Tag Archive for 'blog'

Mitteny Goodness 03Feb08


36 Comments - you know you want to

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.

herringbone mittens

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.

herringbone mittens
  • 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.

herringbone mittens

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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A Little Teaser 31Jan07


21 Comments - you know you want to
a little teaser

Are you salivating yet?

Thought I’d give you another little teaser. Got February 5 marked on the calendar? I know I do!

In other news, I’ve seen this meme floating around and I figured it’s high time I participated. That’s right, you get to learn 6 weird things about me! However, before I start, I need to preface things with a little explanation.

See I’m an engineer, so there’s a lot more than 6 weird things about me. There’s probably like 40. But for the sake of not appearing completely crazy by revealing all my idiosyncrasies I narrowed the list down to just 6. If you’re still confused, check out the video below. My parents sent it to me…is that a hint?

Without further ado, 6 weird things about me are:

  1. I have a lot of weird issues with numbers. I see mathematical relationships in all kinds of things. I can remember a phone number without ever dialing it, and can also tell you the exact amounts of money that I have spent throughout the day. I also remember license plate numbers fairly often, and will often recognize a car that I drove behind on the way to work a few days later. Strange, no?

  2. I’m a firm believer in a good handshake. I’m not one of those people who will squeeze your hand off, but I also hate wimpy handshakes. In that same vein, I feel like a fish out of water when another guy extends their hand for what I think is a handshake, only to do that slide the hand and punch the knuckles thing. I totally hate that, and I always assume they’re offering a handshake, so then I feel very awkward when I shake and they try to slide their hand across mine. Seriously, why do guys have to do all the hand slapping stuff?

  3. You know that sound that your straw makes when you’re trying to jam it into a glass full of ice (the fridge kind, not the wimpy fountain drink ice), and it scrapes down the side of the ice? That noise is probably the worst sound in the world. My family can attest to this. Everytime we sit down and my Mom pours a coke into her glass and proceeds to stab her straw into it, I end up in a limp pile on the floor. I know this is crazy weird, and I can’t explain it, but it is true.

  4. When I was a child I constantly surprised my mother by using words like gelatinous and voluminous. It overjoyed me to no end when I started my current job, I used the word over-modulated in normal conversation and wasn’t laughed at.

  5. I am deathly afraid of trams. I’ve lived in Albuquerque all of my life, the location of the gorgeous Sandia Mountains and the world’s longest tram, and I’ve still never ridden it. I’m completely fine with a chairlift, but I freak out when I have to ride in a tram. If it’s the only way available to the top of a ski mountain, I’ll ride one, but I close my eyes and pray the whole time.

  6. I only eat eggs if they’re scrambled. I refuse to touch them if they are prepared any other way. All that yolk everywhere…nasty! When I was a kid I would drench them in ketchup too. Ok, I still do that, but I like to think that I don’t need as much ketchup now that my palette is more refined.

Alright, that’s it for my weird issues. Hopefully I haven’t scared you off ;) More details coming soon on the store scavenger hunt, I promise!

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Enough is Enough 04Jan07


19 Comments - you know you want to

I’m tired of being a fattycakes and it’s time I did something about it.

See, I went skiing on New Years Day, and even though I had a blast, I felt like a Butterball Turkey on skis. I’ve been skiing for 12 years now, and although I’ve never been in the greatest shape, I’ve always felt better than I did this past Monday.

In addition, I have a number of hereditary factors in play that make my risk of heart attack before 30 much higher than a normal person. Combined with my very high blood pressure, these risks mean that if I don’t get serious about my health I could be in a lot of trouble down the road. So I figured it’s high time to do something about it.

Inspired both by Lolly’s amazing weight loss progress and Rachael’s Run-A-Go-Go Challenge, I’ve decided to keep track of my own fitness progress right here on this blog. You can check out my fitness page to view updates on my progress, as well as more specific goals and the steps I’m going to take to achieve them.

Step 1? Sign up for Run-A-Go-Go -> DONE.

Step 2? Sign up for the Gym -> DONE.

Step 3? Actually start exercising -> I’m going this evening, come hell or high water. If I don’t, I’ll abstain from knitting from an entire week. Promise!

This, my dearest readers, is where you come in. I would love nothing more than for you to help me reach my goals. Having my progress charted on the blog will definitely be a kick in the pants to motivate me. Your comments and e-mails will be much appreciated, even if they consist of you yelling at me to go on a run because I’m being a lazy butt. I know I can do this, and I think having this openness with the internets will be just what I need to help me stay on track.

Lastly, if you haven’t signed up for Run-A-Go-Go? It’s not too late! Join all the crazy knitters who’ve pledged to travel 100 miles by April 1. You’ve seen what happens when we raise money, so what happens when we get serious about fitness? Click the button to find out more.

Run A Go Go Button
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A History of Sorts 01Nov06


22 Comments - you know you want to

Looking back one year, I never would have imagined that I’d be where I am at now. Sitting here, typing out a post on my knitting blog. I would have never imagined that I would soon carry sticks and yarn with me everywhere. I would have never imagined that I’d soon knit socks during classes, receiving more than one confused stare from a professor or classmate. I would have never imagined that I would one day use knitting as a way to gauge whether a cute girl was “dating material”. I would have never imagined that I’d spend my evenings and weekends winding and dyeing yarn, just because it’s fun. But here I am, one year later, and all of these things that I would have never thought about have come true. So what is it about knitting that has impacted me so much? What is it about purposefully twisting yarn into loops that has me all twisted into loops? Click on to find out!

Continue reading ‘A History of Sorts’

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My Blog, the Chameleon 21Jul06


9 Comments - you know you want to

So you may have noticed that since I started this humble blog back in January, it’s gone through about, oh I’d say about 95 design iterations. I suppose I’m just picky, but I’ve never quite gotten it to the way I like it…but that’s starting to change. I liked the header with Emma, but then I wanted to update that to include Dallas, but I never got around to that, etc…

And then one day, I thought it’d be really really cool (or super nerdy depending on how you see it) to do some kind of circuit design for knitting. As you can see in the current header, we have a ball of yarn as a function of length (hence Y(l)), which is the input to our circuit. That yarn goes through the capacitor Cy, which stores up energy and dissipates it across the knitting needles, where it encounters Rf, the Resistance to Finishing. Then finally, the yarn input Y(l) is transformed into a Knitted Object as a function of time, K(t). So yeah, it’s a bit ridiculous, but it makes me happy :)

I can’t promise the site will stay this way forever, but I think it has the potential to. Especially since it works in all the major browsers, finally! (If it doesn’t, leave a comment and smash all my dreams and hopes forever, if you must). The only major change is the background of the header, because I want to scan in a sheet of Engineering Paper, the kind I use to write notes and similar circuit diagrams on, and use that in the header.

So what do you think? Am I a super nerd or what?

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