Man vs. Yarn

I'm a dude who knits. I have things to tell you.

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WTF is Macrame?

Is it a type of knitting? No, it's knot! (Bad pun, I apologize) So basically with macrame, you knot yarn together to form the garment (or textile or whatever) instead of knitting or crochet or anything. I'm not sure what it's all about, but I aim to learn. This is Man vs. Yarn after all, and I intend to prove my dominance over yarn in every area that I can. Back to knitting, though, my Knitsmas gifts are almost all finished, I just have one hat to go. After that I'll be working on a pair of children's hats in scarlet and gray (OSU colors) for a coworker. I'm even getting paid a little, despite how often I told her she didn't need to. I went to the optometrist today and ordered and awesome new pair of glasses! I'll be picking them up next week, I can't wait to get a chance to show them off. They're going to look awesome with hats and scarves and all sorts of stuff. Hope everyone is having a great day!

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Ch-ch-chaaanges

Things have been extremely busy over the last few days. While I've found time to knit, blogging has obviously been put off for a while. I figure I should at least explain what's going on. My roommate and I are getting ready to move from our apartment to a house. We aren't moving until the first of the month, but we've been busy tracking down rental properties and whatnot for a few weeks now. Things are falling into place, but we still need to pack everything up and really get ready. Meanwhile, my girlfriend is looking for an apartment in town. I've been helping her where I can, looking at apartments, and searching classifieds on her behalf, too. There's no resolution yet, but we're going to look at some places with a lot of potential later this week. Since I'm working on boxing things up to move, it's also a really good opportunity to flex my minimalist muscles. By that, of course, I mean that I'm going to be donating, recycling, and giving away as much stuff as I can in the next couple of weeks. I only want what I need and nothing more. In thise case, obviously, knitting supplies fall under "need." I'll have more on minimalism and simpler living and maybe even knitting in the next few days.

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Discovering Spool Knitting

I had know idea what spool knitting was until a couple of days ago when I stumbled on a wikihow article. If you don't already know, spool knitting is a very simple and easy form of knitting that produces a tube of fabric. You then just have to take that tube and sew it into the shape of your desired end product. There are patterns for all sorts of awesome stuff, you just have to look around. I'll have more on this once I find myself an adequate knitting spool, hopefully by tomorrow. I'm still knitting hats and scarves for christmas, and I'm still very much enjoying it. It feels good when people are excited to have something that you made yourself. I'm a proud dude sometimes.

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NaKnitMo Update

So far so good. It's the third day on my long and arduous journey. I don't have my count with me (as I'm at work where they don't let me knit) but I'd estimate that I put another 600 stitches between a scarf and hat since the last time I updated. That means I'm sitting around or above 2000 so far. I plan to work on that number quite a bit this evening. Unrelated: it's payday, so I'm buying some yarn. And let's face it, probably either a set of double pointed needles or some circular needles. Likely both. And a new crochet hook. I have an addiction, I think. Either way, more pictures tomorrow! I'm definitely going to want to show off all my new goodies. Briefly on Knitsmas - I decided that friends and family (close ones, I'm not going crazy here) will be getting hats and scarves. It'll be exciting to knit them all up, I feel like I'm outfitting an army or something. That's it for now, back to work!

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5 Reasons Everyone Needs a Loom

I've had my set of looms for about three weeks now, and the way I figure it, I'm about two weeks behind on this post. Don't get me wrong, I love my needles, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. There's something about looms that satisfies a different section of my brain than needles. If you've never used a loom, I'm about to rock your world with five reasons to pick one up. These five reasons won't even include the fact that you can pick up a set of 4 looms (baby, child, adult, and large sizes) for under $20. That's just good luck.

Since it's NaKnitMo, I'm not going to waste any time here, and get right down to the nitty gritty. Here's your five:

1) They're a change of pace from needles. I take breaks a lot. I like to change things up to avoid boredom and monotony. Looms are exactly what I need to help satisfy that. I try to have something going on a set of needles at all times, and I like to have something on a loom, too. It makes it easy for me to switch back and forth depending on my mood.

2) Broaden your horizons. If you've never used a loom, you're in for a treat. It's a skill that you can pick up in no time, but it will still be a great addition to your skill set. To illustrate this: I'm not a great knitter. I can cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. That's about it. Anything too much trickier than that is beyond me for now. I can knit a hat on a loom, though, and that's enough to keep somebody's head warm. That feels good.

