Category Archive for ‘albuquerque’ at adam knits!

Archive for the 'albuquerque' Category

What’s Up Kemo Sabe? 12 Oct 08

Hi-yo Silver! It’s just me the Lone Ranger, riding in from a long month of rounding up equations and graphs out here in the wild west. It’s tiresome work to corral all this math, but someone has to do it!

Unfortunately, when my head is buried in the books, I don’t have much blogging time. I’m working to remedy that, starting with a fresh new theme. My rationale is that I may be more inclined to post with a fresh new theme, but we’ll see how that goes. Not to mention the old theme was looking a bit like a red light district if you ask me ;)

It seems that while I was busy studying, Fall managed to sneak up behind me. Not to worry though, I simply called in some wooly reinforcements. Nothing like a clean batch of wooly socks and a sweater to make you long for changing leaves and chilly mornings.

Another sure sign of Fall here in Albuquerque is the arrival of the Balloon Fiesta (not to mention the slow driving tourists!). There’s really nothing like a balloon glow at night, especially when there’s an awesome sunset in the background.

It also seems that I’ve picked up a new yarn related habit, which is about the last thing I need these days! For some reason, I got a very strong urge to learn crochet so I could make a retro table runner for my coffee table. The biggest shock, and don’t faint on this one, is that I’m using acrylic…gasp! You all know that I’m a bit wool addiction, but I just couldn’t resist the petroleum based yarn for a retro 50’s knit. Or maybe I’m just an 80 year old grandma on the inside ;)

It did take quite a few tries to figure out the ripple stitch pattern, but I think I have the hang of the basics now. It also may be that for the first 5 tries, I was completely ignoring the directions. Once past my basic inability to read English, I was sailing along. I will admit, there’s something satisfying about a crochet hook that I really like. I’m already planning a gigantic retro blanket to go with my runner.

Maybe I should just give up sleep altogether?

Anyway, it’s back to the books for me, so forgive me if it ends up being another month until the next post. I will be defending my thesis in November though, so it won’t be too much longer before I can banish the books to the shelves permanently. I can’t wait.

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Adam

in albuquerque, crocheting, ee, school, socks, sweaters and works in progress

I Haz a House! 10 Jun 08

59 Comments

Well peeps, it’s done! I signed on the dotted line (about 30 million times by my count), forked over a very large check, and a few hours later was the proud owner of a new set of keys. Which happen to open my sweet new house!

Continue reading ‘I Haz a House!’

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Adam

in a nerd's life, albuquerque, family, home, home ownership and moving

Your Friendly Neighborhood Stalker 13 Apr 08

48 Comments

I’ve been quite the busy boy this last week. Let’s see what I’ve been up to, shall we?

→ I bought a sweet new cabinet.

I scored this hutch on Craigslist, and it’s already been put to good use storing all my knitting accoutrements. I’m also hoping that putting my stash on display in the common area of the house will help curb any future impulse purchases. My stash isn’t the biggest (I’m looking at you Maryse and Adrian!), but it’s certainly big enough to provide months of exciting knitting, and in the interest of fiscal responsibility (more on that in a bit) it’s going to have to be content with itself for a bit.

→ I started Fiddlehead Mitten #1

Then ripped it out about 10 rows in. Since mittens are fairly small, they’re an effective swatch on their own, especially since you can’t really an accurate measurement of the stranded gauge when not in the round. I started with US #5’s, and quickly ascertained that it was going to be too big. So it’s back to the drawing board with #4’s. I don’t mind though, since it gave me something to do while drinking my Saturday morning Americano at my favorite local caffeine spot.

→ I brought home a spinning wheel.

Unfortunately, this one’s just a temporary fix, but it’s already got me wrapped around its flyer. (Ha, that was a spinning pun!) See, a little while ago, I signed up for the beginning spinning class at my local yarn shop, and this week was our first tryst with spinning wheels. Last week was spindle spinning, which I’d already practiced a lot, so I was anxious to try something new this week. The class includes a wheel rental for the next month, and every week we take home a new model to play with. This week I drew the Lendrum out of the hat, and we’re already fast friends.

I’ve already managed to spin my way through 6 oz of Corriedale Wool, and a bump of Yarn Nerd BFL in Denim Blues. I’m pretty sure my shins are going to be sore tomorrow morning. I don’t mind though, since I’m very smitten with the resulting yarns.

The blue one is the Yarn Nerd BFL, which I split in half by weight, and spun into the classic 2-ply. I really love how the semi-solid looks shows up in the yarn, especially with the sheen of the BFL. The white skein is a Corriedale single, spun up from the big bag of wool that they gave us at the start of class. The Lendrum’s bobbins are a bit small, making it hard to fit all the plied BFL on there. To use up the leftover bits, I plied it with some of the Corriedale to create the final mini skein.

I’m definitely going to get a wheel at some point, but that’s also gonna be put on the back burner. Why you ask? Well that brings me to the last thing I’ve been doing this week.

→ Buying a House!

I’m just as surprised as you are by this one, it’s all happened so fast! About 2 weeks ago, I started thinking that maybe it’d be a good time to buy a house. I’ve been renting for the last 2 years, and while I love my current place, I often wish that I was putting my money towards something I actually owned. So being the engineer that I am, I started some spreadsheets and forecasted a ton of scenarios. I was unable to find a decent reason why I shouldn’t buy a house, so I started looking around. I also got approved for a great mortgage, so all things were go.

