Category Archive for ‘colorwork’ at adam knits!

Archive for the 'colorwork' Category

Drill Happy 22 Jun 08

It’s been 2 weeks, and the honeymoon period is definitely not over yet. I never knew you could have so much fun with a cordless drill! Just take a look at my latest project. It’s like I have my own little yarn store, right in my office!

Pretty sweet eh? It turns out that the yarn hutch I bought a few months ago was way too big for the new house, so I came up with this alternate yarn storage system. Oh the things you can accomplish with graph paper, a tape measure and some screws.

I also got all the Yarn Nerd boxes unpacked into the Shedquarters, and am almost ready to get the dye pots going. I’m so psyched to have a separate dyeing workspace, especially such a snazzy one. I have lots of work surfaces, plenty of storage, and lights and electricity. There’s no water, but I think a big plastic utility sink and a big drain bucket should suffice. There’s a hose right outside the shed that I can hook up to the sink faucet, and I’ll be in business. Although, first I might inform my neighbors that I’m not running a meth lab, since they might wonder what I’m doing in the shed with gloves and a dust mask. ;)

Now that Yarn Nerd HQ is unpacked, it means that there is only one stronghold of boxes left, in the garage. It may stay that way for a bit though, since I don’t have a pressing need to park inside, especially since I’m riding my bike to work lots. Did I mention that the new house is only 3 miles from work? It takes no time at all to get to the office (about 18 minutes on the bike, versus about 15 to drive and walk in from the parking lot), which I’m really loving. There’s even a small detour through one of the local golf courses. Nothing like the possibility of getting clunked in the head with a line drive to speed up the commute.

Knitting has been a bit slow with all the house chores, but I do have a bit of something to tease you with. I just have to finish the lining thumb on my second mitten, and the Fiddleheads will be complete. These are about the most perfect mittens ever, and I get so many compliments everytime I work on them in public. Adrian really hit it out of the park with this kit, between the amazing pattern and the heavenly yarn.

I’m reluctant to finish the thumb, because then that means I’ll be done, and I’m not sure I want the experience to end just yet. Not to mention that I won’t be able to wear them for many months. Unless I want to be sent to a white padded room for wearing lined mittens in 98 degree heat.

Also, thanks to everyone on your comments about the house tour, I really appreciated all of them! Not to mention all the good paint suggestions (I think I’m going to go with the sage green if you’re curious, but it may be a bit before I actually get around to it).

That’s about all I have, but check back soon to find out what I’ve drilled a hole into next. It’s such an exciting life I lead. ;)

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Adam

in a nerd's life, biking, colorwork, dyeing, home ownership, knitting, mittens, stranded, works in progress and yarn nerd

Mitteny Goodness 03 Feb 08

36 Comments

These days it seems like writing a blog post is a 3-4 day ordeal, and I’m not really sure why. Usually it begins with me deciding what to write about (1 day), then taking pictures (1 day), editing, tagging and uploading those pictures (1 day) and then finally sitting down to actually do the writing (another day). This is also assuming that I even do these things on consecutive days, which hasn’t really been the case lately. I don’t think it has anything to do with blog doldrums or anything…I just think life tends to get in the way, and I often thing of blogging as something that “I’ll get to later.”

At any rate, later is finally here, and I have a lovely new knit to show off.

My first ever mittens, and I am smitten indeed. The pattern is just perfect, and the final result is quite eye catching, in my opinion. I really enjoyed working with the BFL also, it just has such a different feel. I almost can’t describe it in words, it feels so lustrous and organic to me, like working with yarn fresh off the sheep. It’s definitely wool, but not the wool you’re used to.

Pattern: Herringbone Mittens, from Elliphantom Knits
Yarn: Yarn Nerd 1200 MHz BFL, dyed in custom shades of Dijon Yellow and Chocolate Red
Needles / Gauge: I used US #4’s, and got 6 sts / in and 8 rows / in.
Modifications: To compensate for the shorter row gauge with the sport weight, I worked a few more pattern repeats in the body and thumb. See Ravelry for more details.

They definitely came in handy last weekend, as I went up to CO for a bit of skiing. It was my first day out this season and the mittens were quite nice for those chilly CO mornings. Nothing like warm hands while you shush down the powdery slopes. I’m terribly uncoordinated in everyday life (I fall down stairs and walk into walls routinely), but for some reason, when I have some sticks strapped to my feet, I’m as graceful as a swan. It’s one of those mysteries I don’t think I’ll ever solve, but that’s alright with me. I try not to question things, as skiing is about the only athletic thing that I can do with any aptitude. Granted, I am getting better at the bike these days, but before bike commuting, I was known for biking into trees. Yipes.

