Category Archives: knitting

unintended absence…

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Hi, you guys! Apologies for what has been an entirely unintended absence from the blog! I made it to DC on schedule, but accidentally brought a pretty nasty cold/flu with me. My first week was a bit of a blur, and now that it’s been almost three (?!), I’m finally settling into a rhythm. Here’s a little bit of what that looks like:

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National Archives at night. Last night, in fact. Snapped this on my way to meet a dear friend for dinner.

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My office — and my new shiny piece of technology. (I bought an iPad mini, and I love it. It has already been more useful than I could have imagined for my work. I’m reading and annotating articles and drafts, and using it as a second screen while reviewing documents and making notes. Super awesome.) Also, that’s a bowl of tabbouleh. I’m still getting used to packing my lunch every morning. At home, most days I split my work between home and campus or a coffee shop, and head back to the house to walk Boh and make lunch.

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Birds! I don’t intend to share lots of work stuff here, but I figured that knitters might appreciate these gorgeous, vibrant birds. (One of the people I write about in my dissertation was a naturalist who collected a lot of specimens for the Smithsonian.)

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Yarn! Foxflat was in town, and we met up to do some yarn shopping and tea drinking. Hooray for internet friends who become real-life friends!

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Consider this proof of our lovely afternoon (and my inability to keep my eyes open in photos). I have plans to knit a spring cowl ouf of that super happy Quince and Co. yarn. Also, I’m totally psyched about that sweater Katie is wearing — she posted about it here, and it is even more fantastic in person.

Alright, that’s what I’ve got for now. I’m embarrassingly far behind on replying to comments, but it’s on my to-do list. (Which, by the way, I’m working to digitize. I highly recommend Workflowy, and if you want to check it out, use this link, and we’ll both get a little extra space. No pressure, of course.)

Happy Groundhog Day — and happy weekend! More soon.

whoosh.

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That, my friends, is the sound of deadlines passing. I’ve managed to stay on top of the stuff with deadlines set by other people, and I’m working on accepting that perhaps I was too ambitious in setting some deadlines for myself this winter break. Really hard to be in the right mindset to finish up a chapter draft while my house (and let’s face it, life) is in disarray. I do not like being in between. I know this about myself, and I should’ve been kinder to myself about what kind of writing was manageable during this period of transition. Lesson learned (let’s hope). In the meantime, I’ve got a head cold, and I’m mostly packed up. Heading to DC today, and hoping to leave the cold behind. Want to see some pictures from this week?

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Boh, contemplating the view from our friend M.’s window and wondering if anybody is going to fix him a drink.

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I finally blocked Agnes, and the neckline is more relaxed now (and so much more comfortable). The length is better too, though if I were knitting this again, I’d add a few more inches so that it hits at the hip when I’m not pulling it down with my hand in a pocket.)

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More Hudson Bay Inspired Blanket knitting. I love the way this is turning out. Endless garter stitch has been exactly what I’ve wanted to work on lately, so this is definitely coming with me to DC.

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Sweet, sweet dog. He’s settled in now at my parents’ house, and it sounds like all is well. The house has been so quiet without him here, and I’ve found myself listening for the padding of paws and the jingle of his collar. I know he’ll be much happier where he is, but this will be the longest we’ve ever been apart.

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A stunning sunset. Almost as if the universe wanted to leave me with a reminder of how much I’ll miss my cozy lake house. Fingers crossed that my subletter takes good care of it while I am away.

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Time to work through my last to-do list and hit the road. More from DC!

the usual?

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Things have been rather quiet around la casa Rooster this week. We’re in transition: I’m trying to wrap up some applications and a chapter draft, and I’m also trying to get my house ready for a subletter and my life ready to move to DC for a couple of months. All that means I’m also gearing up to take Boh to stay with my parents. I know he’ll love it there, but I’ve been realizing that “the usual” — which mostly consists of quiet dog-cuddling while I work — is going to change, at least for a little while.

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Also, it’s cold! Hence knits in action. I also recommend squishy garter stitch blanket knitting.

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I love the way this is knitting up.

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One more sweet Boh picture. Yesterday he figured out that this corner of the coffee table base is the perfect size and shape for his head. Silly, silly dog. Okay, back to the to-do list!

that time of year.