After seeing 7 houses, I found it. The. perfect. house. It was everything I wanted and more. It was the right size, in my price range, and needed no fixing up. So I made an offer. I was on pins and needles for an entire day, and received a counteroffer from the seller. I accepted that offer, and now a week later I’m a future homeowner!

The house has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a remodeled kitchen, a huge sunroom, and an awesome backyard. Oh, and it has a big shed in the backyard with lights and electricity. That’s going to be the new Yarn Nerd headquarters. :) Now I just have to contain myself until I move at the end of May! So far I’ve been passing the time by driving by everyday, just like a stalker. I’m so giddy, I just can’t help it!

I think a sweet new house is a fairly good reason to not buy yarn and a spinning wheel for a bit, don’t you? (Oh and the cabinet doesn’t count, since I really bought it for the new house. Wink, wink.)

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Adam

in albuquerque, home ownership, knitting, mittens, stranded and works in progress

Life Resumed 29 Jul 07

20 Comments

Well that concert turned out to be just the ticket. Karin and Linford sure know how to soothe a troubled soul with music, because their music definitely calmed me down. I might have even forgotten about the Emergency Vet bill for a few minutes! ;)

I picked up Emma last night after the concert, and she’s doing very well. Although probably a bit irritated, since I’ve probably taken about 100 pictures of her today. She did insist that I not show her one shaved leg in photos (from the IV), so I tried to only get her cute side. That turns out to be a pretty easy task.

Needless to say, I’m super glad that she’s feeling better…a feeling I might have manifested in a few extra treats throughout the day. :) I’ve also hatched a plan involving multiple dog gates to keep her inside during the day; since I’m not willing to risk her getting another bug bite while I’m at work. There’s so many bugs in my yard during the summer, so I think it’d be better for her to stay inside.

Dallas won’t be too happy about this new plan, but I think he’ll learn to survive for a few hours. He can be very destructive when left to his own devices (he ate an arm of a leather couch in the first 5 days I adopted him!), and I can’t really risk him destroying stuff since I have roommates. It’s one thing for him to get into something of mine, but another thing to chew up someone else’s stuff.

Emma confirmed to me that she was back to normal this evening, when she climbed up on top of Dallas’ dog crate to sleep on top of my newly laundered sock pile. That’s her special talent, making a bed out of anything on hand, as long as it’s just a bit soft. It’s making me a bit teary just seeing the picture, so let’s just move on before I get all emotional.

I did capitalize on the remainder of the weekend to get a bit of yarn dyed up. I cooked up some great new kettle dyed colorways, I think you’ll really like them. Here’s a sneak peek! There will be a shop update sometime this week, with all these new colorways, plus a bit more roving. I’ll be going on vacation to Seattle this Friday, so I thought I’d get the shop nice and stocked for ya. Oh, and I’ll be having a killer back to school sale, so stay tuned for the details.

The last thing I have to share is this great shot of the Sandia Mountains that I got tonight. I was over visiting Scout, and I pulled over to grab this shot. Pretty sweet huh? Her view of the Sandias is so spectacular, you can’t help but be just a bit jealous!

Published

Adam

in a nerd's life, albuquerque, dallas, dyeing, emma, music, shop and yarn nerd

Yarn is Squishy 20 Jul 07

14 Comments

I love Fridays. Especially when you have every other one off during the summer. It’s quite nice to stay home, kick back and put your feet up. In a pile of yarn that is.

The store is all stocked up with some new yarns, including a new colorway called “Love and Peace or Else”, that I absolutely adore. It has black, gray, red, maroon and a bit of white. Everytime I see it, I got into a sudden fit and begin drooling all over the place, because I love it so much. It’s perfect for Project Spectrum, and it’s guaranteed to bring out your inner Bono. Love and Peace or Else is the title of a U2 song in case you were wondering. I know, I’m so hip it hurts. ;) I guess it’s a good thing that I saved a skein for myself huh? I don’t have any red socks, so I figure I should rectify that. (This is how I rationalize things in my head at least.)

Now that’s some tasty eye candy!

There was some roving in the store, but some crazed people with itchy trigger fingers snapped it up in about 2 seconds. You know who you are ;) There’s more of that on the way though. There was something about dyeing that roving that turned on a switch in my fiber-addled brain…I don’t think I’m gonna be able to hold out on the spinning bug much longer. I’m currently shopping for a drop spindle, since a wheel would definitely blast the budget to smithereens right now. I know there are certain ones among you who might try to persuade me with links to inexpensive wheels, so don’t even think about it! I don’t need to be enabled right now, gosh! Idiots!

Now that I’ve packed up all this morning’s orders for shipping, it’s time to mentally psych myself up for tonight’s excitement. That’s right. I’m going to the Harry Potter release party…

OMG HP7!!! OMG!

Now I realize I might be a bit crazy, (and super nerdy), but I’m really excited for this book to come out. I joined the Harry Potter craze a bit late, i.e. after book 6, so I’ve never had to wait with baited breath for the next installment. Well now I have to wait, and if I have to wait, I might as well get all excited and go to the launch right? At any rate, I’m sure I’ll be staying up very late tonight reading this book…is anyone else joining me?

Whether or not you’ll be staying up late tonight, I hope you have a good weekend! I know I’m going to :) As long as it doesn’t rain during tonight’s Isotopes game, it’ll be absolutely perfect.

Oh, and one last thing.