Tag Archives: boh

FO: kerrera. (also, fall break.)

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Actually, how about Fall Break first? I stopped to snap this picture on my walk to the coffee shop Friday morning. The leaves and the light are so lovely right now.

A lovely latte at one of my favorite places to work. I’m almost happy with my fellowship application, after lots of struggling and a two-week time-out.

Can you see that snake in the grass? Boh totally didn’t see it. (It was right in front of us on the paved path we walked on Friday, and then it slithered off to the side.)

Bright red leaves from my yard. Hello, fall.

Fall is for vests. Especially vests like this one, snagged from my mom, who wore it so well in the late 70s.

And here’s my Kerrera! I’m calling it done, even though the collar could use more of a blocking than the rest of it received this morning. (I put it in the bathroom while I took a hot shower and left the fan off.) The left arm is a little looser than the right between the wrist and the elbow, but I think I can live with that!

I absolutely love the length, and the way the double garter stitch edging hangs, especially in the back.

And of course, I love the patch pockets. I think this is going to get lots of use this fall as a cozy layer for working at home and as the perfect thing to throw on as a light jacket for walking Boh or sitting on the dock with a cup of tea! I think this is the most complicated knit I’ve attempted, and I’m really happy with what I’ve learned. This was the first time I knit anything with short row sleeve caps or patch pockets, and I think both turned out pretty well. (I also learned that I should take better notes — I clearly modified the decreases on one of the arms and did not write that down.) I used not more than 5 and a half skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca, which means I’ve got almost half a bag left — enough for another sweater!

Okay, back to commenting on papers. Happy Monday!

FO: peace fleece pinwheel.

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A lot of Friday Night Lights went into the making of this Peace Fleece pinwheel blanket. I ran out of yarn with about half of one wedge to bind off, and managed to use some handspun in a similar color. I used up all of my remaining Peace Fleece in this colorway, and if I were to knit this again in the same yarn, I might consider going up a needle size, more for comfort while knitting than anything else. I’m really happy with the way this pattern looks in a tweedy/flecked woolly yarn. The weather is turning cold, and I’m excited to get this belated wedding gift in the mail!

Cool weather means it is time to break out the knitwear. I wore my whisper cardigan with jeans and a scarf for a lunch date with friends last week. I really like this sweater, and I’m thinking about knitting another in fingering weight yarn.

Aren’t the zinnias I picked at the farm last week lovely?

One more: Boh being silly under the porch table. I brought this weekend’s pile of grading out here this morning, and Boh insisted on keeping watch from this position while I worked. Happy weekend!

can’t lose.

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I spent the whole weekend on the couch with Boh waiting out some food poisoning or a stomach bug. There was a lot I was hoping to get done this weekend that did not get done. But on the bright side, being a knitter means that even when I feel terrible, I can still make progress on something. My Peace Fleece pinwheel blanket is much more blob-like than it was before I got sick. (Can’t lose.) Plus, I finally let myself begin a full-on Friday Night Lights binge. It’s going to be sort of tough to get back into the pace of the week after a very quiet, sedentary, bland-food-filled weekend. Before I head to campus, I thought you might want to see a couple of pictures of just how sweet Boh can be when I’m feeling lousy.

He is such a good boy. Happy Monday, everyone! More soon.

into the woods.

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The wild flowers along the lakeshore looked particularly green and vibrant yesterday.

Boh and I veered off a regular loop we tend to do at a park near our house. Instead of crossing a lovely wooden bridge, we took a small set of stairs off the south side, and found ourselves in the woods!

Boh loved our detour, and so did I. I’ve been walking in this park regularly since we moved to the lake house at the start of last summer, and this is the first time we’ve wandered along this path. We’ll be back, maybe even this afternoon!

While Boh snored, I dug out my languishing Buttercup. I knew I was close to finishing up the body, so I tried it on. (I debated whether to post this picture of myself on the internet because the neck is still too low and the body not quite long enough — both of which will be addressed before I’m done with the pattern — but I think this is okay to share.)

After snapping this picture (and measuring to determine how much more to knit on the body), I added a few more increase rows and another couple of inches of knitting. This morning I’m planning to listen to podcasts and finish up the feather and fan border. I will wear this sweater this fall! (Famous last words?)

I’m not sure Boh believes me. Or cares. I haven’t been knitting a lot lately, and I want to change that. I really enjoyed working on Buttercup last night — so much so that I worked until my hands were a little bit sore. I wasn’t quite ready for bed yet, so I sat down at my wheel.

I finished up spinning the first bobbin of Kitsune, a polwarth-silk blend from the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I started this ages ago — maybe at the start of the summer? I’m not sure if this will stay as singles or if I’ll spin the second bobbin and ply them together. Either way, this will probably turn into a drapey shawl or cowl.

Boh and I are planning a quiet Labor Day — some knitting, some work, and a nice walk. Hope you have a lovely day!

is this thing on?

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I hope so. Thanks for sticking around through my absence from the blogosphere. I’ve got several posts worth of pictures from the month-long research road trip Boh and I returned from yesterday. Here’s a sampling of the whole thing, minus our weekend adventure with brokeknits — I’ve got enough pictures to turn that into its very own post!

First up? A self-portrait at Forest Park’s Grand Basin in St. Louis. Funny how temperatures rising to 106 degrees meant that I had the place to myself…

Boh loves hotels.

Walking dogs in the bosque.

Boh and I stick our paws/toes in the Rio Grande.

A morning walk in the foothills of the Sandias, on Albuquerque’s eastern side. Boh totally remembered the desert.

A view of the Sandias from the top of one of the volcanos on the west side.

Mount Allegra, the mountain in the backyard of the folks I call my New Mexico family.

