Monthly Archives: July 2009

I stand corrected.

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That’s right. Remember when I said (yesterday) that it seemed as though Boh had forgotten about his supervisory role?

bohtalia1

Our dear friend T came over yesterday, bearing blackberries (for muffin-making) and some close-to-completed Thanksgiving Day fingerless mitts.

bohtalia2

Boh loves T, but he seemed to take a particular interest in her knitting progress.

boh talia concerned

See? Here he’s a little bit worried about that thumb-hole part of the pattern.

bohandtalia laydown

Phew! Boh can relax a little bit now.  (Note T, displaying a completed thumb-hole.)

blackberry muffins

And here are those muffins, made with blackberries picked from T’s yard! We didn’t quite achieve our goal of the perfect muffin top, but even so, these are very tasty. Perhaps we’ll make another attempt with the big muffin tin, which allows for more completely filled muffin compartments, thus creating opportunity for the muffin tops to expand.

ridiculousboh

Clearly, Boh had an exhausting day at work. (He is actually fast asleep and snoring in these photos.)

ridiculousboh2

Man, I love this dog.

kip: kraut-in-progress.

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picklingcrock

Exhibit A: 1 gallon pickling crock, acquired on ebay.

kraut-i-p

Exhibit B: Kraut-in-progress. (Note: this is not an exercise in instant gratification. While sauerkraut requires regular checking, skimming, etc., it takes several weeks to be ready to enjoy.) This is my first attempt at kraut, and I am so excited. I always LOVE kraut made by friends (including those pictured further on down the post), and can’t wait to have my very own supply.

treman falls

To celebrate being home, Boh and I met up with friends (of the animal and human variety) for a lovely hike through a local state park.

dogs at treman

We followed up the hike with ice cream, beer, homemade bread and fancy cheese. Not a bad Sunday afternoon, if you ask Boh. (I would agree.)

Finally time for a knitting update, don’t you think?

onhold ip

I must confess that I did not touch my on-hold socks while galavanting ‘cross the nation. Sorry, Boh. I knit a few more repeats this morning out of guilt, and the rows seemed to fly by. Have I mentioned yet that I love this yarn? And that I am actually enjoying reading the chart? I know I still have eleven days to finish the pair. In all of our recent travel and excitement, Boh seems to have forgotten about his supervisory role. We’ll see how long that lasts…

mara ip

Mara continues to be blob-like. I’m into the second skein of beaverslide, and I’m going to keep increasing until I’m at the recommended width of 46″. I’m at about 40″ now. I’m okay with a shorter ruffle than the pattern calls for, so long as the wrap is a good size. This is turning out to be great TV knitting, if only I could keep my hands moving during on-screen suspense!

vanillasock ip

I managed to knit a few more inches on my plain vanilla toe-ups, due to some car maintenance that took a bit longer than it was supposed to. I’m just about ready to begin the heel, and I think I am going to attempt Wendy’s gusset heel. Despite a sort of annoying join on these needles, these socks seem to be moving right along. My current sock obsession may necessitate more short circular needle acquisition of the knitpicks variety…

loveart spinning

I also managed to sit down at my wheel this weekend, and it felt good to get reacquainted with my current spinning project: Spunky Club corriedale/nylon blend in Soul Windows. I finished the first bobbin of what I hope will be a 3-ply sock yarn. I know the yarn is way out of focus in this picture, but I really like the way this shot turned out — my lazy kate is on top of a pile of cookbooks on top of a bookshelf.

Coming down the pike:

fleeceartistmilkweedyarn

This lovely Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 sock yarn is soon to become Laura Chau’s Milkweed Shawl. The backwards loop group over on Ravelry is hosting a KAL that began on July 15, and once I make more progress on my on-hold socks, I intend to cast on and tackle my lace anxiety!

cotolinoforbuttercup

Here, I present my only yarn purchase of the trip — 8 balls of Queensland Cotolino, on sale at my old LYS. These are destined to become Buttercup — the modified version with slightly longer sleeves and a slimmer shape, I think.

It feels good to be blogging in “real time” again. Happy Monday, all!

road trip, part 4: old friends, new research.

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grandbasin amyforscale

birdcage carforscale

Cryptic, yes. But these two images make me very happy.

Boh and I spent 4 days with college friends (and their growing family) in a lovely midwestern city on our way home. It was the perfect balance of work and play: the chance to participate in the excitement of family life — babies, toddlers, new homes — and to dig into the resources of a local archive as part of an ongoing research project. I hope I’ll be able to return soon to enjoy both the materials in this collection and the proximity of dear friends I see nowhere near often enough.

pinkflowers

Boh and I returned home late Friday night, and Saturday morning I headed up to the farm to gather veggies (including cucumbers, zucchini, beets, carrots, kale, herbs, lettuce and an early greenhouse tomato!) and to pick a few flowers. I don’t know what these are, but I love them!

pinkandcalendula

I picked some calendula too.

Thus concludes my road trip series — we’re all caught up now! There’ll be some knitting content around here soon, I promise.

road trip, part 3: desert sunset.

