Category Archive for ‘socks’ at adam knits!

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Gimping It In Style 16 Mar 08

Thanks for all the well wishes about my knee everyone! Unfortunately, I’m not quite back on the wagon yet. I was starting to do better after a week of resting, so I decided to ride my trusty geared steed to work this past Monday. That turned out to be not such a great idea. Gentle spinning isn’t bad, but any extra effort required (i.e. speeding up to change lanes, etc.) caused a little wincing.

So a doctor’s visit and another week of rest later, and it looks like I might be off the bike for possibly 2-3 weeks. The diagnosis was not a pulled ligament, but a bad pull or slight tear in my hamstring where it connects to bone below the knee. So here’s hoping for a quickish recovery, because the weather is quite lovely outside, and I’d love to be riding my bike!

On the bright side, I have been taking the bus to work and school rather than riding, so I’ve gotten in some good knitting time. See, I finished some socks!

Alright, well maybe not socks plural, but it’s a start. This is actually the mate to a single sock that the talented Megan knit for me back in aught seven. I finally got around to finishing the pair, and it was quite worth the effort. The pattern initially had hearts instead of diamonds, but Megan was wise enough to know that I might not be head over heels for the hearts. But I’ve definitely got a twinkle in my eye for those diamonds. (Alright, I’ll stop torturing you now.)

pattern: I ~~Love~~ Diamond Gansey Socks
yarn: Rowan 4 Ply Soft in Espresso → 1 ball per sock
needles/gauge: US #1 (2.25mm) / 8 spi
mods: Save the diamonds, the only other modification was that I changed the standard toe on Megan’s sock to a round toe, and duplicated that on my sock. My toes end quite abruptly, and the round toe seems to accommodate my hobbit toes best.

At least if I have to hobble around, I can do it in style eh?

I have another sock on the needles (almost completed actually), in a nice brick red/orange, in honor of Project Spectrum. I’m also looking forward to April and May, as I have a surplus of brown and green yarn, and plenty of project ideas. Cause you know, it’s important to have plenty of wooly hats, mittens and socks in April and May in the New Mexico desert. ;)

Finally, the mystery knit is all wrapped up and on its way. I think it’s gonna be a hit, and I can’t wait to see it modeled by the tiny little recipient! Tune in next time for the full reveal. :)

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Adam

in biking, finished objects, friends, knitting and socks

Sun, Snow and Sprained Ligaments 08 Mar 08

22 Comments

I think this picture about sums up last weekend’s ski trip.

What could be better than 2 days of skiing with temps in the 40s and a nice cool breeze? (This is key, because the sun makes the snow nice and soft, but the breeze keeps it from going to slush.) In case you’re curious, we skiied at Wolf Creek Ski Area, in Pagosa Springs, CO. Some of the best snow in all of CO (they’ve gotten 41 feet total snowfall this winter, the most in 20 something years), and only 4 hours away from Albuquerque. And the best part? My Uncle has a house up there, so all the creature comforts, including home cooked meals and sack lunches are included. Not a bad way to spend a weekend in my opinion.

There was one downside to the weekend, in that I came home slightly crippled. After all the talk about how I’m totally coordinated with skis on, I went and sprained a ligament in my knee. It wasn’t even on a difficult run either! We were heading in for lunch on the first day, and I was shushing along, and I managed to cross my tips (Rule 1 of Skiing: Don’t cross your tips*), and BAM! I fell over, and there was enough slope that I got downward momentum and had a nice little yard sale. (When you lose your skis, it’s known as a yard sale*)

I didn’t think much of it, and fetched my skis and went on my merry way. Later that day my knee was a bit stiff, but I figured I just needed to stretch it out. My knee begged to differ, and complained vehemently about getting out of bed the next morning. I was able to still ski on it, as it only really hurt bad right when standing up, i.e. getting off the chairlift. However, the car ride home was pretty brutal. I’ve definitely spent a good portion of my evenings last week with an ice pack, and I think I’m finally over the hump. It’s still tender after sitting down for a while, but I think I’m almost on the mend.

So the moral of this story is: don’t tell everyone on the Internet how amazing at skiing you are, and then sprain your knee. Although, you really should have seen me on that 2nd day, I ripped it up, even with a bum knee. ;)

As far as knitting, I was a busy bee last night. I finished a secret project that is so cute, I have to not implode every time I see it. I’ll be shipping it off soon, so once the recipient has it in hand, I’ll show it off. But be warned, the pictures will be dangerously cute.

I also finished up the sock that Emma is modeling for you, which is the mate for a sock that the very talented Mega knit for me in a swap. I’m quite enamored with the pair, and will take pictures as soon as I give them a nice bath.

That’s about it for me, I think I’m going to pretend it’s not cloudy outside and take the dogs out for some running around. I think they definitely have Spring on the mind, as much as I do these days, so I know they won’t mind getting out of the house a bit :) Have a good weekend!

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Adam

in dallas, emma, knitting, schnauzers, snow and socks

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!

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Adam

in contests, dallas, emma, finished objects, gifts, knitting, nerdy, schnauzers, socks, sweaters and yarn nerd

Fiber Heaven 09 Oct 07

20 Comments

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!

Survival Skills 22 Sep 07

25 Comments

Thanks for all your kind comments regarding my posterior, it’s good to know that you guys have my back! Ha!

Anyway, putting all butt jokes behind us (ha again!), let’s get back to the topic at hand.

Today (for lack of better blog post ideas), I’m going to go all Martha Stewart and share some of my favorite tips for surviving Fall.

Be Flexible

In New Mexico, Fall is a very very fickle thing. You have to be ready to go full bore with warm clothing and hot tea one day, and then bust out the shorts the next day. Case in point was Thursday and Friday. Thursday was a cold and rainy day, so I wore some handknit socks, drank hot beverages and made a delicious fall cake (more on that in a second). Friday seemed to be along the same lines, with a thick morning fog covering my house…fast forward to 12 PM and it’s sunny and 80 degrees. So while Fall vacillates from one extreme to the next, my advice is to keep a supply of warm knitted socks and some flip-flops near by.
Drink Hot Liquids

Tea is especially good for warmth on a chilly evening, when paired with a nice hot Fall cake (just a little more patience). I recommend some tasty black tea with milk and honey.
Knit, Knit, Knit

The best way to cope with those chilly weather blues is to work your fingers to the bone, making some knits to keep out the cold. Fall may not be the best time to start an extensive Christmas knitting list, but hey, you’re already crazy right? Any extra craziness is like a drop in the ocean, so bring it on!
Make a Delicious Cake

This one might just be my favorite cool weather remedy, and it’s certainly the tastiest. My cake in this case is a Chocolate Zucchini Cake, which my Mom has been making since I was a little kid. It sounds like a strange combo, but it’s really a lot like a carrot cake, and so very chocolaty. I’m drooling just thinking about it now! Oh, and because I’m a nice guy, click the cake picture for the recipe.