colorblocking.

Posted on May 9, 2014 by barefootrooster

So I didn’t cast on another Turnstile right away. Still thinking about the next color combination, and I also realized that I should really get working on some wedding knitting. (Some folks have been patiently waiting for longer than I care to admit, and others have no idea a wedding blanket is in the works.) Anyway, I came across the Colorblock Bias Blanket by Purl Soho, and decided that this might be a great candidate for a wedding blanket. (I do love the pinwheel, but I’m looking to mix it up.)

I’m knitting it out of greys and greenish turquoisey shades.

I’m not following the yardage estimates for the pattern. Instead, I’m using what I’ve got as a guide, and hoping the size of each colorblock feels right.

I’m so pleased with how it is turning out.

I like this so much that I might want to keep it — but it is going to be a gift.

I even brought it to the porch yesterday to work on with my coffee.

And this guy. Just had to show you this napping pose. That ear! I love it. Happy Friday!

FO: turnstile.

Posted on May 4, 2014 by barefootrooster

I LOVE this. And I can’t wait to make more. I might cast on another TODAY.

I snapped these pictures very late last night. I figured I’d kitchener the two ends of the tube together right after dinner and then have plenty of time for other things.

Wrong. The grafting took hours — in part because I haven’t kitchenered anything in quite a while, but also because to kitchener many many stitches you need to have a pretty long yarn tail, and it kept getting caught on the other needles, tangled, etc.

But worth it? Totally. The stripes are addicting, and I anticipate wearing this (and any others I might make) a lot. My handspun eternity scarves might be the knitwear I wear most frequently, and I think this pattern (or some variation on it) is a great way for me to use beautiful sock yarn. (You know, because I’ve realized that I mostly wear socks with boots, so you can’t see them.)

In other news, I took this dog on a great walk. It was clear we were going to get pretty muddy — this is a before picture.

Doesn’t this picture just look like spring? So much growth in the woods.

Happy dog.

We were muddier than this toes/paws picture lets on. And we were quite content. (Though Boh needs to work on actually sitting on the blanket I keep in the back of my car for post-walk muddy dogs. He just moves it out of the way…)

Also, we’ve reached that point in the spring where I can put on a fleece and take my coffee out to the porch. See that new french press? My dear friend D, the person who goes with that adorable dog who visited us last month, remembered me saying that my beloved stainless steel french press was on its last legs. The mesh ripped, so my coffee was rather gritty. That was a year ago. So when D came to visit, he brought this: a bigger press, which is stainless steel on the inside, but has an insulated bottom and handle so I don’t burn myself on it. And the lid has a screen, so there’s no chance of coffee grounds getting into my coffee. Also, no spillage while pouring, which means I can bring it out to the porch. Perfection.

around and around (turnstile in progress).

Posted on April 25, 2014 by barefootrooster

First of all, to give you a sense of the kind of excitement happening around here, this is what I did last Saturday night. I took whatever was left in the bottle of rye (not much) over to my friend M.’s house, she made me a (delicious) Manhattan with chocolate bitters, and we both proceeded to continue writing our dissertations. I’m not complaining; it was better than attempting to keep putting words on the screen at my house…

This face pretty much captures the general malaise that is the end of the semester.

Lila in action. I like it over the top of other layers like this.

Snapped this picture for my mom, as this dress was a present from her last year. And also because this is my professor costume. (Thanks to K. for that description.)

Boh! I know it looks like he’s growling, but I actually snapped this at the tail end of a yawn. We took a walk in the arboretum earlier this week just before the skies opened, so we had the place to ourselves.

And, as my post title suggests, more turnstiling.

I really love the stripes.

Snapped this yesterday while writing on the porch. (Handspun eternity scarf number 2.)

This guy brought his ball and his bone out to the porch, but spent most of our time out there looking at me and pleading for belly rubs. Tough. Life.

A new section — back to orangey-red and yellow stripes, and after that, one more solid orangey-red block…

shawls and scarves.

