Monthly Archives: March 2010

FO: patchwork (future legwarmers).

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Three skeins of worsted weight 2-ply — 150, 140, and 80 yards, respectively, for a grand total of 370 yards of Hello Yarn Fiber Club merino in the patchwork colorway. (Also known as future legwarmers. I can’t wait to cast on.)

I know it doesn’t look like it, but Boh is hard at work in this photo. Boh is breaking in a new, better-fitting slipcover for the couch — this small change makes me feel so much better about my space.

And this is warming in the oven. I have managed to make a peck’s worth of apple crisp in the last few weeks. Clearly, I am in the midst of a scientific experiment to test the following premise: apple crisp fixes everything. (I have not yet disproved my apple crisp theory.)

plying patchwork (all things P).

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Boh was clearly instrumental to the plying process.

Here’s the second bobbin of patchwork singles, spun from the second bump of fiber.

Plying in progress.

Skein #1, hanging to dry. I gave this an extra long bath (okay, I sort of forgot about it), and the resulting 2-ply is particularly plump.

Sigh. This first skein is about 150 yards. I might attempt to ply another bobbin’s worth before heading to campus this morning. I am in love with this stuff.

patchwork.

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It’s official. I’m spinning for legwarmers. I acquired a second bump of Hello Yarn merino in Patchwork expressly for this purpose, inspired by these. When Stacey made these out of her Patchwork last month, I knew it was a good idea. I wear my Cascade 220/Madil Kid Seta aqua legwarmers all the time, and with spring around the corner, I’m going to need at least one more pair to keep my ankles warm when I wear flip-flops…

Boh thought he heard something outside while I was spinning.

But then he decided it was no big deal.

This is maybe the 9th baby casserole pan full of apple crisp I’ve made in the last week. And I’m not sure I’m exaggerating. I took the recipe from last week’s apple crisp and essentially halved the apples and quartered the topping to make a less sweet, more apple-y crisp, and I’ve been making this in the evenings, eating a bit for dessert, and then warming up the rest for breakfast. I love it when apples are buy-1/2-a-peck, get 1/2-a-peck free at the orchard!

And here’s my simple things shawl, fresh off the blocking mats. I got a bit more width out of it, and the fabric is so nice and drapey. Win.

Okay, back to work. And apple crisp.

FO: simple things.

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This was exactly the kind of knitting I needed this week: simple, fast, and beautiful. I knit this simple things shawl out of Socks That Rock Mediumweight in the Gypsum colorway (thanks Laura!) on size 4 needles. Because the STR was a 380 yard skein, I added a full 10-row repeat of the garter eyelet border pattern to the edging, and I still have a little bit of yarn leftover.  I snapped these photos while still in my pajamas this morning, and before Boh and I headed off to make pancakes with our friend T. and pick greens at the farm, I gave this a warm bath and pinned it out on my kitchen table.

The STR seemed to relax nicely, and I think I’ll be quite happy with the blocked size of the shawlette. More pictures soon!

super boh?

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This is what my simple things shawl looked like on Tuesday morning.

And here it is today. I struggled with trying to get it to lay flat enough to take a good, representative photograph. And then I decided, why fight it? In this stage of the knitting, my simple things shawl might work better as a cape for Boh.

That’s more like it.

He’s a good sport — and good company. We spent most of the afternoon curled up on the couch reading and knitting. (Well, Boh mostly slept.) I’m hoping to finish this over the weekend!

A box o’ yarn arrived yesterday, along with a little bit of fiber. There was a great sale (50% off, though for a sad reason — after three years, they are going out of business) over at Sonny and Shear, and I decided to celebrate getting through the colloquium with some truly gorgeous yarn. This is Shalimar Zoe sock yarn in Saffron, Pagewood Farm Denali in Navajo, Hazel Knits Sock in Greenlake and Sailor’s Delight, and at the bottom, a skein of Madelinetosh Worsted in Malachite. (I also acquired a few bumps of Pigeonroof Studios merino.) I think I’ll be knitting socks and shawlettes for spring!

agree (1).

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I wore this today, under lots of other layers, because today was the day we discussed my paper at the department colloquium. I was hoping that those in attendance would agree, at least a little bit, with the argument I make in the paper. I don’t remember much that was said, but I think it went well. (And when I am ready to return to this project, I now have a big pile o’ notes and comments to paw through.)

