Category Archives: grad school

knitting in class.

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I was knitting on my Buttercup when I took this picture. (And we were on a break. Don’t worry; I don’t play with my phone during class.)

And here I am today, also knitting in our lecture hall. (Also on a break.)

And here’s the gin and tonic I made on Monday night. I’ve got a great bunch of students in the intensive summer session for rising high school seniors I’m TAing, but the schedule is exhausting. Yoga, a drink, and a front-row seat for sunset was exactly what I needed last night.

Look at my pretty swatch! It’s for a testknit for foxflat — a summer-weight, super sweet beret called Joyride. The yarn is a merino-tencel blend from back when I was a member of the Yarn Pirate Booty Club, with a bit of shine and lovely colors. In a sock pattern, it would be stripey, but in a slightly larger project, the first few rows are suggesting to me that it might look a bit colorblocked. I need to knit a little bit more to see what I think. If it’s too busy for the lacework, I’ve got a solid yarn that I think would be lovely in this pattern. More soon!

bibimbap on the dock.

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This post starts and ends at M.’s house — which is a good thing, because lately her cooking has been way more inspired than mine. (I’m pretty thankful that she invites me over to enjoy it with her.)

Bibimbap on M.’s dock.

Bibimbap at sunset.

Sunset.

Supermoon.

Recap. No, really. I read about this somewhere in the blogosphere and bought three (two for me, one as a gift) immediately. I’ve got one on a mason jar I’ve been using as a water bottle, and the other one has been capping everything from salad dressing to deliciously portable green drink. I can’t wait until they are available for wide mouth mason jars.

Savory popcorn to accompany last week’s grading. (I haven’t made anything to go with this weekend’s final round.)

And these: smoked salmon blinis with dill and creme fraiche. At M.’s house, clearly. I did help, by bringing the yeast and by manning the griddle. These were a wonderful way to start Monday.

(For those of you playing along, you’re right: I’m a week behind. My grades are due tomorrow morning, and then I’ll be working to get my blog closer to real time.)

 

round and round.

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Apologies for the radio silence over here, folks. It’s been a crazy week or so — getting that draft of a chunk of the first chapter of my dissertation “ready” for a departmental colloquium happening later this week, teaching, and even a research trip (which, happily, meant not just super busy days at the archive, but also time spent hanging out with Mick of Much-Adored).

The only pictures I’ve been taking lately have been of documents, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been knitting — and I’ve got significant progress on my Lilac Wine cowl to prove it. I thought the 1×1 rib of this pattern would be annoying to knit, but instead I’m finding it incredibly soothing. It goes slower than stockinette, of course, but I don’t think I mind!

Here it is on a pile of books I should read. (For scale.) I can’t believe it is already almost mid-April. More soon!

OWCH.

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So, I went to bed last night sleepy after a good day of work and play. And then I woke up around 5 am — or rather, I think I went to roll over, and a not-so-pleasant twinge in my back woke me up. I think my hours of writing are catching up with me. Anyway, it took me forever to get myself out of bed and to the Advil. I was very sleepy, and muttering things like, “I need help. There’s no one here to help me” to myself. (Not helpful.) Poor Boh was very confused. The Advil helped me to get back to sleep, and when I actually got up, it became clear that while I was a bit more mobile than I’d been in the middle of a REM cycle, I was not doing a good job of turning my head to the right. OWCH.

Some stretching, some coffee, and a phone call to a massage therapist, and I’m feeling a little better. I’m functioning, but slowly. (And I’ve got an appointment for a massage.) If this is what 30 feels like, I don’t like it one bit. I’ve got a conference paper and a diss-chapter-chunk to finish up, both of which will likely progress more slowly now that my neck and back are in revolt. Boo. Allow me to distract you (and myself) with some pictures of very pretty fiber:

Floating Down (Hello Yarn Fiber Club, 75% BFL/25% Tussah Silk) singles on the bobbin.

A close-up, pre-soak.

Draped over my arm. Aren’t these colors lovely?

