Fall is here, and handknit-appropriate weather has come with it. No new knitting progress to share, so instead of inserting photos of books to read, I managed to snap a few pictures of some knits-in-action. Well, and Boh, being cozy on the couch.
This rooster is counting down to Friday. More soon!
Swoon. 178 yards of some of the squishiest, evenest, prettiest 2-ply bfl I have ever spun. So excited to get this in the mail to a dear friend. (This is Southern Cross Fibres bfl, from the July 2010 Fiber Club, in Reflection.) There are some leftovers on my bobbins, so I should have enough for a small skein to toss into my bag(s) o’ handspun for later. If that doesn’t make Monday just a bit more bearable, I don’t know what does.
Nope, no hidden meaning in this blog post title. I’m going to cast on a blanket out of mostly handspun as a test-knit for Cosy (you know, and a treat for me!), and I’m looking for some input!
Here’s the first option: greys, reds, burnt-oranges.
And here’s another: greys, yellows, greens, a touch of lavender. What do you think? Pairing solid/commerical yarns is tough enough, so I’d appreciate any thoughts you folks have about how to choose yarns for a project (ahem, for this project!) out of a pile of handspun. Thanks!
Other things going on around here:
I finished spinning the second bobbin of the SCF bfl in the reflection colorway. Boh helped.
A lot.
And I’m making progress on my windschief hat. The more I knit on this, the more in love I am with both the pattern and this yarn. In fact, I’m going to let myself knit a few rows before I dig into the work I’d like to accomplish before I head to campus…
Good: yesterday I received a box of ice cream. Of Jeni’s ice cream. In the mail. Complete with a love note and special effects (fog from the enclosed block of dry ice). The friend who sent this rocks far more than I do. And the ice cream? It is fabulous. We savored several small bites of the salty caramel last night after dinner. I will not even attempt to describe the fullness of the flavors that combined to make me incredibly happy.
Bad: The dent the resulted from my poor choice of a three-point turn location. This occurred about 15 minutes after I discovered the box of ice cream on the front porch. There is a tree on my street that I love. It stands on the next block, so Boh and I walk by it all the time. It is tall, sturdy, and has a bulbous, knotty, interesting trunk. I never noticed (until yesterday, anyway) that one of the round, knotty bumps sticking out of the trunk hangs out just a bit over the curb. And when I, in a hurry to make a meeting, left without my phone, I pulled a quick three-point turn to head back to my apartment. Problem was, I chose to do so right at this tree. And as you can see, when I backed up (still on the road, mind you), a bulbous portion of the trunk made a bit of an impression below my rear window and to the side of my spare tire. The whole thing is sort of ridiculous. Somehow I managed to position myself so that the bulbous part of the tree was exactly where I couldn’t see it. Super lame that I’ll need to put some extra money into my car, but in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think I could have avoided this (or now, reproduce this) if I tried. Plus, ice cream makes everything better.
Thanks for listening. After I went outside this morning to take a picture of yesterday’s dent, I dug out my handspun eternity scarf. It was cold this morning, so I wore this doubled up on my walk to campus, and then wore it in a big loop once I was inside. I love this, and wear it all the time. I really should cast on another…
I pulled the pins out of my blocking textured shawl recipe shawl this morning while waiting for the coffee water to be ready to add to my french press. I have no idea what is going on in that last picture — consider it an example of this rooster, bleary-eyed and pre-coffee. Silly. So, this is lovely. I used every last inch of my 257 yards of green/blue handspun from friends’ folly farm (well, and a yard and a half of Rowan felted tweed). I followed the recipe, but applied the mods used by sketchbook on ravelry, which makes for a wider, shallower shawl. The finished product does have the drape I was hoping for, and it is solidly shawlette size. (Victory!) The mohair content is a little scratchy, but I’m hoping to tame that a bit with use, or just wear it draped more loosely around my neck, rather than wrapped tight. It feels good to have this off the needles, and I really enjoyed knitting it.
I do think I’ll make another out of something solid, super soft, and with great stitch definition to really highlight the texture of this shawl. And next time, I won’t put this project in the bag I take everywhere. I can’t explain it, but most of the time, the project that actually goes everywhere with me rarely gets worked on. Sure, I’ll pull it out when unexpected things happen and I have to wait in line or something, but mostly, I think my bag is officially a black hole when it comes to knitting projects. Okay, coffee is ready. And as you can tell from that picture, I need it.
