Category Archive for ‘gifts’ at adam knits!

Archive for the 'gifts' Category

Tiny Stripes = Cute 04 Apr 08

ETA (4/5): I upgraded my blog software and comments quit working! Oops! They’re all fixed now :)

I know some of you might still be waiting with baited breath, and yes, I did receive my mitten kit. It. is. glorious.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to cast on yet. In fact, I haven’t been able to knit very much these past 2 weeks at all. I’ve been a bit busy getting 100+ skeins of yarn dyed up for The Loopy Ewe.

So if you want to get your hands on some 900 MHz Merino, be sure to keep an eye on The Loopy Ewe, for one of Sheri’s infamous sneak ups. I’m also working on a shop update for the Yarn Nerd store, featuring my 3 new base yarns: 1200 MHz Merino (Sport), 1700 MHz Merino (Superwash DK) and 2400 MHz Merino (Worsted). That should be ready within a week or two, and I must warn you, these new bases are heavenly. The 1700 MHz Merino is especially squishy, and is the perfect weight for about any project.

Despite my inability to knit more than 5 rounds on my overdue Project Spectrum Fire socks these past few weeks, I do have a finished object to show off. One that I’m quite proud of.

Isn’t it adorable? I knit it as a gift for Georgia’s brand new addition, sweet little H. I actually bought the yarn when I was in Seattle over the summer, in a yarn shop that Georgia took me to. She didn’t know if it was a boy or girl at that point, so I picked some colors and crossed my fingers. Thankfully, I got lucky!

pattern: wonderful wallaby, by cottage creations
yarn: blue sky alpacas dyed cotton: azul light blue (1 skein) / caribbean (1 skein) / pickle (1 skein)
needles/gauge: US #8 / 4.5 stitches per inch
size: 2 Years
mods: I striped two of the colors (pickle & caribbean), and then used the remaining one for the yoke and hood. I also worked seed stitch for the cuffs, and did a stockinette hood with a garter stitch border.

I really loved the Wallaby pattern, it was so easy to knit, and there’s endless room for customization. Plus, being a small size, it actually knit up in just a few weeks! And at the rate H is growing, he’ll be ready to wear it around in no time, right Georgia? ;)

After all that instant knitting gratification, I feel like tackling some more baby knits. Are there anymore expecting Moms out there? ;)

Published

Adam

in baby, dyeing, finished objects, gifts, knitting, shop, sweaters and yarn nerd

How The Grinch 24 Dec 07

25 Comments

Learned to enjoy Christmas…

Merry Christmas everyone! I’m in quite a festive mood this year, which is a definite departure, as I’m usually a bit of a Grinch this time of year. Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with family and exchanging gifts, but the craziness of it all gets to me at times. This year however, I armed myself with the one two punch combo of hand knitting gifts and online shopping, so my retail excursions were minimal.

I did lose a bit of Christmas spirit today when I went into a certain big box craft store to find that the Christmas section was being torn down and replaced with Valentine’s Day. I was a bit infuriated, but any thoughts of tree burning were quickly squelched when I finished this little beauty.

how the grinch learned to love Christmas

It’s a Grinch Green Christmas Tree (pattern at Monster Yarn), and I love it ever so much. It was a gift for my extended family’s gift exchange on Christmas Eve, and it was well received, along with many requests for duplicates :) Nothing like a fun fur tree to make that Christmas spirit soar again.

Have a good one everyone! I hope your Christmas day is filled with food, fun and maybe even a bit of knitting. I finished all but one of my gift hats, and I don’t think the final recipient will mind too much if I gift his hat towards the end of the day.

Published

Adam

in christmas, family, finished objects, gifts, hats, holidays and knitting

Catching Up 18 Dec 07

22 Comments

Why Helllloooooo! Long time no read eh? How about a recap of the last 2 weeks? Let’s see, I

Studied until I wanted to die, and then studied some more.
Banged my head on the wall while trying to get my final project simulation working.
Totally flunked my only final exam (no way is it better than a 50%).
Managed to get a very decent grade in my class (despite the final), because the project report I busted my butt over was “quite good”.
Dyed 120 skeins of yarn for The Loopy Ewe, because sleep is overrated.
Caught up on some backed up Yarn Nerd custom orders. (Thanks to my lovely customers for being patient with me!)
Knit 1.25 hats. That’s it. My poor hands were suffering from wool withdrawals for a while there.
Played in 2 orchestra concerts.
Oh, and you know, went to work too, because the bill collectors don’t view finals week as a valid reason for late payments.

