international adventures…

Posted on November 15, 2017 by barefootrooster

This week we went to Toronto for a conference, which means I did my thing (attending some panels, giving a paper), but mostly, that Chefboyfriend and I ate ALL OF THE THINGS. And they were delicious. Here’s a peek at life before, during, and after our whirlwind of a trip. (Psssssst: I brought some knitting!)
15nov - 3
I love this pupper. (He belongs to a colleague.)
15nov - 1
More evidence of my attempt to not wear real pants at all during my current break from teaching.
15nov - 2
Library reading room — getting ready to work.
15nov - 4
Airport knitting! This is a Seaman’s Cap out of handspun.
15nov - 5
View of Toronto from our hotel room on the 24th floor.
15nov - 6
View of a dozen dumplings from just before we ate them.
15nov - 7
The view from the bar of Handlebar in Kensington Market.
15nov - 9
A spectacular meal at Brothers.
15nov - 12
The action at Kinka Izakaya.
15nov - 11
Everything we ate there.
15nov - 13
Mapo tofu at Anne’s Magic Kitchen.
15nov - 10
Balaeniceps rex, my favorite bird, at the Royal Ontario Museum.
15nov - 8
Tasty things at Momofuku.
15nov - 14
This guy was happy to see us.
15nov - 15
Stole one of Chefboyfriend’s hats on my way out the door yesterday.
15nov - 16
Wove in the ends of that hat last night. (I finished the knitting on our first leg of the trip; I should’ve brought the second project I readied, and then took out of my carry-on. Lesson learned.)
15nov - 18
This morning, since I’m feeling a little under the weather (probably just some mild version of post-conference crud), I tidied the apartment, did laundry, and made pumpkin puree with our farm pie pumpkins.
15nov - 17
Here’s what that looked like!
15nov - 19
And here is the newest addition to my office — a happy cactus in a beautiful ceramic planter one of my advisees made! It is officially fall break here, friends. Stay tuned for (hopefully) pictures of a mini-adventure or two before I head back into the classroom after Thanksgiving.

could it be?

Posted on November 6, 2017 by barefootrooster

Friends, I bound off the pinwheel baby blanket I started in July. I still need to block it, but I’m blogging it because it is ALMOST done, and it has been quite a long time since I finished a knitted something. Other things of note? I am doing a pretty good job of not putting on real pants during this break I have from teaching. I’m cranking through my to-do list, which is extra-long right now because we’ve got a trip to Toronto coming up. (I have a conference to attend, and Chefboyfriend has some parents [mine] to meet. We both plan to eat all of the things.) That’s the update! Here are some pictures of last week’s adventures.

6nov - 1
THIS DOG.

6nov - 8
A beautifully bound-off edge.

6nov - 2
New (cassis-colored) leggings.

6nov - 9
Writing a thing.

6nov - 3
Reading a thing.

6nov - 5
Closing down the coffee shop.

6nov - 6
Thing of beauty. (Huge pot of bolognese.)

6nov - 7
Pupper.

6nov - 11
Chefboyfriend’s new toy — an immersion circulator.

6nov - 12
The very tasty results.

6nov - 13
A Sunday morning walk in our favorite local open space.

handspun! Also, a road trip and a favorite house guest.

Posted on October 28, 2017 by barefootrooster

lateoct - 4
Finished two-ply handspun. I don’t remember what this is, but it is wonderfully squishy, and will make a lovely winter hat, or maybe a pair of mitts.

lateoct - 5
The blob of this pinwheel continues to grow. I only have a few more rows until I’m at 450 stitches, but as you can imagine, these are LONG rows. Hoping to get this to the baby I began it for before said baby is a toddler…

lateoct - 1
I pickled some radishes.

lateoct - 2
And some beets.

lateoct - 6
And then I drove to New Mexico to see dear friends and pick up a favorite houseguest to bring home with me.

lateoct - 8
While in Albuquerque, we enjoyed tasty Mexican desserts.

lateoct - 7
And beer.

lateoct - 9
And I brought back a lot because Chefboyfriend couldn’t make the trip with me.

lateoct - 11
Once home, I graded in a coffee shop.

lateoct - 3
I drank beer that “tastes like wizards.”

lateoct - 13
And captured this stunning sunset.

lateoct - 14
Went for a hike. (That’s favorite houseguest on the left, and Chefboyfriend on the right.)

lateoct - 10
Admired fall yellows.

lateoct - 15
And appreciated the beauty of a bright, crisp, October afternoon.

new year, new knitting.

