Category Archive for ‘gifts’ at adam knits!

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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.

Published

Adam

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

Ah, Dry Heat, I Love You. 11 Aug 07

18 Comments

So I’ve been home since yesterday morning, just spending the time unpacking, dyeing up and shipping Yarn Nerd orders (thanks guys!) and hugging the dogs. Both Dallas and Emma are super happy that I’m home, and keep following me around like I might leave them again at any second. Needless to say, I’m glad to see them too, I missed waking up to Dallas’ big wet tongue every morning (well, maybe not the tongue so much), and coming home to Emma’s howling chorus every afternoon.

I don’t have too much to say now, except that I had a great time. Can you tell?

It was a really great trip, and most of the week after the wedding was spent just hanging out, walking around and drinking ridiculous amounts of coffee. My friend Holly kept telling me my heart would explode from all the caffeine ;) Oh and buying yarn too. I actually ended up shipping my yarn back to myself, since it would have been a stretch to cram into my suitcase, and I really didn’t want it smelling like dirty clothes when I got home. I just got the box a few hours ago and am super excited to dive into the stuff. Want to see?

Austermann Step → I loved using this stuff for my Broad Spiral Ribbed Socks, and this color called my name
Trekking → Who can resist the Trekking? This stuff is destined to become some fancy evening socks, since I’m tired of wearing lame black socks to formal events.
Rowan Calmer → For a Shedir hat. My head will be happy this winter.
Hemp for Knitting → I’m doing a soap/yarn swap with Knitting Philistine, and figured a hemp washcloth would go with my soon to be here soaps perfectly.
Blue Sky Alpaca’s Dyed Cotton → This stuff is the softest cotton I’ve ever felt. I know exactly what I’m making, but it’s a secret! ;)

I also scored some Yarn Pirate Knitting Needles (thanks Georgia, I love them!), along with a mini-soap from Knitting Philistine/Good Soap Works of Athens that Georgia had leftover from last month’s Yarn Pirate Booty Club. (I packed that w/ the yarn, and now the yarn smells so nice, ah….)

I certainly got spoiled, and spoiled myself in Seattle, eh? It’s not too often that I get such a great vacation, so I just had to take advantage. ;)

I also got to spoil my friend Holly, with a moving away present that I’ve been sitting on for quite a while. You may have seen the finished pictures of this hat back in July on my Flickr page, and now I’m happy to show off pictures of it being worn by it’s happy recipient. (*Can you tell that she likes pirates?*) Not bad for a first stranded project ever huh? I think it’s pretty swank myself. Hope it keeps your head warm this winter Holly, it’s gonna be cold up there in Seattle!

I’m gonna go have an Arrested Development marathon now and see if I and finish up a pair of socks that’s been languishing on the needles for a bit. I finished one pair in Seattle and am hoping to get this one cranked out before casting on some new stuff. I’ll let you know how that goes…

Published

Adam

in dallas, emma, finished objects, friends, gifts, hats, knitting and vacation

Being Ambidextrous Is Hard! 03 Jul 07

10 Comments

Thanks to everyone who left me well wishes on my burned hand, I appreciate them! Let’s just say that it’s not wise to touch the lawnmower exhaust 5 minutes after mowing the lawn…because this will happen:

I spent Sunday evening holding an ice bag and attempting to do mundane tasks with my uncoordinated left hand, because my poor fingers hurt so bad. Let’s just say I hope I never break my arm, because it’s down right impossible to eat with my left hand, as evidenced by the stains on my shirts and shorts from that day. But thankfully, it doesn’t hurt anymore and I’m able to once again eat without looking like a 2 year old. Oh and reskein yarn too, cause that’s a fairly important task.

I haven’t tried to knit yet, but I think I’m gonna attempt some work on the secret stranded project tonight, since the herald of July signals that I don’t have too much time left to finish this one. I tried to enlist Dallas’ help to do a few rounds, but he seemed to be all thumbs when it came to holding both colors. And not to mention that he wasn’t too keen to be featured in another blog post after the last photo shoot. (My entreaties of “you’re an Internet superstar now, your public needs you!” didn’t seem to perk him up either)

dallas gets in a bit of knitting before bed

I guess that leaves it up to me to complete the hat on time ;) It shouldn’t be too bad though, I’m definitely getting better at holding one color in my left hand, and everyone’s tips were super helpful. For me it’s been a matter of just getting my left hand used to having some form of structure so I can tension the yarn, rather than sitting there like a limp noodle that occasionally pushes stitches forward. I’m able to wrap the yarn on the left without using my right hand to thread it now, so I’m making progress.

Speaking of progress, I’m also super proud of myself in the bike commuting arena. I managed to ride in 4 days last week, and would have done 5 if my legs didn’t collapse into a pool of Jell-O when I woke up on Thursday. But I’m getting stronger and losing weight (3 pounds last week!), so the results are very encouraging. It’s a bit hot for the ride home these days (today’s commute will be extra sweaty since it’s 97 right now!), but I seem to have managed so far. If anything, all the sweat just adds up to a pound here or there ;)

Be sure to go check out the Yarn Nerd site soon too, because this week’s shop update is live and ready for the taking. The new colorways above are inspired by some of my favorite summer time treats, and I think they’re pretty awesome. There’s still plenty to be had, but it might not last too long, so go check it out!