3) You can pick it up or put it down any time. My free time is about as scattered and broken as it could possibly be. I rarely have an evening that I could knit without any interruptions. More often, I'm running to the store or to get food, doing chores or any number of other fun things. Sometimes I find myself with just five or ten minutes of down time where I can grab my loom and put a couple of rows on a hat or something. It might not seem like much, but it adds up quickly. And by the same token, you can easily put your loom down in the middle of a row to go take care of something more urgent.

4) Loom knit projects are impressive. Hats are super easy. They might look difficult, but they don't have to be. There are ridiculous amounts of loom patterns available for pretty much anything you'd want to make. It's not that hard, but it'll look great.

5) Easy to learn, easy to teach. Armed with only the tiny instructional pamphlet that came with the loom, I made a hat after just two evenings. If I can learn it on my own that quickly, imagine how easy it would be to teach someone else. I'll actually get back to you on this later this month, since I plan to teach as many people as possible to knit this month.

So there you have it. Five reasons to get yourself a loom. You won't regret it. Besides, it's knitting paraphernalia, so it's hard to resist anyway. Oh, and if you were curious, I'm up to 1,607 stitches so far. I'm feeling pretty confident in breaking 30,000 this month, and hopefully I'll be able to set a personal record beyond that. We'll see!

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My first act of NaKnitMo was to finish the hat you see here. It's a gift for the guy whose head it's on. I put 30 rows on, and given that this is a 36-peg loom, that put my stitch count up to a whopping 1,080!

After that, I started another hat, this one for my little cousin. I'm using a smaller loom, just 31 pegs, but I finished 14 rows for another 434 stitches, meaning I'm up to 1,514 stitches so far. If I keep this pace I'll make the 30,000 stitch goal easily.

Is everyone else keeping up?

[skitchen-blog]

30 Days of Clicking Sticks

Today is November 1st. To a lot of people, it's just another day. To some men, it's the start of No Shave November. To me, however, it's the first day of NaKnitMo, or National Knitting Month! I found out about it on Ravelry (of course) and I couldn't resist. Basically, the premise is that through the month of November you count your stitches. The goal is 30,000 stitches, but setting or beating a personal record is probably more important (and realistic). My goal for this evening is to finish the hat I'm working on and then do another. I'll be tracking my stitches and keeping myself focused by posting totals here every day or two. Lots of people recommend a knitting journal, but I find that putting my numbers on my blog adds some reality and accountability to my effort. I'll get pictures of all my creations to date up soon, too. Now that I have a big stash of finished stuff I can actually take pictures of everything all at once, which will be a lot easier. I've been focused today on finding knitting books. I'd like them for the patterns obviously, but also to help teach me more of the basics. The trick is finding them either free or reasonably priced. I'm going to scope out some secondhand stores, used book stores, and the library in the weeks to come. Amazon is full of great books, but I'm reluctant to shell out the cash right before the holidays, no matter how good a deal I get. Are you participating in NaKnitMo this year? If you are, I'd love to hear about your experiences! Just click on "Questions and Comments" above. Please remember to include a valid email address if you need a response. Anonymous comments are also welcome.

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The Handmade Needle Experiment

I'm doing it. And nobody can stop me. Allow me to explain further- The Handmade Needle Experiment is my first crack at making a set of knitting needles. I've got the supplies I need to get them cut to size, shaped and sanded, but I still need to get some varnish. I really just hope to make a set of decent wooden needles, since I've only ever used metal ones. It'll take a while, but I think the end result is going to look really great. If I like the feel of them, I'm planning to make a nice collection of sizes, and double pointed needles, too. I've got two hats and a scarf crossed off my Knitsmas list so far, with a third hat a little more than halfway finished on the loom. I'm looking forward to broadening my horizons into more complex knitting,, but I want to make sure I have enough time to finish gifts first. Speaking of complex knitting, I'm looking for a basic fingerless glove pattern to try out. It'll probably be sloppy, but I'm only going to improve with practice. Some of the things I see on Ravely still blow my mind, so I have a lot to learn. Oh, if you've somehow stumbled onto my blog without visiting Ravelry, check it out right now. I have knitting to do anyway!

