Tag Archive for ‘yay bloggers!’ at adam knits!

Tag Archive for 'yay bloggers!'

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. ;)

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Adam

in biking, dyeing, hand spun, knitting, swag, the stash and yarn nerd

Fiber Heaven 09 Oct 07

20 Comments

So I went to the Taos Wool Festival this past weekend, and it was heaven. I’ve never been to a fiber festival before, and wow was I missing out! I drove up with a friend, and we had a great day involving fiber, food and a winery detour on the way home. There was so much delicious yarn and fiber, it was nearly impossible to make a choice on what to buy. In the end I did make a choice, and ended up picking the following:

A lovely Maple Spindle, which has already been put to good use.
A skein of brown Alpaca for only $10!
A skein of white Cormo wool for dyeing fun. (this is a new breed of sheep and I must say it’s fantastic. let’s just say that it might be a future addition to Yarn Nerd’s bases…)
A big skein of gray Border Leicester, also for dyeing fun.
A skein of 80% Llama/20% Soysilk, which is pretty much as soft as it comes, and it’s tweedy!

I think I did pretty well, although my checkbook might not agree. I did resist bringing this guy home though…

Somehow I don’t think that the city of Albuquerque, and Dallas and Emma would have agreed with that decision ;)

I also got to meet up with Amber, who was in town from Virginia visiting family, for a bit of lunch and fiber shopping. Her Grandma came with her and was quite the sport while we caressed yarn and talked knitting. It was good to meet you Amber, and if you ever decide to move back to New Mexico we can hang out! Hint hint. ;)

Amidst all the new stash, I’ve also been working on depleting some of the stuff I have already. It’s Fall TV Season, which means lots of evenings hanging out in the living room, working away like a sweatshop knitter. Gotta get those Christmas Knits done! Some of the big things I’m working on include my Seamless Hybrid (almost done with the body, and I’m working on a sleeve in the photo) and my Mom’s Garden Shawl (that’s right Mom, I’m knitting on the shawl!).

It’s also Socktoberfest, which means I have a few pairs in the works. I just finished this sock, which Emma is so delighted to model for you. It’s a Gentleman’s Fancy Sock (from Knitting Vintage Socks), knit in one of my favorite sock yarns, Austermann Step. And as much as I love it, I’m going to be strong and put it in the Christmas pile. I just have to remind myself that other people need warm handknit socks too. ;)

I’m also working on a Thelonious sock in the Pumpkin yarn from the last post, for a swap that I’m doing. It’s quite tasty. The socks are the perfect bus knitting project, since the sweater and the shawl are a bit much to carry in my bike bags.

Oh, and I finished a hat a bit ago, for a friend’s birthday, as shown by my lovely model. (Don’t you just love dogs in knits? I do!)

It’s the Foliage pattern from Knitty, knit up in 3/4 of a skein of Manos 100% Wool. It’s fast and it looks great, so it’s a really good gift knit. Or you can use it for making your dogs look dorky… ;)

Well it’s bedtime, so I better shove off, but I thought I’d pop in to say that I am alive, and that I’m keeping quite busy these days. It must be this cold snap that’s making me all knit crazy…nothing like the feel of wool through your hands when it dips to 50 degrees outside.

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Adam

in finished objects, gifts, hats, knitting, socks, socktoberfest, swag, the stash, weekend! and works in progress

Subtle Hints 10 Sep 07

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It seems like so many knit bloggers these days are turning their thoughts to Fall, with visions of pumpkins, sweaters and delicious ales, and I was starting to feel a tad bit jealous. It’s still been pretty darn warm here in New Mexico, but I think that tide is beginning to change. Although it’s not fully here, there are small signs of Fall here and there, if you know what to look for. Subtle hints such as the return of the comforter to the bed, a nippy morning ride to work, and the beginning of the State Fair are making me dizzy with anticipation. So Fall? Hurry up, cause I’m ready. Case in point:

Progress is now cruising along on my Seamles Hybrid, as I’m about halfway to working the yoke. Even though it’s a forest of stockinette, I’ve added a bit of spice with some green stripes (I was so struck by the hem that I just had to include the green in the body). Also, in a fit of bravado, I decided that this was the project that I was going to use to hunker down and learn continental knitting. (That’s holding the yarn in your left hand for my non-knitting friends.) It was a bit of a gutsy move, especially considering the problems I’ve already had with gauge on this sweater, but it seems to have paid off. It was a lot easier to learn than I thought (although I did have some practice with the We Call Them Pirates Hat a month or so ago), and my gauge is the same. And the main reason for this move? Well, let’s just say I’m a crazy speed demon now. Sometimes I come close to doubling my English Knitting speed, which makes for a quick sweater.

Here’s another sign of Fall that I received today. Although soap is a good thing to use year round, this stuff makes me long for the days of cold tile floors and hot showers. I acquired it through the witty and talented Megan, in a soap and yarn swap. It’s pretty much a win-win: Megan gets some cool Yarn Nerd yarn (which she made into an amazing sock), and I get to smell amazing and be squeaky clean. Pretty good deal if you ask me. So thanks Megan, you’ve made this Nerd very happy!

Now you’ll have to excuse me, I’m going to go take a hot shower before bedtime. ;)

Published

Adam

in continental, friends, knitting, sweaters, techniques and works in progress

Caffeination Nation 06 Aug 07

23 Comments

Ah, nothing like a good vacation! Especially when it’s filled with lots of relaxation, friends, knitting and tasty coffee. I may not even come back. Anyone know of any engineering jobs up here? ;) (Don’t worry Mom, I’ll come back for Emma and Dallas!)

The wedding was really beautiful, as it was right outside near the shore of the Puget Sound. Nothing like a beautiful lodge, a dynamite view and a nice sea breeze for a great wedding. Oh, and waking up to this nearby view helps too. ;)

The flowers at the wedding lodge didn’t hurt either.

I’m also getting quite my caffeine fill these days too. Nothing like some perfectly extracted espresso and smooth microfoamed milk to start out the morning with. Or an hour after morning. Or an hour before lunch. Or after lunch. Or…ok, I think you get the picture.

Then I met up with Georgia and Sarah for an afternoon yarn crawl. Those gals sure know how to get a guy to buy lots of yarn! They were both super fun, and I’m so glad to finally meet them! Sarah took a picture of Georgia and I, and it wasn’t until later I realized that we never got a picture of her! Sorry Sarah!

We hit up both Hilltop Yarns (the clerk had a blog and was super nice, but I don’t remember her blog name! trash!) and Fiber Gallery (where we saw Jessica who works there!) I’ve never met anyone I’ve only known online before, so 2 people in one day was lots of fun! Thanks so much to both Georgia and Sarah, I had a really awesome time, and got some awesome yarns.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, hanging out with my awesome friend Holly and just relaxing. Check out the view from her apartment’s roof!