Driving west on I-40 into a summer storm. (When all the big rigs pulled over, so did I. About half an hour of rain, hail, thunder, and lightning, and things began to brighten.)

There was a lasso in my room in Camp Verde, Arizona.

More bosque walking with Boh.

Flowers among the cottonwoods.

An awkward self portrait, mid-stroll.

My makeshift office on the back porch of my best friend’s house outside DC.

The Rock Creek Trail offered Boh and I a bit of shade and a nice break from working. It reminded me of home.

Amidst all the driving and outdoor frolicking, I also managed to get quite a bit of research done. (You know what else I did? Eat! I’ve got a whole series of food pictures I promise I’ll share soon.) Boh and I had a wonderful trip, but a month is a long time to be on the road, and I think we’re both very happy to be home.

oh, hi!

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See this? It’s my new bone. Amy ordered it for me to replace the one I’ve been slowly sharpening into a weapon. I think she thought it would be just like the old one, but oh boy oh boy, this one is about three times the size. She’s been busy this week.

The other day she made zucchini fritters with her farm veggies.

They looked (and smelled) delicious. And none of them fell apart. She thinks it is because she actually took the time to squeeze the excess moisture from the veggies before mixing them with the eggs and flour and spices.

She also pitched our tent in the front yard! I think this means we’re going on a trip. She even scrubbed the fly, laid it to dry in the sun, and then patched the hole that was forming on the side you can’t see in this picture. I think I’m going to get to sleep in this soon. (I like our tent.)

I haven’t seen her knitting this week, but I know she has plans to cast on another project for the road. (And I know she’d really love to finish that super cool beret she’s test knitting before we leave!)

Okay, time for a nap.

first tomato of the summer.

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I broiled half of it on toast with cheese and basil, and I ate the other half with my hands. Hooray for the first tomato of summer!

Also, hooray for whisper! I’m starting to think I might need another. I absolutely love the neckline, and I’d love a longer version…

Here’s another knit in action: my very first wedding pinwheel blanket. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this particular knit in all kinds of use — as a lap blanket, as a spot for a catnap, as a baby blanket, and last night, as a pillow for my favorite greyhound. The Cascade 220 I knit it out of seems to be holding up quite well, as I knit this during the summer of 2008.

Here’s another sleepy dog. I bet he wishes he had a pinwheel blanket for a pillow. Someday, Boh. Someday.

I’m gearing up for a research road trip, so yesterday I began the process of cleaning out my car. I don’t think I’ve ever actually emptied my car of cds. (I normally stick to clearing out the back, not all of the little compartments.) Anyway, it was fun to see just how many mixes I’ve received from friends since I bought my car six years ago. I spent some time trying out and then labeling all of the unmarked cds, ditching and re-burning the scratched ones, and putting them into books and cases. (I’m super glad that I import mixes I get in the mail to my computer before playing them over and over and over again. That way I don’t worry about breaking the cd!) That is the fun part of research road trip prep.

Lots more to do this week before I hit the road: finalize what I want to look at, confirm travel/housing plans, buy more dog food, pack…and grade the term papers from the summer course! Happy weekend to you!

on a joyride.

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I’m a couple of repeats into Joyride, this fabulous testknit beret by foxflat. I was initially worried that the colors would be a little bit too busy for the pattern, but so far I like the way it looks! The lace repeat holds my interest without requiring my undivided attention, which is just what I need this week! (All of my knitting seems to be taking place during lecture.)

And then there’s this guy. I rolled over this morning after my alarm went off, and this is what I encountered: Boh, fast asleep, his head on the pillow. Sweetness.

FO: another wedding pinwheel!

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Pretty soon I’m going to have to make one of these for myself. I’ve actually lost count of how many pinwheel blankets I’ve knit. And I’m fine with that. I’m looking forward to putting this in the mail and sending it off to dear friends/newlyweds. Hooray!

This is what has been happening around here. Boh sleeps, I comment on papers. I’m into the last week of my summer TAing. Almost there.

Here’s where I ate my lunch yesterday. Isn’t it lovely?

Today I wore my whisper cardigan. It was cool this morning, so I wore it to the bus stop. And then I took it off, and thought to myself that I’d just been looking for an excuse to wear handknits, and that I didn’t really need it. And then it was extra cool in the air-conditioned library atrium, and I was happy to have it. (I realize none of that is really necessary information. Still, we all have those days where we  wear handknits because we want to, even if the temperature isn’t quite right. The chill in the library made me happy today because I had just the thing to put on!)

One more picture: A blurry self-portrait that I snapped because I wanted to text a friend to show her that I was wearing the earrings she gave me several years ago and thinking of her. Now that I look at this picture, I realized I’ve captured my favorite element of my whisper cardigan: the neck/collar section!

Okay…back to commenting on paper drafts! Happy Tuesday to you.

buttercup update (and other stuff, too).

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It is time to increase a little bit so that the top is a little bit swingy. (Due to yarn concerns, I omitted the body increases earlier in the pattern, but I think I’ve got enough to start adding a few more stitches.)

I made some potato salad last week. And then I took it with me to campus, and enjoyed it with last week’s New Yorker.

Raspberries from the farm. Yum.

This is how I dealt with Saturday night’s power outage. Not a bad way to keep cool. (I was worried that this chardonnay was going to warm in my slightly-less-cool-by-the-second non-electrified fridge.) The power was out for about three hours, and I was able to get some grading done as the sun set.

I snapped this while dashing down my steps to get to campus on time. So lovely, and I almost missed it.

Somebody was afraid of the fireworks on Monday night. Poor Boh.

Remember these socks? I turned the heel in class on Tuesday. Thus concludes today’s installment of show and tell. More soon!