birthday sky.

Posted on February 8, 2008 by barefootrooster

Wow. I didn’t even see all those birds perched on the top branches of that tree in my neighbor’s yard. Clearly the universe knows that today is my birthday — what a beautiful way to begin the day!

No big plans over here: took the day off from work, crawled back into bed to lounge with the dog, having lunch and dinner with friends, hoping to get a nice run in this afternoon…taking a rooster day.

I do have some knitting progress to share with you:

It is official: I am a convert to the magic loop method. These socks are flying — and using a long circular means I am not searching under the couch for the needle I dropped. I also really like the way this pattern is working up. These are Schrodinger’s Twisted Tweed Socks, and I’m using Trekking XXL, the recommended yarn, which I happened to have. I took this sock with my yesterday to my Democratic Party Ward Meeting to elect delegates to the pre-primary convention, which was fascinating. The protocol requires that you have to sit for 30 minutes after the meeting has been formally opened so that each ward can confirm the voting credentials of the folks who show up. I managed to finish turning the heel, all while participating in the democratic (and Democratic) process. This pattern has a short row heel, and I think I need some advice. Take a look at my first attempt:

I am practically positive that I did the wraps correctly, and it looked very pretty before I put this on to take a look, and then these holes became evident. The pattern said that it didn’t matter how I picked up the wraps, so long as I was consistent. Maybe I should twist them? Advice on how to do this better on the next pair would be much appreciated. In the meantime, I am thinking that I can do some cheating on the inside at the end of this sock to sew up these gaps. I am approaching these as a “learning” pair of socks!

snow + handspun = mittens.

Posted on February 5, 2008 by barefootrooster

I left work yesterday afternoon and arrived home just in time to gaze out my windows and enjoy this:

I did what anyone in this situation would have done: I baked!

This is the olive oil orange cake from Apples for Jam, with pine nuts sprinkled on top. I listened to loud old music, watched the snow fall, and whipped my egg whites by hand. Meanwhile, Boh sat on the couch, waiting for his close up. This looks kind of like one of those posed middle school portraits to me. What do you think?

With the aroma of homemade cake wafting through my tiny house, I sat down and cast on a pair of Warmest Mittens, from Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival. After a few strikes trying to find the perfect pattern for the gorgeous homespun I received from Ami of SourCherries in the fingerless mitts swap, I settled on these.

This morning, I awoke to this:

I continued working on my mittens, and finished just in time to wear them to work. On my lunch/voting break, I managed to snap some silly pictures of this spontaneous FO, utilizing the timer on my camera.

Happy Super Tuesday!

scrap yarn: brilliant concept.

Posted on February 4, 2008 by barefootrooster

I am excited about my Brompton cardigan — a bit nervous, as this is the first time I have tried to fit something to myself — but excited all the same. The fit in the chest seems perfect, but the armholes seemed a bit loose on me. The prospect of ripping back a few rows to take out the raglan increases in the arms seemed less than enjoyable, so I decided to divide and try it on again to get a better sense for how it will lay.

This picture made me feel a bit better. It may be a tad loose, but I want the fit to be similar to Alice’s, with some positive ease so that it is comfy and can be worn over layers. The last 10 rows took forever, but those are also the longest rows, so I think the next bit will be bit quicker (in my head, at least!). Have I mentioned (today) that I love Rowan Felted Tweed? It is gorgeous. I love the bits of orangey brown — they offset the blue-green color perfectly.

As the theme of the day is scrap yarn, I didn’t stop there.

[Note to self: Shiny-ish yarn, unfinished, cropped sweater, arms length away — these do not make for flattering photographs.]

I present Rusted Root! I began this in September, and have been working on it whenever I am on an airplane. I may have to break that rule, as I just need to knit another 6 or so inches and then knit the ribbing on the bottom, neckline and sleeves. I switched from some hot pink plastic Susan Bates needles to my KnitPicks Harmony Options, and got this project all settled in a very pretty knitting bag. It would be great to wear this in a few weeks when spring arrives…

As I write this, there is a mixture of snow and freezing rain falling. Snow day?

FO: gathered scarf.

Posted on February 3, 2008 by barefootrooster

Gathered Scarf (Ravelry link)

US 7 and 4 needles

Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino, 3 skeins

I LOVE this: not a fast knit, due to all the needle changing every 5 rows, but well worth it.

This is not quite as shiny as it looks in these pictures; it is more that the yarn has a soft halo and a nice amount of depth to it. I was going to take a picture of it rolled up or in a pile, but I am not ready to take it off yet. The scarf is 7 or so feet long, and I anticipate that a bit of wear will stretch it out a bit, meaning I will be able to wrap this around my neck multiple times — an indication that this will get a lot of wear. I love feeling cozy.

We had another incredible sunrise today. I hope you aren’t getting sick of my sunrise pictures. I woke up just before my alarm, took the dog outside and began making my morning coffee. I almost dropped my mug when I glanced out my kitchen window:

I couldn’t pick just one to share. Enjoy your Sunday!

saturday.

Posted on February 2, 2008 by barefootrooster

This afternoon I opened up doors and windows and let the brisk air and sunshine sweep through the house. Boh and I took a run through the bosque, and I gave my home a thorough cleaning. A dear friend came over for dinner. No knitting progress to post, but I did want to share a few photos of my day.

The best I could get without a tripod — this is the moon in the sky before the sun rose this morning.

That was the beginning of my day. Here’s how it concluded:

boy. i think.