Posted on January 5, 2016 by barefootrooster

I’ve finally begun a wedding present for dear friends who’ve been married…for two years. (In my defense, we’ve been communicating about colors and pattern for awhile now.) I love the yarn I’ve got — a lovely pile of Cascade 220 in a range of neutrals and warm tones that I’m sure you’ll see before long. This is the beginning.

Boh enjoys one of his Christmas presents. (Not from me.)

This is what happens when you start a knitting project while rewatching The Office…

This guy, making faces.

You can’t hear him sighing on that rug, but he was.

And here’s an awkward picture I snapped before heading out for a good long walk. My new vest matches my running shoes! Okay, back to course prep, which is pretty much all I’ve been doing. It just doesn’t photograph half as well as Boh does…

2 0 1 6.

Posted on January 1, 2016 by barefootrooster

Thanks for continuing to stop by, friends. Things have been busy, but very good. Instead of wasting time reading my apologies for not posting, want to see A LOT of pictures from November and December of 2015? Here you go — and here’s to 2016.

Soup, chicken salad, and iced tea at my favorite lunch spot.

More soup, more iced tea. (And prepping for class, which is a pretty accurate reflection of my life most days.)

Fall leaves on my driveway sometime in November.

This dog, being ridiculous.

Course prep outside at my favorite coffee shop.

Documenting a Friday professor costume. (I didn’t start off the semester wearing jeans, but by November, it was necessary. At least on Fridays…)

More soup, but this came from my kitchen. Sweet potato miso soup, I think.

Soup prep. Around mid-November, I started making a big pot of something on Saturday afternoons. Adjusting to professor-life has meant re-learning how to feed myself; sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day. (I’ve eaten more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this fall than I think I have since kindergarten…)

An afternoon walk with my favorite dog.

Holiday treats from a new and already dear friend.

Sweet, sweet dog.

Pesto pasta salad in my car — on the holiday road trip I took to my parents’ house.

An old and very warm blanket that was my grandmother’s. Check out that tag!

Southwestern butternut squash soup, simmering.

Late-night self portrait. Mid-December, maybe? (WordPress scrambled the order of these photos when I batch uploaded them, and I’m too lazy to put them back into chronological order.)

At least one of us is doing yoga…hoping to return to my practice in 2016.

Cozy.

Took a road trip to participate in an event organized by grad students on the other side of the state; saw this gorgeous heron on a walk through a beautiful garden.

Evening sky.

Those wrinkles!

Celebrating the end of the semester with another new faculty member: fancy lunch and cocktails in the middle of the day!

Oh, and look! I did do some knitting this fall. I made two of these eternity scarves out of some luxurious Lorna’s Laces (maybe it’s called Lion and Lamb?) silk/merino blend. One for a dear friend’s birthday, and another as a holiday present for my amazing faculty mentor. I love this pattern; knits up beautifully no matter the yarn, and it is so, so wearable. I’m already behind on some wedding blanket knitting; maybe I can get some of that on the needles before the semester starts up — in less than 2 weeks! Better get back to course prep and syllabus-writing. Happy New Year, friends. And happy knitting.

november?

Posted on November 1, 2015 by barefootrooster

Hello, friends! Thanks for the kind notes and comments you’ve left here over the last few months. Boh and I are doing well; just busy and tired from all that new professor life requires. I’m not totally ready to give up on this space — it has been so important to me for so long! (Really. I think I missed my 9th blogiversary — it would’ve been sometime in October.)

But I’m here, right now, to tell you that last night I felt the pull of my stash, and even though it was way too late at night, I found myself digging through bins and shelves of yarn to find something to knit with. I love that feeling, and I wanted to share it. I was too sleepy to wind any yarn or to get to the point where I’ve settled on a pattern, but YAY! My fingers want to knit something. (Maybe a Rikke hat out of bright variegated sock yarn? Maybe another eternity scarf in cozy, subtly kettle-dyed grey?)

Anyway, that feeling of needing to knit something is so great. And honestly, I haven’t had the feeling in awhile. I’m glad it’s back. Happy November, readers (if you’re still here!), from me and of course, from Boh.

school on monday.

Posted on August 21, 2015 by barefootrooster

When I was in college, “School on Monday” was one of the preferred cheers at the big football game that occurred the weekend before Thanksgiving, because we had the whole week off, while our opponents had to return to class for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the holiday. I heard it in my head when I woke up this morning, only this time, I’m starting life as a professor on Monday. My syllabi are done, but I want to proofread them again before I make copies. And I need to plan out the actual Monday class meetings — one class is a seminar, and the other is a lecture. I’m nervous, of course, but also excited to be in the classroom again, and sort of ready to be done anticipating all of it. Next week I’m sure I’ll feel like I’ve been thrown into the deep end, but right now I feel sort of ready to jump, if that makes any sense. So I have no idea how regularly I’ll be posting here as I settle into a work routine. So here are a handful of pictures from our preparation for the semester. Hope you’re all well.