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sunset1

When I first moved to the desert (long before Boh and I were pals), I used to head up to the foothills to watch the sunset. On my last night in town, I took Boh to my favorite outcrop of rock to enjoy the view.

foothills2

foothills3cholla

I accidentally hit a wierd button while resizing this photo, and got a washed out version that I sort of like:

foothillssunsetenhanced

Here’s a dark version of that shot:

foothillssunsetdark

It was an appropriate way to end a lovely week. The high temps (in the low 90s, even at 8 PM) meant that Boh and I had the foothills to ourselves, and it was nice to have some quiet time to reflect on all that has happened since I first began spending the sunset hour up here.

The next morning, Boh and I began the journey east, fortified with a mug of coffee, a pile of homemade cookies, and an abundance of green chile to bring home.

(To be continued…)

road trip, part 2: breakfast burritos, the bosque, and bacon-infused bourbon.

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Say that five times fast.

On my last day of this particular leg of the trip, I ate only breakfast burritos (at least one the size of my head) and bacon-infused bourbon (in much smaller quantities).

amyburrito

hookersreallycheap2

Credit for these photos — including the spotting of this hilarious sign — goes to oogaknits (on ravelry) and her husband. This is why I miss the desert. Well, one reason, anyway!

Though it may be slightly out of chronological order ( second-to-last day in town), here’s a picture I absolutely adore, also taken by oogaknits, on our stroll through the bosque.

bosquehike

Wait, did somebody say bacon?

baconfilteringtake1

My hosts are aware of my passion for bacon, and the stars aligned such that they had recently enjoyed a manhattan or two made with bacon-infused bourbon and therefore NEEDED to attempt to recreate the magic. Above, take 1. A blind taste-test of bourbon and bacon-infused bourbon indicated that we needed more bacon.

bourbonbacon

bourbonbaconcloseup

Take 2 was successful. Note the bacon chunks in that bourbon. I am ever-grateful that I had the opportunity to be of use as a taste-tester. This experience has further affirmed for me that bacon goes with everything.

(To be continued…)

road trip, part 1.

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ladybug1

Boh and I camped halfway, and I managed to capture the last (blurry) moments of an Ozark sunset.

ladybug2camp

While this picture reveals a general state of disarray — a mere moment in my packing up process, I assure you — it highlights the importance of good coffee. I came equipped to make my own, and it was delicious. (This was the only time I got out my camp stove on the whole trip, and I’m glad I brought it!)

driving3

Several hundred miles later, the backside of the mountains I used to photograph out my front door came into view.

abq4backyardknitting

The next morning, Boh and I were lounging in the sun in the backyard of our dear hosts. I miss desert mornings most of all, and I tried to absorb as much early morning sun as I could. (Yep, that’s Mara. She’s getting bigger and ever more blob-like.)

abqhike1

abqhike2

[ETA: this photo taken by the lovely oogaknits on ravelry.]

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll above 10,000 feet (and were surprised by how well we slept that night).

abqhike3

(to be continued…)

west.

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Boh and I are heading west — driving out for healthy doses of the desert and several dear friends. We’ll be away for about 2 weeks, but I imagine we may have time for the occasional post or two.

strawberrymuffins

The last of the strawberries have been turned into muffins for the drive.

maraprogress

maraprogress2

Mara has reached “blob” stage — a critical moment in the life-cycle of a large knit, if you ask me. (It’s when there are more stitches than needle space, and the knit can no longer be laid out flat.)

I’m bringing Mara, my On-Hold Socks, my vanilla socks, and my Whisper cardigan on the trip. Boh is hoping that I’ll find time for sock knitting.

layingonbedboh

The tent is packed, the ipod is charged, directions are printed, and there is big bin o’ warm stuff (including my stripes! sweater and my new snail hat) in the back of the car.

I just need to drink my coffee, pack the cooler, and load up the dog.

Take it easy.

spontaneous snail.

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Yesterday I saw this post over at cosymakes, and this post over at knithoundbrooklyn, and decided that my pink cvm handspun (from cosy’s shop, of course) needed to become a snail hat (a la Elizabeth Zimmerman).

snail1

I dug out my copy of EZ’s Knitting Without Tears, and cast on. A few podcasts later, I was ready to decrease. Things may have gotten slightly wonky near the top, but handspun covers a multitude of sins — errr, mistakes.

snail2 above

snail three

Though this looks like a pretty pink snail, it knits up in a manner that more closely resembles the gait of a cheetah. (I’ll stop with the jokes now.)

I have no picture of Boh for you this morning, but as you can imagine, he is worried. Bright pink bulky handspun is NOT sock yarn, and he was glaring at me from his perch on my bed as I worked on this.

Happy Friday!

two pairs concurrently?

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bohyarnpiratesock

You’ve got to be kidding me.

emeraldcity1

emeraldcity2

Don’t worry, Boh. I’m making good progress. See?

onhold wip

I even cast on my On-Hold socks for the KAL and knit the toe AND one whole pattern repeat.

bohypsock2

You still look very, very worried.

Maybe it’s because you’ve seen me knitting quite a bit on something that is not a sock?

bsdmara

(Boh is actually laying on my bed, whimpering quietly to himself as I write this. I thought it was sock-related, but upon investigation, it seems that he managed to drop his bone between the bed and the radiator. Opposable thumbs are required for retrieval. The whimpering stopped the moment I returned the bone.) Don’t worry, big dog. We’ll be okay.