garter st therapy

Posted on February 10, 2008 by barefootrooster

Sometimes you just need it. I cast on for this bib on Friday night, mostly because there was a chance we’d be going to the movies, and I wanted something that I could knit in the dark. I just kept working on it, enjoying and truly needing the soothing powers of garter stitch to help me take a deep breath and continue with my weekend.

It’s working. I’ve already cast on for a second bib. (These projects also have the added benefit of requiring a button, meaning I get to visit my LYS soon.)

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. I celebrated with delicious meals and board games among friends, walks along the river and in the foothills with the dog, and many long overdue phone calls with those dearest to me.

The sun is shining brightly this morning– spring is slowly springing here. Hope you get some sunshine today too.

birthday sky.

Posted on February 8, 2008 by barefootrooster

Wow. I didn’t even see all those birds perched on the top branches of that tree in my neighbor’s yard. Clearly the universe knows that today is my birthday — what a beautiful way to begin the day!

No big plans over here: took the day off from work, crawled back into bed to lounge with the dog, having lunch and dinner with friends, hoping to get a nice run in this afternoon…taking a rooster day.

I do have some knitting progress to share with you:

It is official: I am a convert to the magic loop method. These socks are flying — and using a long circular means I am not searching under the couch for the needle I dropped. I also really like the way this pattern is working up. These are Schrodinger’s Twisted Tweed Socks, and I’m using Trekking XXL, the recommended yarn, which I happened to have. I took this sock with my yesterday to my Democratic Party Ward Meeting to elect delegates to the pre-primary convention, which was fascinating. The protocol requires that you have to sit for 30 minutes after the meeting has been formally opened so that each ward can confirm the voting credentials of the folks who show up. I managed to finish turning the heel, all while participating in the democratic (and Democratic) process. This pattern has a short row heel, and I think I need some advice. Take a look at my first attempt:

I am practically positive that I did the wraps correctly, and it looked very pretty before I put this on to take a look, and then these holes became evident. The pattern said that it didn’t matter how I picked up the wraps, so long as I was consistent. Maybe I should twist them? Advice on how to do this better on the next pair would be much appreciated. In the meantime, I am thinking that I can do some cheating on the inside at the end of this sock to sew up these gaps. I am approaching these as a “learning” pair of socks!

snow + handspun = mittens.

Posted on February 5, 2008 by barefootrooster

I left work yesterday afternoon and arrived home just in time to gaze out my windows and enjoy this:

I did what anyone in this situation would have done: I baked!

This is the olive oil orange cake from Apples for Jam, with pine nuts sprinkled on top. I listened to loud old music, watched the snow fall, and whipped my egg whites by hand. Meanwhile, Boh sat on the couch, waiting for his close up. This looks kind of like one of those posed middle school portraits to me. What do you think?

With the aroma of homemade cake wafting through my tiny house, I sat down and cast on a pair of Warmest Mittens, from Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival. After a few strikes trying to find the perfect pattern for the gorgeous homespun I received from Ami of SourCherries in the fingerless mitts swap, I settled on these.

This morning, I awoke to this:

I continued working on my mittens, and finished just in time to wear them to work. On my lunch/voting break, I managed to snap some silly pictures of this spontaneous FO, utilizing the timer on my camera.

Happy Super Tuesday!

scrap yarn: brilliant concept.

Posted on February 4, 2008 by barefootrooster

I am excited about my Brompton cardigan — a bit nervous, as this is the first time I have tried to fit something to myself — but excited all the same. The fit in the chest seems perfect, but the armholes seemed a bit loose on me. The prospect of ripping back a few rows to take out the raglan increases in the arms seemed less than enjoyable, so I decided to divide and try it on again to get a better sense for how it will lay.

This picture made me feel a bit better. It may be a tad loose, but I want the fit to be similar to Alice’s, with some positive ease so that it is comfy and can be worn over layers. The last 10 rows took forever, but those are also the longest rows, so I think the next bit will be bit quicker (in my head, at least!). Have I mentioned (today) that I love Rowan Felted Tweed? It is gorgeous. I love the bits of orangey brown — they offset the blue-green color perfectly.

As the theme of the day is scrap yarn, I didn’t stop there.

[Note to self: Shiny-ish yarn, unfinished, cropped sweater, arms length away — these do not make for flattering photographs.]

I present Rusted Root! I began this in September, and have been working on it whenever I am on an airplane. I may have to break that rule, as I just need to knit another 6 or so inches and then knit the ribbing on the bottom, neckline and sleeves. I switched from some hot pink plastic Susan Bates needles to my KnitPicks Harmony Options, and got this project all settled in a very pretty knitting bag. It would be great to wear this in a few weeks when spring arrives…

As I write this, there is a mixture of snow and freezing rain falling. Snow day?

FO: gathered scarf.

Posted on February 3, 2008 by barefootrooster

Gathered Scarf (Ravelry link)

US 7 and 4 needles

Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino, 3 skeins

I LOVE this: not a fast knit, due to all the needle changing every 5 rows, but well worth it.

This is not quite as shiny as it looks in these pictures; it is more that the yarn has a soft halo and a nice amount of depth to it. I was going to take a picture of it rolled up or in a pile, but I am not ready to take it off yet. The scarf is 7 or so feet long, and I anticipate that a bit of wear will stretch it out a bit, meaning I will be able to wrap this around my neck multiple times — an indication that this will get a lot of wear. I love feeling cozy.

We had another incredible sunrise today. I hope you aren’t getting sick of my sunrise pictures. I woke up just before my alarm, took the dog outside and began making my morning coffee. I almost dropped my mug when I glanced out my kitchen window:

I couldn’t pick just one to share. Enjoy your Sunday!

saturday.

Posted on February 2, 2008 by barefootrooster

This afternoon I opened up doors and windows and let the brisk air and sunshine sweep through the house. Boh and I took a run through the bosque, and I gave my home a thorough cleaning. A dear friend came over for dinner. No knitting progress to post, but I did want to share a few photos of my day.

The best I could get without a tripod — this is the moon in the sky before the sun rose this morning.

That was the beginning of my day. Here’s how it concluded:

boy. i think.

Posted on February 1, 2008 by barefootrooster

I finished my second Boy Hat (you know, the one I thought might have to be a girl hat), and I am pretty sure this will work. It is just under 8 inches long (thus, a bit long on me), and the boy in question does not have big hair like I do. The hat is blocking flat right now, rather than in a stretched condition, because I don’t want the ribbing to stretch out too much. I did give it a few friendly tugs for length. Blocking is still a complete (and magical) mystery to me. Fingers crossed!

As you can see here, I did run out of wool. My photography skills leave something to be desired here; the color I used for the very top is actually a slightly lighter shade of green — something akin to a celery heather, if you will. I am satisfied with how this turned out, though after I bound off, I realized that the bulk of the hat is superwash, and that teensy circle up top is not. No matter: the boy who will be wearing this will likely never wash it…

I know there’s been a lot of dog here lately, but I can’t help it. He’s so damn cute. Exhibit A:

On an unrelated point, I’m feeling pretty good about myself today because I cleaned out (read: scrubbed drawers and shelves) my fridge AND removed leftover soups and black beans frozen at least 12 months ago from my freezer. February cleaning has begun.

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barefoot rooster

cockadoodle-doo: one rooster's ramblings

Monthly Archives: February 2008