jowly.

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Yep, that’s a word. In fact, it is the perfect word to describe this dog.

bohfloppylips furtherback

bohtwofloppylips1

Let’s look at that face from the other side, shall we?

boh2floppylips2

Boh is actually using his paws to support all those wrinkles on his face. Being jowly is tough. It’s a wonder he’s able to get through the day.

seaman's hat myrtle1

I started another handspun hat last night. This is the seaman’s cap, and I am using my first 3-ply handspun: dark bfl from the Spunky Club in the myrtle colorway.

seaman's hat myrtle2

I’m starting to think that it might be more accurate to name this month “hat-tober” over here at Chez Rooster…

bohfloppylip1

I have a busy day ahead of me, but Boh will likely be doing more of this.

FO: botanic hat.

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botanic fo side

botanic fo1

botanic fo inside1

LOVE. This is the botanic hat, by Stephen West. I rarely buy hat patterns, but as more and more botanic hat projects began showing up on ravelry, I decided that I needed to knit this, and I justified my purchase by telling myself that this pattern would be great for gift knitting. I can’t say enough about this pattern or the finished product: the instructions are very clear, and the hat is truly reversible — the two sides are quite different. I will be checking out more of Stephen West’s hat and shawl patterns!

Details:

Hello Yarn handspun in Five Plum Pie (MC) and purpley Cascade 220 (CC).

US size 6 needles (did not go up to 7s after ribbing).

Followed instructions for the regular hat, and the result is a generously sized (covers the tops of my ears) snug hat.

botanic fo on blurry

As I was knitting, I was thinking that these colors are perfect for a dear friend of mine, but now that the hat is finished, it might be very difficult to remove it from my head. We’ll see. I’ll definitely be making more of these!

morehandspuncakes

I wound up two skeins of handspun last night with more hats in mind. This is Spunky Club dark bfl in myrtle, and AVFKW falklands in the silent undergrowth colorway. I’m going to cast on for a seaman’s cap with the myrtle today (after I grade another paper or two) to see how this yarn knits up.

In conclusion, hooray for handspun hats!

and then there were two.

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skein2 cmfbfl fo

Two  skeins of handspun Crown Mountain Farms brown bfl! This second skein (on the left) is 166 yards of 3-ply. I decided to use the bobbins from the first skein, and two of them still had a bit of yarn leftover from the first round of plying, so I divided these three ounces to account for the additional fiber and hoped that everything would even out. So with that in mind (slightly more fiber), I’m really happy with the consistency of my spinning! Here’s a close-up of the second skein:

skein2 cmf bfl macro

Boh and I walked down to the reservoir to stretch our legs and check out the fall foliage, and we were not disappointed.

smc4 leaves

smc1

smc3

smc5 boh

Making time to do this is important to me. There’s something about being in a relationship that made it easier to leave all of the work that piles up and prioritize spending time together. This fall, I’m really trying to make sure I take some of that time for myself.

The weather this weekend was absolutely lovely, and I’m hoping for an October filled with cool mornings, crisp fall breezes, and clear skies.

not-work.

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You know, the opposite of work. (Both are occurring this weekend, but the not-work is more fun to photograph.)

hiding1

Boh likes to “hide” behind or underneath the blanket on my bed. He also likes to chew on it, or pretend to chew on it, as a way of getting my attention.

hiding2

I see you.

slowroasttomatoes

muffins

Slow-roasted tomatoes and raspberry muffins. There was also applesauce — a lot of it — but I didn’t take any pictures. Oh, and some knitting!

botanic inprog

I am ready to start the decrease rows, and I am absolutely in love with this hat.

pastrycutter

I also adore this pastry cutter — a lovely surprise from a friend who found this at an antique shop and knew that I’ve been looking for a a pastry cutter with a wooden handle. I may have to make up a batch of pie crust to welcome this into my kitchen.

cmf bfl skein2 plied

cmf bfl skein2plied closeup

This is how I know that I’m feeling better. Last weekend, I could not spin – too much work and motion for my tired body and achy head. This weekend, I finished spinning all 3 bobbins of singles, let them rest for 10 hours, and late last night, after a fun evening out with friends, I decided to sit down and ply so that I could set the twist and hang the yarn to dry overnight. (It’s almost dry!)

getbacktowork

I think this is Boh’s “get back to work” face.

sensing a theme.

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bohinknitcorner2

bohinknitcorner1

(Note the pile of knitting projects in this particular corner.)

bohcouchthurs1

I never get tired of taking pictures of this dog while he sleeps, which is a good thing: he seems to be napping 90% of the time.

cmf bfl skein2

I started working on the first ply of the second skein of my Crown Mountain Farms brown bfl. This is a sign that I’m feeling better — over the weekend and throughout this week, the treadling motion and sitting up straight at the wheel seemed like too much for me. It felt good to sit down and spin a bit just before bed last night. (Yay!)

Boh and I have big plans to catch up on reading/writing, tackle a big pile of grading, and make some knitterly progress on a few things this weekend. Happy Friday!

socktober 2009.

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socktober

Here are my socks-in-progress. (Last year’s Through the Loops Mystery Sock is in my office, nowhere near completed.) As you all know, I’ve made great strides in the sock-knitting department this year: toe-up, magic loop, lace patterns, chart reading, oh my!