PHEW! All caught up now? Cause I’m still not, especially with the freight train of Christmas bearing down on me. I think I’ve managed to whittle my knitted gifts list down to something that’s still a bit long, but I think manageable. We’ll see if I finish it all when next week rolls around. But finals are done, and I survived, so I don’t mind a few intense knitting nights, especially when you have some tasty treats to keep you company.

Nothing like curling up on the couch with a movie, some Trader Joe’s Hot Cocoa w/ giant Peppermint Marshmallows (thanks TJ’s! Now where’s my advertisement check?), and some Manos Wool/Silk blend. Yum on all 3 accounts. I’m afraid I can’t tell you anymore about the knitting, but let me say it is splendid.

And speaking of snow, it has become quite chilly here in New Mexico, after a confusing November comprised of quite a few 65 degree highs. And with the cold came the first true test of my dedication to bike commuting, which I passed with flying colors. Thanks to my wonderful parents, who bought me some great wind/water proof stuff for my birthday, I am well equipped for riding on dark rainy nights (I have lights and a shiny vest, don’t worry peeps!). Also, it turns out that I like riding in the cold a whole lot! There’s something to be said of bundling up and braving the cold to get home, it makes you appreciate the effort that much more.

Thanks to everyone for the Birthday wishes too, I really appreciated all of your comments on both the sweater and my Birthday! I’ve worn the sweater quite a few times, and am already planning out the next one. I have the entire period from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day off (thanks work!), so I think I’ll be putting in some progress on Sweater 2.0.

Oh as many commenters correctly guessed, the message embedded in the Seamless Hybrid is in fact, “HelloWorld”. The first commenter to guess correctly was Kelp!, so congrats to her, and thanks for guessing everyone! And if you’re scratching your head a bit, you might want to check out this link. Basically, almost every computer programming class and book has you program the computer to display “Hello World” as a first project, so I thought it was fitting that my first sweater do the same. I like to think of it as nerdy with a sublime touch.

Finally, I also owe 3 people some yarn as promised a few posts ago, so the winners are Kim U, Jennifer and Karen S. Congrats you three! I’ll be dispatching an e-mail to you soon.

That’s about it for me, so until next time, rock out with your nerd out. (Ok, that one is going into the permanent language repertoire.)

PS: Look Mom, a new blog post! Now you don’t have to withhold my Christmas gifts!

Published

Adam

in a nerd's life, biking, christmas, dyeing, gifts, knitting, nerdy, school, snow and work

Putting It All Together 10 Nov 07

24 Comments

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on my knitting anniversary, and the encouragement for my portly pooches! They’re doing quite well, and after a nice haircut, Emma is not as pudgy as initially suspected. I suspect Dallas is mostly a giant hairball too, he just hasn’t gotten his haircut yet. A few more weeks of regular evening walks and I’m sure they’ll be back to their skinny supermodel selves. And extra walking is something they certainly don’t mind. :)

I did just receive the BFL yarn yesterday, so I’ll pick the winners from the contest in the next blog post. I’m quite flattered that so many people think I’ve been knitting much longer than 2 years, but I assure you, any perceived skill is merely ridiculous amounts of practice. My friends and family deserve the credit, since they’ve put up with me knitting non stop for this long! (I think those warm hats and socks might have something to do with it…)

Also, if you haven’t picked up any Yarn Nerd from The Loopy Ewe, there’s still a few skeins left, so get on over before it’s all gone!

I’ve been hard at work this week, trying to get my Seamless Hybrid finished before the onslaught of winter, and I’m starting to make progress. I finished the 2nd sleeve this week, which means I’m now ready to start the yoke, and join the body and sleeves together.