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Last weekend I helped a group of grad student friends decorate Christmas cookies.

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I also got out my long puffy coat.

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Dear friends sent me this gorgeous woodcut print they made.

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And Boh cuddled up to J., here working on another knitting project! Boh and I are gearing up for a week at my parents’ house, which means there’s a flurry of activity (and of light snow, actually): cleaning, packing, making sure I’ve got all of my presents, deciding what books and work to bring home…

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And also, which knitting should accompany us. This is the Hudson Bay Inspired Crib Blanket, which I’m making as a lap blanket in shades of blue against a natural backdrop. I think it is the perfect pattern for friends of mine who got married last year.

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Other things happening around here: chocolate chip cookies, latkes, and reading/dog-cuddling.

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I’m not sure I’ll be blogging between now and the new year, but Boh and I will be back soon with all the regular stuff and perhaps some 2013 fibery goals/plans! Happy everything to you and yours this holiday season.

FO: nanny’s mittens.

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These little mittens have a big story. Long-time readers may remember when my grandmother, Nanny, gave me all sorts of old patterns and yarn. I donated the yarn and kept the patterns, along with a small ziplock bag with these mittens inside. They were finished, except for the thumb of the second mitten. (And there was a third, which looks to me like something went a bit awry with the beginnings of the thumb.)

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It didn’t take much to improvise a thumb for the second mitten, and now I’ve got a pair. I’m extra excited about this because there’s a great-grandchild in our family now, and this will be her first Christmas. I’m planning to take these mittens to show Nanny, and to remind her that she did most of the knitting, and to ask her if she wants to be part of my surprise: we’ll wrap them up and give them to our family’s newest addition, my cousin’s 11 month-old daughter. The mittens will be a bit too big for her this year, but I’m not sure Nanny will be quite as lucid next Christmas. Sewn, knitted, and crafted gifts from her were always a big part of our family Christmas celebrations when I was little, and I love the idea that there will be something made by her hands under this year’s tree.

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And there’s this guy, holding onto his favorite bone. It has nothing to do with the mittens, but I had to share.

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View from the porch, sometime last week.

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Homemade hummus with toast.

Stay tuned for more holiday knitting…if I finish it in time!

FO: cider press hat.

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Here are a couple of pictures from that walk I told you we took on Sunday.

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I wore my new hat. (I’m much happier with it than I appear to be in this picture. This is clearly me focusing too much on keeping my eyes open.)

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I cast on the hat from the Cider Press Set, an Amy Christoffers hat and mitts pattern pair that I purchased a few weeks ago when they were on sale. This ribbed and waffled combination is awesome: squishy, stretchy, and oh-so-warm.

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Also, totally addicting to knit. I made this hat out of most of a skein of Berocco Ultra Alpaca, and I love it. Good thing this color has my brother written all over it, or I’d keep it too! (I might make one for me out of handspun.) I used US 4 and US 6 needles because I couldn’t find my 3s and 5s.

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Hooray for last minute (and late-night) Christmas knitting. I’m so excited to send this, along with the rest of his present, to my brother, who has to stay in Colorado for the holidays.

another -itis.

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Yep. Startitis. Does codeine cough syrup cause that?

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Excuse the terrible picture of this finished Snow Cowl. J., of new-knitter/fingerless-mitt fame ’round these parts knit one of these and I loved how squishy it was. And then I was organizing my stash and came upon two balls of Malabrigo Gruesa, already wound, that I’d planned to turn into an Urchin so very long ago. This was a fast and super satisfying knit. It’s blocking now on the dining room table, so I’ll snap a better picture or two once it is dry.

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I began and finished this Early Morning Beret yesterday. (Excuse my bleary-eyed state in that photo — I finished the beret while I was waiting to take one more dose of cough syrup before bedtime.) I knit it out of some absolutely swoonworthy Fibre Company Knightsbridge (70/30 alpaca/merino, now discontinued) that I acquired when I was first accumulating a stash. I started knitting this as a gift, but I’m keeping it. I’ve got enough yarn to knit another, or I might knit myself some matching fingerless mitts.

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And here’s Boh, helping with yarn organization.

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And helping some more. (Keeping me warm?)

