Category Archive for ‘nerdy’ at adam knits!

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Catching Up 18 Dec 07

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 biking, christmas, dyeing, gifts, grad school, knitting, nerdy, snow and work

Drink More Ovaltine 30 Nov 07

67 Comments

Ah, the moment is finally here. The unveiling of my first handknit sweater. A sweater that I love so much, it hurts a little bit when I take it off. So without further ado, I give you my Seamless Hybrid.

Pattern: Seamless Hybrid from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Cordovan (5 skeins) and Olive Heather (1 skein)
Needles: US #7 - 24″ Circular, 8″ Circular, DPNs
Price: $30 for 6 skeins at WEBS
Knitting Time: Sept. 1, 2007 - Nov. 21, 2007

Inspired by so many others before me, I used EZ’s recipe to create a comfortable sweater with a few personal touches.

I chose Cascade 220 because it was inexpensive, and because it’s a true workhorse. Perfect stitch definition, beautiful colors and a dream to knit with, it’s really a great sweater yarn. I shamelessly copied Fricknits color choices, originally planning to only use the olive color for hems on the sleeves and body. But once I worked the brown and olive yarns together, I fell in love with the combo and knew that I had to include some green in the body. So the idea of stripes was born. (More on this in a bit…)

Once the striping was decided upon, all that was left to do was knit, knit and knit. I actually switched between English and Continental a few times, since a few tests showed that my gauge was the same in both, even though I was fairly new at Continental. It was the first time I’ve ever really thrown caution to the wind with my knitting technique, and thankfully it worked out fine. Not to mention that I got some good speed with my left hand on the body, which helped out a lot. Then once all the pieces were done, I joined them up and worked the yoke, finishing in time to wear the sweater for Thanksgiving.

The neck was the only part that gave me a bit of grief, since there were a few holes after picking up all the stitches, but I was able to use a bit of darning needle magic to close them up at the end.

All in all, I’m pleased as punch with this sweater, and I’ve already worn it 4 times since its completion. It was quite effective at staving off the cold lake air in Chicago. I’m definitely going to have to get a new sweater on the needles, because I think I’ve spoiled myself for store bought sweaters. It’s just such an amazing feeling to wear something you made with your very own hands…I get a bit of a high everytime I put the sweater on :)

Now that the sweater is unveiled, we get to have a fun little contest. See, the stripes might look a bit random, but they actually spell out a hidden message. What could it be? That’s your job to figure out. So get out your Little Orphan Annie decoder rings and get ready, because here’s the rules:

The picture shown below is the exact stripe sequence on the body of the sweater, and the entire message is hidden in those stripes.
The message starts at row 1 and ends at row 80 as shown in the picture. I’ve split it up into two pictures to save space, but don’t assume that the location of the split tells you anything about the message.
Anyone is allowed to make a guess at what the message is, but you must back that guess up with reasoning; i.e. “I think that the message is X, because Y and Z.”
Guesses without proof will not be eligible, i.e. you can’t guess “Emma and Dallas!” on a gut feeling. This is like when your math teacher would mark you down for writing down the answer without showing supporting work ;)
You don’t have to make a guess to comment, so if you aren’t the puzzle type, and just want to say hi, please feel free to chime in with other comments!
The first person to make a correct guess will win a lovely Yarn Nerd prize package, guaranteed to have 3-4 skeins of yarn and maybe a few other goodies.

Got all that? Good. Now here’s your clue. Happy decoding everyone! (And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about my last contest…I’ll announce the winners of that one when I get a winner for this one, promise!)

Oh, and if you’re keeping track, I will be 23 tomorrow. Man I’m getting old! ;) I highly doubt I will post tomorrow, so I’m going to wish myself Happy Birthday a day early!

Published

Adam

in contests, continental, finished objects, knitting, knitting techniques, nerdy and sweaters

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

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

The Mothership’s Siren Song 30 Oct 07

18 Comments

So the Leopard release was quite spectacular. I was one of the first 20 people in line (and was actually in line with some of the same people from the Apple Store opening!), so I did get a t-shirt, and my copy of Leopard. I was glad I went early too, since half and hour before the store opened, the line went all the way around the block!

It was certainly worth it too, because Leopard is pretty sweet. I’d highly recommend it if you are on the fence about upgrading. I also gave into the siren song of the iPod while in the Apple store, and picked up a shiny new toy. *I’m so weak.** ;)

I’ve been iPod less for a while now, and the combination of a big screen, WiFi with Safari, and the ability to banish my car radio turned out to be too much to handle. Maybe someday I’ll get an iPhone, but for now, the iPod Touch is close enough for me. It’s a bit easier on the wallet too, especially since I barely ever use my phone.

Oh Apple, why must you exploit my weakness for shiny things?

In other news, I just sent all these lovelies off to The Loopy Ewe today. Phew! Look for it sometime soon, in one of Sheri’s infamous sneak ups. Keep an eye out too, because the last batch went crazy fast! (who knew nerdy yarn could be so popular?) There’s a few new colorways in there, and all the yarn is my new 850 MHz Merino sock yarn.

Between finishing up the yarn dyeing and other things this weekend, it was pretty crazy. I ended up spending an hour cleaning up black yarn dye on Sunday, after tipping over one of the containers I was using all over the floor and onto Dallas, who happened to be laying right under the table. The poor guy jumped up, sending yarn dye flying all over the creation. Luckily it didn’t really damage anything, and after a long scrub Dallas was no longer all black (good thing I didn’t spill warm water and vinegar on him too!), but it was quite the detour from my dyeing plans that day.

I also had a big family occasion this weekend, as my Grandparents celebrated their 60th Anniversary. I admire my Grandparents profusely, and hope that someday I can have a marriage as strong as theirs. It’s not always easy, but they’ve stuck by each other through everything for 60 years, and I think that’s so cool. So Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa, I love you both!

Well, that’s about it for me peeps. I need to get to bed before it gets too late, so I’ll catch you later. Next time I can show you how I just re-organized my office with a yarn shelf. Yup, I have a yarn shelf now…it’s a slippery slope.

Oh, and beware of those Apple stores!

Published

Adam

in apple, dyeing, family, music, shop and yarn nerd

This Koolaid Sure is Tasty. 26 Oct 07

19 Comments

In another stunning turn of events, I bring you a completely lame blog post, padding with only pictures of my knitting in progress. I have a good excuse though, for I’m off to the mothership, to pick myself up a copy of Leopard, and hopefully one of the free t-shirts if I’m in the first 500. (I should be, I’m 2 hours early. I’m a nut like that.)

So here’s what I’ve been up to, when not dreaming of Time Machines and Spaces and tabbed iChat windows…