sweater weather.

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The leaves are turning crispy, the sun is rising after I wake and I can see my breath when I take Boh outside in the mornings. It’s official: sweater weather has arrived. To celebrate, I’ve finally cast on for 28thirty. I’m using the recommended yarn, in the exact same color, grassroots. (This may be the first time I’ve ever done this.) I love all the flecks of bright colors against the cozy brown, and I love the wooly-ness of Peace Fleece. Here’s one more shot:

I don’t think I’ve quite recovered from the wonderfulness of my Fall Break — it has been tough to get back into the routine of reading all the time. Hence this post, when really, I should be finishing the book for the class I have this afternoon…I can’t help it. Moments ago, I snapped these pictures of the animal:

There are no words.

In other news, Friday morning, I had my first real-life encounter with a knit-blogging friend. We met for coffee and then found ourselves petting yarn in my local yarn shop. It was a lovely morning, further confirming what I already knew to be true: internet knitting friends are even cooler in real life. She has the photo-documentation of our meet-up, so I’ll link there when she posts. (Hooray!)

Also, I finished the forest malabrigo boy hat, but alas, spontaneously gifted it to the intended boy on account of cold weather. He seems quite pleased with it, and if I can convince him to pose for a picture, I’ll share it here.

Boh is whimpering at the door — time to go O-U-T-S-I-D-E — and then I must get back to reading!

“i got here followin’ the southern star…

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I crossed that river just to be where you are…” Dylan kept me company on my drive to (and from) the north country. I’ve been overusing the word “lovely” lately, but I don’t care. Boh and I had a lovely weekend catching up with a dear friend/accomplished farmer: roaming amidst cattails and piglets, grinding coffee with a crank, frying eggs recently gathered, sweetening coffee with maple syrup and knitting in morning light. Here’s a whole slew of photos from the trip:

I needed a good dose of mountain air and that feeling that accompanies spending time with dear friends. Being geographically closer to my “people” is one of the best non-academic parts of my new life as a grad student. (Thanks, P. Looking forward to my next trip up.)

startitis is to stress…

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as actual knitting progress is to the beginning of fall break! The sun is shining, beets are roasting in the oven, and I have a long weekend to take a few deep breaths, read more slowly, and enjoy the colors of fall. Here’s what I’ll be working on this weekend:

This is the beginning of a sunday market shawl for me. I cast on a few extra stitches to make it a bit wider/more shawl-like, and I’m planning to just knit until it is super-long for wrapping around myself a gazillion times. (Fleece Artist Somoko in colorway Masala.)

Another boy hat. For a boy. (Malabrigo, colorway Forest.)

Progress on Clue #2 of the Through the Loops Mystery Sock (in Sunshine Yarn). I love this — and I’m getting past the mental block I’ve had on non-stockinette socks!

Totally unrelated, but this pooch loves laundry. All he wanted to do was roll around in the clean sheets. Finally, I had to make the bed, and Boh was sad. Seems he likes the laundry better when it is in a big clean pile.

I’m heading north to hang out on a friend’s farm. We’re planning to knit on the porch, throw down at a barn dance, and give autumn the attention it deserves. To accompany me on the drive, I purchased Telltale Signs, Vol. 8 of the Dylan Bootleg series, and the new Jolie Holland album. I’ve given both a preliminary listen, and for what it’s worth, I highly recommend them.

one sock…

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My kitchener-ing is getting better. I love this sock, and I am beginning to see why in the blogs I read (anecdotally, anyway), folks who are in grad school might knit a lot of socks: it is nice to feel like you are making progress when you pick up and put down the needles in between endless amounts of reading. I plan to cast on the second sock after I prep for the discussion I’m leading in class today…

toast and socktober.

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Whoops! Saw these last week at A Friend to Knit With and just had to cast on. I used random leftovers of Cascade 220 Heathers. Finished one immediately, and then life got in the way. I’ll be happy with my schoolwork progress if I read two books this weekend, and after I finished the first one, I sat down to knit on my second mitt. One episode of Craftlit later, and I was weaving in the ends.

