Author Archives: barefootrooster

fall.

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I just looked over at Boh snoring next to me on the couch, and thought you might want to see a little bit of what we’ve been up to the last few months. I’m not knitting very much, but I’m hoping that my fingers will want to work on something simple and help me catch up on the wedding gift knitting in my queue. Things are very busy around here — fellowship applications, the academic job market, the dissertation. I can’t promise there will be much blogging, but I am still here, still reading blogs, and still very much appreciating the internet community of knitters and spinners. Happy fall to all of you.

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Boh enjoying one of our favorite places to walk.

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And wade.

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We enjoyed watching this flicker look for treats on the stone steps outside the enclosed porch.

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Scrambed eggs, avocado, and salsa on corn tortillas: lunch of dissertators (champions?).

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Negroni on the porch.

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I had the flu a few weeks ago, and Boh took care of me.

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A self portrait in the very fancy bathroom of a new building on campus.

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Sitting on the dock.

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My mom came for a quick visit, and she brought me a pumpkin!

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Farm flowers. The gladiolas this year were gorgeous.

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Happy, happy dog.

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Fall has begun. I love it, and I think Boh really does, too. Maybe there’s something about the smell of leaves?

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Fancy shoes and a manhattan help with proofreading, right? (One of my goals for this fall is to become a little bit more proficient in the land of mixing drinks.)

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A view of the lake from campus on a clear, sunny day.

Thanks for reading, friends.

August?

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Whoa. Can we hit pause, please? This summer is moving far too quickly for me. I’m not really knitting (though I’ve got another one of those colorblock bias blankets on the needles), but I’m not ready to be done with this space, so here’s a handful of images from the last several weeks. As you can see, Boh is hard at work. (I am too, though those photos aren’t anywhere near as thrilling.) Hope you’re having a wonderful summer!

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Boh and I went to the Berkshires for a writing retreat. Here we are taking an afternoon hike along a section of the Appalachian Trail.

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And here we are looking out across the Berkshires from the top of Mt. Greylock.

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A local lap around a manmade lake on campus.

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Sweet dog with his favorite bone.

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Farm flowers and pancakes.

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Out for a hike.

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More farm flowers.

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A view from a bridge over the inlet that leads to the lake.

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“Working.”

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I’m dog-sitting for a friend for a few weeks, so we’ve doubled the number of dogs here. These two play hard and then collapse on the couch like this. So sweet.

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This was our first day together. Lots of cuddling, not so much working.

Maybe I’ll have some knitting to share next time?!

FO: ANOTHER colorblock bias blanket.

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Hi, friends. Haven’t been blogging, but clearly, I have been knitting. (And writing, and even running/working out.) Not quite settled into a summer routine, but closer than I was a few weeks ago. And I’m pretty sure this blanket pattern is helping. I’ve got such a backlog of wedding gifts to knit, and this pattern is perfect: easy enough to knit after a long day, fun for playing with color and yarns in my stash, and really, really lovely when it’s all done. Here’s my latest:

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The colors are more accurate above, but here’s one shot with the flash on:

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It’s a bit grey and rainy, so there isn’t as much natural light for picture-taking as I’d like, but you get the idea. With this one, I worried less about the amount of yarn I had for each color, and just picked colors I thought might be nice. I really like the mint green Malabrigo stripe in there, and with the switch to some darker greens and blues near the end, I think I’ve changed who this is for! (Not to worry, though. I’ve already started a third…)

Other stuff happening around here?

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Morning “helping.”

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Our first of many weekly walks en route to picking up the farm share. (Paws/toes in the water.)

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Lots of water and mist after some steady rain.

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Boh, mid-yawn. Love this dog.

FO: colorblock bias blanket.

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Tada! I love how this turned out, and I finished it in time to give it to M. and J. on Sunday. I’m bummed that I won’t be able to attend their wedding next month, so it was nice to at least get to give them their present in person.

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The blanket, folded.

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Boh, napping.

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Happy dog, after a walk that got cut short by a downpour!

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Stunning sunset.

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More napping.

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Farmers’ market flowers.

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Boh with a ball of yarn that’s attached to colorblock bias blanket #2!

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Yep. This one is also a wedding present.

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I’m absolutely loving these colors together. Hoping to make some serious progress on my overdue wedding knitting this summer. (You know, in addition to making progress on my dissertation…)

 

colorblocking.

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So I didn’t cast on another Turnstile right away. Still thinking about the next color combination, and I also realized that I should really get working on some wedding knitting. (Some folks have been patiently waiting for longer than I care to admit, and others have no idea a wedding blanket is in the works.) Anyway, I came across the Colorblock Bias Blanket by Purl Soho, and decided that this might be a great candidate for a wedding blanket. (I do love the pinwheel, but I’m looking to mix it up.)

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I’m knitting it out of greys and greenish turquoisey shades.

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I’m not following the yardage estimates for the pattern. Instead, I’m using what I’ve got as a guide, and hoping the size of each colorblock feels right.

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I’m so pleased with how it is turning out.

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I like this so much that I might want to keep it — but it is going to be a gift.

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I even brought it to the porch yesterday to work on with my coffee.

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And this guy. Just had to show you this napping pose. That ear! I love it. Happy Friday!

FO: turnstile.

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I LOVE this. And I can’t wait to make more. I might cast on another TODAY.

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I snapped these pictures very late last night. I figured I’d kitchener the two ends of the tube together right after dinner and then have plenty of time for other things.

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Wrong. The grafting took hours — in part because I haven’t kitchenered anything in quite a while, but also because to kitchener many many stitches you need to have a pretty long yarn tail, and it kept getting caught on the other needles, tangled, etc.

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But worth it? Totally. The stripes are addicting, and I anticipate wearing this (and any others I might make) a lot. My handspun eternity scarves might be the knitwear I wear most frequently, and I think this pattern (or some variation on it) is a great way for me to use beautiful sock yarn. (You know, because I’ve realized that I mostly wear socks with boots, so you can’t see them.)

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In other news, I took this dog on a great walk. It was clear we were going to get pretty muddy — this is a before picture.

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Doesn’t this picture just look like spring? So much growth in the woods.

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Happy dog.

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We were muddier than this toes/paws picture lets on. And we were quite content. (Though Boh needs to work on actually sitting on the blanket I keep in the back of my car for post-walk muddy dogs. He just moves it out of the way…)

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Also, we’ve reached that point in the spring where I can put on a fleece and take my coffee out to the porch. See that new french press? My dear friend D, the person who goes with that adorable dog who visited us last month, remembered me saying that my beloved stainless steel french press was on its last legs. The mesh ripped, so my coffee was rather gritty. That was a year ago. So when D came to visit, he brought this: a bigger press, which is stainless steel on the inside, but has an insulated bottom and handle so I don’t burn myself on it. And the lid has a screen, so there’s no chance of coffee grounds getting into my coffee. Also, no spillage while pouring, which means I can bring it out to the porch. Perfection.

 

around and around (turnstile in progress).

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First of all, to give you a sense of the kind of excitement happening around here, this is what I did last Saturday night. I took whatever was left in the bottle of rye (not much) over to my friend M.’s house, she made me a (delicious) Manhattan with chocolate bitters, and we both proceeded to continue writing our dissertations. I’m not complaining; it was better than attempting to keep putting words on the screen at my house…

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This face pretty much captures the general malaise that is the end of the semester.

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Lila in action. I like it over the top of other layers like this.

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Snapped this picture for my mom, as this dress was a present from her last year. And also because this is my professor costume. (Thanks to K. for that description.)

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Boh! I know it looks like he’s growling, but I actually snapped this at the tail end of a yawn. We took a walk in the arboretum earlier this week just before the skies opened, so we had the place to ourselves.

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And, as my post title suggests, more turnstiling.

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I really love the stripes.

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Snapped this yesterday while writing on the porch. (Handspun eternity scarf number 2.)

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This guy brought his ball and his bone out to the porch, but spent most of our time out there looking at me and pleading for belly rubs. Tough. Life.

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A new section — back to orangey-red and yellow stripes, and after that, one more solid orangey-red block…

 

turnstile progress.

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While Lila was blocking, I may have cast on something else: turnstile. Warning, folks: this pattern is addicting. There’s something about the helical stripes that makes it impossible to stop. And the pattern provides some amazingly effective advice on how to switch colors for super smooth striping.

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I chose three colors I love, and cast on.

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And pretty close to immediately, it was time to start striping. (It certainly didn’t hurt that I was binge-watching Veronica Mars at the time.)

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I love these colors, and I’m thinking this is going to be perfect for late spring and for all summer activities that include air-conditioning!

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Boh doesn’t seem to mind this project, either.

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I’m making the largest size (but in fingering weight yarn instead of sport), and I’m about halfway done. Here’s hoping I can maintain this knitting momentum!

FO: lila.

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Lila, blocking. The pattern called for blocking the sweater before knitting the neckline, and then my friend D. and his new dog came to visit, which is why it has taken me a few days to share this with you. (Pictures of his sweet dog, Honey, below.)

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None of my pictures of Lila do it justice. The lighting is terrible, and I’m including this shot so you can see the hemline, even though I think I’ll wear this over a tank instead of over a v-neck tee like this one.

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Again, awkward pose, but this shot has some of the best lighting in the set I snapped yesterday. You know, when I knit the neckline and then put on the sweater. And then didn’t take it off.

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This shot shows how pleased I am with the armhole/shoulder area of the sweater. This construction seems to fit my shoulders better than any top-down raglan I’ve knit. Hooray! I think I might block this one more time, a bit more aggressively, to get a smidge more length and a tad less width in the finished product, but I’m really happy with how this turned out. I promise to take better pictures the next time I wear it.

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And here’s Honey, perched in the window.

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And here she is napping with Boh after A LOT of playing.

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And here she is, absolutely out cold in my grandfather’s chair. Love her.