___ tired.

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sleep1

sleep21

We’re nearing the end of the semester, and we both feel this way. Luckily, we’ve had a little bit of this:

snow

crazy

It is time to really dig into the papers I have to write in order to finish out the semester, and I’m having a hard time locating my motivation to get into these particular projects. I realized this weekend that this is okay, and that the progress I’ve made this semester has required a lot of energy and effort, and it is beginning to catch up to me. I’m looking forward to the change of scenery my parents’ house will provide later on this week. I’ll certainly be bringing a pile o’ books with me, but I haven’t been home for Thanksgiving in several years, and I’m anticipating a whole lot of laughter and some personal battery recharging. I’ll also be bringing some knitting…

socks-near-door

But probably not these! They just need to be kitchenered. I deceived the boy, and asked him to try them on because it is a new pattern and I wanted to be sure that they’d fit my father — the boy and my dad have similarly sized feet. Sock #1 fit perfectly! I am seriously considering gifting these now, just because.

Eek: two full days’ worth of work between me and turkey preparation. Must get back to it!

half a pair…

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boy-sock-1

All I can say is worsted weight. It makes socks fly! (Also, knitting is often more fun than reading for class.) I did some bargaining with myself when I got home from class this afternoon: if I let myself finish the first sock, I need to read 100 pages of the next book before bed. Time to go hold up my end of the deal!

spooky forests and superwash socks.

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spooky-forest

Friday afternoon, we went frolicking slightly further afield. We hopped in the car and headed south to a nearby state forest to stretch our muscles and allow our minds to unwind a bit from a busy week. If you’ve been reading, you know I’ve been looking for good boy sock patterns, and the hang-up I’ve been facing has to do with how “fancy” sock patterns and sock yarn can be. I’ve settled on some socks made out of good, old-fashioned Cascade 220 superwash, as the feet they are intended for spend most of their time in hiking boots, romping through the woods.

socks-for-m

Here’s what I’ve got so far — I’m using size 5 needles, and keeping my fingers crossed that the fabric is dense enough to support the amount of use I hope these get. Should I be thinking about carrying nylon thread along with the yarn for the heel? I should be reading right now, but I’d so much rather be working on these socks — or better still, off in the woods with boy and dog.

Here’s a picture of my reading companion. If only he’d start pulling his weight around here…

who-me

Back to the books. Have a great Sunday!

two coffee mugs, a yardstick and a soup bowl…

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…walk into a bar. Nevermind. Instead, they enable this rooster to attempt to determine (in an incredibly unscientific manner, mind you) if she has divided a skein of sock yarn into balls of roughly equal weight:

homemade-scale1

This was necessary because yesterday I was determined to start a toe-up sock, encouraged by this tutorial over at knittingbybicycle. If one of the benefits of toe-up socks is being able to use up all of your yarn, I reasoned, I need to divide my yarn so that I can take full advantage of this approach to sock knitting. First I wound the yarn, and then I wound a ball from the ball I created, thinking I’d just stop when they looked about even. But even though they looked even, one of them seemed a bit tighter, and therefore, heavier. But I wasn’t sure: hence, the contraption pictured above.

toe-up-tosh-11

Here’s what I’ve got so far. I’m following the tutorial for the 64 st sock, which might be a tad roomy for me with these needles (US size 2, 3 mm) and this yarn (Madelinetosh superwash merino in colorway pool), but I figure I’ll rib the whole leg if that seems to be the case. It’s a bit too early to tell. Here’s another picture of the sock:

toe-up-tosh-21

I absolutely love the striping, and the yarn itself is wonderful to work with — it is slightly thicker than the other sock yarns I’ve used, and I’m finding that these are moving along quite quickly.

Also, I’ve added a bit to my sock yarn stash. I couldn’t resist the gorgeous pictures of Malabrigo sock yarn over at The Loopy Ewe. This came in the mail on Monday:

malabrigo-sock1

From left to right: Malabrigo sock in Ochre, Boticelli Red and Alcaucil, and Cherry Tree Hill sock in Slate. This yarn is gorgeous. I was initially thinking that the darker shades would be good for boy socks, and I may make a dressier pair for my dad out of one of these skeins. I’ve ordered a few more options from Webs, and I’ll share those when they arrive. The particular boy I have in mind lives mostly in hiking boots, so something thicker (but still superwash) seems like a better fit.

Time for another cup of coffee and a bit of sock knitting before I tackle this morning’s pile o’ reading. The sun is shining here. Have a great Wednesday!

FO: june bug socks

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june-bugs-fo

Hooray! I love these socks. Not quite done in time to be appropriately celebrated as part of socktoberfest, but still the fastest full-size socks to come off of my needles to date. To review (raveled here): the yarn is Yarn Pirate BFL sock in colorway June Bug. The pattern is one of the basic Ann Budd patterns from Getting Started Knitting Socks – 8 st/inch, 72 stitches CO. I used 2.5 mm needles. These are a tad big around the ankles, but the foot and heel fit well, and the yarn feels like a dream on my feet. In fact, I may need to acquire some hip clog-like shoes in order to begin showing off handknit socks. Always on the incentive program, perhaps I’ll do some internet window shopping after I read another 100 pages.

