Category Archives: knitting

sickness/sweetness.

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This is what canceling office hours and taking a sick day looks like around here. (Also, whoa. WordPress has a brand new photo upload interface.)

Fixings for a magically soothing beverage.

Said beverage.

My classroom, empty before our final meeting of the semester on Wednesday morning. (I was assigned a particularly beautiful room this semester. Last spring, my class on nature occurred in a windowless room.)

A little bit of spinning. This is the second bobbin of Sprout singles. Not sure if I am going to ply this or leave it as singles.

Boh, being silly, and using my knitting as a pillow.

Pure sweetness. I’m feeling much better today, and Boh helped.

Aaaaand he’s snoring. Time to finish my cup of tea and get to bed!

actual knitting content.

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On Saturday night, a couple hours after returning home, I went over to visit with my favorite greyhound and his people (who were kind enough to remind me to bring some knitting). We listened to an episode of This American Life, and I made a little bit of progress on the body of my Snowbird cardigan.

Remember this? The cold weather has me itching to knit cozy, cuddly accessories, so I dug out my Avery cowl and finished the first repeat. A couple more, and I’ll be able to wrap this around my neck. Twice.

I acquired some pink/purple cords, and I’m pretty sure these will help keep me happy this winter. I wear a lot of neutrals, so this bit of brightness should complement much of my wardrobe.

I snapped this shot on my way home after Thanksgiving. Snow was falling, and thick clouds were gathering over this silo. It will be December next week, and it’s time. I’m still getting used to bundling up! (Thank goodness for knitwear.)

And then there’s this guy. He’s been keeping me company on the couch these last few days. My mom was sick over Thanksgiving break, and on Sunday morning, I woke up with the first signs of the same thing: laryngitis and a chest cold. After overexerting myself yesterday, I decided to cancel everything today and focus on getting better. (And, I hope, writing at least a few pages of the diss chapter I’m working on.) I’m pretty sure I’ll be knitting a bit today too…

mishmash.

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How about another jumble of photos from the last week? I’m writing this from my parents’ kitchen table, mug of coffee in hand, Boh curled up on a blanket on the floor nearby, cardinals at the bird feeder. We’re gearing up to head back to the lake house, where there’s still a lot of work to do before we get to return here for Christmas. I didn’t even bring any knitting with me on this trip. Instead, I graded, and read, and caught up on my to-do list. Once I’m back home, I’m hoping to get some writing done. Let’s see what I photographed with my phone this week:

New shoes. Booties, even. I have some straight-leg skinny-ish jeans that don’t really work with my boots. Not skinny enough to wear boots over them, and not wide enough to comfortably get the boots under them. These were affordable (over at ideeli DOT com, which I’ve had some good luck with), and I liked the gray color. They look great with pants, but I’m not sure I really know how to wear them as booties. Like this, maybe? Thank you for any and all fashion advice.

Writing. With peanut butter popcorn.

Boh guards the popcorn.

Another Dutch baby pancake — I made this one before heading to campus early on Monday morning. I can’t believe how easy and tasty this is. (And I don’t want to know how not good for me it might be to start eating a plate-sized pancake every morning…)

J’s mitts in action! I snapped this photo after we had lunch together on Monday. Aren’t they terrific?!

Boh, in full-on charmer mode here at my parents’ house. I love how he’s got that circular dog bone on his arm.

And that’s what we’ve got. Happy weekend — and knitting — to you!

acceleration.

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It’s that time of the year and semester where everything is speeding up. I don’t think I’ve knit a stitch all week! (Well, that’s not entirely true. I did knit and then unknit a couple of stitches on J’s fingerless mitts to teach her how to make a thumb-hole.) There are two weeks of classes left, I’m scrambling to get a more complete draft of the first chapter of my dissertation together, Thanksgiving is approaching, I’ve been showing my home to potentially subletters (I’ll be out of town for a couple of months for research this winter), and basically, my head is spinning. I had to look at my phone to see what, if anything, I photographed this week, and here’s what I found:

Another dutch baby (why are they called that?) from Deb’s cookbook. Full disclosure: I just pulled another one out of the oven. I cannot wait to eat it.

J, working the thumb-hole on her first fingerless mitt!

Boh expressing…something.

