2007 March Archive at adam knits!

First of all…

AHHHHHHHHHH!!! My brother is getting married tomorrow!!!

Ok, I feel much better now. We had the bachelor party last night and I thought it was a lot of fun. I had gone back and forth over what to plan, since there was a wide age range represented, plus my Dad and one Uncle, so I wanted to do something that would be fun for everyone. We ended up going out to a sweet outdoor go kart track, which was a total blast. These Go Karts go around 40 MPH, and the track is very nice. Definitely a good way to start the night.

Then after that we went back to my house and had a poker night with lots of pizza and other snacks. We split up into 3 games of poker and everyone put in a donation to buy into the game, so that we could give my brother a little honeymoon money. Then to end the night, a few of us went out to the porch and smoked some very good cigars which my brother provided. I’m scarring my Mother by writing this for sure…but my brother has impeccable taste in cigars.

Now there’s only one day left, and I’m heading off to the church soon to help with setting up the reception hall and getting things ready for the rehearsal dinner tonight.

In other news, Happy Birthday Mom!!! Your present is all done and you’ll get to open it shortly. But for everyone else who doesn’t get to open it and actually feel it, here’s the details.

Pattern: Manta Ray Shawl from Yarnplay
Yarn: Yarn Nerd (that’s me!) 900 MHz Merino in Raspberry Sherbet
Needles: US #11’s (Knitpicks Options are the bomb!)
Completion Time: 2 weeks
Notes: I absolutely love this pattern. Shobana has a real hit here, it’s easy to memorize, quick to knit and makes a beautiful shawl. It’s a great everyday shawl that has some nice lace touches and I think it looks fantastic. I also really enjoyed knitting with my yarn (this base at least) for the first time, and I think the color is beautiful. I highly recommend this pattern, you’ll love it!

Will that suffice for Eye Candy Friday? I’ll try to get a picture of her wearing it soon too, but I might be met with some resistance since last time I put a picture of my Mom up on the blog it wasn’t terribly flattering… ;)

Alright, I’m heading to the church now, there’s lots of stuff to be done! Look for my sappy retrospective post for my brother’s wedding tomorrow, and have a great weekend!

Ah, March in New Mexico. Windy as heck, and still a bit cold, but I can live with that because this lovely blue sky is around. And you know what blue sky means? Car wash season! My poor car was dirty as heck, and just begging to be washed. I don’t remember if you’ve ever seen my car (I’ve certainly talked about it a lot since it seems to be an accident magnet), so here it is. It’s not quite your average Ford Taurus, but then again, I’m not exactly your average guy. It’s got quite a fun look I think, especially when it’s all clean and shiny. The gas mileage isn’t the best, but it’s fun and very utilitarian, so I like it. Plus, when you’re driving around in the summer with the windows and the sunroof open, it makes all the chicks go wild. (Alright, so maybe I put Dallas and Emma in the car too…they always illicit oohs and ahhs from the ladies…)

Speaking of ladies, I made one lady very happy last night, when I unveiled her birthday present a few days early. That’s right, that blurry picture of purple-ish knitting from a few days ago is actually a shawl for my Mom. It’s the Manta Ray shawl from Yarnplay, and I’m knitting it with my 900 MHz Merino in the Raspberry Sherbet colorway. I’m really enjoying this knit, and the yarn is quite nice too. It’s the first time I’ve knitted with my new base yarn, and I must say, it definitely gets my seal of approval. The shawl pattern is very simple, it’s just garter stitch and some yarn overs, but it looks very elegant.

I was going to wait and surprise my Mom, but I went over there for dinner last night and really wanted to knit on it, and also it kills me to not be able to show what I’m knitting on the blog. So I decided that she could have the surprise a bit early, and she was very thrilled. My original plan was to have the Garden Shawl done around this time, but I realized that I just can’t push it, and it’s going to take a bit more time to wrap that one up. So I cast on for this Manta Ray in the mean time, figuring that if I can’t finish the Garden Shawl so soon, I would at least like to give my Mom something handmade sometime soon. It’s been a quick knit too, I cast on maybe 8 or 9 days ago, and it’s nearly done. Most of that is because I’m using fingering weight yarn on US 11’s, which not only makes it light and airy, but very fast to knit.

Now I have to go hit the books (midterms start next week!), despite how strongly I just want to pick up the Manta Ray and knit all afternoon. Such is life when you’re a grad student I suppose. Maybe someday I’ll actually have weekends where I don’t have to do some form of homework…

Have a great weekend!