I just learned that I’ve been assigned a carrel in the library stacks, and it is a bit chilly up there. These will be perfect for helping to keep my focus on my reading… I can’t believe we’re already 5 weeks into the semester. How did it become October? Now I will awkwardly transition to Socktober. I did an absolutely horrible job last year — I managed to not finish the pair of socks I already had on the needles. You heard it here, folks. I am vowing not to repeat that peformance. I’m going to finish at least one pair of socks, and to increase my chances of success, I’ve cast on for the Through the Loops Mystery Sock! Take a look:

Boh doesn’t seem to think I can do it. The yarn is sunshine yarns in a lovely variegated green — a gift from a knitting group friend months ago. These pictures do not do it justice, but I am thrilled with how the cuff is coming along. I’m going to reward myself with some more knitting time if I can make some progress on this second book. Hope you’re having a great weekend!

winding.

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No new knitting progress to share, but I did manage to wind all of this yarn over the weekend — no small feat, given the number of tangles I encountered. Luckily, the colors are so deep and vibrant that it was worth it. Yarn is Fleece Artist Somoku, in colorway Masala. I ordered this (from yarn4socks, great service!) with the intention of using it to make myself a Sunday Market Shawl that would be a bit wider and longer, more airy shawl than scarf — something to cram into my bag for class, where the temperature seems to range from stuffy and overheated to incredibly over-airconditioned. Other patterns I should consider?

Happy Monday!

boh is worried…

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Boh is worried about my june bug socks. He thinks that I’ll get distracted with life and other knitting projects and never finish them. Never fear, my dear dog. The first heel has been turned. And I have proof:

If I can get some serious reading done this morning, I’ll reward myself with some podcast listening and sock knitting later today. Looks like it is going to be a rainy Sunday, worthy of pots of tea and curling up on the couch.

adventuring.

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I headed west for the wedding of a dear friend: my first partner in crime at my first real job. The nature of this job required that we move to a brand-new-to-us city, find a house, establish a network, and jump into 18 hour days for almost 4 months. We emerged from that experience dear friends, and though I later left that job and he continued, we’ve each made an effort to routinely catch the other up on what is happening in our lives. The wedding was beautiful, and despite cross country flights and 1000+ miles of driving, I am glad I could be there to celebrate. I have no pictures to share of the event, as I was too busy enjoying it, and, if the truth must be known, finishing up their pinwheel blanket. I wove in the ends moments before the ceremony.

The remote location of the wedding and the red-eyed nature of my flight created a spectacular opportunity: Lassen Volcanic National Park.  I had never even HEARD of Lassen Volcanic National Park. I hit the road early on Sunday and managed to squeeze in two 3-mile hikes and an appropriate amount of oohing, ahhing and roadside reflecting before heading southward to catch my flight. And read. (Didn’t quite get all of that done this week…) A few pictures of my adventure:

More knitting (and new yarn) content soon!

inching along…

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I didn’t post this weekend because I felt like I had nothing new to tell you — slowly making progress on my pinwheel (which NEEDS to be done this week), reading a lot of books, occasionally chuckling at the dog and his pouting, baking bread. You know, the usual. And then, I figured that while you might not enjoy me explaining these things in infinite detail, you might want to see the pictures. So that’s what I’ve got for you today.

eggs.

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Somehow I managed to use up all of the week’s eggs in a 24-hour period without even realizing it. You see, I made bread pudding (far above, and from Mark Bittman’s big yellow book) in order to put my moving-towards-stale homemade bread to good use. Yesterday’s frittata (recipe here) was absolutely necessary, as I needed to procrastinate AND I had some summer squash begging to be released from the veggie drawer.

Despite all of the reading I’m doing, I have been allowing myself some knitting breaks to clear my head, or, as in the case of this morning, give the coffee a little bit of time to work its magic.

I absolutely love the striping. Yesterday, I began the heel of #1, and I am excited to see how the colors arrange themselves in this part of the sock. (I’m just using the basic fingering weight sock recipe in Ann Budd’s Getting Started Knitting Socks, which I highly recommend.)

Also, it feels like fall here. Hooray for handknits!