The whole thing, ready to air dry. I’ve got just over 400 yards of singles here, and I can’t wait to cast on something in it. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to take a few days off from yarn and fiber to let this twinge in my neck/back heal, but at least I can daydream about shawl and cowl patterns, right?

(almost) FO: hap blanket.

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I’m on a roll. Yesterday, between writing the first paragraph of something that will be a draft of the first chapter of my dissertation (yay!), and attending a colloquium on campus, I bound off the hap blanket I started months ago as a wedding present for C and A, who got married at the end of November. I’m so happy with how this turned out. I even cuddled with it while watching Colbert!

I’m really happy with the size, pre-blocking, and I bet I’ll get another inch or so in length and width when I block out the feather and fan border. All that remains is to weave in the ends and give it a soak — which means, C and A, you should have it before it gets too hot in Florida…

No actual knits in this picture, but I snapped this because I’m wearing my new pashmina, which was the gift all of the bridesmaids received at M’s wedding last weekend. The color is lovely and surprisingly versatile, and the shawl is so soft.

And here’s my silly dog again. His friend Tango came over last night after I got home from campus, which meant he slept very deeply, and did not want to get out of bed this morning. Instead, he wanted a belly rub. I know, Boh. TGIF.

Time to get to work. Happy Friday to you!

write like a…

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My new inspirational mug, from The Rumpus. Feel free to swap out “write” for “read,” “comment,” “eat,” or “knit.” I’m a little slow to attack the work pile this morning because I know I’ve got a whole day of writing comments on papers and prepping for class ahead of me. And really, I’d rather knit and snuggle Boh on the couch.

He’s just so sweet. And helpful.

And somehow literate? (I don’t know what you think about this photo, but this suggests secret code to me. I was in the kitchen with my friend M., and we came out to the family room to find that Boh had arranged ALL of his bones in a straight line. What could it mean?)

And here he is, politely asking for a bit of my open-faced ham sandwich made with the best (local) deli ham I’ve ever eaten. Sorry, Boh. Ham sandwiches with really good cheese melted under the broiler are for people.

One more food photo, snapped at my friend J.’s house. I brought the salad, she made an excellent risotto, and before we sat down, we both decided that our meal was so pretty that we needed to document it (before we inhaled it and went back for seconds).

And here’s a view of the driveway from the porch. It doesn’t look like this right now, as it’s been a warm week, but this is what it looked like last Saturday morning after I spent an hour shoveling the whole thing. (Which I did partially because I hosted reading group last week, so there were more cars than usual in the driveway, and partially to just get a sense for how long it would take, since I need that information to plan to have enough time to dig myself out and get to campus for the class I’m teaching, if ever I wake up on Monday or Wednesday to a snowy yard.) Hope you’re having a great weekend! It’s about time for us (you know, because Boh will “help”) to get to work.

a post from last week.

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So I formatted a handful of photos for a blog post last week — and then life got in the way, and it turns out I never actually wrote the post. Forgive me; I’m a little bit frazzled. This is the week before classes start, and I’ve been hustling to get everything in order for my very first course as the instructor of record: I pitched the class, wrote the syllabus, and students enrolled! (I TAed my second and third years of grad school — and enjoyed lots of autonomy and the professional/personal development that accompanies it — but this is the first class that is entirely mine, if that makes sense.) Bear with me as I try to establish a rhythm for the semester.

More reading and Boh snuggling occurred last week.

And an amazing care package arrived from New Mexico: green chile, red chile powder, tortillas, biscochitos, even yarn (made partially of possums?!) from my friends’ recent trip to New Zealand! Boh’s reaction made me smile — he must remember the desert. And he has been extra attentive whenever the green chile and tortillas are out. Good boy.

Morning sweetness.

Creamed spinach. (And a little bit of kale.) Easy and so good.

We finished Stegner last week. I think Boh was sad for it to end — we haven’t been parked on the couch with a good book at all this week. Instead, he keeps wandering into my office, sighing, and collapsing into a pile of sleepy dog on the floor near my desk. It is cold, snowy, and blustery today, but I’m hoping to bundle up and give him an extra good walk.

