Category Archives: knitting

roasted tomato soup and a sleeve.

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Well, and this Peanut Butter Popcorn. I doubled the amount of popcorn so that there would be a better ratio of savory/not so bad for me : sweet/bad for me, and I’m happy with that decision. (Plus, there was more popcorn.) This totally helped me power through a lot of comments for my students yesterday.

And here’s that soup: Heidi’s Roasted Tomato Soup from Super Natural Cooking. This one has been in my fall and winter rotation for a couple of years now, and every time I make it I am oh-so-happy.

Last night’s debate gave me some dedicated sleeve knitting time — one down, one to go!

Boh doesn’t seem anywhere near as excited about this as I am. (Maybe that’s because I made him wait until I bound off the sleeve to go for today’s walk…)

Also, thanks for all of your ideas and comments about my mice! I don’t want to jinx anything, but so far so good. I’ve caught a few, and I’ve filled every gap I can find with steel wool. I also got some pouches of spearmint and peppermint labeled as natural, pet- friendly mouse deterrent. I figure it can’t hurt, especially with my critter-filled attic and earthen floor basement. Despite last night’s temps in the high 30s, I found no evidence of mice in the kitchen this morning! Hooray! I’m going to wait a few days to move everything back into the half of the kitchen I moved into the dining room, but I’m optimistic.

field mice and snowbird.

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This is what my battle with the mice has turned into: the contents of my knife drawer and my silverware drawer are on the dining room table. Also, any pots and pans that normally hang out on the stove are here too. I’ve emptied out the space underneath the sink, as well as the drawers the mice seem drawn to. Everything has been cleaned and disinfected, and the traps are baited and set. If I can convince them — through encouragement (in the form of the all natural spearmint packets the hardware store sells that convince mice to move on) and with a little bit of violence (there are rules, as K would say) — to relocate (again, physically, and in some cases, also spiritually) before it gets too cold, I’ll be able to reinhabit my kitchen and enjoy the rest of fall. If I can’t, well…I don’t want to think about that.

Instead, I’ll knit on another project started long ago: Snowbird. I had gotten as far as the collar and the raglan increases, and then the pattern has you start the sleeves before working the body. I was about 20 rows into one of the sleeves. I worked on this for about an hour last night, and I remembered why this was sort of slow going: reverse stockinette. I think I need to focus on relaxing my hands while purling. Or something. Good thing I love the idea of this sweater.

All right. Back to Monday, which for me, means writing midterm comments for my students.

sexy yoda.

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You’re looking at a key piece of my dear friend M’s halloween costume. That’s right; she plans to be “Sexy Yoda” and this hat is totally going to help her get there.

Basically, I’ve knit a Thorpe out of Mission Falls 1824 cotton held double, and the ears from the Felted Baby Yoda Hat. M is out of town on a research trip right now, and I’d like for her to try it on before I sew on the ears. Other friend M (also dear) was in town this weekend and suggested using a deconstructed wire hanger instead of the diluted glue solution in the felted pattern for making the ears appear more Yoda-esque, so I think we’ll go that route. And, of course, braided ties for securing the hat under the chin are an important part of the sexiness. (Can anyone recommend a good tutorial for half double crochet? I don’t really know how to crochet anything, but I might want to crochet a border onto the Thorpe, though I’m going to wait to see how the hat fits M before I do this.)

I worked on this yesterday while wearing my Kerrera.

And I wore my Kerrera while commenting on papers. (Yay!)

Boh did a lot of this.

And this.

And this.

As long as Boh is comfortable. That’s really the goal with all of this working — to create more ways for Boh to nap. And speaking of Boh’s sleeping patterns, today should provide more opportunities for Boh to comfortably lounge while I work. Time to get back to commenting on papers and prepping tomorrow’s class discussion!

FO: kerrera. (also, fall break.)

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Actually, how about Fall Break first? I stopped to snap this picture on my walk to the coffee shop Friday morning. The leaves and the light are so lovely right now.

A lovely latte at one of my favorite places to work. I’m almost happy with my fellowship application, after lots of struggling and a two-week time-out.