Popcorn.

Huge mushrooms on the quad.

This guy, posing.

And watching me from the couch. (He does this a lot, and I find it so funny. At the lakehouse, the couch was pushed up against the wall, so this wasn’t really an option.)

An orangey-rust flowy dress that makes me happy.

A peach-blueberry pie I made.

Patio furniture acquired! (Hooray for Craigslist, and for the young men who offered to deliver this to me because the table was about two inches too big to fit in my car.)

Tomato tart. Which was enjoyed before that peach blueberry pie.

Boh, with his new favorite toy, a plush bone he got from our new vet. Happy Friday, friends.

and it’s july.

Posted on July 11, 2015 by barefootrooster

I always forget how intense summer session courses can be. Three weeks of daily discussion sections have gone by in a flash, and it’s July. Yesterday I took my first swim in the lake. And Boh and I have two more weeks here in the lake house, and in our sweet small town, before we move on to our next adventure. Here are a few snippets from the last few weeks:

A porch pancake breakfast with friends who came to visit for the holiday weekend.

We had a dinner party! And a galette! (Tomato, corn, zucchini, scallions, and parmesan.)

Dick: The Game. (A Moby-Dick themed version of Cards Against Humanity. Yes, we are nerds, and proud of it.)

This face.

These falls.

These flowers, in between where I park my car and where our summer course was held. I’d turn the corner each morning and just breathe them in.

Packing. I started with the knitting books — I didn’t realize I have so many! The box pile is slowly growing, and the movers will be here in just under two weeks…

second repeat complete.

Posted on June 3, 2015 by barefootrooster

I’m realizing that maybe the reason I’ve been returning to blogging more regularly has something to do with the fact that I’m not writing anything in my work life right now. (I mean, I’m deep into course prep and syllabus development, but I’m no longer writing a dissertation.) I’m sure I’ll be back into working through other research materials and beginning an article before too long, but right now, my writing is mostly blogging! (Another reason might be that there is way more daylight and sunlight, and lots more pictures of me and Boh frolicking outside…) So, here are today’s pictures (though we haven’t yet completed today’s frolic):

Coffee with my canine companion.

Reading what might be the final book for the seminar I’m teaching this fall. (With Boh’s help, obviously.)

Yesterday’s post-gym mimosa. Or, my attempt to solve the problem of how to finish an open bottle of champagne while living alone (and not all in one sitting). My argument is that when combined with orange juice, champagne can be a recovery beverage… And I’m sticking to it.

I finished the second repeat of the diamond stitch pattern, and the more I knit, the more I love this cowl.

Obligatory outfit mirror shot — temperatures are back up to springtime levels, though I did need a coat for the trip to the coffee shop.

I’ve mostly been working at home these last few months, but today, after a sort of slow start to the week, I decided to get out of the house, at least for the morning. It was a great idea. I read A LOT of pages, plus there is a heart in my latte! I appreciated this small affirmation of my plan for the day. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Boh and I have a date with the park!

settling into summer.

Posted on June 2, 2015 by barefootrooster

A day on the porch. Here, with coffee:

A picture to indicate that the coffee, for whatever reason, was just not working.

More porch work. This time with a huge salad.

Afternoon light. Porch work with a glass of water. (Flowers from my yard!)

Morning granola. (Boh supervising.)

Wide-eyed Boh — a face I love. (He usually makes this face when he is getting belly rubs, but sometimes also when I scratch him behind the ears.)

And then we went for a morning walk around a reservoir on campus, in an attempt to tire ourselves out before it got too hot.

On a bridge!

View from the bridge:

Happy dog.

Slow, steady progress on my Avery cowl.

Chocolate chip walnut cookies. I put most of them in the freezer so I wouldn’t just eat them all, and then remembered how good cookies taste when you eat them right out of the freezer. Good thing this recipe only makes a couple dozen. (Boh and I had a dog/friend playdate this week, and I took a bunch over there.)

Morning nap.

Morning…work? We’ve had much cooler temps the last few days, so in this picture, Boh is actually doing the very important work of keeping my toes warm.

A walk on the bike path during a break in the rain.

Silliness.

Mid-yawn.

We’re trying to settle into a summer routine over here. Hoping it will include lots of good walks, plenty of course prep, some knitting, and maybe a few more batches of cookies. (Where summer means the next few weeks of June! My summer teaching begins at the end of this month…)

barefoot rooster

cockadoodle-doo: one rooster's ramblings

Category Archives: knitting