Also, it is time to decide on patterns and yarns for the next pair(s) — anybody have favorite sock patterns for boys to recommend?

Happy Monday!

squash is one of the reasons I love fall.

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Titled for you, Champ.

galette

This is one of the most delicious things that has ever been prepared in my kitchen: a roasted butternut squash and carmelized onion galette. Recipe can be found here, at Smitten Kitchen, where the photos are always drool-worthy and the deliciousness is routinely replicable. Thanks, Deb.

I’m so close to finishing my June Bug socks. So close. Like, I just have to knit the toe. Though I’ve again failed to complete a pair of socks during the month of Socktober, if I can get these finished this week, they will still be the fastest pair of socks I’ve ever knit. I’d like to make a few pairs as Christmas presents this year, so I’ll have to work on my speediness…

si, se puede!

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si-se-puede

Apologies for co-opting a slogan of hope to mark the completion (finally) of my first BSJ. I’ve somehow misplaced all of my teeny tiny needles, and had to use a paperclip to poke the yarn through the holes of the buttons before rethreading my yarn needle and weaving in the ends. I hope to have this off to baby William later this week. He’s just over a week old — let’s hope he gets to wear this a few times before he outgrows it!

I hope that my subtle display of partisanship above does not offend. Four years ago, I worked as an organizer for a nonpartisan youth voting initiative, and despite my extreme disappointment in the partisan outcome of that particular presidential election, I remain committed to the importance of civic participation in the democratic process, despite its flaws.

Regardless of who you support or why, please vote today. It matters.

cowls.

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I know I’m way late to the party on this one, and I have to give Hilary credit — she was talking about knitting cowls out of all of the warm, beautiful yarn we were petting at my LYS, and suddenly I was buying this gorgeous skein of Manos to make a cowl for a friend. Over the weekend, while soup was being prepared, I made some serious progress on cowl #1. (So nice to be able to knit in the kitchen — not something you can do by yourself.)

Apologies for my dirty mirror. Here’s another shot:

I followed the worsted weight mods for the Dolores Park Cowl, but didn’t pay much attention to gauge or needle size (I used US 9s), so it turned out a bit more slouchy than I was expecting. It looks enormous on the table! I wore it around the house for a bit yesterday, and I’ve decided that I like it this way — with a sheepier yarn, perhaps it makes sense to go for something slouchier to improve comfort and create the right amount of warmth. I’m convinced now, but I NEEDED to make another just to make sure. I had some extra Malabrigo laying around, so I cast on 72 st, using the 9s again, and roughly followed the pattern, though I threw in a decrease row about 8 or so rows before the second purl ridge.

This is perhaps a tad snug — perfect in Malabrigo, but perhaps it would be annoying to a non-knitter in a different yarn? Also, this confirms for me that cowls should be bright! I think I’m going to hold onto this one, as it has already come in quite handy for keeping me warm while Boh takes care of his morning business. I’d also like to note that I began knitting this cowl yesterday, after beginning work on a paper for this afternoon, and that I completed the cowl last night. The paper is still only half written…

Also, I’m super excited to link to a shot of one of my pinwheel blankets in real life. Remember that wedding I went to in California last month? The one where I was weaving in the ends to the green pinwheel just before the ceremony, and thus had no picture of the finished product to share? The newlyweds in question purchased a house this year, and have been posting pictures of their progress as they turn it into “home”. Check out that blanket draped over a chair in the living room! One of these days I’m going to need to make a pinwheel blanket to keep, though I imagine Boh will fight me for it.

flower envy.

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Check out my kale flower! The recipient of my most recent boy hat and I visited the farmers’ market this weekend to procure supplies for a lazy saturday in the kitchen. As we wandered around the market, me with this lovely blossom in my arms, it seemed as though everyone had kale-flower envy. We came home with 5 pounds of regular beets, several butternut squash, a few fat carrots and these chiogga beets.

Much beet pickling and squash soup making occurred, and the results were delicious. Last weekend, we made applesauce.

I’ve been eating it right out of the jar. Contrary to what this post may lead you to believe, I’m still knitting. I just can’t share my most recent project quite yet, and I haven’t made enough noticeable progress on my other WIPs to justify posting more photos. Soon…

Here’s a gratuitous shot of Boh, enjoying laundry day in the sun:

It’s going to be a crazy week in the schoolwork department. See you on the other side!

from blogland to real life.

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Hilary of The Yarniad just posted some photos of our real-life rendezvous, and I must say, I’m blushing. It’s truly wonderful to get a chance to engage on a multi-dimensional, human level with people you know through your computer screen. In conclusion, hooray for knit-blog friends! Thanks, Hilary! I’m already looking forward to next time.

Here’s a cute dog picture for good measure:

P.S. If you don’t read Hilary’s blog, you should. Her knitting is always inspiring. Exhibit A: Her Julia Livilla Cardigan.