Hope you’re staying warm/wrapped in handknits, wherever you are. (And stay tuned: there’s some gorgeous yarn on my dining room table right now that I need to tell you about. And cast on with.)

resolved.

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One of my resolutions for 2012 is to develop a writing practice. Writing a dissertation is really different from writing a colloquium paper, or a seminar paper, or a conference paper, or an article draft. I’m not going to sit down and crank this out in a couple of weeks, deadline looming. And even if I could do that, I certainly don’t want to. This is my primary job for the next few years, and I want to like doing it. Which means I need a rhythm, a routine. And now that I’m done with my fall semester and its accompanying whirlwind of research travel, it is time to get settled — and serious — about developing the habits I’d most like to have as a writer, teacher, and historian. And so far so good. I snapped this picture this afternoon, before beginning day 3 of plan write-every-day. Right now, the goal is to form the habit. I’m not necessarily writing the dissertation yet, but I’m writing about it, and thinking in a more dedicated and targeted way about my sources, my actors, and my argument(s). And it feels good to me. (Note to self: remember this feeling.)

Here’s another shot of the office, from the porch looking in. I took this because of the view I was enjoying looking out on Monday. See?

So lovely. I was too busy writing to capture today’s afternoon and early evening light, but it was beautiful — sort of like this, but with flurries of snow.

And because in theory, we all show up here because there is knitting, here’s what I wore to campus (first day back there since the end of August) today: my stripe study shawl, boots, leggings, a dress, and a slouchy sweater. It was nice to say hello to the folks in the office, chat with my chair, and cross a bunch of logistical things off my list. Hooray!

Time for dinner, some knitting, and a book.

touch of mink.

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That’s the name of this Plucky colorway. And I love it. I can’t believe this is my first time knitting with Sarah’s yarn. It’s awesome. (Thanks, Chris, for including it a prize package I won on your blog awhile back!) These are vanilla socks. I took the wound yarn cake with me on my research trip, cast on while waiting for my flight to depart, and then didn’t pick it up again until I was flying home. I hadn’t finished the ribbing by the time my plane landed, and since then, I’ve been knitting up a storm. (I’m turning the heel right now. Pictures of that tomorrow.) Anyway, despite showing up to my friends’ apartment with a 24-hour stomach bug, the trip was productive, fun, and energizing.

Last night I reheated one of the baguettes K. and I froze from our kitchen adventures this summer, and then cooked some komatsuna in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. And then I knit some more.

Boh did this.

This might be my favorite picture from my trip, and fellow historians will understand why. I was looking at archival materials held in a place other than a formal archive — which meant I could keep my stuff nearby, and bring a latte to keep me company. Don’t worry — this picture is the closest that coffee ever came to that box of old stuff. After I snapped this picture, my lunch bag and my latte went to another table! I certainly understand why there are rules governing conduct in archives, and I am happy to follow them, as I like being able to look at stuff from a really long time ago. Days spent in archives, though, tend to be a little rough: I’m often strapped for time on these short research trips, and the rules mean I end up under-caffeinated, dehydrated, and hungry by the end of the day. It felt like a real treat to be able to fetch boxes myself, sip coffee at a safe distance from my materials, and interact with a wider range of people, by virtue of occupying space at a table in the middle of the office that was so kind to host me for a few days last week.

More (knitting) soon!

picking up.

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Well for one, stitches. (Time to start knitting the edging!)

Also, work. I’ve managed to get a decent amount of reading done since Thanksgiving, which is good. (I’m not counting today…)

And myself, too. I bought some holiday booze this week — a small indulgence, a reminder that fancy things can be just for me. You know, like extra olives and good gin while cooking dinner. I’m trying to remember to be good to myself. (B. left a year ago today. And what a year it has been — my exams, moving to the lake house, writing the dissertation prospectus, all this research travel. I think I get an extra gin-soaked olive or two for all of that.)

Picking up….? I’ve got nothing for this one. Boh looks pretty happy with the pace of things around here. Can you believe it will soon be December? Stay tuned for more pictures of the hap blanket edging. And give yourself a treat. You deserve it.