Despite these gains, something happened to my sock knitting mojo with the change of the seasons. Yes, it is getting cold enough to warrant the wearing of socks, but the arrival of fall signifies prime sweater-knitting time. I’m hoping to establish a bit more of a balance this socktober, and it would be great to get back on track with the Socks from the Toe Up KAL. (See the July and August socks languishing above.)

hot toddy

Thanks for all your kind and comforting happy thoughts about the flu I’m trying to beat. Even though I spent several hours sitting on the couch yesterday with my knitting in my lap, I managed to knit only about 4 rows of my garter yoke cardigan. (Boo. Sick Rooster.) After lots of whining, several mugs of turkey broth, and a few hot toddies, I woke up today feeling cautiously optimistic that I’m improving.Though I am going to head to campus for a few hours, I promise to continue taking it easy. Happy Socktober!

i spoke too soon.

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Apparently I celebrated my return to health a bit prematurely. (Boo!) Halfway through my morning class, it hit me: a splitting headache and the flush of a fever. I tried taking a nap, but my head is keeping me awake, so I’m here, whining to the internet.

Before the sickness reappeared, I snapped a few pictures of Mara in action:

mara leggings macro

mara leggings1

I’m not going to lie: I thought about wearing my legwarmers this morning, but with my hot pink Mara, I decided it would be a bit too much.

The real reason I’m blogging for a second time today? (Well, aside from the whining part.) THIS. I can think of several wee ones (and some on the way) who would be absolutely adorable in this hoodie. Also, I might need one. (Seriously. I’ve been eyeing some of the eco wool in my stash…) Even if you aren’t sick, the trailer for this movie will make you feel better.

in which cute snoring trumps knitting.

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[Lots of Boh pictures today, folks, and minimal knitting. Oops.]

ready for waist shaping

I managed to knit a few more inches to the next buttonhole yesterday, which means it is time to begin the waist shaping. I do think I’m feeling even healthier today, which means I can no longer justify the knitting to reading and writing ratio I’ve been employing over the last few days. (On the whole, a good thing!)

Now, onward to that ridiculous dog.

adorabledog1

adorabledog2

(Note that my 28-thirty features prominently in this particular photo. I intend to wear it today as well, as it really does add just the right amount of warmth on these overcast, windy days.)

adorable dog3

The snoring was particularly loud, due, I think, to the fact that Boh’s face and feet are propped up against the back of the couch.

adorabledog4

Are you taking my picture again? Really? Come on.

adorable dog6

Well, fine. Take all the pictures you want. I’m ignoring you. See? My eyes are closed and I’m making my silly snoring sound again. (Note that back ear.)

We hope you’ve enjoyed this Boh interlude. We’re back to our regularly scheduled Wednesday — which will require a second cup of coffee.

you gotta keep ’em separated.

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gyc sleeves divided

My sense of humor is returning, which makes me hopeful that I’ll be back to my usual (healthy) self today. A few weekends ago, I was having a conversation with my officemate about The Offspring. (He LOVED them, and even seemed a bit nostalgic for the days when they were on the radio all the time.) Thus, the title of today’s post. I sat down to think of a way to indicate that I had finished the raglan increases and divided the sleeves from the body on my garter yoke cardigan, and The Offspring came to mind.

gyc sleeves divided2

I know you can’t tell from the photo, but I’m thrilled with the fit so far. I was too lazy to put this on scrap yarn, so it is still on a slightly too small circular.

gyc sleeves divided3

gyc sleeves divided4

When I joined the Cascade 220 and began working the raglan increases, I have to tell you that I had some doubts about my color choices — I just wasn’t sure that this brown was the right match for this handspun. I think I just needed to see more of the brown to get a sense for what it will look like, because I absolutely love this. Also, I think this is the first sweater I’m making with Cascade 220, and I am thoroughly enjoying knitting with it. I might need to acquire a bunch more the next time Webs has that incredible anniversary sale…

cmf bfl skein1 prewash

Here’s the first skein of my Crown Mountain Farms brown bfl before washing and setting the twist.

cmf bfl skein 1 fo2

And here it is, all finished and ready to wait patiently for the other skeins. This is 150 yards of 3-ply worsted weight. If I can maintain this yardage per each 3 oz, I should be able to get 8 skeins, or about 1200 yards, to work with.

cmf bfl skein 1 fo3

More gorgeous fiber came in yesterday’s mail, which certainly improved my mood. (I am not a very good sick person — too impatient and pouty.) I’m planning to head to campus for a little while today, but don’t worry, I’m going to take it easy to ensure that I’m over this little weekend flu bug. (Which means I’ll probably do some more knitting. And annotating.)

tomatoes, 28thirty, three-ply.

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roasted tomatoes

Yesterday started out well. I blogged, put some tomatoes in the oven to roast, put on a handknit sweater, did some reading, and went out to brunch.

wearing 28thirty

While I did all of this, my head became rather congested, and by the time I got home after brunch, I was starting to feel achy. Blah. I decided to go to the grocery store because if I was getting sick, I wanted to do so with a replenished refrigerator, and while I was packing my eggs (yummy, local eggs that you can pack yourself at my local coop), I dropped one of them, which seemed to confirm that I was not really at 100% yesterday.

So rather than annotated a less than fully formed bibliography, I did the things I absolutely needed to do, watched guilty tv online, drank a lot of tea, and late at night, forced myself to eat something. (Somehow I forgot to eat dinner. When I am not hungry, something is not quite right.) Oh, and I plyed my first skein of my CMF bfl sweater spinning project.

first skein cmf bfl 3ply

LOVE. This morning, as I wait to see if this was just a 24-hour bug or if I am going to feel lousy again (I always feel good in the early mornings, even when I’m sick, so I’ve learned to delay all decision-making about the day to mid-morning), I’m going to set the twist and hang my pretty yarn to dry.

Fingers crossed that today I’ll feel better. That bibliography is not going to annotate itself!