Tag Archives: boh

still waking up.

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5

goodmorningboh

It was hard to get up this morning, and I’m nowhere near full alertness. I’m mostly through my first cup of coffee (and will need a second). Boh has already given up, and is currently mid-snore.

hibiscus

I started plying the AVFKW targhee in hibiscus yesterday, and I’m hoping to finish this today so that I can get ready to do some sampling for my first sweater-spinning project!

sye shawl washed up

I snapped this picture while waiting for my french press to finish working its magic — seems I stopped knitting mid-row last night because I just had to get into bed. The colors are way off in this picture, as the shawl is resting on the arm of the couch underneath a very bright lamp, but I liked how it looked as I stumbled kitchenward to put water on for coffee this morning.

Things were a bit rushed yesterday, so I didn’t take any pictures of my farm share, but since I’ve been documenting my weekly haul here, I picked 4 quarts of raspberries and a quart of blackberries in the fields, and then picked up lettuce, a few pounds of heirloom yellow and purple carrots, cauliflower, hot peppers, red peppers, italian eggplant, bok choi, basil, and the last red tomato of the season.

Off to pour cup #2…

walk/wool/work.

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4

plain and simple 9in

Yesterday, thanks to a fairly productive Saturday, Boh and I were able to take a nice long walk down to a local preserve that also happens to house a big reservoir for New Home’s drinking water. As we walked and the wind rustled the leaves on the trees, I realized that it truly smelled like fall. We spent the rest of the day snoozing (Boh) and alternating between spinning, knitting, reading, and writing (me).

targheeoranges1

I started spinning this targhee — 3 oz. from AVFKW in the Hibiscus colorway.

targheeoranges2

I’m planning a 2-ply, and I’m hoping for enough yardage to do a densely knit pair of fingerless mitts (I think). Note the pooch asleep in the background.

bohasleepcouch1

bohasleepcouch2

It is so hard to be a dog.

norwegianskein1

Here’s the first skein of that norwegian top from Paradise Fibers: 156 yards of 2-ply, worsted weight, from 4 oz. of fiber. I love the sheen of the yarn and the depth of this grey.

norwegianskein2

This is not the softest skein on the planet, but it strikes me as workhorse yarn that would be great for hats and mittens. I’m interested to see what this will feel like knitted up.

How did it become Monday again? I may indulge in a little bit of knitting before I head to campus to face the universe…

outnumbered.

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bohandcoltrane1

Yesterday, two dogs lounged and played in my house while I read and spun. Boh’s friend Coltrane came over after they met up at the dog park so that Coltrane wouldn’t be lonely, as his owner had to attend a day-long event.

bohandcoltrane2

plyed norwegian

While they snored, I spun the second bobbin of norwegian top singles, and then plied them together.

plyed norweg prewash

Here’s what it looked like right before I set the twist.

bohcoltrane5

We took a couple of short walks through my neighborhood yesterday, and I learned that it is tough to walk two dogs who don’t normally walk together at the same time! T., one of Coltrane’s owners, came over for dinner, and the dogs continued to lounge. After beet and carrot latkes and more homemade chocolate pudding, we dumped out a jar or two of buttons onto the kitchen table. T. needed buttons for some baby bibs, and I needed to pick out buttons for my handspun baby belle.

babybellebuttons1

babybellebuttons2

These buttons are a pinkish red, and I love how they stand out against the pastel shades of the handspun. What do you use to sew your buttons on? I’ve only ever used thinner yarn and a darning needle (seems I always pick buttons with pretty fat holes), but T. reminded me that when you buy a sweater, the buttons are sewn on with thread! (Which makes sense. It also means I need to acquire more than a travel button repair kit from a random hotel stay if I intend to keep sewing small buttons onto my knitting.)

bohgoodsport

This guy is such a good sport. We’re going to ease into Sunday with a little bit of knitting and a morning walk. Then, back to work!

beauty.

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crock o flowers

The wedding was beautiful, and the bride looked absolutely radiant in the shawl. (Pictures soon!) On Saturday morning, I helped to gather and arrange flowers before the ceremony — dozens of vases filled with local blossoms. I stopped by this afternoon to take a pickling crock full of flowers off the happy couple’s hands. (See below.)

flowersgrowler

flowersbed

flowerswindow

flowerslamp

flowerstable

Sigh. So nice to have a house full of lovely flowers — especially after such a lovely celebration.

curlingupwithboh1

curlingup2

Boh and I did some serious lounging this morning as I recovered from the evening’s late night (which, for me, means I was out past 10) festivities.

wrinklyboh

quichesun

And this quiche just came out of the oven — a grad school friend is coming over for dinner. Perhaps later I’ll find some time to curl up with my knitting…

nick of time.