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More helping? This dog has been nothing but sweet to me while I’ve been feeling lousy. Today I took him on a special walk to say thank you. More on that soon!

destash.

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It turns out that when I’m sick I love to organize. Also, I’m gearing up for a couple of months in DC, which also means getting ready to take Boh to hang out with my brother in Colorado, and preparing my home for a subletter. I’m going to try to pack a bunch of personal stuff into my office so that there’s space for my subletter to get comfortable here. My office is also my fiber room — hence, the destash.

Ideally I’d do this with natural light, but it is getting dark before 5 pm, so I decided not to hold my breath for sunshine. I laid out a dropcloth for snapping a few pictures, but while I was busy putting the battery into my camera, this happened:

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Silly dog. Anyway, you can find all the details on my ravelry destash page: a bunch of brightly colored fingering weight yarn, and a fair bit of cotton yarn. (Also, a huge lot of black KnitPicks Gloss, from back when I was a brand-new knitter and thought I was ready to knit myself a black fingering weight pullover…) I’m still not ready. Maybe you are?

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If you see something you like, message me on ravelry or shoot me an email! Thanks!

persistent.

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Unfortunately, that’s the word I’m using (and the word the PA I saw today used) to describe my cough. Though I started feeling a lot better by the end of last week, there’s been almost a whole second week of coughing, which basically means I’m not sleeping super well. The good news is that the PA prescribed some codeine cough syrup to help me sleep. Here’s a bunch of pictures from this week: lots of dog cuddling, and some knitting and cooking amidst the paper-commenting I’ve been doing.

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Brussels sprouts and bacon, before and after.

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Tuesday it was warm enough on the porch for me to spend the day working at my yellow table. Boh took a really good nap out there.

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Dog cuddling and movie-watching.

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More dog cuddling.

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Peanut butter popcorn, this time with sriracha instead of vanilla. I might have eaten this instead of my dinner on Wednesday.

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The cough was keeping me up at night — tough to get to sleep while laying in bed. On Wednesday night I got out my sleeping bag and slept in my grandfather’s chair.

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Boh is also a master of sleeping in strange positions…

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Bristol in progress. I love how this is knitting up! I’m a couple of repeats in. Can’t wait to wear this! (Or at least see how it looks on my head.)

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My dear friend M. invited me over for dinner last night. This pear and blue cheese salad and some mushroom, rosemary, and cheese-medley pizza were exactly what I needed. (This hearty meal plus some nighttime cold medicine helped me sleep much more soundly last night.)

That’s what I’ve got for now. Happy weekend!

bristol boom.

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I cast on a new project yesterday: the Bristol Hat, by Amy Christoffers. There was a pattern sale last week, and I love the understated chevron-y goodness of this hat. The friend who is the fastest and most excellent new knitter ever, J.,  invited me over yesterday afternoon, and we enjoyed wine, cheese, pears, and knitting. I wanted to knit on something I could pay a little less attention to than the Avery cowl, so I grabbed this pattern off of my desk and went scavenging for yarn. I came up with this skein of Fiesta Baby Boom, which I bought years ago fully intending to knit it into man socks. That’s not happening, but this hat is! (Boom.)

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We got this dusting of snow on the final evening of November. It had melted by the time the sun went down.

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All of this cold weather makes me want to snuggle with handknits. (And Boh. More on that below.) I want to cast on ten new squishy warm things to wrap around myself. But I’m practicing restraint. For now.

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Apparently this weather also makes me want to wear all of my clothes at once. Snapped this when I realized I was wearing a t-shirt, a button-down, and two wool sweaters. In the house. Soon I’ll adjust to the colder temps, or at least I hope I will!

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Yesterday I made another Smitten Kitchen dutch baby pancake. And it was every bit as delicious as the first one. And the one after that, and the one after that…

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And here’s Boh’s contribution to today’s post. Sweet, sweet dog. Thanks, everyone, for sending healthy thoughts in my direction. I’m feeling much better; only the cough has lingered, and hopefully that will be on its way soon as well! Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Boh and I have plans to curl up with some knitting and a movie tonight. (I do love teaching, but a Sunday evening without a Monday morning class to prep is so very nice. Hooray for study period!)