Yearly Archives: 2010

in-my-bag knitting.

Posted on by
3

I’ve been carrying my handspun lacy baktus around with me, and even though I love how this looks, I find that I’m not taking it out of my bag to work on in those in between moments: after class, between appointments, before yoga. Even though the pattern is super easy to memorize and to read in my work, I don’t always remember where I am, and I think the knowledge that I’ll have to do a little bit of thinking to figure out how to pick up where I left off has been stopping me from pulling this out when I have a few minutes.

So yesterday, I decided to move my baktus to the pile near the couch, and cast on something new to carry around with me.

Yep, this is another seaman’s cap. I’m making this one medium-sized, with a particular friend in mind, though if the colors end up feeling a little too crazy, I’ll keep it and make her something slightly more subdued. I think I do best with in-my-bag knitting that is in the round and very simple: rib or stockinette. This is the worsted-ish Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino I spun up a few months ago in the rest of the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds colorway. I thought I would knit this into mittens, but I think it is a bit late in the season to gift mittens. (Let’s face it, it will be March before this is done, and probably even closer to spring before I get this in the mail.)

Yesterday, for both lunch and dinner, I made Deb’s vegetable dumplings. Last year, as you may recall, my kitchen was the site for many a dumpling recipe test. These emerged victorious. Make them. You will not be sorry.

I’ll leave you with Boh. I eventually made him move so that I could make the bed, but I think he has the right idea. It is snowing here, and I’d like nothing more than to spend the day hunkering. Alas…off to campus.

academic blocking.

Posted on by
8

Today is the day: I’m wearing my GYC out the door, and I’m thrilled about it. Which got me to thinking: wouldn’t it be great if blocking worked for papers, and not just for sweaters? I’m giving a paper in a few weeks that just isn’t quite ready. In a lot of ways, I’m happy with it, but it still needs to be tugged and stretched. The stitch definition could be more even, the hem straighter, the lines cleaner. I’d really like to be able to dunk this particular project into a warm bath with some soak, and then reshape it on my kitchen table in order to get the results I want.

Alas, I’m stuck with revisions, more reading, talking to myself in the shower, and occasional full-on questioning of what it is that I am arguing. This is yet another area where I think knitting has the right idea: a lot can be solved with a warm bath.

goodies.

Posted on by
4

At least prepping for reading groups involves both reading AND baking. These are Deb’s our favorite chocolate chip cookies, and they are super tasty, despite the fact that I may have slightly overcooked some of them because I was too busy reading…

Also, check out what arrived today! I won the blogiversary giveaway over at Doodles in String — as commenter #1. Chris blogs about all sorts of inspiring knitting and spinning, so you should head over there if you’ve never been. These goodies are awesome: gorgeous yarn, beautiful fiber, and a book filled with patterns for kids. (And while I do not have children, all of the babies I’ve been knitting for lately are growing!) Thank you, Chris!

And since I don’t have any new knitting to share, here’s another knit-in-action. Remember this?

I realize it is hidden under several layers, but today I’m wearing my Rusted Root. I haven’t worn this in ages, and I have no idea why.

Alright, off to a new reading group. Happy almost weekend!

world spins madly on.*

Posted on by
8

I got up this morning, and pulled the covers up to half-heartedly make the bed. Usually, this is Boh’s cue to do some kind of dog stretch and get out of bed.

Today, he didn’t move. In fact, I put the kettle on, ground the coffee, and served up his breakfast, and he stayed in bed. It wasn’t until I grabbed the leash and opened the door that he reluctantly decided to get out from under the covers.

I feel your pain, Boh. I’m tired too.

Despite my sleepiness this morning, I do have some knitting progress to share. I woke up early yesterday to give myself a bit more knitting time, as I’ve been feeling a bit overextended this semester.

My Kerrera is starting to look like a cardigan! I’m into a very soothing stretch of stockinette, and I absolutely love how this Ultra Alpaca feels in my hands. Even though I should keep reading the book I have to teach this week, I’m going to try to squeeze in a few rows this morning before getting to work.

Time for coffee, but before I pour my first mug, I wanted to mention The Weepies. Their first two albums, Happiness (2003) and  Say I Am You (2006) — which I have only just learned are actually two shorter albums, rather than one full length album — are some of my favorite early in the morning or late at night things to listen to. (*This is the name of a track on Say I Am You. I’m listening to it right now.)

throw down your heart.

Posted on by
11

Or in this case, finish peeling the beet and add it to the pot. It does look like a heart though, right? This post shares its title is with a Bela Fleck album (vol. 3) I received in the mail along with a beautiful hand-stamped valentine that is already on the fridge. This music, a combination of Bela Fleck’s banjo and the voices/instruments he encountered as he traveled through several African countries, makes me smile. And I need that today.

To continue with the music references, I give you my garter yoke cardigan, revisited. (Yes, I’m a nerd.)

(That is a cardboard box behind my arm — the cardigan hangs straight down.)

I attempted to block it longer and narrower in both the sleeves and the body, and I think I managed to turn this into a leaner, slouchier cardigan.

Boh seems to agree. I’m going to wear this out of the house this week!

boh reads, while i knit and eat cake.