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I finished the shawl. In order to do so, I took it with me to a meeting of a group that the bride is also part of. She is getting married tomorrow, so she wasn’t in attendance today. I was the bleary-eyed/loopy person introducing herself by way of explaining that I was so close to finishing something for the wedding, and that I was working on it during the meeting (charts and all) because otherwise I might not get it done in time to block it. After all, wedding shawls don’t really count if they aren’t done in time for the wedding, right?

unblockedshawl

Unblocked shawl.

blocking

blockingshawlcloseup

I splurged and acquired the Knitpicks blocking mats and blocking wires in order to properly finish this project. I pinned the shawl out around three o’clock this afternoon, just over 24 hours before the ceremony. Eight hours later, it is almost dry, and I think these mats are really speeding up the process. (Phew!)

I’m so pleased with how this shawl turned out, but mostly, I’m incredibly relieved that it is finished. I can’t wait for H. to wear it tomorrow evening at the reception! I spent the afternoon cleaning my apartment, playing with Boh in the big field behind the elementary school in my neighborhood, and cooking up a celebratory meal: eggplant parmesan (from Mark Bittman’s big yellow book) and mexican hot chocolate pudding (from mostly foodstuffs).

pudding

eggplant parm

bohsadeyes

Boh REALLY wanted some of my eggplant. Or maybe he’s making that face because he adores H. and knows he isn’t invited to the wedding tomorrow?

Happy weekend, folks.

t-10 minutes.

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4

asleep

LONG day. I intend to be right here, under the covers, very soon. No knitting photos, but I did knit 2 more rows of the wedding shawl. For those of you keeping track, I still have 16 more to knit. It would be great if I could finish the whole thing tomorrow.

awake

Oh, I’m sorry. Did I wake you? Maybe you should get off my side of the bed.

MIA (mara in action).

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wearingmara1

Monday.

wearingmara2

Tuesday.

laceshawlalmost

18 rows to go. I was intending to work on it tonight, but I accidentally (?) had a few beers after class today, and really should not work on it.

hollyhock1

Late last night, after doing substantial work on the shawl, I decided that while I could no longer look at lace charts, I wasn’t quite ready for bed. So I spun a bit of luscious falklands fiber.

hollyhockbob1

This is the first of four ounces of lovely falklands fiber in the hollyhock colorway from A Verb For Keeping Warm. There are two ounces of this green, adn two in a lovely pinky-pale purple. I’m spinning each color separately into a 2-ply, with the thought that I’ll make something stripey…eventually.

dogtired

This is what Boh looks like right now, and I’d say it accurately conveys how I feel at this particular moment — and it is only Tuesday. Hello, September.

romney.

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In all of the start-of-the-semester hubbub, my wheel has been empty for most of the week. I returned home from campus (where my office is growing ever cozier with each bag of belongings I move from here to there) today and decided to at least start something so that I can try to spin a little each day.

air1

air2

Sigh. So beautiful. These colors just make me yearn for handspun legwarmers. This is Hello Yarn fiber — Romney wool top in the Alpine colorway — and I love it.

forlorn1

forlorn2

Boh is looking particularly forlorn this afternoon, perhaps because he knows that the new semester means a bit more reading (me) and resting (Boh), and a little less frolicking (both of us).

pointillism.

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pointillismpink1

pointillismpinkmacro2

Here’s the pink half of the bump of AVFKW superwash bfl in the pointillism colorway: 106 yds of 2-ply, from 2 oz.

pointillismyellowbobbin

pointillismyellowoffniddynoddy

And here’s the yellow half, spun, plied, and skeined:

pointillismyellowskein1

pointillismyellowmacro2

pointillismyellowskein3

The yellow 2 oz. yielded 95 yds of 2-ply, so I have 201 yards to work with. I’m thinking about not using a constrast color at the start, and allowing the pinks to blend into the yellows in the sweater, and then finding an appropriate color for the bottom ruffle of baby belle if it seems like there won’t be enough handspun.

I’m not letting myself cast on for this until I am solidly into the edging on the wedding shawl. (Finished repeat #2 last night!)

Also, more silliness occurred after I posted yesterday:

boh comforter

bohhidingcomforter2

Sigh. And so it begins: I’m off to campus for a meeting and (yay!) to get settled in my office (and by office, I mean desk in the basement).  Happy Monday!

woolen spun?

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jacob prewash

First up, here’s a picture of the first skein of the jacob, just off the niddy-noddy and ready for a bath. I love those paws!

jacobfo1

I had to ply this in two parts — the yarn was just too lofty/airy to fit onto one bobbin. This is my first (mostly) true long draw project, which I believe makes this a woolen spun yarn!

jacobfo2

This is 211 yards total: 130 in the first skein, and 81 in the second, of 2-ply undyed jacob wool.

jacobfo3

The spinning method chosen really does determine the character of the yarn — up close, this yarn is completely different from something spun using a worsted technique. This has a lovely halo and an incredible amount of squish to it, but minimal sheen. This is also more thick and thin, which may just be a function of my learning curve with the long draw. One of these days I’m going to at least swatch with my handspun to get a sense for how my spinning is evolving and, perhaps more importantly, to figure out how to start planning knitting projects at the spinning stage.

jacobfo4

Oh, Boh. Even though you spent much of the night growling at things in the yard (and thus, keeping me awake), I still love you. Especially when you make that face.