Tag Archive for ‘knits in progress’ at adam knits!

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Is It 5 Yet? 27 Apr 07

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 customers, grad school, knitting, nerdy, shop, socks, weekend! and yarn nerd

In Which I Become An ADD Knitter 21 Apr 07

18 Comments

You know, I used to be really good about only having one project on the needles. But lately that seems to have gone completely out the window. I actually have 2 projects that have been sitting for over a month, 2 that have been on my needles for at least a week or two, and I just cast on for another pair of socks today! What’s happening to me?! What’s next, buying yarn with no project in mind? Oh wait, I’ve already broken that rule a few times.

I guess I’ll just chalk it up to anticipation for school to end, and my short attention span these days. I’m juggling so many balls it seems that I can’t spend a prolonged amount of time with anything, so I guess that has migrated to my knitting habits too. Although, one positive note is that it gives me lots of knitting content to show off now!

So what do I have on the needles anyway? Let’s see…

Garden Shawl (for my Mom) → I really need to pick this up again (sorry Mom!), but it definitely won’t happen until the semester is over. When it takes 30+ minutes to do a round, it’s difficult to find time to get much done on it.
Emma’s Sweater → I’m not entirely sure this one is even going to fit, and seeing as it’s quite warm these days, I think this might be destined for the frog pond until Fall.
Topi (for my brother Clay) → This one is a fairly quick knit, but it seems to have not gone right a few times. I’m knitting it out of a skein of Yarn Nerd 2400 MHz that I saved for my brother a while ago, and I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to make it sturdy and still have enough yarn. After a few false starts, I ended up double stranding the top, and single stranding the rest. I was almost all the way done when I realized that I’d made the bill way too big, it looked like a duck bill! (Why is it that it’s never possible to fess up to these things until it’s too late?) So now I’m almost done, I just have to wrap the bill, stick in the insert and sew it shut.

Medallion Mitts → I needed to use up the rest of the yarn from my Dad’s Jaywalkers, so I cast on for these fingerless mitts, from my Knitting with Balls book a few weeks ago. I’m close to finishing the first one, but still seem unable to do so…they would be nice though, since my new cubicle is a bit on the chilly side.

Broad Spiral Rib Socks → This is a new knit (cast on today!), and I’m already in love. I happened to be browsing a bookstore yesterday when I noticed that they had a copy of More Sensational Knitted Socks. Needless to say I bought that sucker, and spent the evening browsing through it, and it’s totally awesome. There’s both toe-up and top-down instructions for all the socks, how cool is that? And lots more discussion on different heel and toe techniques, as well as lots of different cast ons and bind offs that can change your sock’s look. Charlene Schurch? I love you!

could these socks BE anymore sensational?

Anyway, I was smitten with the Broad Spiral Rib socks, so I cast on first this morning. I don’t have a picture of the pattern, so you’ll just have to wait until I get there ;) The yarn is some Austermann Step that I got in Chicago a while ago, in turquoise, gray and black. Kind of last month’s Project Spectrum colors, but let’s be honest…I’m much more of a greys/blacks guy than a pink/yellow/green guy. (Although, if you want some PS goodies, check out the Yarn Nerd update on Monday!) At this point I’m definitely smitten with the sock, but looking at the above list we’ll see how long that lasts.

Do you think a doctor will prescribe ritalin for knitting ADD? Yeah, I figured not ;)

So there’s your knitting update, now onto Saturday Sky! Today’s lovely sky photo features some nice sky, clouds and…a green toilet? Yup, coming to you from the metropolis of Socorro, NM, here’s the crazy antics that those nerdy engineers are up to down at New Mexico Tech.

One of my former roommates took this and sent it to me, and I just about died laughing. Some students managed to get a green toilet up on top of the library clock tower, which is actually pretty darn high. So high in fact, the firetruck ladder won’t even get close to it, so the poor school has no idea how to get it down! Ha! How good is that? We engineers can be pretty clever!

So why is the toilet green? You really don’t want to know. Green is a very mythical color down at NMT, involving tales of green sheep and drunk miners. I remember many a St. Patrick’s day that involved naked green people streaking across campus!