I had nothing to do with the preparation of this incredibly delicious pumpkin-themed meal (pumpkin ravioli in sage-butter, pumpkin cheesecake for dessert). All I did was snap this action shot.

Out. Cold. Friday afternoon. This is how I felt yesterday afternoon, too. Hope you’ve got a wonderful weekend planned! More from us soon.

smitten.

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I’ve been drooling over Deb’s Smitten Kitchen Cookbook all week. On Saturday morning I made latkes and they were amazing. Best I’ve ever made. I particularly appreciate that Deb did not specify how many people this particular recipe serves, because I ate them all.

Today, I made my coffee and flipped through the book again. This dutch baby caught my eye. I’ve never made one before, but the results were picture-perfect. (And oh-so-tasty.)

And just now I mixed up a simple and yummy broccoli slaw to counter the decadence in my weekend food intake. I really think you might need this cookbook. (Full disclosure: Not only did I buy one for myself; after looking through mine, I also purchased three more as gifts for my mom, my chair, and a dear friend. All have birthdays in the first half of November.)

And, you know, because this is, at least in theory, a knitting blog, look — knitting! Those are not my hands; they are the hands of my dear friend J. She’s such a fast learner. After one evening of basic instruction in casting on, knitting, and purling, she practiced until she’d used up the partial ball of yarn I gave her. On Friday we went yarn shopping, and that evening, J. cast on her first project (on dpns, no less!), a pair of toasty fingerless mitts! Hooray!

breaking news.

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Nope, not the president’s reelection. Or any number of the meaningful choices made on Tuesday — including to send more women to Congress, to expand the privileges that come with marriage to more people who love each other. I’m totally psyched about those things. Lots of folks on the internet (well, the parts of the internet I frequent) have written smartly and thoughtfully about Tuesday’s events, so I’m focusing on savory leek bread pudding. Yep, you heard me. There were leeks at the farm this week (my second-last pick-up) and then I saw this recipe, so I made a special trip to the store yesterday. Yoga was canceled, so I had an evening to let things simmer on the stove and bake in the oven. Yum. I made this with whole milk instead of milk and cream, and I left out the chives in favor of more thyme. This is a wonderfully creamy, comforting meal. And this lucky Rooster is heating it up for breakfast right now.

Also, this. I do not get tired of Boh’s sweetness. I hope you’re not sick of it either.

More Snowbird, slowly but surely. Time to eat some leek bread pudding and get myself to the coffee shop to write. Happy Thursday!

forward.

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Forward, both for my Snowbird cardigan and hopefully, the nation. As I write this, I’m waiting for my friend M. (of Sexy Yoda fame) to pick me up so that we can go to our polling place to vote. I’m excited — 4 years ago I voted absentee, so I haven’t voted in-person since 2004, when I worked as an organizer for a non-partisan youth voting initiative. Today is the first time that most of the undergraduates at my university will get to participate in the electoral process. (Note that I did not say the democratic process, because I strongly believe that voting is one of many ways to participate in creating the democracy we want to live in.)

And now I’ve got some unrelated cuteness. Or maybe it could be related, if Boh were running for any sort of office.

Boh is a strong supporter of roasted cauliflower.

Also, handspun shawls. (I was using this one as a makeshift hot water bottle cover yesterday.)

And he yawns, just like everybody else. The sweetness. Happy Election Day, American readers! Please vote.

apple crisp.

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I love apple crisp season. You know what else I love? The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. If you’re a regular reader here at Chez Rooster, you already know that Deb and Smitten Kitchen are my go-to cooking resource on the interwebs. This cookbook is amazing, and totally worth the wait. I want to make (and eat) it all. The crisp part of the apple crisp I made (twice) comes from Deb’s apricot crisp recipe, and it is the best crisp topping I’ve ever prepared. I expect that lots of recipes from this book will find their way into my kitchen rotation. I’ll keep you posted as I cook from it.

And Snowbird is moving right along — I finished the second sleeve yesterday, and began working on the body. I’ve never knit a sweater that instructs you to knit the sleeves first, but it feels great to know that once the body is done, I’ll be pretty close to done knitting this sweater! I plan to alternate knitting with transcribing research photos this afternoon. (And tea-drinking.)

And then there’s this guy. I have no idea what he is doing with his tail in this picture, which is why I took it. This is how he was sitting on the couch when we came in from our walk. Now he’s snoring loudly, and I imagine he’ll be out cold for much of the middle of the day. Here’s to a cozy and productive weekend!

five (oops).

