Tag Archive for ‘home improvement 101’ at adam knits!

Tag Archive for 'home improvement 101'

Making a List 01 Sep 08

Anyone still out there? I sure hope so! If I keep going at this rate, I’ll be slipping to monthly updates before long. Sigh. Thanks for sticking in there, hopefully I’ll be more talkative soon!

I do have a few finished objects to share, both knitting related, and otherwise. First up are some single socks, knit up in some of my hand-dyed yarn. Whenever I offer a new base yarn, I always save a skein for myself to use for swatching and test knitting. I swatched both of these yarns ages ago, but am finally getting around to actually knitting them.

This sock is knit with a merino/bamboo/nylon base yarn, which is pretty awesome in my opinion. I just love how soft it is! The pattern is the Gentleman’s Half Hose in Ringwood Pattern, from Vintage Knitted Socks (the official compendium of man approved socks), which really shows off the colorway well.

The next lonely sock is knit in my sport weight merino base, and is just a simple Waffle Stitch pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

Both socks are knit toe-up, with short row heels and cuff ribbing until I could no longer stand it. The original plan was to exhaust each 1/2 skein, but for both socks I got a bit tired of the ribbing after a while. Now I just have to get around to knitting their mates ;)

As summer wanes, I’ve also turned my attention to winter knitting projects. I have 2 cones of Valley Yarns English Tweed (bought in a WEBS closeout) which have been calling to me lately. So I skeined them up and gave them a good warm soapy bath to clean out the spinning oil.

I’ve finished swatching and am thinking that the light color will look quite nice as a Cobblestone. I may be the last person on earth to knit one, but I’m ok with being late to the party.

The other finished object is a house project, and I’m quite proud of this one. I’ve been wanting a chalkboard for the kitchen, but decent ones are quite pricey, so I figured I could come up with a DIY solution. So after a bit of Google searching, and a trip to Lowe’s and Hobby Lobby, I came up with this.

Pretty sweet huh? Want to know the best part? It’s magnetic!

I simply painted a piece of sheet metal with chalkboard paint (best. invention. ever.) and had it mounted in a cheap-o premade frame. The chalkboard paint is very cool, and it works way better than I expected. The board just requires a wipe down with a damp paper towel, and it’s ready to go. I had thought about using magnetic primer, but read that it was a bit hard to work with. Then I realized, that a piece of sheet metal would be just the trick.

All in all, the project cost me about $60, compared with about $150 - 200 for a decent board in a similar size from most places I looked. It’s the perfect project for my compulsive side, since now I can make meal plans with my weekly produce share and cross off my veggies as I use them up. It’s also a handy place to write down daily chores.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cross “Write a Blog Post” off the chores list. ;)

Published

Adam

in finished objects, home improvement 101, knitting, single socks, socks and sweaters

Equation Overdrive 10 Aug 08

22 Comments

Ready for your randomly scheduled update folks? As usual, things don’t seem to let up for me, but I’m still hanging in there. I’m slated to graduate this Fall, which means my schedule will only intensify as I make the big push towards defending my thesis. I still have a lot of work to do, but I’m making good progress and am definitely looking forward to December.

As I still have to sleep at some point, something had to give, which unfortunately turns out to be my yarn dyeing hijinks. Most of my weekends have been devoted to studying lately, which leaves very little time to play in the Yarn Nerd Shedquarters. I’m not putting a total halt on dyeing, but I also have to be realistic of my current schedule. Plus, the harder I work on my thesis, the sooner I can finish and return to the yarn!

Besides slaving away on the application of turbo processing techniques to interference suppression in direct-sequence spread spectrum communications (did you get all that? there’ll be quiz later), I’ve been making the most of the summer with Dallas and Emma. They certainly don’t mind running around in the park every evening.

I’m also working hard on my new project, which is to create the ultimate hipster retro living room. So far things are going well. I’m coordinating everything around these awesome Joel Dewberry fabrics.