Posted on March 29, 2014 by barefootrooster

They are the best knitted things for coping with a never-ending winter. I haven’t picked up the needles in the last month, but I have been wrapping myself in warm things. And some of the times I do this, I remember to snap a picture. So, some knits in action. (And, of course, Boh in action.)

Snowbird and Boh keeping me warm on the couch.

Stripe study shawl.

Just Boh in action. Here he’s “helping” with my pile of grading.

Handspun eternity scarf — it matches my jacket perfectly!

Lightweight cowl — I don’t even remember the name of this pattern, but it’s got a loose-knit ribbing that drapes beautifully.

Spring break starts this morning, which means I can pause all of my teaching prep (for most of the week, anyway) and focus on my dissertation. I’m hoping to get a lot of writing done, and Boh is hoping for longer walks. Seems reasonable. (And maybe there will be time for knitting?)

almost all boh; no new knitting.

Posted on February 21, 2014 by barefootrooster

Sometimes I have to put on pretty shoes (or any shoes) to get some writing done.

I baked myself a cake: strawberry buttermilk cake, to be precise. (Based on that Smitten Kitchen raspberry buttermilk cake that I’ve totally made and linked to, here, many times. Of course, too lazy to track down the link right now…)

Wrinkles and snoring.

This blue vest is my new favorite thing — it’s the birthday present I bought for myself. (Do you do this? If not, you should.)

Another handspun eternity scarf in action. This is the first one I knit.

I picked a fight with the driveway the other day. A sheet of ice, courtesy of some early morning freezing rain, means that I’ve got a bloody knuckle and a banged up hip. Tough to get old. My students were sweet, though — I held up my fist and one of them said, “What’s the other guy look like?”

This face is what I saw when I woke up on Thursday — I’d been trying to sleep in, and I didn’t set an alarm. Hello, sweetness.

Boh seems to know that I’m in the market for a little extra puppy love these days. I’ll take it.

Oh. My. Goodness. I swear, he puts that bone around his leg like a bracelet all by himself.

And then proceeds to take a nap.

Snowbird in action.

Boh performs “lap dog” quite well sometimes. Happy Friday, friends.

february.

Posted on February 16, 2014 by barefootrooster

Hello, friends. This is pretty much what it looks like here at Chez Rooster. Except there’s more snow. (Which means there’s been a lot more shoveling…)

Sweetness from Boh.

A ridiculous outfit I found myself wearing sometime last week, and had to document.

Wrinkles. Snoring. Swoon.

Some mornings, this is the look I wake up to.

And some knits in action. Because if I’m not really knitting right now, at least I should be enjoying handknits, right? (Also, forgive this silly pose. If I want my neck in the picture, which is where the knitwear is, but also want you to be able to see my boots, some awkward posing is necessary. And I’m sure the hand on the hip is thanks to plenty of social conditioning. I cringe.)

I have been wearing the heck out of this handspun eternity scarf. I think the fiber was Pigeonroof Studios merino, and it is so so so soft.

Some grading and editing work at the coffee shop this morning. I treated myself to a dinosaur cookie.

Boh and I are hanging in there — lots of things are up in the air, and the to-do pile grows ever larger. Thankful for a long weekend to try to catch up a little bit. Hope you’re all well — and warm in your knits!

routine.

Posted on January 19, 2014 by barefootrooster

First up, I knit a tiny hat for my best friend’s son. He’s just about six months old, and I’m hoping this will help keep him warm this winter.

Boh’s ears have been particularly entertaining this week.

Snowbird’s out-of-the-house debut! You can see here that the shoulders aren’t quite right; I think they are too shallow for my arms. But the most important part of Snowbird is that it covers my butt. Perfect for covering up for heading to the gym. (Boots because of the snow!)

More sweetness, and a huge arugula salad.

Yup.

“Helping.” No matter that his ears are actually in the way.

One ear up for couch lounging.