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My fifth blogiversary was a couple of weeks ago, and I was out of town and totally forgot to post. This space continues to mean so much to me — it is a place to document my world and connect with folks who care about similar things (knitting, spinning, cooking, outdoor frolicking, sweet and wrinkly dogs…) as well as an opportunity to write something, and often to get unstuck (in lots of ways). I like having this record of sorts. I’m a historian, so I guess that shouldn’t be surprising, but perhaps because my academic life, though punctuated with deadlines, has reached the stage where I’m working on a Really Big Project, I particularly value this alternate way of documenting some of the other pieces of my life here in the blogosphere. Thanks for being here — for reading, for commenting, and for blogging! Now, about those socks.

Yesterday marked the ceremonial(?) putting on of the handknit socks — the first time this fall! (These happen to be handspun as well.) We’re expecting a solid seven days of rain from the storms converging on the East Coast this week, and last night, as I was leaving the house, it was just beginning to drizzle. These kept me cozy all evening. Are you wondering what’s under that foil?

Deb’s Apple Mosaic Tart with Salted Caramel. You should add puff pastry to your grocery list. Seriously. This tart was so easy that I felt guilty bringing it over to the home of D and T, even though T had seen it on Deb’s blog and requested it. (It felt sort of like microwaving my dinner might feel. You know, if I had a microwave.) These are the basic steps: put puff pastry in pan, add apples, top with sugar and butter, bake. While baking, melt sugar, add a few things, and brush the caramel over the top of the tart. And it is SO GOOD. And pretty. And because my apples were huge and a little soft, I didn’t make the spiral that Deb made. Still tasty, still pretty.

Here’s a snapshot from Friday’s Yoda Thorpe fitting. M brought over some gardening wire for the ears, and we added the appropriate level of wrinkling. I’m hoping to get a picture of M’s Sexy Yoda costume to share with you!

I’ll wrap up today with some sweetness. Boh has conjunctivitis, so he’s been extra cuddly. (Except when I put his eye drops in three times a day. Poor dog.) Yesterday he napped while I graded.

Good thing I’m right-handed! We have a few more papers to work on together today.

These are my favorite trees on campus. There’s something about the golden shade of fall leaves that looks extra brilliant on dreary days. At least I have these trees to look forward during this week of rain ahead. I hope everyone in the path of the Frankenstorm stays safe, warm, and dry.

golden weekend.

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In surgeon-speak, a “golden weekend” is a weekend you’re not working or on call. For my dear friends in St. Louis, these back-to-back days of family time are precious — and noted as such on the calendar that hangs in the kitchen. I had a golden weekend of sorts. I managed a kind of balance between writing the dissertation, playing in the kitchen, prepping class, and walking with Boh amidst golden light and fall leaves.

Oh how I love fall.

Fennel slaw from The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods. Do you read their blog? You should. And you should totally consider purchasing their gorgeous cookbook. This fennel slaw was simple and unexpectedly delicious. And after spending a couple of evenings flipping through the cookbook, I was inspired to make this pot of white beans:

Even though I didn’t have all of the ingredients called for, these beans and leeks are amazing. (And I say “are” because I’ve eaten them for two meals, and I’m psyched to have them again for lunch today, maybe this time on toast.)

I dug out my Agnes to wear while I worked on Sunday morning before the sun warmed the house up. I tug at it a little bit — it is slightly short, and the neck is a bit snug. I don’t think I ever blocked this, so once my dining room table is free (I’m slowly moving everything back into the kitchen), I think I’ll give it a good soak and pin it out to dry!

I almost wore my Kerrera on the walk I took with Boh, but I decided I’d be too warm. (That turned out to be a good choice. Soon…) It also needs blocking, or at least the collar does.

And in the knitting department, I present to you Yoda Thorpe! Since snapping this photo, I’ve used the sides of a coated green hanger to thread through the ears, and now it needs some more seaming to support the additional weight. I think M. is going to be a fabulous Sexy Yoda for Halloween.

There’s a pile of grading waiting for me today, which means that instead I’m making granola, doing laundry, and generally catching up on life this morning. Pretty soon I’ll have no choice but to sit down to comment on papers…