The things you do when you attend a school with a 7:1 guy to girl ratio I guess.

Published

Adam

in gifts, grad school, knitting, nerdy, nmt, shawls and socks

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!

Published

Adam

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

Back to Normal (Is That Possible?) 03 Apr 07

13 Comments

Yup, things are returning to the grind for me; no more sickness (there’s still plenty of phlegm!), homework is accumulating and work marches onward. It seems that the month of March was one of the most hectic I’ve had in a while, and I can’t really identify why. The wedding was certainly a huge part of that, plus I had midterms and lots of other things going on. And you know what I realized on the last day of March? That I hadn’t found time to dye yarn in an entire month! A month people! Well I remedied that by pulling out the stock solutions and dyeing up a custom order for my friend JP.

I think the dyeing, coupled with lots of knitting, was the perfect weekend prescription to feel better. Not to mention catching up on the last 6 BSG episodes. (OH MY GOSH! The season finale was so phenomenal! Have you seen it yet Monica?) By Sunday I was feeling perky, because it was the grand opening of the new Sagebrush Community Church building. My Dad serves as the Administrative Pastor there, and it was so exciting to see a church that has been meeting in a middle school for the last 7 years finally have their own building to meet in. Then I rounded off the weekend by hanging out with my brother at his apartment and relaxing in the hot tub. A very nice weekend if I say so myself.

And look, I’m almost done with my Jaywalkers! Dallas can be seen here trying to eat them, since he has a total sock fetish. I’m always finding him in the hamper pulling out my socks and chewing holes in them. Needless to say, the handknit socks are always kept out of his reach!

kronsche!!!

please excuse the hairy legs.

Gauge issues aside, I’ve really enjoyed knitting these socks, and I think the Jaywalker pattern complements hand-dyed yarn very nicely. They’re the loosest pair I’ve ever made, but it makes them great socks for lounging around the house in. Warm, comfy and stylish, what more could you want? ;) Plus, with my 1500 MHz Sport Merino, they’re super fast to knit (when you’re not frogging them all the time!), and are very sturdy.

Oh crap, I have class now! Peace in the streets!

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Adam

in dallas, dyeing, family, grad school, knitting, socks and yarn nerd

Cough, Ouch! 30 Mar 07

14 Comments

I guess it’s going around or something. First Carole’s daughter, then Scout, and now me! I’ve had a sore throat most of the week, but it seemed to be getting better, until it got the best of me this morning. I woke up and knew that I wouldn’t be going to work today. I think it might have been the hacking cough coupled with sharp pain that tipped me off.

So anyway, I now join the ranks of the sick, and will be hanging out at home for most of the day. I suppose it’s not all bad, since now I can catch up on BSG and get some knitting done. :) I’m very anxious to finish this sock, mostly since I’ve ripped it out about 5 times now. Gauge has definitely conspired against me for this sock, but I finally have beaten it, and will soon finish a lovely Jaywalker, knit toe-up with a short row heel in my 1500 MHz Sport Sock Merino. It’s quite nice, and I’m looking forward to knitting the other sock, now that I’ve figured out all the weird gauge issues. (This of course assumes my feet are somewhat the same size. If this assumption is wrong, then I’m screwed.)

I also have a confession to make. I’m a bad father. Emma’s birthday was last week (the 22nd), and I completely spaced it until this week. I know some of you might think it’s a bit odd, but I felt bad that I didn’t get a cake or anything! When I’m going to dog obedience class every week I always remember, since we are allowed to bring cakes and treats for our dog’s birthdays, but my schedule this semester has prevented me from being a regular. I suppose not all is lost, since Emma doesn’t know it was her birthday, so if I get the cake and celebrate a bit later, she won’t mind ;)

So Happy Birthday Emma! You’re 14 in dog years now! And just as ornery as a human teenager! ;)

And speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday Scout! Hope you feel better too, cause sickness is the suck.

I’m off to drink some more water, blow my nose, pop some pills and cozy up to a dog or two. This would be the perfect day if all the sickness was gone!

Published

Adam

in emma, frogged, knitting, schnauzers, socks, why me? and yarn nerd