peonies to pinwheels.

Posted on June 11, 2012 by barefootrooster

I picked this peony at the farm last week when I went to pick up my first summer share. It is almost ready to bloom. (And I appreciate that it is taking its time. It’s the perfect company for me as I wrestle with writing a conference panel proposal this week.)

Sweet, sleepy Boh.

New dress and scarf! I wore these to campus on Friday. So comfortable and easy. (And all because I dragged myself to the Gap to replace the jeans I ripped a few weeks ago.)

I had Tango again this weekend. The dogs played so hard that they were happy to hang out with me as I worked on the couch.

And then yesterday we had a last-minute visit from my brother — and his sweet dog, Dexter! We went to the farmers’ market, ate strawberries, olive bread, and french radishes on the porch, and took a nice long walk.

And then I finally transferred my pinwheel blanket in progress to an appropriately sized needle. I’m almost through the first skein of Cascade 220. (And I’m planning to knit it to a 3-skein size.) So far so good! Now, back to Monday!

all the bones.

Posted on June 3, 2012 by barefootrooster

This is my neighbor’s dog, Tango. Tango loves Boh’s bones. He hung out with us yesterday because his person had an all day event. When his person came over to pick him up, Tango began to gather and chew on all the bones.

See? So very sweet. Boh didn’t seem to mind at all.

We’re working backward today, folks. This also happened yesterday. (My pinwheel is growing.)

Also, this. Boh is asleep on my leg. So much playtime!

And here’s a sunset from earlier in the week — maybe Wednesday?

Boh and his bone. (And nails in need of a trim.)

And just because, here’s a photo of my living room looking extra neat and clean. I snapped this picture before I headed to the wedding in Ohio last week. I rented the house to friends for graduation weekend, so I did some serious cleaning to get ready.

Time for dinner and some knitting while the dogs play. (Tango is here today, too!)

sweetness.

Posted on December 6, 2011 by barefootrooster

Boh keeps me company while I read.

A glimpse of a favorite handknit and tea with milk and sugar.

Coltrane, ready for bed. (Seriously. Apparently if he doesn’t get tucked in, he waits at the bedroom door. Also, note the paw under the pillow. I love this dog.)

More soon. (With knitting?)

pie.

Posted on August 25, 2011 by barefootrooster

Strawberry-rhubarb-basil. It could have used a little bit of sugar, as the rhubarb was very tart, but it was bright and fresh-tasting, and the basil even seemed to sweeten it a little!

Oatmeal-pecan. Pie you can eat for breakfast. You know, because of the oatmeal. (I’m baking pies for a friend’s wedding next month, so I’ve been baking and eating more pie in order to help her make some important decisions about fillings and crusts. Tough life, I know.)

Also, here’s some stuff that isn’t pie:

Dogs and books. And me. All in a big pile.

Tango, in a rare contemplative moment.

Remember what I was saying about kitchen mojo? This has been a go-to for me this summer, in part because mojo is not required. Also, the gratification is immediate. Which I like. I have been eating this on Tuesdays. And other days, too, but especially Tuesdays. I get home from the farm, slice into my weekly bread share loaf, cut up a tomato, a hot pepper, and find some cheese in the fridge. I turn on the broiler. I sliver some basil. I pile all that stuff on the toast (this week it is a rye with caraway seeds encrusted on the outside), slide it under the broiler, and wait less than five minutes, until the toast is dark around the edges and the cheese is bubbling and starting to brown. Then I take it out and make myself go in the other room, or take out the compost, or do something to not eat this right away, because I will burn my mouth. And then I take my broiled tomato toast to the porch to enjoy. Summer food, at its finest.

It is rainy this morning, and I have a hankering for knitting with handspun. Boh and I are headed to a family wedding this weekend, and amidst the packing (so much harder to throw stuff in a bag and go when you have to look pretty where you’re going) I’m hoping to find time to wind up some squishy comfort yarn. The grey, rainy morning might have something to do with that. Happy weekend!

flour to scale.

Posted on August 21, 2011 by barefootrooster

So, sometime-blogger, always-friend K. hopped a plane to a place where the words are very long. And she left me a big box of treats from her pantry, including this enormous bag of flour.

