Tag Archive for ‘eye candy friday’ at adam knits!

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The Family That Bowls Together 13 Jul 07

Has it really been 9 days? Yeesh, bad blogger, no cookie! I was reminded of my extended absence by my Mom, with the kind words, “Hito, you need to write a new blog post, it’s been a week!” Ah, just like the days when we had to do journal assignments for school, what fond memories. ;) Anyway, here you go Mom, I’ll try not to neglect the blog for so long next time…but there are only so many “I’m working on gift knitting and reading books” posts that you can do without becoming tragically boring. (Not that all my posts are eloquent prose, but there’s a fine line that differentiates a mundane post from one that is capable of causing your eyes to hemorrhage.)

So what could I talk about that won’t cause your eyes to hemorrhage? How about a family evening of ruthless competition good fun?

See, last night was the weekly family get together, and we had decided to go out and do something, but were somewhat at a loss on what to do. Movies are expensive (and deciding on a movie everyone will see is nothing short of a miraculous feat), I’m really the only one who likes Indie Rock shows in small dives, and my Mom was swimming pooled out since she’s been taking my cousins a few times a week. So what do you do in Albuquerque on a Thursday night with 6 people, once swimming, movies and concerts are ruled out? Apparently, you go bowling!

how about these shoes for eye candy!? I think I’d even wear these as normal shoes!

Now I was a bit reluctant initially, since I was in a grouchy mood, and I’m as good at bowling as a fish is at flying, but I was persuaded by one phrase: “but you could have a beer at the bowling alley!” I’m not sure it’s a good reflection on me, that I was enticed to go bowling by the promise of beer, but what can I say? I’m a beer geek! ;) I did make sure that everyone agreed I was allowed to photograph them bowling, so that I could have something to show off to the Internets.

And without further ado, may I present my parents, the bowling champions!

look at that form!

Now I didn’t really know what to expect, but I figured that I might be able to school my parents, even with my meager bowling skills. Well was I ever wrong! They were awesome! I guess that just means you get better at bowling with age, ha! I was pretty proud of myself too, since I broke my all time record of 50 points (I told you I was awful!) and got a 64 and then a 73. Not quite my Dad’s high of 150 something, but not too shabby considering my bowling history. (I’ve managed to throw the ball backwards and trip and slide down the lane before…) My Mom thought I would be really good since, “you can understand the math behind it”, but I had to remind her that understanding the physics and translating that into movements are two different things. At least for my uncoordinated body they are!

I think now that we’ve gone bowling, we’ll have to go to a math competition or something next, so I can beat everyone at something! You hear that family? You may have beat me at bowling, but it’s on like Donkey Kong!

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog post.

Be sure to go check out Yarn Nerd this weekend, since I’m having a 15% off sale! It was originally supposed to last through today, but I think I’ll extend it through Sunday to help clear out some more stock for next week’s update. I’m not sure on the date yet, but it will most likely be Thursday at 10 AM MDT. I’ll post more details when I know them.

And in exciting blog news, I bought a new camera! It’s on it’s way here now (DHL may ban my IP address since I’m refreshing the tracking page so often…), and it’s a beaut. A Nikon D50 with 2 lenses that I got for quite a lovely price on eBay. I did a lot of photography when I was a teenager (that’s so strange that I can refer to my teenage years in the past tense.) and am really looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve been saving up and searching for a good deal, and when this one came along I couldn’t pass it up. Plus, I’ve been using cameras borrowed from friends and family up to this point, so it’ll be nice to have something of my own to play around with.

Alright, I gotta go, time to check the DHL page again! Have a great weekend everyone :)

PS: Have you seen what Carole has sitting in her office? OMG! I offered her free sock yarn for life if she just nipped me one copy, but she has more moral fiber than I anticipated. Anyone else care to mount an assault?

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Adam

in a nerd's life, albuquerque, family, shop and yarn nerd

Green-”ish” Thumb 03 May 07

19 Comments

So you know when you don’t talk to someone for a while, and you have a lot to catch up on, but you don’t really know where to start? That’s about how I feel, even then it’s only been a week since my last post. (Although in the Interwebs, 7 days is pretty much like an era!) It seems like my life has been nothing but school this week…and maybe it seems like that because it’s true!

I’ve just been chugging along, getting ever so close to that light at the end…even though it still feels like I’m going in circles. I did finish classes today, now I just have 3 finals to go. Sadly, the last take home final isn’t assigned until the 2nd to last day of finals week, so I still have 8 days before I’m free and clear. And no sooner will I get there than I’ll be starting preliminary thesis research for the summer, so it won’t really ever end. Such is the life of a grad student I suppose. Just one more year…one more year…

It hasn’t been all work and no play this last week though, I did get to do a lot of work with these lovelies:

I’m not exactly the biggest green thumb in the world, but I’m trying to learn. It also helps to have a Mom who’s pretty much the gardening queen of the universe. Just a little.

I am both enamored and creeped out by Lamb's Ear

I planted a container with flowers, a container with some Lamb’s Ear (I’m not sure whether to be enamoured or creeped out by this stuff) and grasses, and the coup de grace: an herb garden. There’s nothing than I love more than some fresh herbs, and now I have a little herb store in my front yard!

I have no idea what they are...but aren't they pretty?

I think all those lovely flowers should suffice for Eye Candy Friday, don’t you?

I also have a bit of fiber love to spread too. First up, check out the Tree Scum yarn that Anne spun for me! Isn’t is amazing? We’re doing a hand-spun for hand-dyed trade, and I’m super excited since I’ve never knit with handspun before. I can’t wait to dye her yarn so we can trade and I can get to the knitting! Second, it’s another FO made with Yarn Nerd yarn! Teresa knit up this gorgeous Clapotis with some of my 900 MHz Merino in the Berrylicious! colorway. Isn’t it awesome?

In other fiber news, I finished my first Broad Spiral Ribbed sock the other day, and immediately cast on for the second. I’m not sure if I could ever allow myself to fall prey to Second Sock Syndrome…I think the guilt alone would cause me severe anguish. Anyway, I love this sock and can’t wait to finish the pair.

I used a Slip Stitch Heel with Garter Edges and a Round Toe (definitely a new favorite). The Broad Spiral Rib pattern is from More Sensational Knitted Socks. This Austermann Step yarn is nice, but I’m not quite sure that the “Aloe and Jojoba enriched” claims are entirely true. Although the colors are so nice, I think I’ll forgive the marketing speak.

I’m glad the previous weekend was relaxing, because I think that this weekend will definitely have a significant portion of take home finals and math books. Do you have anything fun planned?

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Adam

in customers, finished objects, home, knitting, school, socks and unm

Is It 5 Yet? 27 Apr 07

18 Comments

Man am I ready for this week to be over! It’s been a long one, full of late hours at campus and lots of homework. I also had lots of Yarn Nerd orders to ship out, (thanks everyone, you rock!), so I often found myself awake at 1 am, packing yarn or working on math simulations. The math simulations aren’t so hot, but at least the yarn shipping is still a labor of love, so I don’t mind packing a few skeins up in the wee hours. I keep telling myself that I’ll keep more humane hours after school is over, but then I’m sure I’ll spend a few nights watching movies and knitting into the early hours too. At least I’m still young, because I think in a few years this lack of sleep thing won’t be so easy to recover from.

I have a nice relaxing weekend planned, involving dyeing up some Create Your Skein orders, knitting on my sock, and a little yard work. The yard work isn’t terribly relaxing, I have to install a new sprinkler timer and a new pond pump, but it’s a change of pace from bit error rate calculations so it should be nice. Speaking of the weekend, I woke up this morning to find my sock (which may or may not be a physical manifestation of my inner fratboy) trying to convince me that it was high time for a beer. While the sock made a convincing argument on why I deserved a nice treat after a long week, I had to tell him that it just wouldn’t happen. Just because it’s “5 o’clock somewhere” doesn’t mean I can just go hog wild, at 8 am nonetheless. I guess I’ll just have to wait until 5. Anyone else looking forward to quitting time after a long week?

The sock is progressing nicely though, and I’m hoping to sail down to the foot this weekend so I can seam it’s mouth shut…I’m getting tired of it trying to get me to shirk all my responsibilities…

Also, my Eye Candy for today is the lovely pond Irises (I think that’s right, is that what you said they were Mom?), which are beginning to bloom. I’m looking forward to the summer as my backyard is a great place to hang out and listen to the pond, while taking a nap in the grass. It’s a lot of work to get it up and going, but I’m making steady progress. Plus, I think the Irises alone make up for all the labor!

Finally, the last thing I have before sailing off into the wonderful land of miller time is a finished object that I’m very proud of. Although I didn’t knit this sock, I did dye the yarn for it, and I think it’s smoking hot. It was knit by Chawne (I don’t know if she has a blog, but her Flickr photos speak for themselves), with my 900 MHz Merino the in Tour de France colorway. This is one of my favorite colorways and I think she did real tribute to it with her simple sock design. Isn’t it sweet?

I was sad :( to find that Chawne found 4 knots in the skein when she wound it. 4 knots? Man that would make me mad if I was knitting it! Knots do occur occasionally when hand-dyeing, but I always try to limit them, and I would definitely not send out a skein with 4 knots if I knew about it. But sometimes the skeins come from the mill with knots already, and those ones are sneaky little buggers.

Anyway, the short of it is, if you buy yarn from Yarn Nerd and are less than pleased, do let me know! I want you to be extremely happy with every Yarn Nerd purchase, and I will do whatever it takes to keep you as a Yarn Nerd fan. I value my customers highly, and I would love to hear your opinions on my yarn (good and bad). Because good customer service just makes the world a better place, ya know?

Oh boy, 10 minutes until 5, I can’t wait! Have a great weekend everyone!

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Adam

in a nerd's life, customers, knitting, nerdy, school, shop, socks, weekend!, works in progress and yarn nerd

Basking in the Fluorescent Glow 20 Apr 07

9 Comments

It’s an absolutely gorgeous day outside today; the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming. So what am I doing? Getting a green tan from fluorescent lights. Such is the life of an engineer I suppose, especially when you work in laboratory buildings with no windows. The price you pay for being a math nerd…

Although I should mention that today is a good day because I’m finally moving into a permanent cubicle in my building. I just got to move into the building with my coworkers a few months ago (it’s very hard to find space in our building) after sitting in a temporary trailer for almost a year. And now my new cubicle is finally vacated and ready for me to move in. It’s actually a pretty sweet cubicle, I think even Dilbert would be slightly green with envy. It has a big wrap around desk, high walls and a sliding door! That’s right, a door! It’s so swank, I love it. And my favorite feature? The giant whiteboard! I love whiteboards so much, I’ve contemplated putting huge ones in every room of my house. You could brainstorm anywhere!

Ahem. Anyway, I’m super happy about having a permanent workspace now, because boy has it been a long wait! But you didn’t come here to hear about my obsessive love of whiteboards did you? You want all the details about the yarny goodness sitting in my home office!

How’s this teaser for you?

The Yarn Nerd shop update will be this Monday, April 23, at 8 AM MDT. There’s lots of goodness to be had, including the lovely new color pictured above. That’s all the details I’ll give here on the blog, so you’ll have to come to the Yarn Nerd site on Monday to check it all out. And if you’re a newsletter subscriber, I’ll be sending out a more detailed announcement with a few more juicy details. I can’t wait, this is going to be a good update!

I hope you have a great weekend, and that it’s filled with some fun and fiber! I’m going to do some yardwork tonight (got to get the sprinklers up and going!), lounge around tomorrow (serious knitting time baby!) and do some homework on Sunday (no fun, but Viterbi Algorithm simulations don’t write themselves). I think it should be a relaxing weekend on average, so I’m looking forward to it.

Catch you later peeps!

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Adam

in dyeing, ee, knitting, nerdy, shop, work, works in progress and yarn nerd

A Family Affair 06 Apr 07

28 Comments

Let me start out this post by saying Happy Birthday Dad! Even if you’re getting up there in years, you’re still a great Dad, and pretty hip to boot! ;)

To celebrate my Dad’s birthday, we had a family dinner last night, complete with food, fun and presents. My brothers got him a copy of the new Wii game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and everyone engaged in a spirited game of golf while I helped with the dinner.

I think the game secretly favors whoever plays Tiger ;)

For dinner we had a surf and turf meal, with shrimp and steak kabobs plus pineapple, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms. It was pretty tasty ;) Oh, and some Blackberry Apple Pie from Flying Star! (Notice that I ate it all before remembering my blogging responsibilities)

And what Church family gathering is complete without a Ting! picture?

Ting!

It was a great evening, and I also got to give my Dad his present…the finished Jaywalker socks! I had everyone fooled, thinking they were for me, which isn’t too hard a ruse to pull when you and your Dad have the same size feet. I really love these socks, and despite a few gauge problems I think I’m gonna have to knit myself a pair. The pattern just lends itself to variegated yarns so well doesn’t it? It was also nice to knit them with sportweight, since it makes them quick and sturdy. I think the recipient was quite please with them as well ;)

Pattern: Jaywalkers, by Grumperina. I used this toe up variation and winged it to account for the sport weight gauge.
Yarn: Yarn Nerd (that’s me!) 1500 MHz Sport Merino, in the Dallas Colorway.
Construction: Toe-Up using a Magic Cast On and Simple M1 toe increases. I also used a standard short row heel, and Misocrafty’s method for picking up the wraps without holes.
Notes: This was a somewhat trying pair of socks, mostly due to gauge issues. I changed the size of the pattern repeat for the zig zag part, and got gauge for the foot part, but when I went to all patterning on the leg, it no longer fit over my feet. I ripped back and increased a few stitches after the heel, finding the right combination for a good fit. But it’s a great pattern nonetheless, and I really enjoyed knitting these socks.

Oh and I should mention that I’m very close to comment #1000 on this here blog, woo-hoo! I have to honor such a wonderful milestone, so I’m sure I’ll be giving away something. I don’t really know what, either something from the stash or an IOU for my next shop update, but suffice to say if you’re the lucky commenter you’ll be compensated accordingly ;)

Have a great weekend everyone, and Happy Easter!

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Adam

in cooking, family, finished objects, gifts, knitting, socks and yarn nerd