Category Archive for ‘socktoberfest’ at adam knits!

Archive for the 'socktoberfest' Category

Fiber Heaven 09 Oct 07

So I went to the Taos Wool Festival this past weekend, and it was heaven. I’ve never been to a fiber festival before, and wow was I missing out! I drove up with a friend, and we had a great day involving fiber, food and a winery detour on the way home. There was so much delicious yarn and fiber, it was nearly impossible to make a choice on what to buy. In the end I did make a choice, and ended up picking the following:

A lovely Maple Spindle, which has already been put to good use.
A skein of brown Alpaca for only $10!
A skein of white Cormo wool for dyeing fun. (this is a new breed of sheep and I must say it’s fantastic. let’s just say that it might be a future addition to Yarn Nerd’s bases…)
A big skein of gray Border Leicester, also for dyeing fun.
A skein of 80% Llama/20% Soysilk, which is pretty much as soft as it comes, and it’s tweedy!

I think I did pretty well, although my checkbook might not agree. I did resist bringing this guy home though…

Somehow I don’t think that the city of Albuquerque, and Dallas and Emma would have agreed with that decision ;)

I also got to meet up with Amber, who was in town from Virginia visiting family, for a bit of lunch and fiber shopping. Her Grandma came with her and was quite the sport while we caressed yarn and talked knitting. It was good to meet you Amber, and if you ever decide to move back to New Mexico we can hang out! Hint hint. ;)

Amidst all the new stash, I’ve also been working on depleting some of the stuff I have already. It’s Fall TV Season, which means lots of evenings hanging out in the living room, working away like a sweatshop knitter. Gotta get those Christmas Knits done! Some of the big things I’m working on include my Seamless Hybrid (almost done with the body, and I’m working on a sleeve in the photo) and my Mom’s Garden Shawl (that’s right Mom, I’m knitting on the shawl!).

It’s also Socktoberfest, which means I have a few pairs in the works. I just finished this sock, which Emma is so delighted to model for you. It’s a Gentleman’s Fancy Sock (from Knitting Vintage Socks), knit in one of my favorite sock yarns, Austermann Step. And as much as I love it, I’m going to be strong and put it in the Christmas pile. I just have to remind myself that other people need warm handknit socks too. ;)

I’m also working on a Thelonious sock in the Pumpkin yarn from the last post, for a swap that I’m doing. It’s quite tasty. The socks are the perfect bus knitting project, since the sweater and the shawl are a bit much to carry in my bike bags.

Oh, and I finished a hat a bit ago, for a friend’s birthday, as shown by my lovely model. (Don’t you just love dogs in knits? I do!)

It’s the Foliage pattern from Knitty, knit up in 3/4 of a skein of Manos 100% Wool. It’s fast and it looks great, so it’s a really good gift knit. Or you can use it for making your dogs look dorky… ;)

Well it’s bedtime, so I better shove off, but I thought I’d pop in to say that I am alive, and that I’m keeping quite busy these days. It must be this cold snap that’s making me all knit crazy…nothing like the feel of wool through your hands when it dips to 50 degrees outside.

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Adam

in finished objects, gifts, hats, knitting, socks, socktoberfest and weekend!

The World Can Wait…But I Can’t! 26 Oct 06

11 Comments

Someone pinch me. Seriously, I really think I’m dreaming. I keep checking my e-mail inbox, just to make sure that 2 very special e-mails are still there, and that what they promise is in fact real. What 2 e-mails could possibly have me so worked up you say? Well, one is a confirmation for a flight to Chicago, and one is a confirmation for a ticket to the Over The Rhine concert in said city in early December.

While this may seem somewhat inconsequential to you, I promise, this will be a life changing concert. Over The Rhine is one of my favorite bands of all time, and I’ve been trying to go see them for around 4 years now, but it’s never worked out. So when I found out that they were playing in one of my favorite cities on the day after my birthday, well I just had to go. I still have been unable to console my wallet, which is still sitting in the corner sobbing at being violated in such a manner. But who cares?! Cause, (cue music) it’s my birthday and I’ll go if I want to! (end music)

Alright, let’s move onto the knitting content, since that’s what you really came here for. I finished my 2nd pair of Socktoberfest socks, which will be a gift for an un-named family member. Although they are so comfortable that I really want to keep them for myself…so I buried them under lots of yarn, in hopes that I’ll forget about them until Christmas. I made them exactly the same as this pair of socks, so you can check that post for the details. The yarn is my own 2400 MHz Merino Superwash, in a colorway called Steelcut Oats.

so squishy, must not keep…

I’m also progressing quickly on the project that shall not be named, especially since it’s been a homework free week. It’s quite nice to have entire evenings to sit at home and knit; too bad that homework gets in the way of that most of the time (who am I kidding? I totally knit instead of doing homework all the time…) I also may have cough cast-on for a Backyard Leaves scarf with some lovely Cascade 220 that I picked up at the new and improved Village Wools. (To all the VW Staff: You guys rock! And the new store is awesome!) I’m really getting bad at starting new projects whilst other ones are on the needles. I used to be so good about finishing something before starting a new project, but that’s eluded me lately.

You know what I just realized too? It’s almost one year since I learned to knit! I can’t remember the exact date, but it was definitely near the beginning of November last year. I’m working on a “Adam’s History in Knitting” post, and there will most likely be some contests, so stay tuned!

I’ll leave you with this lovely picture that I took the other night. My brother and his fiancee were hungry, and this giant bowl of salt-laced, heart exploding delicious beef ramen was what they cooked up. Oh to be young, in love, and have a heart unaffected by salt intake.

that’s 3 packages of ramen, with added beef bouillion cubes, in case you wanted to know…so gross!

