Category Archives: knitting

ravioli muscles.

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Oof. First of all, my ravioli-making muscles are a little sore. (That’s a technical term — they are tiny, and located in the middle of the back.) This is a small (and totally worth it) price to pay for homemade ravioli, in case you’re wondering.

My friends D and T came over last night, along with their sweet dog Coltrane, for a special dinner sort of in honor of D’s recent birthday. Just as we were about to dig in, they said something like, “Wait! Don’t you want to take a picture for the blog?” They know me well.

I followed this ravioli recipe, and the resulting meal was incredible. We also enjoyed my dad’s Caesar salad recipe, and an apple pie. It was a super fun evening, and despite the fact that my parents’ pasta maker (which lives at my house) is missing a few pieces are really requires two people to properly operate it without lots of curse words, I am jonesing for more homemade pasta…

Also, I’ve finished the yoke of Shalom! I did do an extra repeat of the yoke pattern in order to get closer to the neck to armpit distance I need, and I am excited. It is a little small right now, but I’m confident (fingers crossed) that it will block out to the slim fit I’m hoping for. My button holes look a little messy — note to self — I don’t do the bind off/cast-on button holes well, but I’m sure I can clean that up a bit with yarn needle and some extra ends. Onward to the mindless stockinette portion!

Happy Friday!

FO: magic chip.

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121 yards (from 3 oz) of navajo-plyed worsted weight superwash bfl in the magic chip colorway from the AVFKW Woolly Wonders Fiber Club. So, navajo plying a whole skein’s worth of yarn isn’t as scary as I thought it would be! Despite the occasional wrestling I did with this bfl and my not-always-consistent singles, I’m really happy with how this yarn turned out. Now, what should I do with it? (Do we think 120 yards is enough for toddler legwarmers? I know a 4-yr old who would love some.)

Also, last night I did this:

And I decided that I liked it so much that I shouldn’t risk it, so I ordered 2 more skeins of Cascade 220 in Caribbean. Fingers crossed that they match what I’ve got, or are at least close enough. I’m doing this sort of by the seat of my pants, after reading through lots of notes on ravelry. I’m using worsted, instead of heavy worsted weight yarn, but I’m not really changing the stitch count. I figure I’ll try this on once I’m through the yoke, and if it isn’t long enough or big enough, I’ll add another repeat of the pattern before binding off (or separating — I haven’t decided) the sleeve stitches and continuing on with the body. I want this to be snug, and I’m adding a few more buttons (3? 4?) than the original.

I realize that I have a gazillion things on the needles right now — but all of my sweater projects are in muted colors, and spring break demands something bright (and instantly gratifying).

I did manage to get through a fair amount of grading today, and Boh and I romped through muddy fields and meadows with our friends D. and Coltrane (the greyhound) this afternoon. There’s an apple crisp in the oven, and a pile of knitting awaiting me on the couch (next to a loudly snoring dog). These are the makings of a good, quiet evening.

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!

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: lacy baktus.

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Here’s my lacy baktus, relaxing atop one of my sources. (I finished the paper, for now, and submitted it this morning!)

And here it is blocked and wrapped around my neck. At first, I thought it wasn’t long enough because the skinny tails didn’t quite wrap twice around my neck, and I didn’t like the way they were hanging. And then I realized that I could just tie a bow instead of a single knot, and those ends wouldn’t droop down.

Details:

I used size 7 needles, in order to get more drape and length out of my rather small skein of handspun merino/silk in the A King’s Ransom colorway from AVFKW. I think I used about 160 of 188 yards. (I began decreasing a tad early to allow for the variability in the yarn.)

This is such a great pattern for handspun or for variegated yarns — I will definitely be making more of these!

baktusing.

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Ta-da! It turns out that all I needed to do to finish my languishing lacy baktus was to take it out of my bag and put it in the knitting pile near the couch. (Well, and knit on it for two more hours.)

In addition to my knitterly productivity, I spent some quality time with the paper I’m revising this weekend, and while it isn’t done yet, it will be ready on time. (Tomorrow.) I turned around in my chair sometime yesterday morning, and this is what I saw:

My sweet dog, waiting patiently for playtime.

I made the Pioneer Woman’s fancy macaroni on Saturday night as a gooey, hearty reward for my steady progress on this paper, and it was divine. (A bit too decadent for the regular rotation, but the perfect treat!)

Happy March!

in-my-bag knitting.

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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.