Can you see that snake in the grass? Boh totally didn’t see it. (It was right in front of us on the paved path we walked on Friday, and then it slithered off to the side.)

Bright red leaves from my yard. Hello, fall.

Fall is for vests. Especially vests like this one, snagged from my mom, who wore it so well in the late 70s.

And here’s my Kerrera! I’m calling it done, even though the collar could use more of a blocking than the rest of it received this morning. (I put it in the bathroom while I took a hot shower and left the fan off.) The left arm is a little looser than the right between the wrist and the elbow, but I think I can live with that!

I absolutely love the length, and the way the double garter stitch edging hangs, especially in the back.

And of course, I love the patch pockets. I think this is going to get lots of use this fall as a cozy layer for working at home and as the perfect thing to throw on as a light jacket for walking Boh or sitting on the dock with a cup of tea! I think this is the most complicated knit I’ve attempted, and I’m really happy with what I’ve learned. This was the first time I knit anything with short row sleeve caps or patch pockets, and I think both turned out pretty well. (I also learned that I should take better notes — I clearly modified the decreases on one of the arms and did not write that down.) I used not more than 5 and a half skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which means I’ve got almost half a bag left — enough for another sweater!

Okay, back to commenting on papers. Happy Monday!

one side seamed.

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Apologies for the weird lighting. I’m just so excited about how the left pocket looks that I can’t wait for a sunny day to show it to you. Up close, my seaming isn’t perfect, but this looks much better than I anticipated it might.(I’m not super confident about my seaming skills.)

It took all of last night’s presidential debate (and two glasses of wine) to weave in all of the ends and seam one of the pockets. I decided not to push my luck by attempting the second so late in the evening. Seaming one pocket really helps me to see how much I like this sweater! If I can make enough progress on a fellowship application today, maybe I’ll let myself seam the second pocket.

And here’s a shot of my family room, ready for Tuesday night’s reading group. We had a great turnout, and I ended up needing to grab a few more chairs from the dining room. I love that I have enough space to take a turn at hosting. Most of the time it’s just me and Boh here, and it is always nice to fill this room with friends.

Stay tuned for finished Kerrera pictures soon!

victory over double garter stitch.

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First of all, this is how I felt yesterday. The head cold symptoms disappeared, but were replaced by a low grade fever and general aches, pains, and tiredness. So I focused on manageable tasks, and finished enough that I could justify curling up on the couch next to this dog.

And then I finished the double garter stitch edging on the other side. This edging really helps to add a bit of structure to the shape, and I’m feeling pretty good about the fit now that I’m this far along.

I think my Kerrera is going to be exactly the right length. (In this shot, I’m holding up one of the pockets so you can see what it looks like without the drooping that the seaming should fix.) I’m feeling much better today: still a bit tired, but I’ve got a lot more energy right now than I did last night at almost eight o’clock. This is a very good thing, because I’m hosting my reading group tonight. They’ll be here in fifteen minutes!

double garter stitch and grading.

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And new glasses! These are also from Warby Parker. A few weeks ago, in the middle of lots of stuff that was making me cranky and stressed out, I ordered some frames to try on at home. I totally fell in love with these red ones — Marshall, in Rum Cherry — and decided that a new pair of glasses might make everything a little better. And they did.

This is the outfit I put on to wear my new glasses to an event on campus. My dear friend Eileen, who stayed with me while in town for a conference this weekend, even noticed (without prompting) that all these blues made my glasses look even more red and fabulous. Hooray!

In other news, I finished one side of the front edging of my Kerrera! This is what half a sweater looks like. (Please ignore all of those ends waiting to be woven in.)

And here’s a side view. The double garter stitch edging is worked perpendicular to the body, which adds some structure and helps with sagging and stretching. I’m so close — just the edging on the other side and all of the finishing to go!

One more shot. I dug out my favorite rugby sweatshirt to watch the team from my alma mater play the team from my current institution. I’m super active in alumnae stuff, but I don’t get to watch the team play very often, and I had a lot of fun cheering on a group of fabulous women as they rucked and mauled and tackled on a gorgeous fall afternoon. (WRFC = Women’s Rugby Football Club.)