Posted on by
8

I took a break from my work on Friday night to make another cup of tea, and I returned to find that Boh had decided to sit, and then lay, with my book. If only he could help with the reading. I alternated reading chapters with knitting increase rows on my snowbird cardigan, and now I’m working on the first sleeve.

This is the first pattern I’ve knit that calls for knitting the sleeves before the body, and I think I like this approach: after knitting the longest rows — the raglan increases — I get to knit the shortest rows!

Also, the birthday celebration continued on Saturday. Boh’s favorite people and his best dog friend Coltrane came over with a full-on triple-decker coconut cake! (Which, by the way, is every bit as delicious as it looks. I might eat part of this piece for breakfast.) We ate cake, and then took a nice wintry walk. Boh snored, with his head on my lap, for the rest of the afternoon.

The combination of the cold weather and my need to feel extra cozy means I’ve been wearing a lot of handknits lately. I snapped this picture yesterday morning before heading out to a nearby coffee shop to get some reading done. (With some books, I just need a bit more din to stay focused.)

Yesterday I was looking for an extra layer, and dug out my sassymetrical, which provided just the right amount of warmth under my slouchy navy (store-bought) wear-all-the-time cardigan. And that’s today’s handknit-in-action.

(I feel sort of weird taking pictures of my outfits in the mirror, but these are the photos that I really like to see on other people’s blogs and on ravelry — how they actually wear the stuff they make. Sometimes seeing a handknit incorporated into someone else’s wardrobe convinces me that I could/would wear said handknit.)

Alright, enough of that. Happy weekend, folks. I’m off to curl up with my (canine) valentine to knit a bit/read a lot.

knits/no knitting.

Posted on by
14

I haven’t picked up my needles this week, which makes me sad. I’ve been wanting to blog, but I couldn’t come up with anything to show you!

So yesterday I decided that even if I didn’t have any knitting, I could at least post a few pictures of knits, to continue with my occasional posts that feature knits-in-action.

Mara-in-action. Whenever I wear this, I am happy. The cheeriness of the pink, the squish of the beaverslide — this shawl generates happiness.

And now, a confession. I haven’t yet worn my garter yoke cardigan out of the house. I’ve worn it several times, but only when I am home. I love the squish, I’m thrilled with the handspun yoke, but the fit just isn’t quite right on me. Something about it being too big to be a fitted cardigan, and too small to be a slouchy cardigan. See?

I haven’t blocked this yet, in part because I can’t decide how to make it fit better. I’m thinking about aggressively blocking it to make it longer and narrower — sleeves too. What do you think? (I took this picture half an hour ago, but I am already wearing a different cardigan. Boo.)

Now, insert an appropriate transition here, because I don’t have one.

For my birthday, my friend K. baked me the most delicious cinnamon raisin swirl bread ever. I have been eating it for breakfast, snack, and dessert. (Well, and I might have eaten some of it as part of a breakfast-like dinner on Tuesday. But don’t tell anyone.) In fact, I intend to eat the last two slices for breakfast in a moment.

More knitting soon, I hope.

golden.

Posted on by
17

Today is my golden birthday. No, I’m not turning fifty. (Yet.) I am, however, 28 on 2-8, which is apparently what makes today golden.

Mondays are super busy for me this semester, so in terms of celebrating with friends, I’m pretending that my birthday isn’t until later in the week.

I do think that birthdays require deliciousness, though, so last night I baked myself a cake — one that I can justify eating for breakfast.

This is the walnut jam cake that Deb posted earlier this week. I topped it with my homemade strawberry balsamic jam, and as soon as I finish this blog post, I’m cutting myself a hearty slice. (I may have eaten a small piece last night after this photo was taken…)

Other things worthy of celebration?

I finished the double garter stitch waistband of my Kerrera. Despite the frustration of my false start, this went a lot faster the second time through.

Boh understands…something about Kerrera, and I’m happy that he’s keeping an eye on it. He was clearly less worried about it yesterday, don’t you think?

Also, on Friday night I cut off my hair. I can’t exactly articulate why it became so important for me to rid myself of most of its length — something about my hair being sort of inconsistent with the person I am and would like to be. And more specifically, it was getting way too long to spontaneously eat soup. And it required detangling.

So I got out of bed on Friday night and chopped it off. In handfuls. I tried to take a few pictures over the weekend, and here are two of my favorites — more for the way they demonstrate my complete incompetence when it comes to photographing myself than for how they highlight my haircut.

(This is me attempting to capture how long/short it is on the side. But it just ended up looking silly.)

And this one…well, you get the idea.

Time for cake!

false start.

Posted on by
10

I know the Superbowl isn’t until Sunday — and let’s face it, I will be at yoga Sunday afternoon instead of anywhere near a television — but I couldn’t resist the penalty reference.

Today, my slow and steady progress on Kerrera came to a screeching halt. Somehow, I managed to drop some loops or otherwise majorly $%&* up the double garter stitch in such a way that I could not repair it. In fact, my attempts at fixing just made it worse.

I think that qualifies as a false start, no?

An hour ago, I was exasperated, so I took a few deep breaths, made a cup of strong cocoa, and decided to attempt productivity at something in the work pile.

After dinner, though, I’m casting on again.