And tomorrow’s July 4, woo-hoo! I’m hitting up a BBQ/Pool Party and then checking out some fireworks, how about you? Whatever you do, make sure there’s knitting, and be safe!

Published

Adam

in biking, colorwork, dallas, gifts, holidays, knitting, shop, why me? and yarn nerd

Garter is Good for the Soul 03 Jun 07

12 Comments

I hope everyone’s having a good weekend, I know mine has been busy! I worked like crazy yesterday, cleaning the house, mowing the lawn and dyeing some yarn. It wasn’t all work though, I got to relax a bit, read a book (what a concept!) and go out to my favorite microbrewery with my roommate for dinner. Nothing like sitting outside on a beautiful evening, drinking some tasty Oatmeal Stout and people watching. I’m looking forward to my lack of plans today, and hoping to get in some knitting on a few projects.

I’m still working away on the first Gentleman’s Lozenge Sock, and am almost to the heel flap. The yarn is still wonderful, and I continue to enjoy knitting every stitch with it. Funny story about that too…see in the last post I said the yarn smelled really good, and Anne replied to say that she had washed it with patchouli wool wash. My Mom commented later that evening how nice the yarn smelled, and I said, “well I don’t think it’s a very good patchouli scent, because shouldn’t it smell more like pot if it’s patchouli?” I make comments like this fairly often, and my family always gets quite a hoot out of it. Well I guess patchouli isn’t pot…but for some reason I associated it as such. Probably because I knew hippies used patchouli, and I must have equated it with pot. Little did I know that they used patchouli to cover up the smell of the other substance! Anyway, that was my dork moment of the week. I hope you get a little amusement out of it like my parents did ;)

I also have some delicious new yarn, that arrived on my doorstep on Friday afternoon. It’s some handspun BFL from Georgia of Yarn Pirate, in her Buccaneer colorway. Isn’t it gorgeous!? It’s so soft, and has the trademark squishy-ness of handspun yarn. And the colors are definitely “manly”, so thanks Georgia! It’s always wonderful to receive a generous gift from a fellow yarnie :)

She also included a tape measure from Church Mouse Yarns, a little yarn store on Bainbridge Island, which is located in the Puget Sound. I was on that same island a few years ago, but sadly wasn’t a knitter at the time, because I would have been all over that store. It’s also funny, because some of my friends have called me Church Mouse for years now (*I’m short and my last name is Church. Enough said.), so I think it’s quite apropos that I now have a Church Mouse Yarns tape measure.

I have the perfect pattern in mind for the handspun too, one which has been beautifully executed, both here and here. I’ve already swatched (and ripped that swatch out, since I think I’ll be down to the wire on this one), and am raring to go. This afternoon will be the perfect time to try and overcome my crochet dyslexia and cast on.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Published

Adam

in gifts, hand spun, knitting, nerdy and weekend!

Jolly Good Old Chap 30 May 07

19 Comments

Not too much to report here, I’m just cruising along in full summer mode. There’s been yarn dyeing, grass mowing, rose bush pruning, book reading and even sock knitting. It’s really quite lovely.

On the sock knitting front, I’ve been itching to cast on Anne’s hand-spun, and I finally snagged a copy of Knitting Vintage Socks to help in picking a pattern. I had looked through this book once before, and was a bit scared of it since I hadn’t knitted socks at that point, but wanted to give it a second try. Well, why didn’t I do that sooner? Cause this book is amazing. I think it’s possibly the best compilation of stylish men’s sock patterns that I’ve ever found. There’s not a single pattern in the book that I don’t want to make either for myself or as a gift.

vintage socks + handspun = I'm an Englishman

I love this book so much in fact, that it makes me fancy myself an Englishman, wearing fine suits and sipping tea, all whilst wearing some very fine looking socks. Then all I’d have to do is get into trouble and hire a butler, and I could very well star in a remake of Jeeves and Wooster! That would be quite fanciful, don’t you say old boy?

Needless to say, I think that the Gentleman’s Sock with Lozenge Pattern will look great with the handspun, don’t you think? I haven’t even gotten to the leg yet and I’m already in love. The simplicity and texture of the purl bumps on top of the ribbing is just genius. Absolute genius. The handspun is soft and squishy, with a wonderful sweet smell (what did you wash it in Anne?). I’m enjoying every stitch, and know that I’ll be very sad when it’s no longer on my needles. (Although it will be on my feet!)

In dog news, Dallas and Emma now refuse to talk to me without their agent present, because they now insist that they are internet celebrities. See, I submitted their baby hat photos to Meg at Cute Overload, and lo and behold, the pictures were accepted! If you don’t know what Cute Overload is, you should check it out…it’s most definitely the Slashdot of all things cute. (If you don’t know what /. is, then I’m afraid I have no other analogies. You’re on your own.) So if you’re now a reader because of Cute Overload, thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I’ll finish contract negotiations with the dogs soon, so that I can use their tremendous modeling skills for future knit related photo shoots.

Speaking of baby hat wearing dogs, I have some pictures of the actual baby hats in their new environment. Here are the hats, being modeled by little Samuel and his older sister Lucy. Aren’t they adorable?

In fact, this baby knitting thing is so satisfying, I think I might be doing it more often for my friends. Just don’t tell my Mom ok? She’ll give me the “you need to give me Grandchildren!” speech if she knows I have baby knitting fever! __Haha, just kidding Mom, don’t hurt me!__

Published

Adam

in baby, gifts, knitting, patterns and socks