Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share

by Ken Denmead

  One of the most important accoutrement for any good RPGPLAYING GeekDad or kid is the dice bag. It is the container for your most trusted tools: d20, d12, d10, d8, d6, and d4. Indeed, you may have more than one, since you may have different sets of dice for different games (the full range for D&D, all d6s for old-school Champions, and so forth). And if you want to treat your tools right, as well as showing off your dedication to the games you play, you’ll want to make your own bag.

  So it’s time for you and your geeklet to get in touch with your crafty side again, with this great project from GeekDad writer and serious RPG player Natania Barron:

  Crochet is definitely a geek-certified activity. It’s important to understand these key concepts: Crochet is basically all about knot tying, which is a geeky pursuit from time immemorial. You are tying knots into yarn to build a structure; indeed, you could think of it as a kind of textile engineering! On top of that, crochet patterns aren’t really patterns at all: They’re programs. You are processing lines of code, and what’s geekier than that? Besides, every gamer young (your kid) and old (you) has to have a cool and original dice bag for the gaming table. Why not make your own?

  GeekMom Natania was once a big knitter, but when she had her son, it became abundantly clear that knitting just wasn’t an option for her. Her son’s deft little fingers easily destroyed hours of work in seconds, and left her frustrated (and out a few Christmas presents). She knew about crochet, but thought it was, you know, for grayhaired ladies crouched around coffee tables at nursing homes. Thankfully, with Web sites like www.ravelry.com (a good place to start for basic crochet tips and tricks, and to grow into the community), as well as a recent resurgence in the art of crochet, she learned better.

  The huge benefit of crochet is that the whole work rests on one loop. So, unless your child is being really devious, it’s unlikely that they can undo the work as quickly as with knitting. And the added benefit is that crochet is super malleable. It’s almost like working with clay. Once you learn the basics, you can make all sorts of projects that, as with knitting, would be a lot more challenging—hats, socks, toys—truly endless possibilities.

  This dice bag came out of Natania’s desire to add a little style to the RPG gaming table, where the dice container is just as important an accoutrement as the dice themselves. Using the bits and pieces of yarn left in her knitting stash, Natania worked out a dice bag that would be roomy enough for a fistful of dice, yet still be sturdy. After a few prototypes, the best design appears to be made out of 100 percent wool, felted, with a totally flat bottom. The flat bottom works well because it rests on the gaming table perfectly, so you don’t have to spill dice all over the place and can just peek in and grab what you need. That said, the pattern allows for plenty of alteration. You can add colors, vary the stitches, or get really saucy and bead the bag.

  Here’s the “program” for building your dice bag (Asterisks surround instructions that get repeated): To Start: Chain 3. Slip stitch into 1st chain.

  Row 1: Double crochet into center loop eight times. Sl st into 1st dc.

  Rows 2-3: Ch 2. *2 dc into each dc.* Repeat around. Sl st into top of 1st dc.

  Row 4: Ch 2. *Dc into 1st dc. 2 dc in next.* Repeat around. Sl st into 1st dc.

  Row 5: Continue increasing as in row 4 around the circle until the base is the desired width. (I typically like the size at about the fifth row.)

  Row 6 and all following rows until desired height is reached: Ch 2. *Dc in each dc.* You can either crochet in the round, or work with rows. I prefer rows because the top is smooth.

  Final Row: Ch 2; *Dc into first dc. 2 dc into 2nd.* Repeat all the way around. This adds a little lip, or flare, at the top, good for tying.

  If you are felting (a process that teases out the fibers of the wool yarn in your crochet to give it a fuller, fabric-y look), don’t worry about weaving in ends; you can snip them off later. If you are not felting, weave in the ends so there’s no loose tails.

  To felt: Toss the bag into your washer. If you aren’t worried about specific sizing, just leave it in there, letting it swish around. Make sure the setting is hot and on high agitation. When the cycle’s done, your stitches will be dissolved. To shape, pull the still wet— don’t dry this in the dryer—bag over a mug, cup, or an ice bucket from a drink set (really? An ice bucket?).

