gives me more sustained pleasure than finding a new author. I also know that most of my friends are the same way. Especially the nerdy ones. Okay, who am I trying to kid? All of my friends are nerdy. Fine.

Most stereotypically, nerds I know love either sci-fi or fantasy -- knowing that there is a difference, thank you very much Mr. Bookseller who puts Heinlein and Tolkein on a shelf together -- and I’ll confess to enjoying many a book just because it had a dragon or a spaceship in it. Other friends love mysteries and detective novels, or horror books, or spy novels. In fact, I’d wager that every one of you has a favorite genre of fiction, and I suspect that if I were to poll 50 Nerd Warriors, I’d find 50 different favorite books.

Your challenge this month is to create something literary or literary-adjacent. The limits to this challenge, as with books, are your imagination. Almost any sort of fictional literature will be acceptable as base material, from high literature to pulp fiction to comic books to bodice-rippers, and nearly everything in between. Your Friendly Neighborhood CDtm will also consider dramatically-told nonfiction on a case-by-case basis.

If you create an object for a character in a book, please include an excerpt from that book which describes either the garment you are re-creating or some element of the character’s personal style which led you to believe that your object is a good fit. If you create a cover for a book -- with, say, an intarsiaed bunny for that worn copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that you’ve had since you were three -- please include a picture of the book with the cover.

Feel free to ask questions about this challenge of the GameMaster, Challenge Dacascos or Independent Referee in this thread.

Begin and end the project in this month.

Challenge (Scientific): Hydrothermal Vents and Deep Sea Communities

Hydrothermal Vents are like chimneys in the ocean floor, spewing out minerals and sulfides which quickly precipitate out of the water making the chimneys taller over time.

They create nutrient rich water which result in a whole ecosystem that can support life without sunlight. The Chemosynthetic bacteria that thrive around Hydrothermal Vents attract other critters such as wee crustaceans and tube worms, which in turn become tasty vittles for shrimps, crabs, and octopuses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_sea_communities

For this challenge create something inspired by the deep sea and abyssal zone life and geological characteristics.

Feel free to ask questions about this challenge of the GameMaster, Challenge Dacascos or Independent Referee in this thread.

Begin and end the project in this month.

Challenge (Technical): SIZE MATTERS

With all due respect to Yoda (and to men everywhere), size does matter. Size affects the form something can take and the forces that act on it. For example, the size of an ant lets it take the form it does; if an ant were the size of a person, it wouldn’t be able to hold itself up. Similarly, an atom and a solar system may appear to have similar forms, but they are governed by vastly different forces.

Your challenge this month is to craft something at two different scales. You must use the same pattern for both items. The pattern should be changed as little possible (instead change yarn and needle/hook size), although minor adjustments for proportion (e.g., shorter sleeves and wider neck opening for a baby sweater) are acceptable. The components of the two items should be at the same scales as the items (e.g., the number of stitches should be the same in both items, or the number of plies should be the same in both yarns). Buttons, zippers, beads, sequins, etc. should be matched to the scales as closely as possible, but need not match exactly.

The scales of the two items must differ by at least a factor of two (i.e., the big item must be at least twice the size of the small item; the items would have a ratio of at least 1:2). Scales should be determined using linear measurements (e.g., height or circumference); spinners should use wraps per inch.

One of the two items must be begun and finished this month. The other item can have been begun and finished at any point. However, the two items must be photographed together.

Challenge (Intellectual): HAVE A PIECE OF PI

Most people are familiar with the concept of Pi. There is something quite magical about Pi. Take ANY sized circle. Create a ratio of the diameter to the circumference and you will get Pi.

π = C/D

Pi is also equal to the ratio of any circle’s area to the square of its radius.

π = A/r²

Not only is Pi an irrational number, but it is also a transcendental number. The decimal representation of Pi never ends nor repeats.

π = 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510…

Pi has been calculated to over a TRILLION decimal places and still no end or repeating sequence has been found!

Your challenge this month is to somehow demonstrate the concept or some aspect of Pi in a project. This can be literal, theoretical or symbolic. Creativity is encouraged!