Category Archive for ‘dyeing’ at adam knits!

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Envy is One of the 7 Deadly Sins 19 Oct 07

I’m trying to remind myself of that, as it seems everyone in knitting blog world is headed off to Rhinebeck for a grand weekend involving meetups, new sweaters, and fiber acquisition. I’m not jealous, really! (Ok, maybe just a tad…but I’ll get over it eventually.)

For those who aren’t going to Rhinebeck, I find it helps to gather up all your lovely yarn, and pet it a little bit, while imagining you’re in a wonderful place filled with sheep and funnel cakes. It’s certainly not a substitute for a large fiber festival, but it helps, and it’s definitely gentler on the bank account. ;)

And while I was petting my yarn, I realized I have a lot of lovely hand-spun skeins laying around that I have yet to show you, so why not? It’s some tasty Eye Candy Friday, and it might just distract you from the fact that this post is all shiny and no substance.

First up we have a lovely skein of BFL, spun up by yours truly! Remember this roving? Well after I got a lovely new maple drop spindle, I was anxious to finish it up. The roving was a 4oz braid of BFL from Flawful Fibers, in the Safari colorway. I really loved spinning the BFL, it’s very soft and strong, while being easy to spin. I’m definitely getting better too, these singles are a lot less slubby and I got a lot more yardage this time (around 75 yards). I have no idea if I’ll just keep it as a pet, or knit anything with it, but either way, I’m delighted with it.

Our next contestant is a lovely skein of handspun that Georgia sent me for winning a contest on her blog. It’s a very luscious prize, and makes for a nice addition to my hand-spun trophy case. I can’t recall the fiber content at the moment, but when it’s this lovely, who cares? I’m thinking I’m going to use this to make a Red Light Special with just the handspun for the colored parts and some chocolate colored Alpaca I picked up at the Taos Wool Festival. I think it will be my most luxurious winter hat ever.

Lastly, I just received this from Alyson yesterday, and I’ve quite a crush on it. Alyson liked my kettle dyed Pumpkin yarn, so we negotiated a small trade. She spun up this superwash merino into sock yarn for me, and I sent her a skein of Punkin Head yarn. I’m very spoiled, to have such awesome people that trade handspun yarn with me! So thanks Alyson, I love it! I think this will become some plain old toe up stockinette socks, since I don’t want anything to spoil the loveliness of the yarn.

The final installment of eye candy that I have today, are a few new colorways that I’ve cooked up. I’m working hard on my next order for The Loopy Ewe, which should be shipped off in a week or so. These skeins are dyed up in my newest sock yarn, which I’ve dubbed 850 MHz Merino. It’s a really nice 3 ply merino, that knits up really evenly and is super soft. The twist is a little bit less than my 900 MHz Merino, but it’s not at all splitty, and has less bias, so it looks really nice when knit up into stockinette. I think you’ll really like it a lot, and I’m hoping it’s going to help reduce some of the supply issues that I’ve been having with the 900 MHz Merino. I’m not discontinuing the 900 MHz, I just think I’m going to put it on the back burner for a little while. I hope you like the new yarn as much as I do!

Here’s a quick summary of the State of Yarn Nerd to bring you up to speed:

850 MHz Merino will be available through The Loopy Ewe, so go stalk Sheri to get your sock yarn fix ;)
While the sock yarn will be available through Sheri, the Yarn Nerd store is still the place to go for sport and other weights.
1500 MHz Merino will be replaced with another sport weight merino in the next few months. Sorry for the lack of sport weight, but I’m working hard to get something comparable to what I was using that isn’t constantly on back order.
1700 MHz BFL will be available in early November, and will be an option for Create Your Skein. This is a really nice DK weight yarn, and if you were wanting something in a heavier weight for thick socks or hats, I think you’ll want to give this a try.
2400 MHz Merino will also be replaced with a new worsted merino in a few months, so if you were wanting some worsted, just be patient a bit longer.
Roving will eventually be available on a less hodge podge basis, but it might be a while before that occurs.

I hope that helps answer a lot of questions for those of you who have e-mailed me wondering about sport weight, and where you can get your hands on some Yarn Nerd goodness. If you’ve e-mailed me and I haven’t responded, drop me another line, as things have been a bit hectic these days. It’s quite a challenge to manage school, work and the yarn stuff, but I enjoy every minute of it, so thanks so much for all your support!

That’s all I have, so have a great weekend everyone, and if you’re at Rhinebeck, I’ll try not to envy you too much ;) Sending me yarn might help me get over my envy, hint, hint. ;)

Published

Adam

in biking, dyeing, hand spun, knitting and yarn nerd

Lather, Rinse, Repeat. 03 Oct 07

27 Comments

Well, it appears that it’s high past time for a new blog post, as evidenced by my family’s gentle chiding.

Truth is, I got nothing. Nothing that seems particularly exciting to blog about that is. Life is just chugging along, humming with the day to day routine: wake up, ride to work, work, ride home, make dinner, watch TV & knit, pack bags for commute, and go to bed. Repeat. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I’m a creature of routine, so I rather enjoy the doldrums of daily life. But sometimes you just need a bit of something special to spice things up, you know?

Like some tasty Pumpkin beer and yarn to match.

Quite fiberlicious eh? It’s a new colorway dyed specifically to evoke my deep love for everything Pumpkin, and it certainly makes me happy. It’ll be present in my next shipment to the Loopy Ewe, so you can get yourself some too.

The yarn also serves as a reminder that no matter how much I may have gushed about the arrival of Fall, the devil is in the details, and those details involve colder weather. Ergo, my leg hair isn’t quite cutting it as insulation against the cold morning air. Not one to be deterred, I went out and bought a few Fall commuting essentials.

Let’s just say, you may now call me Captain Spandex. Don’t ask for a picture, cause you’re not getting one ;) I just think it’s really funny that when I started biking my mantra was “no spandex, no way”, and now I’m sporting some tights of my own. I guess it really is function over fashion!

Ok, enough rambling. Sorry for the lame post, but I promise I have some better material coming soon. It’s Socktoberfest after all.

Published

Adam

in biking, dyeing and yarn nerd

Yarn Overdose 07 Sep 07

25 Comments

You know, one of these days I’m going to actually blog more than once a week…but that’s not the case today. I think Maryse hit my mood about blogging right on the head, so I’m going to copy her and oust the transitional sentences. Lists rule.

The order for The Loopy Ewe is done. Phew! I took Labor Day weekend to finish it up, and shipped it out last Monday. Sheri has already received it, and says that it should be up sometime soon, so keep an eye on her store. And in case you wanted to know, this is what 100 skeins of Yarn Nerd yarn looks like.

Holy Sheep Batman, it barely fits on my little table! It was a lot of work, but wasn’t nearly as hard as I anticipated. It’s easy to get into a rhythm and dye up around 15 skeins in an evening and 40 or so on a Saturday. So after a weekend here and a few spare evenings there, it was all dyed. Reskeining is a different beast though. This is about how I felt after reskeining all 100 skeins.

But it was still a blast, and I’m excited to do another order in the future! Oh, and 1500 MHz Sport Merino is now on order, so look for that soon. Since I know a lot of you want it (including me!).
The bike is fantastic. Not only are my hot legs getting even hotter (gotta love the efficiency of clipless pedals), I’m also quite speedy these days. I guess that’s what happens when you shave 10-15 pounds off your commuting machine. Also, my adventure with the ABQ bus system continues, as I’m finding more and more ways to incorporate biking and the bus into my errands and daily routine. If I were in an RPG, my character would have the following stats: Gas Usage = -20, Knitting Time = +50, Pounds Lost = -15 and Smile Factor = +10. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, perhaps you should unsubscribe and save yourself before it’s too late.)
I’m all caught up on the sweater front, and am cruising away on the body. I do need to start a sock though, since this project will soon become to large to squeeze into my bike saddlebags and wield on the bus. I do need a bit of room for a change of clothes and a sack lunch… ;)

Oh, and Mom? I’ll work on your shawl tonight, ok? Promise!
If I seem to be lacking my usual nerdy exuberance today, it’s probably only because I’m all alone in cubicle land, and I haven’t had human contact in around 4 hours. And after 4 hours of computer programming, you kinda start to feel like a computer yourself.
Finally, here’s another little project that I’ve been hiding up my sleeves for a few weeks now. If you are in Scout’s Swag Club, and haven’t received your latest yarn fix, you may want to stop reading, since this will spoil it. Inserting requisite paragraph breaks…

Not yet.

Nope, still no dice.

Are we there yet?

Maybe.

Oops, false alarm.

Keep going…

Almost there.

You’ll get a cookie if you keep going!

Ok, not really, but a fake gold star at least.

Scrolling all the live long day!

. . . .

Oh, now what’s this?

Why it’s lovely yarn! 40 skeins of it in fact, for Scout’s Swag Club for August. Scout asked me if I would like to be a guest dyer for the club a few months back, and I graciously accepted. The colorway is called Chuck T’s, and I think it’s quite smashing. Thanks again Scout, I appreciate the shout out!
Alright that’s it. Move along, nothing left to see. And have a lovely weekend. :)

Published

Adam

in biking, dallas, dyeing, knitting, nerdy, shop, sweaters, work and yarn nerd

Oooohhh, Shiny! 01 Sep 07

28 Comments

Hey everyone, thanks for all your great comments on my yarn being at The Loopy Ewe! I’m finishing up the dyeing and reskeining this weekend, so it should be off to Sheri and up at the store soon. Keep an eye out! Also, I’ll be placing an order for some 1500 MHz Sport Merino as soon as I ship off the wholesale order, so keep an eye out for that yarn at www.yarnnerd.com.

In other news, I got a new toy!

That’s right, I finally had enough money saved up to go pay off my bike and get it out of layaway. I picked it up last night, and my Dad helped me put on some clipless pedals and showed me a few things, and off I went! I was a bit worried about using the clipless pedals, but commuting these last few months has made me a lot more confident on the bike, and my fears turned out to be unfounded. The pedals are super easy to use and it’s definitely a lot more efficient than straight push pedals. My Dad was kind enough to take a picture of me riding (wow, I look like a 5 year old boy in that picture) around the neighborhood.

It feels really great to have a bike that actually fits me, and I’m really looking forward to next week’s commute now. I’m interested to see how much time I can shave off, since this bike is super fast. Oh, and it’s super light too, so it should be a bit easier to load it onto the bus to school (and hopefully it will get me less grouchy bus driver stares, since the mountain bike was a bit hard to load onto that rack).

All in all, it’s only been a few months since I started bike commuting, but it’s already drastically changed the way I look at transportation. I absolutely love my commute now, and I’m always looking for opportunities to ride instead of driving. Plus, I’m so happy to have finally found a form of exercise that I really enjoy. In the past I never found something I really loved, so it was always hard to stick to a routine. I just wish I had given cycling a serious try sooner!

I also have another pair of socks under my belt to show off. (__Two pairs in consecutive posts! What is this blog coming to?__)

Remember these?

“Jolly Good Chap” Socks

Pattern: Gentleman’s Sock with Lozenge Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks, by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Hand-Spun by Anne, received in a swap.
Needles / Gauge: 7.5 spi on US #1’s. Knitted with Magic Loop.
Construction: I stuck to the pattern on this one, except I used a slip stitch heel instead of a stockinette one. I also modified the lozenge pattern to be over 60 stitches, since my gauge was less than the book’s.
Completion Time: 4 months (May - August)

I really love these socks. This was the first time (at the time of cast-on) that I had used hand-spun, and it was a very different and wonderful experience. The wool that Anne used is a bit more coarse than I was used to, but it makes a really sturdy and warm fabric. Anne’s spinning job was superb, and I know that these socks will be around for many years to come. They’re a bit slouchy around the leg, because the pattern gauge is a bit bigger than stockinette gauge, but the ribbed cuff holds them up, and I think that slouchy socks are wonderful. They’ll be perfect for cold winter evenings, to keep my feet warm while I drink coffee and knit. And the pattern gives them a very sophisticated look; so much so, that I fancy myself a Brit while wearing them. ;)

So thanks Anne, the yarn is wonderful, and the socks are even better!

Lastly, I want to leave you with a bit of a somber warning. If you are ever knitting a sweater, be sure to count the number of stitches in your gauge swatch instead of assuming. Or, if you always knit your swatches over 32 stitches, don’t make a 36 stitch swatch, and then measure your gauge thinking your swatch is 32 stitches. Cause that means all your impeccable math and perfect sizing doesn’t mean anything…, and it leads to this inevitable outcome:

Oh, and listen to that nagging voice in your head that says, “hey, maybe before you get too much farther, you should take it off the needles and try it on!” Cause it will be right. At least I was only 1 inch past the hem, so no harm no foul this time. I forge ahead, because I am determined to have a cosy sweater to go with my Englishman socks this winter.

Published

Adam

in biking, dyeing, finished objects, frogged, hand spun, knitting, socks, sweaters and yarn nerd

He’s Got Legs…(You Know the Rest) 24 Aug 07

33 Comments

Ok, we have a lot of ground to cover today people, so grab some coffee and hunker down. This could take hours. You know, metaphorically speaking. And you know how we roll when there’s lots to cover at Adam Knits…bullets!

from the "oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into" department:

You may have seen this little announcement, already, but if not, this is news to you. I’m proud to announce that Yarn Nerd is the newest indie dyer at The Loopy Ewe! So now all you crazy Loopy Ewe fans can get your Yarn Nerd fix, along with all the other great yarns and stuff that Sheri stocks. I’m really excited about this, and am looking forward to breaking into the wholesale market. And if the response I’ve gotten so far is any indication, I think this will be the beginning of a great thing. I’ve admired Sheri’s shop for a while, and I e-mailed her to see if she was interested in Yarn Nerd, and got an emphatic yes. I’m hoping to have the order finished in a week or two, so you should be able to grab some soon.

There are a few ramifications (hehe, I love that word) for the Yarn Nerd shop, mostly since I do need to sleep occasionally. At least for the next few months, all 900 MHz Merino will be dyed up for The Loopy Ewe, so if you’re looking for it at my shop and can’t find it, that’s the reason. I am planning to bring back some of my other yarns though, which means that I should have 1500 MHz Merino in stock by mid-September. I’ve had a lot of requests for this one, and it’s one of my personal favorites, so I’m excited to be bringing it back. It’ll be available in your favorite colorways, or as a custom creation with Create Your Skein. Plus, to satiate all you spinners (including me!), there will be a lot more roving being thrown about in my dye kitchen, so keep your eyes out for that.
**from the "spindles are fun! I don’t need a spinning wheel, really! so stop tempting me!" department:**

I spun up the last of my roving stash (don’t worry, I promptly bought more…), and I’m definitely getting better at the spindle. I’m starting to actually draft while the spindle is spinning, rather than stopping, pinching, moving my hands up, etc. I think this lovely 2 ply speaks for itself :)

Hello Yarn Corriedale in the Granita Colorway. Isn’t it lovely?

I also received my newest fiber purchase yesterday, a lovely BFL top from Flawful Fibers, in the Safari colorway. This picture, although terribly cute, doesn’t really show off how lovely and subtle this roving is. I can’t wait to spin it, but I’m also worried that I won’t be able to do it justice. But my desire to spin it outweighs my worry of flubbing it up, so I press onward. Yarn Ho!

"do these braids make me look fat?"
_**from the "I wish I could show you my sexy biker calves, but that might be a skosh inappropriate" department:_**

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you on the biking, but I’m still going strong. I’m averaging around 4 days a week, and occasionally getting a weekend ride in as well. The benefits are many: hot legs, less gas tank fillups and a bunch more energy. And coupled with the fact that the Albuquerque bus is now free for UNM students, I can ride down to the park & ride a few miles from my house and take the bus to campus on school days. In fact, I’m loving the bike so much, I went and put a new one on layaway. There were some killer end of season deals, and the store happened to have one model of the bike I wanted in my size left, so I jumped on it. Hopefully I can pay it off by the end of September and start riding it! It’s a svelte 24ish pounds, compared to 40 something for my brother’s bike (that I’ve been riding), so I should be a speed demon on the new bike. Watch out ABQ, here comes Adam with his hot legs! (I wonder how many times I can say hot legs in a blog post…)
_**finally, from the "yes I do still knit, I’m just very lazy about taking pictures of the knitting these days" department:_**

Here’s some socks that I finished while on vacation, and I figured it was about time to give them the spotlight. I really love these socks, since they have all my favorite colors (you should see my closet, it’s a red and black explosion). I went for the no frills method, with a short row heel and a simple pattern, but I think they’re awesome. They definitely make me feel like a rockstar. And they match my red shoes. Oh yeah.

"there’s no place like home" eye candy

Pattern: Basketweave (6 stitch) from More Sensational Knitted Socks.
Yarn: Yarn Nerd 900 MHz Merino in Love and Peace or Else
Needles / Gauge: 8 stitches / in on US #1’s. Knitted Magic Loop style.
Construction: K1, P1 ribbing, then patterned over the leg, short row heel and round toe. Easy Peasy!
Completion Time: 3 weeks (July 22 - August 10)