  Make sure if you are using multiple colors that the skeins are the same brand of yarn, and steer clear of white since it doesn’t felt well. Unless you want to vary felting textures; by all means, work it up however you like.

  There are a few options for the tie. You can make a double-tie system, using two laces threaded at either side to pull the top taut. This allows the bag to close tightly without actually tying the laces. But sometimes a simple lace does the job perfectly; just poke right through the felted material to wind the laces. To make a lace, you can simply chain wool or, for a smoother option, nylon.

  If you’re feeling funky, you can always embellish with beads. Or, you know, Dremmel through some d8s and use those. . . .

  An Even Cooler Idea!

  Once you’ve mastered crochet and it’s kissing cousin, knitting, there’s a whole world of geeky craft projects waiting for you. Some other items you can make, as suggested by J. Lynne on the D3blog (http://jlynne.exit-23.net/2007/12/05/thirteen-geeky-knitting-projects/), include Jayne Cobb’s hat from firefly, an R2D2 Cap, a Princess Leia Wig-Hat, Tom Baker’s Doctor Who Scarf, a Hogwarts Gryffindor Scarf, or anything else you and your geeklet’s imagination can come up with.

  GEEKY KIDS GO GREEN

  The Science of Composting

  As I write this book, my home in the San Jose/San Francisco/ Oakland Bay Area has been experiencing the coolest summer in my memory. One might say “strange things are afoot at the Circle K,” for the logical set where “Circle K” = the environment.

  Geeks are into science, and the overwhelming scientific evidence is telling us that the effects of our environment-unfriendly activities, starting with the Industrial Revolution and continuing through today’s manufacturing, motoring, and mining have accumulated to the point where they are having macro-environmental results. As geeky parents, it behooves us to educate our kids about this evidence and the things that need to be done to halt our downward spiral. One very useful way of doing that is by being environmentally conscious at home.

  But being environmentally conscious on a personal level can mean many things. For example, our boys don’t receive a regular allowance. Rather, they get to split the redemption money from every can and bottle we accumulate and take to our local recycling center.

  Saving energy is also important, though we’re still working hard to get them to turn off their game consoles and lights when they leave the room.

  But one more activity can encourage a more environmentally friendly (not to mention healthier) lifestyle and provide some important education—and that’s growing food. While farming may not seem terribly geeky, I assure you that, when you add science into the mix, anyone can be a geeky gardener. Which is why I’ve included, in this chapter and the next, two easy and slightly geeky home-gardening-related projects you and your geeky children can build together.

  A Note on Materials

  You can pick up a plastic storage tub from your local big-box store. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy—just one of those 20-gallon bins with a lid if you’re starting small, on up to a full-sized garbage can if you are a bit more ambitious. The compost starter is slightly more specialized (though not as rare as it used to be). You should be able to find it at your local garden supply store, or online.

  STEP 1: With your close supervision, have your child drill a series of holes in the top (lid) and bottom of the bin. There’s no hard and fast rule on the size, quantity, or spacing, but assume something like 8 to 12 holes with a ¼-inch bit, evenly spaced, both top and bottom. This should allow an adequate level of aeration and seepage.

  STEP 2: Fill the bin about 6 inches up from the bottom with
a mix of shredded newspaper and small rocks (the rocks aren’t essential, but they’ll help things along). Then add enough compost starter to get to at least the half-full mark.

  STEP 3: Before we get the composting actually going, you need to ask yourself a question: Where is the best location for your composting bin? Consider that it is utilitarian in appearance, it may seep a little, and it will have a tendency to smell a little at times. Plus, you’ll want easy access to it for dumping new material into it on a regular basis, and you’ll need to be able to water it from time to time. You may even want to think toward the future and put it somewhere that has room for expansion in case you really geek out over this composting business.