[skitchen-blog]

On Knitting and Generosity

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." -Albert Einstein

For the past few days I've been working on a project that I'm calling "Knitsmas 2010". Basically, in an effort to show off my new skills and save money, I'm knitting things as gifts for friends and family. I'll have more details (and pictures) on those projects soon. After I thought about it for a while, I realized that I really like giving things away.

Lucky for me, knitting is the perfect hobby for generous people. The way I look at it, when I make things for myself (and I do), I'm really the only person who gets any joy from that particular scarf or hat or whatever. But, if I make you a hat, not only would you be excited to have a new hat, but I'd still get to spend the time knitting and have a keen sense of accomplishment afterwards. I'm pretty sure every knitter in the world understands this, but it was fun to find out for myself. A friend of mine was visiting a few days ago, and as I was showing him my most recent projects, he said "Wow, you're going all Mama Weasley on me." And yeah, Mrs. Weasley gave away sweaters like it was her job. She had like a dozen kids for cryin' out loud. Back to the point - generosity. It feels good to give.

I also gave some thought to the "give a man a fish" proverb. In that line of reasoning, I realized how great it would be to teach people to knit. Since I'm not exactly the go-to guy as far as knitting technique goes, I don't feel justified holding a class or anything. What I think I'll do is make some basic tutorial videos for anyone who visits and might want to pick up a pair of sticks. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.

So, fellow knitsmen and knitswomen, give. Give until everyone you know is covered head to toe in big, wooly yarn. That's what I'm doing.

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Meet Milton Bradley. As you can see, he's interested in knitting too.

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Knit like a Man: Big Needles and Bulky Yarn

"Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." - President Theodore Roosevelt If there's one thing television has taught me about knitting, it's that little old ladies like little old knitting. They're always pictured sitting with fine yarns and thin needles. Sure, you can make all sorts of amazing things with those little sticks, but be prepared to invest a lot of time. I knit, but not like that. At least not yet, anyway. The smallest pair of needles that I own are US 8s and the largest are 13s. In the couple of weeks that I've been knitting, I've gotten more use out of those big 13s than any of my other needles combined. Here's why: 1) Big sticks mean big progress. When you've got larger needles (and appropriately sized yarn, of course) you can fly through projects incredibly quickly. For instance, I'm making a fairly wide scarf right now with only 10 stitches per row. 2) Big hands, big needles. I've got man hands, so the wider needles are more comfortable for me to hold. It seems like with smaller needles I end up "pinching" the needle instead of holding like I should. Not only does that make me look like a dummy, but it cramps my hands. Eff that. If you have big hands, do yourself a favor and try larger needles. 3) Fat yarn is like cruise control for knitting. The wider the yarn, the easier it is to see where you need to put your needle. In my experience, bulky yarn is a lot more forgiving when it comes to tension. I suspect that's because it doesn't wrap as tightly around the needle, but don't hold me to that logic. As an added bonus, the bulky yarn just seems to "glide" on the needles. It's a smooth experience from start to finish, and I'm always excited to work on bulky projects. I'll be back soon with more details about what projects I'm working on, what's coming up, and hopefully plenty of interesting knitting stuff. Stay tuned.

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New format woo

Knitting woo!

Now I can blog about something that I want to talk about anyway!

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Bachelor Necessity #1: The Dust Buster

Yeah, I said it. The dust buster. It's a classic cleaning tool that gets overlooked a lot these days. Let me explain why your apartment could use one of these bad boys. - Dust busters almost look like the TF2 Scout's scattergun. Depending on what model you go for, it might even look cooler. Yeah, I said it. You'll also notice a significant reduction in recoil when switching from the scattergun to the dust buster. - They're miniature vacuum cleaners. Seriously, it's way more convenient for me to grab the minivac off it's dock in the kitchen than it is to lug out the upright vacuum. The power is diminished when compared to an upright obviously, but it's more than adequate in most cases. (Relevent to this point - last night I knocked over an ashtray. Cleaning up that mess took me no more than 45 seconds with the minivac. I would have spent more time than that just getting our standard vacuum plugged in.) - They're cheap as hell. There are dozens of models, colors, and designs to choose from, and they're all fairly inexpensive. When you consider the time saved vs. dollars spent ratio, it's a worthwhile investment. I use mine all the time. - A quick once-over with a dust buster makes any room look better. If you do manage to convince a lady to stop by, she'd appreciate it if you swept up the place. Be presentable, guys. They're pretty handy. Mine has certainly made our apartment look better. If you DO buy a dustbuster, submit photos of you brandishing it menacingly! Submit stuff by clicking up top. I'm sure you can find it.