*In case you were wondering, the aforementioned birthday is December 1. Send Yarn.*

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Adam

in finished objects, knitting, socks and socktoberfest

Warning: Actual Knitting Content 22 Oct 06

3 Comments

Wow, you get 2 posts for the price of 1 today! I got some batteries for the camera last night and figured some actual knitting content was a bit overdue. Ok, I fess up, I’m really posting right now because I’m procrastinating studying for my Analog Electronics midterm…but we won’t talk about that, so instead, Look, at the knitting!

Getting back on the horse that threw me, I’ve finally caught back up to the point of tragedy in the project that shall not be named. Here’s a purposely blurred picture for your benefit. From this point on, this project will never be taken near food again.

just use your imagination…

And it’s still Socktoberfest, so I’m still cranking away on the 2nd of the Steelcut Oats socks. I’m going to have trouble giving these ones away, since they’re so nice and squishy. I don’t actually own any socks made out of decent sock yarn, so these are tempting, but I think I can resist for a while longer.

I caught this sock looking at the other socks in the Socktoberfest flickr pool. It’s punishment was severe.

And lastly, in honor of the wonderful art of knitting socks, I’m having a yarn sale! That’s right, until the end of October (and Socktoberfest), I’ll ship your order for free! So go check out adamknits.etsy.com and pick up some sock yarn today!

Ok, I guess I’ll go study now, ugh.

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Adam

in gifts, knitting, shop, socks, socktoberfest and yarn nerd

Revenge of the Oily Wool 13 Oct 06

5 Comments

Ok, so the bad news first I suppose. I knit a few rounds on the oily project last night, and even though the stain isn’t visible anymore, well the oil is still there. My hands got all greasy and I just couldn’t do it, so with a big sigh I ripped it out. I’m going to be putting a whole lot of time and effort into this project, and I just want it to be as perfect as possible. And I wasn’t that far into the project, so I’m coping fairly well. I’m definitely going by Village Wools today to pick up some Bryspun DPNs, because I can’t stand those blasted bamboo ones I have, they just grip too much. Oh well, I had to learn the hard lesson that wool and food don’t mix well at some point eh?

Now in honor of today being both Yarn Pr0n Friday and Friday the 13th, I present “Attack of the Crinkly Wool Blob!”. The poor dogs were terrorized by this blob of wool all night, it was pretty scary.

(I really tried hard to get them to have looks of sheer terror on their faces, but really all their looks are the same. Kinda like Blue Steel.)

But you know what? I’m not that sad about ripping out the oily wool? Why you ask? Well because it’s Socktoberfest, and I finished a sock! This sock will go into the “Christmas 2006″ drawer…now only 80,000 socks to go. This yarn is my 2400 MHz Merino Superwash, in a colorway that Carole helped name: Steelcut Oats. I dyed this skein a while ago, and decided to keep it for myself, party because I’m selfish, and because I wanted to actually knit something with my yarn to see how it came out. Well here it is!

oatmeal with added fiber

just imagine them cooked up with brown sugar

the colors go better if you imagine the oats cooked up with some brown sugar…mmmm

I’m planning to cast on for this sock’s twin during tonight’s Battlestar Galactica, although I may be way too absorbed in the TV to do any knitting…last week was seriously the best 2 hours of TV I’ve ever watched (at least since the golden days of Alias, before it started sucking…)

Alright, I’m going to sign off now, but I’ll leave you with some more fibery goodness for Yarn Pr0n Friday. These 2 skeins were just dyed last weekend and are up in the shop now, both are 2400 MHz Merino Twist. Barber Pole and Finger Paint. Better hurry up and buy this before I hoard it all for myself!

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Adam

in dyeing, finished objects, frogged, knitting, local yarn store, shop, socks and socktoberfest

Oil Be Gone 12 Oct 06

3 Comments

Before I write about my happy success story involving the oil spot on the project that shall not be named, I’d like to congratulate Hazel for being the 300th commenter!. Nothing like winning free yarn just for typing eh? And thanks for all the comments everyone, you guys are awesome!

So last night I did a little more research into detergent, and into all the suggestions that were posted, and decided to give the project a synthrapol bath. I had considered using laundry detergent because I have this Method stuff that’s really good at getting out grease, but I read that laundry detergent isn’t a good choice because it usually has lots of additives in addition to the surfactants (the stuff that actually removes the grease). So I decided on Synthrapol, and figured it’d be best to give the whole thing a bath. So I cut the working yarn and let the project soak in the soapy solution for an hour or so. Then I said a prayer, rinsed it off and let it dry out overnight.

And lo and behold, this morning, no grease! The stain is gone and the wool isn’t visibly oily anymore, so I think it worked. There’s still a faint odor, but I was planning to soak the completed project in a lavender bath before blocking, so that should do the trick. I’m going to knit a few more rounds tonight and see how it feels and smells in my hands, but it appears we’re out of the woods. I’ll probably trash the ball of yarn to be safe, since it got some dressing on it, but I have bought plenty of extra yarn, so I should be safe. And it’s not crazy expensive, so I can buy more if I need to.

Alright, that’s it for now, but keep those comments coming! And it’s still Socktoberfest, and I finished a sock last night, so there’s lots more feet action to come. (I say this knowing that I risk readership of a few friends of mine who are grossed out by feet). But I promise I’ll always show my feet with socks on, I try to keep things PG rated around here.

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Adam

in contests, dog rescue, knitting, socktoberfest and yarn nerd