Posted on February 1, 2008 by barefootrooster

I finished my second Boy Hat (you know, the one I thought might have to be a girl hat), and I am pretty sure this will work. It is just under 8 inches long (thus, a bit long on me), and the boy in question does not have big hair like I do. The hat is blocking flat right now, rather than in a stretched condition, because I don’t want the ribbing to stretch out too much. I did give it a few friendly tugs for length. Blocking is still a complete (and magical) mystery to me. Fingers crossed!

As you can see here, I did run out of wool. My photography skills leave something to be desired here; the color I used for the very top is actually a slightly lighter shade of green — something akin to a celery heather, if you will. I am satisfied with how this turned out, though after I bound off, I realized that the bulk of the hat is superwash, and that teensy circle up top is not. No matter: the boy who will be wearing this will likely never wash it…

I know there’s been a lot of dog here lately, but I can’t help it. He’s so damn cute. Exhibit A:

On an unrelated point, I’m feeling pretty good about myself today because I cleaned out (read: scrubbed drawers and shelves) my fridge AND removed leftover soups and black beans frozen at least 12 months ago from my freezer. February cleaning has begun.

boy (girl?) hat

Posted on January 31, 2008 by barefootrooster

The Boy Hat, but with size 6 needles. This one may become a nailbiter near the end: only 99 yards of wool, pattern calls for 120 (and size 7s). I’m going to give it a try, as it is a great color for a friend who is celebrating a birthday this weekend. If it works, he’ll get it on time. If it doesn’t, it will become a boy (girl?) hat for me (my head is smaller), and he’ll get his handknit hat when he heads West for a snowboarding trip in a few weeks.

The yarn is Queensland Rustic Wool, and it is superwash. I think I’ve read that superwash stretches out quite a bit, so I went down a needle size to conserve wool and ensure a snug fit. I should have thought about this when I cast on, but instead, I knit almost 4 inches on my size 7 circ and realized that the only way it might (1) be completed with the only ball of this I have and (2) fit well, was to make these changes. Fingers crossed!

you make my day.

Posted on January 30, 2008 by barefootrooster

At first, I was going to tell you that this made my day, but then I learned that some blogland love had been sent in my direction.

Thank you, Hilary, for listing barefoot rooster as one of ten blogs that make your day. Here’s the deal: you share ten blogs that make you happy, and comment on their blogs to let them know. (Please accept my paraphrased version of the rules.)

I had no idea how much I would enjoy the blogging community when I began nesting here in my corner of the blogosphere a few months ago. Thank you for welcoming me — so here it goes (sans actual button, as I don’t know how to do that in wordpress yet!):

[note: I just sat down and wrote lots of nice things about why these blogs and their authors make me happy, but then I decided that you should just go visit them and find out!]

The Yarniad

SourCherries

Cosymakes

Pipe Dreams and Purling Plans

Slipped Stitch

The Knitting Philistine

I’m not much into memes, etc. but this particular (buttonless, in my case) button has been a great way for me to discover a whole slew of gorgeous knitting blogs. Boh agrees.

before/after

Posted on January 29, 2008 by barefootrooster

Short, early post today, folks. This guy, also known as the animal (must insert photo pronto)

woke me up in the middle of the night with a horrible rrrripp-ing sound. That’s right, he was yanking the polyfill out of my sleeping bag, while I slept in it. He has been in close proximity to this particular sleeping bag for the last several months, and apparently, last night the temptation became too much for Boh to bear. Luckily, I had some ripstop patching tape handy, so out of bed I leapt. I switched on the light, cursed a bit and got to work.

It’s not knitting content, but it is crafty. The blues are a better match than they look in this picture, and the hole was by no means a clean job. He must have been gnawing on the nylon for awhile before I woke up. Sigh. Onward to the before/after pictures I have for you:

This is yesterday evening’s sunset — thick, reddish clouds hovering over the mountains.

And this is what I awoke to — the second time. We haven’t had snow on the ground in the valley since before the holidays!

Alright. Off to work on generating some visible knitting progress and listen to the latest episode of Stash and Burn before work.

pears for crisp…

Posted on January 28, 2008 by barefootrooster

Recipe from Apples for Jam. (Self, you are so clever.) I know that I am super late to this party, but while I was in NYC, I found this cookbook by Tessa Kiros at Anthropologie for under ten dollars. No brainer. This weekend I made both the Pear and Berry Crisp (with pears, apples, and some frozen blueberries), and the Lentil Soup (with more liberal modifications based on the contents of my fridge and pantry). Balsamic vinegar with lentils is a brilliant idea, by the way, and here’s a shot of the crisp:

Boh and I went for a great run along the river on Saturday, which is my way of telling you that I am eating this for breakfast momentarily. Before I can dig into the crisp, how about a bit of knitting? Still knitting away on Brompton (so excited about this) and several other projects, but again, knitting time does not equal visible knitting progress. More on those soon.

I’m making serious progress on the Gathered Scarf. While not the quickest knit, due to all the needle switching and kfb/k2tog, this is a lot of fun. It doesn’t hurt that the yarn may be the softest I’ve knit with: Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino, for those of you just tuning in. In this picture, the scarf is not yet wrapped around my neck.

Last night I started my third skein, and I think this is going to be long and luxurious. This is a pretty substantial knit, and while I wouldn’t call the scarf heavy, I think it will stretch out considerably with wear. I absolutely adore superlong scarves, so I think this will become fast favorite. It is starting to warm up here in the afternoons, so I better hurry up and finish it so I can wear it before next fall!

I think I mentioned that I was in need of an unplanned, relaxing weekend. If this picture is any indication, we were successful.

Hope your Monday is off to a good start.

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