These fabrics are already off to the upholsterer, where they will be turned into new cushions for my rattan furniture set. I also sprang for some new foam, since the current cushions are about 50 years old, and are not exactly comfortable to sit on. The other comforts in my hipster living room include a sweet new couch, and a nice rug that I scored at Target, after giving up all hope of finding a non-hideous rug that didn’t cost a small fortune. I particularly love the couch, which has turned out to be a very luxurious knitting spot.

I also picked up a cool papasan chair, in an orange and brown paisley, but I haven’t had the opportunity to actually sit in it yet. It seems that someone else has claimed it for herself. I suppose I should have known, considering her affinity for large round chairs. I’d kick her out, but the couch is pretty comfy, and I just can’t resist this pitiful look. Can you blame me?

Once the new cushions are done, I’ll be ready to put the finishing touches on the living room. I will definitely paint, but I’m thinking that may have to wait until after I finish my thesis. Just another thing to add to my long list of household improvements. I don’t seem to be making much progress on that list, but I suppose at this point, thesis progress is more important than painting progress. I just have to remind myself that December is right around the corner, and take things one equation at a time.

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Adam

in a nerd's life, dallas, ee, emma, home improvement 101, nerdy, school and yarn nerd

The Ambitions of Youth 23 Jul 08

16 Comments

Monsoon season is in full swing here in New Mexico, and there’s nothing like street watching on a rainy afternoon.

Dallas loves to look outside while it’s raining, except when there’s lightning. It just takes one flash for him to be on my bed, quivering behind some pillows. My new bed isn’t tall enough for him to hide under, although it took him a few head bonks to figure that out. Emma prefers a more subtle method of avoiding lightning strikes. Her philosophy is, “if I can’t see it, then it doesn’t exist”. She simply curls up in her bean bag with her back to the window and gives Dallas strange looks when he runs out the room.

Who needs TV when you have afternoon dog antics to watch?

In the free time arena, it seems that home projects are the new knitting. I have a few new projects to show off, and many more in the works. One I’m especially proud of is my new pot rack.

I’m now convinced that the pot rack is one of the best inventions in recent history (you know, assuming they weren’t invented in medieval times or anything). Not only does it look slick, it’s also extremely functional. My kitchen isn’t gargantuan, so I’ll take all the cabinet space I can get.

And a special thanks goes out to my Dad, who really did all the work to hang the rack. It turned out to be a bit more work than planned, as ceiling is actually mounted on 12″ spaced furring strips, unbeknownst to us. A number of drill holes later, we were finally able to locate the furring strips. Thank goodness for spackle and paint ;)

Another one of my recent decorating endeavors involved setting up a shrine to the dogs in the hallway. Because nothing impresses the ladies more than a guy who has pictures of his dogs everywhere. Right? (I really hope so, otherwise I might be on the road to becoming the male equivalent of a crazy cat lady.)

In addition to a multi-paned frame with lots of dog pictures, I also hung up one of my oldest knitting projects. I bet most of you have never seen this, since it was completed early on in my knitting career. In fact, it was my 3rd knitting project ever.

I was quite ambitious when I began knitting, and I came across a fun pattern book in a craft store, featuring this kitschy blanket with intarsia dog motifs. I thought it would be quite fun to make (little did I know how tedious intarsia can be at times), so I broke the bank for a bunch of Mission Falls 1824 Wool and cast on.

It took me a bit of time, especially to figure out how to do the colorwork, but I soldiered on and completed the blanket. I even lined the back with fleece to give it that extra special touch. Being that it was a small blanket, I knew it would probably end up as wall art, and it has finally lived up to that destiny. I do think it looks pretty handsome hanging up in the hallway, and it’s a great step in my quest to have wool everywhere possible in my house.

because everyone needs a hand-knit intarsia wall hanging

Another way I’m working towards domesticity through sheep is by knitting a runner for my new dresser. It’s deliciously textured, especially since I’m using hand-dyed and hand-spun yarn. There’s really no better knitting experience than using yarn that you dyed and spun yourself. Especially when the result is this lovely.

Plus, the good news is that since it’s 249 stitches wide, I have a little longer to spend with this nubbly beauty. In fact, I think I might go knit a row now.

Published

Adam

in dallas, emma, garter stitch, hand spun, home improvement 101, home ownership, knitting and schnauzers