I’m a bit under the weather today after a busy week and weekend, and I finally gave in and took some cold medicine an hour ago. I’ve got a little bit of grading and some class prep to do and I’m aiming for an early bedtime. I can’t believe tomorrow it will be October!

i heart patch pockets.

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Of course, they are harder to see when Boh gets in the way of my photo shoot.

There. That’s better. Because I shortened the cardigan, I decided to shorten the pockets, so I only did a few rows of the double garter instead of the full edging. I’m hoping I can seam these well enough to make these pockets look as lovely as I know they can.

I ripped out the wonky cuff and reknit it — can you tell? Unfortunately, I realized that I must have done a few extra decreases that I didn’t write down, because the first sleeve fits well, and the second sleeve feels a little bit loose. It is possible that I will rip out and reknit the lower portion of sleeve number two…sigh. I should’ve been better about taking notes about my modifications. Good thing I’ve got plenty of yarn, especially now that I’m not knitting the hood. Ripping out the wonky cuff meant cutting my knitting, as the alpaca yarn is very sticky, and the garter rib is tight. These factors combined to form lots of knots. It wasn’t until I ripped back to the regular stockinette that I could just tug and unravel.

Good thing I heart those patch pockets. (And really, I heart this sweater. Which is good, because that double garter border is going to be a pain in the ass to knit.) You know what else I heart?

Grilled cheese. Especially with black olives and arugula. And a mug of tea. Okay, back to Tuesday. I’m spending the morning getting the house ready for a dear friend who will be back in town for a conference on campus this weekend. Boh and I are very excited that she’s staying with us!

break out the alpaca.

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Also known as the answer to evening and early morning temperatures in the 40s. Fall is here, and to celebrate, I’ve been working on my Kerrera. I finished the second sleeve this week, and aside from realizing that I did something wonky on the first sleeve and should probably rip back the double garter on that one and do it again, I’m pretty happy with how it is coming along.

Can you see that the sleeve on the right in this photo has a shorter cuff than the one on the left? I can, so I’ll probably attempt to fix that. Here’s a side/back view:

Something I noticed while snapping these pictures: this sweater is pretty heavy, and the drapey gauge I’m knitting it at isn’t necessarily helping. To counter this — and to increase my chances of actually finishing this before another winter goes by — I decided to look for alternatives to the large hood. I found this version by ravelry user belletrism, and I really like the wide collar. I knit the first few hood increases and finished off with some double garter. What do you think?

I really like it, and I think it will be cozy and floppy once I knit the double garter band along the fronts and the outer edges of this collar. I am a little worried about the sizing, as the weight may cause this to really stretch out as I wear it, so I’m already thinking about tossing this in the dryer after I block it (and it dries completely) to snug everything up a bit. I’m nervous about the idea, but I’ve read that a lot of people do this with handknits. Do you?

I hope you all have a fabulous, cozy Sunday. If I can get everything prepped for my class tomorrow, I’ll be spending my afternoon curled up on the couch with Boh and my Kerrera!

FO: peace fleece pinwheel.

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A lot of Friday Night Lights went into the making of this Peace Fleece pinwheel blanket. I ran out of yarn with about half of one wedge to bind off, and managed to use some handspun in a similar color. I used up all of my remaining Peace Fleece in this colorway, and if I were to knit this again in the same yarn, I might consider going up a needle size, more for comfort while knitting than anything else. I’m really happy with the way this pattern looks in a tweedy/flecked woolly yarn. The weather is turning cold, and I’m excited to get this belated wedding gift in the mail!

Cool weather means it is time to break out the knitwear. I wore my whisper cardigan with jeans and a scarf for a lunch date with friends last week. I really like this sweater, and I’m thinking about knitting another in fingering weight yarn.

Aren’t the zinnias I picked at the farm last week lovely?

One more: Boh being silly under the porch table. I brought this weekend’s pile of grading out here this morning, and Boh insisted on keeping watch from this position while I worked. Happy weekend!