And this series is from this morning.

From a look of complete boredom–what, you don’t like my conclusion?

To full-on, quite loud snoring. I love this dog.

happily, predictably…

Posted on November 10, 2013 by barefootrooster

The cold weather has returned, and with it, a little bit of knitting mojo. Wrapped in my Mara shawl and with my Terra on my lap, I finally finished my Snowbird cardigan. All that remained was an inch of one pocket, sewing the pocket linings, and weaving in the ends. It took a couple of hours (and several podcasts), but I did it. Here’s a pre-blocking shot:

(Forgive my bleary eyes and pjs.)

And here it is, blocking on the dining room table. The sleeves fit perfectly, but the body is a bit loose. Shouldn’t matter too much because it is an open cardigan, but depending on how it fits when it is dry, I might (gasp) toss it in the dryer to snug it up a bit. Stay tuned.

It felt so good to be knitting that I even managed a couple of repeats on my Bristol hat. (Funny how that happens when the deadlines feel overwhelming. I’ve got a conference paper, a talk, a job application, and some dissertation chapters that need finishing on my plate right now…)

Want to see what else has been going on around here this week?

No idea what’s going on in this picture. (And please, disregard the newsprint filled with dissertation-related list-making on the wall behind him.)

Last bare-legged day of the season, I’m guessing. (These boots are in terrible shape, but I can’t bring myself to retire them…)

An impromptu dinner party on Monday night, complete with butternut squash galette.

Glorious sunlight on the good walk we’ve been aiming to take at least once a week.

Boh, not at all interested in the epic waterfall behind him.

One of us will not be mistaken for a deer.

Tuckered out. I woke up yesterday to find Boh with his head on the pillow next to me. Silly, silly dog.

One more bit of silliness: sharks surround Manhattan. Just a little bit of Friday night fun with sharks from M’s sharknado Halloween costume…

Hope you’re all well. I still haven’t found a solution to my Feedly problem, and it feels so strange to be blogging while I feel so behind on all of your adventures. Forgive me. And happy knitting!

nothing to see here, folks.

Posted on October 31, 2013 by barefootrooster

That’s right. No knitting. I did pull on a handknit, handspun hat the other night, though, walking home from an incredible Neko Case concert. (Go see her on this tour. Amazing.) The hat was cozy and comforting. Maybe with the weather turning, I’ll find my way back. Things these days are full out: dissertation writing, course prep, job and fellowship applications, side projects. I seem to still be trying to be on top of my to-do lists for fall — how is tomorrow November?

The good news is that there’s plenty of sweetness ’round these parts. See?

Pie, the product of a request for a crust lesson. (We had a fantastic houseguest earlier this month.)

And then there’s this kind of sweetness.

And this. Love this dog.

Oh, and I guess I should show you this — closest thing I’ve got to knitting is knits in action. Grabbed my Kerrera sweater from the bin a few mornings ago when the temps dropped down into the 30s. (Forgive my filthy mirror.) I’m not quite ready for it to be this cold, but I imagine this will be in heavy rotation on cold mornings. Which knits do you wear when it starts to turn cold?

confession.

Posted on September 29, 2013 by barefootrooster

It has been weeks since I last did any blog-reading. So it isn’t just that I’m blogging irregularly. I’m also totally behind on everything happening in the knitting, spinning, and cooking blogosphere. I (partially) blame the death of Google Reader. I like routines and systems, and even though I’ve been using Feedly, I don’t like it anywhere near as much. And then, of course, the work is piling up: dissertation-writing, lots of conferences, fellowship applications and (eek!) even a job application or two.

But this helps, right?

And this?

I snapped this picture of Boh hiding amongst the book piles earlier today.

And here’s what I had for dinner: a farm veggie stirfry. It was just what I wanted to eat — comforting and autumnal, if that makes sense. I’ve spent today (and yesterday, too) getting resettled here after almost two weeks of research in DC. Want to see what that looked like?