  About Compost Starter

  You don’t have to use specific compost starter for this project. You can simply start with good soil instead, but the composting cycle will take a lot longer to really get rolling. You also don’t have to buy it from a store. Check around with your neighbors to see if anyone else is composting, and if they are, ask if you can have some of theirs as a starter for your bin. Most folks cool enough to be composting will probably be cool enough to share.

  STEP 4: When you have your bin properly situated, it’s time to start filling it up. There are a number of very useful resources for composting information online (see the links in Appendix A), but here are some guidelines for what you can and can’t compost:THINGS YOU CAN COMPOST

  Apple cores, Aquarium plants, Artichoke leaves, Banana peels, Bird cage cleanings, Bone meal, Bread crusts, Brewing wastes, Brown paper bags, Burlap coffee bags, Burned toast, Cardboard cereal boxes (shredded), Chocolate cookies, Citrus rinds, Coconut hull fiber, Coffee grounds, Cooked rice, Crab, shrimp, and lobster shells, Date pits, Dead bugs, Dried-up and faded herbs, Dust bunnies, Egg shells, Elmer’s glue, Expired floral arrangements (sans ribbons), Feathers, Fish bones, Fish meal, Fish scraps, Flower petals, Freezer-burned fish, Freezer-burned fruit, Freezer-burned vegetables, Fruit salad, Grapefruit rinds, Grass clippings, Greeting card envelopes, Grocery receipts, Guinea pig cage cleanings, Houseplant trimmings, Ivory soap scraps, Jell-O (gelatin), Kleenex tissues, Leather wallets, Leather watchbands, Leaves, Lint from clothes dryer, Liquid from canned fruits and vegetables, Macaroni and cheese, Matches (paper or wood), Melted ice cream, Moldy cheese, Most food waste, Nut shells, Old beer, Old leather gardening gloves, Old or outdated seeds, Old pasta, Old spices, Old yogurt, Olive pits, Onion skins, Paper napkins, Paper towels, Peanut shells, Pencil shavings, Pet hair, Pickles, Pie crust, Pine needles, Unpopped popcorn, Post-it notes, Potato peelings, Produce trimmings, Pumpkin seeds, Q-tips (cardboard, not plastic), Sawdust (too much may slow the process), Shredded cardboard, Shredded newspapers (avoid the glossy circulars), Spoiled fruits and vegetables, Stale bread and baked goods, Stale breakfast cereal, Stale potato chips, Tea bags and grounds, Tofu, Weeds, Wool clothing.

  THINGS YOU CAN’T COMPOST

  Animal wastes, Chemically treated wood products, Diseased plants, Fatty foods, Meats, Meat bones, Nonorganic materials, Pernicious weeds, Plastics (unless explicitly labeled as biodegradable).

  Wow. One list surely is a lot bigger than the other, isn’t it?

  Home Hydroponics

  Sometimes you just don’t have the space or appropriate location for a composting bin, let alone the dedicated garden to feed with the results. But you can still enjoy the exciting science of gardening. This second geeky green thumb project will let you bring the gardening indoors.

  Hydroponics is the science of growing plants (often food) without soil or direct sunlight. It’s great for homes without yards, or when you want to grow plants under the most protected conditions possible. It’s also less messy than digging around in the dirt, and depending upon how you set things up, it just looks cool.

  Even better is the fact that it’s very easy and inexpensive to build your own hydroponic garden, with a mix of store-bought and recycled materials. And the first time your family sits down to a meal with food you and your kids grew in the garage, everyone will smile a little geeky smile.

  STEP 1: A typical 2-liter soda bottle is 12 inches tall (bet you didn’t know that). You’ll want to cut yours horizontally 5 inches up from the bottom (or, you know, 7 inches down from the top), so you’ll have a top piece that’s slightly longer than the bottom. If you turn the top piece over and insert it into the bottom, the top of the cap should be able to come to rest on the raised center of the base.

  STEP 2: Take the cap off the top piece and, on a workbench or other safe area, drill a series of holes in the top of the cap. If you use a ⅛-inch drill bit, you should be able to get at least five evenly spaced holes in the cap. When you have your holes, put the cap back on the top piece of the bottle.

  STEP 3: Feed the hose from your pump, with the air stone on the end of it, into the bottom half of the bottle (which we will henceforth call the “reservoir”), and slip the top half (now and evermore the “container”), back in so the cap touches the raised center of the base. The pump hose should feed up the side between the inner wall created by the container and the outer wall created by the reservoir.

  A Note about Pump Choice

  If you are doing just one setup, you can probably get away with the lowest-capacity (and therefore cheapest) pump you can find. However, if you want to build a grand hydroponic garden facility, you can buy a somewhat higher-capacity pump, and then purchase gang valves—essentially controlled splitters—which will let you feed the air from one pump to many hoses. Indeed, you could probably feed gang valves into gang valves to feed many setups, since the aeration requirements of just one reservoir/container setup are quite low.

  STEP 4: If you plan to use tap water for your setup, you’ll need to test the pH and adjust it to as close to 7 as possible with the lemon juice (if the pH is too high) or baking soda (if it’s too low). You’ll have to experiment with concentrations if you do this. Of course your alternative is to use distilled water, costing a bit more but saving some time and effort.

  STEP 5: Mix your water and nutrient solution per the instructions on the bottle, and pour enough into the setup so that the reservoir fills about halfway.

  STEP 6: Now you need to add your growing material—basically the non-dirt “soil” that the roots of your plants will grow in. There are a whole bunch of choices here, from cheap to pricey. At the low end, some kind of gravel, glass beads, or even (yes, it’s been done) LEGO bricks will work. The roots of your plants just want to grow through something, and any block of porous material will work. If you want to kick it up a notch, the hydroponics supply sites have perlite “rocks,” a material that holds moisture and encourages root growth, or even pellets made of coconut hair. It’s up to your budget and geeky obsession how far you want to take this.

  STEP 7: Fill the container up to a point where the surface of the material is also the surface of the water/nutrient mixture, then add your plant. What plants should you be using? Well, this project is intended to be food-producing, and some of the best food plants for hydroponics include various types of lettuce and other green, leafy vegetables, all kinds of herbs, and tomatoes. Of course, with something like tomatoes, you may need to work out a staking system so the tomato vines can grow upward and support the weight of the fruit when it matures.

  STEP 8: A key ingredient to indoor plant growth is lighting. If you have an available window that lets in good sun for part of the day, and that you don’t mind blocking with growing vegetables, you can put your setup there. But if you’re doing the indoor thing all the way (like in the garage), you’ll need dedicated lighting. Fluorescents work, especially if you pick up bulbs that generate simulated “full daylight.” It’s nice that there are also compact fluorescents available to use as well. They aren’t cheap, but if you’re going to leave these on all day and all night, the savings in electricity and replacement costs will make it worthwhile in the long run.

  There are more sophisticated hydroponics systems available—indeed, this is another one of those hobb
ies into which you can sink a lot of money. However, the basics are pretty straightforward, can be achieved quickly and inexpensively, and the rewards keep on giving. With just a little quality time doing this project with your child, you can have fresh organically grown salad fixings available every day!

  BUILD/LEARN/ GEEK

  Build a Binary Calendar

  One mathematical concept that’s key for any kid who is interested in digging into computers is the binary numeral system. It’s at the heart of how digital anything is done. A bit represents the two possible states of a switch: 0 or 1, off or on. Eight bits make up a byte (usually; there are plenty of exceptions, but they’re more technical than I want to go into here), which computers use to deal with language. Eight switches that can be either on or off can represent 256 different characters (two states, on or off, times two states, times two states, and so on; or 28 = 256). Kind of like an old-fashioned representational code, 256 numbers are mapped to all the letters (uppercase and lowercase), digits, punctuation marks, and so on, so we can save and manipulate our language on a machine.

  All that’s pretty basic Computer 101 stuff, but the idea of binary is still a small speed bump to get over when starting out. Which is why I’ve included this next project, as a means to get your child thinking like a code monkey every day.