Thanks for your reassurances on the coffee smell too, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one who thinks confusing coffee and skunks is impossible! I’m not too concerned about it, since the guy who works in the lab with me isn’t bothered by it, the only complaints have been from people walking through, so they’ll get over it. Besides, they wouldn’t want to have to work with me sans caffeine anyway ;)

Alright, I think it’s about time for me to wrap this post up, since it’s getting a bit late. Not a terribly exciting post, but it should suffice. I hope everyone has a good Sunday (isn’t it the super bowl or something tomorrow?), and I’ll see you next time knitting fans. (Yeah, that was the worst sign off ever. I’m aware of it.)

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Adam

in biking, blog, colorwork, dyeing, finished objects, knitting, snow and yarn nerd

A 500 lb Gorilla 12 Jan 08

17 Comments

As usual, the winter break is quickly slipping away, with only one week left before the return of school. It should be a good semester though, as I only have one class to take to fulfill my coursework requirement for my MSEE. It’s also more of a practical course (Advanced FGPA Programming for the curious), so I’m hoping that translates into more lab based hands-on work, rather than theoretical math homework.

One thing’s for sure, I am sure enjoying this one class per semester gig. I only had one class last semester, and it was pretty light on homework, so it made for lots of knitting and dyeing time. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to keep up with all the Loopy Ewe orders last year, since I was taking 3 classes per semester. So it’s nice to be able to slow down and ease into more practical work, and less busy coursework. And hopefully, before I know it, I’ll be done and will have all my evenings free to play with my sticks and string. (Do note that I am closing my eyes and pretending that the 5000 lb thesis gorilla sitting next to me is really a 5 lb poodle…)

I’ve made significant progress on feeding my stranded mitten hunger, with this beauty, which has been completed in the time between the picture and this post.

I’m using my own hand-dyed 1200 MHz BFL, in colors I dyed up for a soap swap with Megan. I had a feeling the colors Megan picked would be dynamite, so I tossed some yarn into the dye pots for myself. And I’m quite happy I did. Even though two color knitting is involved, mittens knit up fast! I knit the first mitten in under 6 hours for sure. I’m hoping to have a complete pair to wear out and about next week. :)

Speaking of quick knits, I have a few completed hats that I haven’t shown off yet. First up is a Shedir knit for my roommate’s birthday gift, back in early December. I used the suggested yarn, Rowan Calmer, which was a bit of a love/hate relationship for me. I love how it looks with the cables, and that it’s easy care (it’s a cotton/acrylic blend), but it was a bit of a pain to knit. It’s super stretchy, and is a bit hard to tension properly when throwing, because it just pulls out like a slinky. I really love the finished product, and so does Tony, but I’m not sure it’ll be a standard yarn in my repertoire.

The hat is also a bit of a send off gift, as Tony is moving out next week. He and I have been roommates and friends for 6 years, since being randomly assigned together in the dorms during our Freshman year of college. We didn’t get along too well that first year, in fact, we might have had our share of major annoyances with each other. But over time, we learned to get along, and now we’re really good friends. He’s been in Albuquerque taking a break for the last year or so, and last Fall he decided to go back and finish his degree in Socorro.

After trying a semester of daily commuting (it’s about 75-90 minutes), he’s decided to move back down until he finishes. I’m sad that he’s moving out, but I know he’ll be around to visit, especially since I’m letting him keep his old fix up car in the garage to work on during weekends. I know that 6 years ago I would have never predicted becoming such fast friends with a complete stranger, but looking back, that year in the dorms was one of the biggest growth periods in my life, and I’m glad I decided to get a random roomie.

The other hats I haven’t shown are the pair of matching Koolhass Hats (Koolhasses? Koolhi? Bueller, anyone?) that I knitted for my brother and his wife. I loved this pattern, and would highly recommend it to anyone. We all know that Jared is a talented designer, and this hat is no exception. It’s great looking, easy to knit and very versatile.

I knit the hats out of Malabrigo (the orange version), and Manos Wool/Silk (the pewter version), and loved both. It was my first time knitting with both yarns, and I think I might just be a Malabrigo addict now. The colors are so rich and the yarn so soft, you can’t help but fall in love with every stitch.

Finally, there’s a Yarn Nerd shop update online, with a nice stash of 1700 MHz BFL and 1500 MHz Merino. The BFL is in some overdyed colors which came out really nice. Go pick some up, because I’m dangerously close to keeping it all for myself, and the last thing I need is more yarn! ;)

Have a great weekend everyone, I’m off to knit another mitten!

Published

Adam

in a nerd's life, colorwork, finished objects, hats, knitting, patterns, school, techniques, unm and yarn nerd

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!

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Adam

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