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Freedom in 846 Days - A Journey

December 21, 2012 is a monumental day. Tons of people believe the world is going to end on that date. Some business about the Mayan calendar. Other than a catastrophic apocolypse going on that day, it happens to be my 24th birthday. Since I couldn't dream of a more dramatic date to set a deadline, this is the one that I have chosen. By December 21, 2012, I will be successfully self-employed, making enough money to cover all of my living expenses without the need for a "real job." Sure, it's an ambitious goal, and lots of people share my dream. The deadline is set far enough in the future that I won't be discouraged when my efforts don't pay off immediately, but close enough that there's pressure to keep me on task. I'll try my best to make a monthly update type post both as a way to let readers (that's you) know how I'm coming along, and as a way to motivate myself. This is a huge deal for me. I've never set a goal quite this... intimidating. It's going to be a lot of hard work, late hours, and research. I can't wait!

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Simple Bliss, an Accidental Discovery

There's no greater satisfaction in life than accomplishing something. When the task is finished, you take a step back to admire your work. That feeling of "hell yeah I did this" is exactly the feeling that I want to talk about. My road to simplicity began in my bedroom. Just a couple of months ago, that room typified the stereotpyical "bachelor experience." Clothes thrown everywhere, the bed in disarray, dresser and desk overflowing with what can only be described as junk. So I got rid of it. Now the floor is actually visible, the bed is made, the few clothes I kept are in their place. Neither the desk nor dresser retained their place in my simplified room - I just didn't have the need for them. Now when I walk into my room, I feel a sense of pride, accomplishment, and comfort that I never felt when things were messy. That's the feeling. I strive for that feeling now. Since I simplified my room, I've done the same to the kitchen and living room. Our bathroom is small enough that the only organization it really needed was in sorting through my toiletries. After each room was complete, though, I got to sit back and appreciate it. Even now that everything looks how it should (more or less, anyway. simplifying is a process) I'll still catch myself thinking "this room feels good." The work is done, but the bliss remains. It doesn't take much work to feel that bliss, and there's nothing more satisfying. That's simple living at its finest. Go do something. Make a difference. Find your bliss.

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If you can't build a hut, build a lean-to.

Swahili Proverb

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Quit While The Quittin's Good

I started smoking when I was 18 and away at college. It was a habit that stuck with me for 3 years. I've only recently quit, and though I'm technically in danger of a relapse, I have absolutely no desire to smoke at all. Here are the most important pieces of advice that I could give to someone who is trying to quit: 1) Quit when you're out. If you decide to quit halfway through a pack, throw them out. Having cigarettes around is a sure-fire way to relapse. It's easier to talk yourself out of it if you actually have to go out and buy them. 2) Quit at night. Smoke that last cig an hour or two before you go to bed. Make sure to get a full 8 hours of rest that night, too. This way, you'll wake up the next morning and you'll have 9 or 10 hours of no-smoking under your belt without any real effort. 3) Hide the paraphernalia. Put away your lighters, ashtrays, rolling papers, pipes, and anything else that's used for smoking. This stuff will haunt you if it's left lying around. Once it's all out of sight, take a look around and see how much nicer things look when they're gone. 4) Banish the smell. Smoke lingers heavily, and that smell will make you want to rush out and buy a pack. Wash or Febreze anything you can smell smoke on. This includes your fingers. After that last cigarette, wash your damn hands thoroughly. Brush your teeth. Take in that clean feeling, and mentally connect it to not smoking. 5) Don't read quitting advice for at least the first week that you're quitting. Check stuff out before you quit, but once you're on track, revisiting anything that talks about smoking is going to invite temptation. 6) Accept that you'll be an asshole for a few days. I yelled at everyone on my second day without smoking. I was not a charming person to be around. The good news is, that feeling passed. If you get to this point and you NEED to be less furious, bum a single cigarette from someone. Smoke half, then stop. It'll stem the rage without screwing up your progress. NOTE: this is your one and only chance at a "freebie." DO NOT smoke after this point, or you'll have to start over and deal with being an asshole TWICE. And nobody wants that. In the end, everyone finds their own way to quit. I can only hope that this advice helps make things easier for someone else.