I’m very close, but still, I haven’t been able to find time to sit down and start on the yoke. I want a nice block of uninterrupted time, since it’s the first time I’ve done anything like this, but I couldn’t seem to find that in my schedule this week. I think I might retreat to my favorite coffee shop tomorrow morning for a bit of solitude with my notes and the wool. It’s shaping up to be a good weekend. :)

I also got a bit of mail love this week, in the form of a stunning sock from Megan, as part of a single sock swap. She knit me the first sock, and sent me some yarn and the pattern so I can knit the second one. It’s an I Love Gansey sock (modified to have diamonds instead of hearts, you know, since hearts have cooties), knit up in a lovely chocolate shade of Rowan 4-Ply. It’s super squishy, and I can’t wait to knit the mate! Now if I can only find the time to cast on…

Megan also sent me this amazing sock cube from Schrodinger Originals, which has become my de-facto European Carryall for my knitting. There’s just something so awesome and so geometric about keeping your knitting in a sewn cube, it’s like storing structure inside structure, math inside math, etc…

So thanks Megan, you rock! I can’t wait to knit the second one; now if I could just finish the other socks and sweaters and shawls first!

Published

Adam

in gifts, knitting, patterns, schnauzers, sweaters, techniques, weekend!, works in progress and yarn nerd

The Secret Lives of Dog Models 04 Nov 07

57 Comments

Dallas and Emma? It has come to my attention that you’re not quite the svelte dogs that you used to be. I know that shaggy is the look for dog models these days, but that’s a bit more than a winter coat you’re both growing. Dog modeling is a human eat human business, and you can’t keep up if you’re rolling around like little lard balls. It’s either lose the weight, or get replaced by some newer, hotter dog models, like that vixen of a Chihuahua down the street. It might seem rough, but it’s business baby. There are plenty of dogs who would kill for a spot on this blog, and just because you were on Cute Overload doesn’t mean you can sit around all day stuffing your faces. I can’t have my lovely knits being shown off by anything but the hottest dogs.

And hey, don’t you stick that tongue out at me! I will break you, you hear? You’ll never work on this blog again! Sheesh.

Yeah, so the dogs are a bit chunky these days. And stupid me, I didn’t even notice; it took my Mom (who hadn’t seem them in a few weeks) to point out that they had grown a bit in the lateral direction. So I guess it’s more walks and no more wet food. I’ll have to be strong, especially when Emma gives me that pitiful look when I serve her dry food only. Sorry sweet cheeks, it’s dog model fat camp for you.

In less superficial news, I recently gave my shelf in my home office a yarn upgrade, and it makes me quite happy. Up to this point, all my yarn was stored in bins on the ground, and well it was about high time the stash had a more central place in the office. So I reorganized my shelf and banished a bunch of engineering books to the bottom, since yarn is way more fun than reading engineering books.

Two shelves of yarn might seem a bit pitiful, but it’s a beta lambda* for me, the man who used to only buy exact yardages for a project, without ever buying “unnecessary yarn”.

*(a beta lambda is the official nerd unit of measure for a “butt load” of anything. it’s metric, so you can have a kilo beta lambda, which would be an obscene amount of yarn)

You may also have noticed that there are 2 big cones of the much coveted Valley Yarns English Tweed on the bottom shelf. I sat on that page for days, watching the available pounds go down, until it was too dangerous to not buy, so I picked up a cone of Light Sage and a cone of Lichen. At least one will be a Cobblestone, and I’m not sure about the other one.

In addition to giving my stash a central location for fondling, I also finished a sock this week, right after the Socktoberfest cutoff. I’m still counting it though, since technically it was done on the 31st, I just didn’t like the toe, so I replaced it with a different one a day later. That brings my grand total of Socktoberfest socks to 2, and non-matching even. Not the most prolific sock knitting month, but then again, it was a prolific yarn dyeing month.

This one is a single sock for a swap, wherein I’ll send the sock and remaining yarn to my pal, who will knit the second sock for herself. It’s a fun idea, and a great way to knit a complicated sock and ensure that you will end up with a pair.

The yarn is Yarn Nerd 900 MHz Merino, in the lovely Pumpkin shade I’ve been posting all over the blog these days. (I love me some Pumpkin), and the pattern is Cookie A’s Thelonious. It’s a nice combination of lace and ribbing that isn’t too hard to knit and looks really nice with a semi-solid yarn.

Oh, and I almost forgot, it was my 2 year knitting anniversary a few days ago! It seems like it’s been way longer, but the calendar doesn’t lie. Maybe someday I’ll be celebrating my 60 year knitting anniversary :)

So, leave some encouraging comments for my fattycake models, and I’ll pick 3 winners to be the recipient of some hand-dyed Yarn Nerd goodness. I have some tasty BFL coming in soon, and I’ll be happy to dye it up any color you like.

That’s it for me peeps, have a great Sunday!

Published

Adam