I’ll be honest. I’ve been struggling to reclaim my cooking mojo. Maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s the traveling, maybe it’s that I don’t really have anyone to cook for right now; I don’t know. But I haven’t been playing in the kitchen anywhere near as much as I’d like to want to, if that makes sense.

Enter that big bag of flour. I just had to bake something. So out came the measuring cups and spoons, and out came the loaf pan and an enormous farm zucchini.

And after an hour in the oven, voila: zucchini bread. This is the basic recipe in Mark Bittman’s big yellow book — nothing fancy, but it sure is delicious. (And this loaf had a touch of freshly grated nutmeg, courtesy of K.’s bag o’ treats.)

That was Friday.

I’m glad I enjoyed most of the zucchini bread Friday and Saturday, because today, I left the last sixth of it on the counter. Which, by the way, is where I leave most of my food. But this weekend, Boh and I have a house guest in the form of Tango, my neighbor’s loveable 3-year old ball of energy. Tango has taught Boh a thing or two about mischief…including, apparently, how to get the rest of a loaf of zucchini bread off the counter. Here’s hoping Boh was simply a witness, rather than a full-on accomplice. All I know is that trouble has never looked so cute.

Oh, and here’s a bit of knitting! Like the zucchini bread, it’s nothing fancy, but I sure do like it. This is Ishbel, take 2, in what I’m pretty sure is still Yarn Pirate yarn from when I belonged to the Booty Club in a deep variegated purple. So lovely. Also, a little biased, because when I ripped out last time I wound it right back into a ball. Hoping I’ll be happy with it once I re-block. (Note to self: don’t be lazy about rewashing yarn…)

More soon.

FO: stripey shawl.

Posted on July 8, 2011 by barefootrooster

Eventually I’ll take a wingspan photograph so you can see the size of this basic triangle shawl, but for now, I’ll just say that I LOVE this, and that it is just long enough for me to wrap all the way around with the point(s) in front. Made from 250ish yards of handspun singles in two different colorways (one is Sadia from AVFKW in bfl, and the other might be half of a 2-color bump from SCF in Hades, possibly also bfl). I can dig up those details if anybody is dying to know. The brown is a purpley brown, and the lighter shade is a lovely coral with lots of depth. Originally I had intended to use this pair to make Daybreak, but at the start of last month I got sick, needed a simple project, and just couldn’t wrap my sinus-addled brain around the pattern, so I started this instead. I used the cast on and set up from Mary Heather-Cogar’s Simple Things (a pattern I highly recommend), and the rest is really just stockinette stripes, with a few garter ridges close to the very end to stop the edges from rolling too horribly.

Here’s one of many awkward pictures I attempted to take of myself wearing this shawl — I like this one for its blurriness and for the glare on my glasses. (Adds a certain sparkle to the image, maybe?)

I’ve learned that half-assed blocking still results in lovely drape, so I’ll keep that in mind for future projects. (It is so nice to have a towel rack on the door to my shower to hang blocking shawls!)

This silliness was occurring while I was trying to take pictures of the shawl.

Coltrane considers his reading options on the bookshelf. Boh wishes he could read…

Hooray for Friday.

Sweet, silly dogs.

dog days.

Posted on June 29, 2011 by barefootrooster

Hi, folks. Sorry to disappear this week! I’m TAing summer school for high schoolers for the next three weeks, and my schedule has gotten kind of crazy! Hoping to be back into a rhythm very soon. In the meantime, here’s a whole bunch of pictures of Boh and his best friend Coltrane, who spent five days of his summer vacation here with us this week!

More soon!

thickets.

Posted on June 5, 2010 by barefootrooster

This wonderfully subtle colorway from AVFKW is called Manka’s Thicket. (Thicket: what a great word.) The fiber is black bfl, and then there are these subtle hints of reddish purples throughout. I’m imagining that this will be the main color of a daybreak shawl, with the Sadia bfl I just finished as the contrasting color…so long as I am able to get enough yardage out of the pair. This stuff spins like a dream, and is practically flying through my fingers. Here are my singles on the bobbin so far: