boh knows best.

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I left off yesterday by saying that I owed Boh a good, long walk. All this reading, writing, and grading has meant a slew of shorter-than-they-should-be walks for my favorite four-legged companion. I was thinking about it as something for him — but really, it was exactly what I needed, too. (Funny how that works.)

Late afternoon light.

Intrepid adventurers?

I love this tree.

The reservoir, late fall.

We needed that. (Way more restorative than the fancy coffee drink I splurged on yesterday as I headed home from campus.)

FO: fireside chat.

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150 yards of soft, squishy 2-ply BFL from AVFKW. I am so happy with the way this poofed up with washing. Tough to photograph the subtle depth of this colorway — lots of different shades of pinks, some pale purple-y grays, even some taupe. (Not as orange as it looks above.) Even Boh approves.  This is destined to be birthday yarn for my friend H – she’ll get it soon. (I forgot to bring it with me to campus today.)

Gorgeous day today — clear sky, lots of sun. I owe Boh a long walk, so that’s where we’re headed.

sunday night spinning.

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Last night, at about eight o’clock, I decided that I just couldn’t look at the pages of a book anymore. And so I dug out an unfinished spinning project: 3 oz. of BFL blend in the Fireside Chat colorway from the AVFKW Woolly Wonders Fiber Club. I’d already spun one bobbin, so I turned on an episode of Planet Money (great npr podcast, which you can find here), and spun the second half of the fiber, albeit a bit thicker in places than the first.

I made a half-head of romaine-sized portion of my dad’s caesar salad recipe (so good), and returned to the reading. (Sneak peak of my progress on the ripe bananas lap blanket test knit.)

And then I plied and washed the Fireside Chat BFL, and it poofed up. (Yay!) While in the kitchen, I snapped a photo of this very lonely cranberry muffin:

A dozen cranberry muffins – (one rooster reading + one boy writing a dissertation proposal) = one muffin remaining.

Must it be Monday?

yo.

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Yep. That was the problem. I accidentally yarn-overed at the start of a lace row, when I wasn’t supposed to. And then, in my uncaffeinated stupor, I proceeded to attempt to account for the fact that my stitch count was off, all the way through each section. I know better than to do that, at least when I’ve had my coffee.

I realize that to the untrained eye, these pictures look pretty much like what I posted yesterday. The knitter, however, will notice a key difference: yesterday’s photo has lots of extra yarn in it, suggesting the un-knitting that has just occurred; today’s photos have no such excess yardage, suggesting that things are moving along as intended. And they are. I re-knit the offending row — AFTER a full cup of coffee.

And now I’m off to campus. But since it’s Friday, I’ll leave you with a dose of sweetness:

I thought Friday would never get here. Happy weekend!

repeat after me.

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I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit anything that isn’t garter or stockinette before finishing my first cup of coffee. I will not knit…

Sigh. I’ve been un-knitting this morning for almost twice as long as I knit. And I know better. Is it Friday yet?

pancakes, pears, and a pumpkin.

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(Okay, it was a red kabocha squash. Also known as a Japanese pumpkin. I made the alliterative choice.)

Cranberry pancakes for lunch. (Fresh cranberries, from my favorite little farm/market hybrid.)

Red kabocha squash, stuffed with a mixture of local sausage, kale, onions, mushrooms and rice, and topped with some shredded jack cheese.

A double batch of pear crisp, made with pears from the tree in D and T’s yard. I’m warming this up for breakfast.

And there’s this guy. Leg up in hopes of a belly rub. Sometimes he just lays like that.

No knitting to share, folks. Despite deadlines of the knitting variety fast approaching, the work pile won out yesterday. Grading, reading, corresponding with students — the productive hours disappear. Hoping to find time to curl up with my needles today.

 

windows. (also, potatoes.)

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Just now trying to catch my breath after a whirlwind weekend — and it seems fitting to post a few photos from the part of Saturday that felt like a chance to relax for a brief moment. These glimpses out the window onto one of many courtyards capture a bit of what it felt like to be back there, ten years after I first arrived. Just as beautiful, but a bit further away. Light filtered through window panes?

I’m still looking for the pause button these days. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by work and life, and trying to find time to knit.

This seems a bit heavy for Tuesday morning, so I’ll leave you with a photo of the twice-baked potatoes I was craving after Sunday afternoon’s long drive home.

Yum. More soon.

happy lace.

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Isn’t it, though? Last night I proctored a prelim. I brought reading to do, but I was up and down to answer questions every ten minutes or so, and just couldn’t focus on my work. Luckily, I had tucked the lap blanket I’m test-knitting for Cosy into my bag, and as the students worked, I got through another repeat or two. I love the slight variegation in this orangey handspun.

Also, I wore my garter yoke cardigan on Wednesday, and snapped a photo before dashing off to lecture. There’s something not-quite-right with the fit/style of this for me. I think the sleeves are a bit too wide to be 3/4 length, and buttoned up, I feel sort of matronly. (This might just have to do with the fact that I spend most of my time on a college campus.) Anyway, I decided to wear it over a super bright mustard-yellow shirt, and I think that worked. Thus concludes this edition of “knits-in-action.”

I’m off to the land of my bright college years for the weekend. Not looking forward to the drive, but so happy that it is finally Friday.

FO: windschief #2.

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Apparently I shouldn’t  even decrease the crown of a hat before fully completing the day’s first cup of coffee. Part of the way through both the hat and my first mug, I realized that my stitch counts between markers were slightly off. And being mostly pre-coffee, I decided to fake it, and left out a decrease in one section and decreased in a non-decrease row right before the decreases switch from every other row to every row. And on a human head (mine, above), I think any slight wonkiness is hidden by the variegation in the yarn and the general awesomeness of this pattern. So I’m calling it good. We’ll see if I can get some boy-modeled shots to share.

And now, the details. This is the windschief hat by Stephen West, size M, knit in Malabrigo Worsted in the verdeazul colorway, as directed, on size 6 and size 7 needles. I used what looks like half (or slightly more than half) the skein. And at this moment, I’m too lazy to go into the kitchen and weigh it. So you’ll have to trust me on that. Also, this pattern? I still love it.

Alright, time to finish this mug of coffee and get ready for the day. Is it Friday yet?

FO: the second half.

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Here’s the rest of the grey alpaca. The top skein (you know, the one closer to the book I should be reading right now), was the softest, highest quality fiber in the bag, and I think you can see the difference when looking at these skeins side-by-side. There’s 70 yards of the softer alpaca, and then another 116 yards of the coarser stuff, bringing the whole lot to 339 yards of light-worsted singles. Can’t wait to see what N. decides to knit out of this stuff!

Last night, after a long day and a dinner of leftovers, we took a break from the kind of work that requires full mental concentration and picked up projects that would allow us to listen to an episode of This American Life. I worked on B’s windschief hat, and I am now ready to start the decreases. He should have a hat to keep him warm by the end of the week. In fact, maybe I’ll knit a few rounds before I tackle the writing I need to do today…