Time to decompress with some knitting!

a mild case of startitis.

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(Sudden Saturday onset, as a result of sunshine and a 100 degree reading on the sick-and-tired-of-all-this-work temperature scale. I’m hoping it was only a 24-hour bug…)

Here’s the first bit of my wurm hat. I decided to cast on the medium (100 st), and I’m using a size 5 circular, instead of 4s for the hem and 6s for the rest of the hat — not for any good reason, but because I was able to locate a size 5 circ. I love the color transitions, and I think this is going to be a fantastic yarn match for this pattern. I’m a little concerned about my turned hem — about a third of it is really smooth and well-lined up, but there are places where it feels a little wonky. I wasn’t super meticulous about this, but I did rip back a little bit to try to improve part of the hem row. I think one of the issues is just that the variation of my handspun makes it hard to have even a perfect 1 to 1 match up result in a folded fabric that lays perfectly flat. I can’t exactly see how it will look on my head without taking it off the needles, so I’m just going to go with it for now and trust that it will look fine — or that I can block it into looking fine.

I also cast on simple things, by Mary-Heather Cogar of ravelry fame, whose gorgeous sunset photos help me deal with my southwestern withdrawal. I’m using Blue Moon Socks that Rock mediumweight in the Gypsum colorway, and I love how this feels in my hands. This yarn was a gift from Laura, and I am excited to be able to wrap these colors around my neck. This is going to become my in-the-bag knitting…if I put it down long enough to place it in my bag.

Yesterday Boh and I took a nice long walk along the creek and reservoir near my house. I think he is still sleepy from all the sunshine and playtime — he didn’t move when I pulled up the covers.

And here’s where he was about fifteen minutes later. I ground the coffee and got my french press ready, snapped a few photos of yesterday’s knitting, and then went back into the bedroom and found this. Sweet, sweet dog.

Alright. Time to get to work!

FO: lucy seaman’s cap.

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Special thanks to Boh for his assistance.

I LOVE this. I was initially a bit anxious about how bright and crazy this might look all knitted up, but there was no need to worry. I can’t wait to get this in the mail. Officially, we’ve got a few more weeks of winter (and probably at least a few more unofficial weeks where this is going), and I’m hoping this hat will provide a dear friend of mine with some warmth and happiness during the slow transition to spring!

Details:

Seaman’s Cap, by Brenda Zuk, size M, knit out of Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino handspun in the Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds colorway. I think I used about 140 yards of squishy heavy worsted to knit this hat. I used size 7 needles for the whole thing, mostly because I was too lazy to find 6s for the ribbing.

And now I can cast on something else in handspun! (This is yesterday’s skein of sour fig, already caked and ready to go.)

FO: sour fig.

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Boh decided that he wanted to pose alongside my finished skein of Hello Yarn shetland in Sour Fig. This is 201 yards of 2-ply, and I have a second, smaller skein of 85 yards. This stuff looks to me to be mostly sport weight, and I’m wondering if it would make a nice wurm hat. Thoughts? (Too variegated? I am also craving another set of mitts.)

Yesterday also involved this:

And this:

Friday. I managed to eat ALL of that apple crisp last night, this morning, and as a late lunch today. Boh and I just took a nice, sunshine-filled walk around the neighborhood, and I’m hoping that I have energy enough to do a bit more work this afternoon.

black beans and sour fig.

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I got home from campus this evening and just could not find the energy to tackle anything in the work pile. So I started simmering some black beans in the crock pot and sat down at my wheel.

This is the second bobbin of Sour Fig, shetland from the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I don’t know what I will make out of this yet, but it will be for me!

The beans weren’t tender yet, so I decided to start plying.

And when I filled my bobbin, I wound the yarn onto my niddy-noddy, counted up my yardage (201!), gave the loop of yarn a bath, and hung it to dry.

It is late. Like, way past my bedtime late. But I’m here, sipping a mug of tea, listening to Nanci Griffith (“I been sifting through the layers, dusty books, and faded papers…), and slowly planning the work I’ll do tomorrow.

I might even ply up the rest of this stuff tonight.