As you can see, I’ve been knitting away on the textured shawl this week. And last night, after a lovely late night beer and knitting date, I realized that I was getting very close to the end of my handspun. This morning, with my coffee, I knit a few more rows, and then gambled (poorly) about whether I’d have enough to bind off on the right side. This is a photo of the gamble, alongside my proposed solution. (Remember the sweater I frogged awhile back?) I made it halfway through the bind-off row when I ran out. Luckily, even though the Rowan Felted Tweed stands out against the backdrop of the textured shawl in this photo, one strand, on the edge of half the shawl, blends right in. I spit-spliced and continued binding off, and then raced against the clock to soak the shawl and pin it out before power-walking to campus to teach section this morning.
I stretched it out as much as I could, though the cast on edge is a bit tight, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the whole thing relaxes into a cozy, comfy, drape-y shawl.
And now I have a few food pictures to share from the week. (Yep, no transition. Sorry about that.)
Last weekend I made a pan’s worth of eggplant parmesan using a big, beautiful farm eggplant. It was awesome. And last Friday (I think) I made gazpacho.
This was so good. Exactly what I needed on a very sticky day. Here’s the recipe. We ate it with toast and cream cheese, and it hit the spot. I will definitely be making this the next time I have a handful of super ripe, juicy tomatoes.
Happy almost weekend! (And if you’re on the East Coast, happy arrival-of-weather-that-is-suitable-for-knitwear!)
Well, I certainly don’t feel like I’m settling into a routine, but it seems like the photos I pulled off my phone and camera this week suggest otherwise. I picked up my textured shawl again, and it is really moving. I’m still unsure about this — hoping it blocks bigger and drapes better — but I love the depth in the greens and blues. A little more reading, another row or two, and then it will most certainly be bedtime for this rooster.
You know, so you don’t notice that I haven’t even picked up my knitting this week.
First up, zucchini brownies. The farmers at my CSA emailed a link to this recipe last week, and since I still had zucchini leftover after all kinds of zucchini casseroles and breads, I decided to give it a whirl. Super delicious, and the chocolate chips you sprinkle on top at the end make these extra rich and chocolatey, almost as if they’re frosted. Also, this recipe uses 2-3 cups of shredded zucchini, which is way more than most zucchini bread recipes call for.
And then, on the same night, no less, I made bread and butter pickles with a handful of gorgeous farm cucumbers. I followed Deb’s recipe (minus the celery seed because I didn’t have any), and now I have a jar full of pickles to snack from in the fridge. (Lucky for me, the boy is not really a pickle fan. More for me!)
As you can see from this photo, Boh is also trying to be productive. If only he’d read and take notes on my books.
I snapped this photo of one of my bookshelves this morning. I can’t wait to knit with all this handspun, but I think I had better make a bit more progress on my reading lists first. Happy Friday!
So, yesterday this rooster voluntarily bought a blazer. My first thought, in the dressing room: Wait — does this make me a grown-up? (As soon as I walked out of the Gap, I called my mother. I knew she’d be proud. I mean, I did own a blazer in high school, but it was more of a costume. I wore it for Mock Trial. This time, I actually went looking for the blazer.) Feel free to skim down to the actual knitting at any time, because I’m going to keep talking about this. Every season, but in the summer, especially, I try to purge things I don’t wear/don’t need from my closet/life. And this year I had a realization. I am harboring two entirely different wardrobes: one for the girl who lives in ripped jeans and beat-up carhartts, fleece, long underwear, plaid shirts and puffy vests while she camps, cooks, and wanders, and one for the girl who wears dark jeans, big jewelry, and aims to at least feel like a confident/hip grad student as she attends classes and meetings, reads, and teaches section. The line between these two roosters is blurrier than I’m making it sound here, and I hope it stays that way. I don’t want to lose that first girl — and I’m not just talking about attire — to the second. And I don’t think I will, though I want to be mindful of the ways in which my life has changed over the last few years. I had to chuckle, though, when I realized that I could no longer just get rid of things I haven’t worn in the last year — because the next time I’m in the desert, the next time I’m pitching a tent, the next time Boh and I are adventuring — I’m going to both want and need that stuff! Besides, there’s something about a blazer that dresses up even the rattiest, most comfortable shirt.
Finally — some knitting! I’m making progress on my textured shawl. I love the way the textured stitch looks in this handspun, but I’m anxious about the size and drape of the overall shawl. I’m going to keep knitting, though, and then cross my fingers and block the hell out of it. (Good plan, right?)
It is zucchini-time at the farm, which means it is zucchini bread-time in my kitchen. Here’s the first loaf of the summer. Yum.
Boh wants you to know that he is being VERY good this morning.
A knitterly friend has proposed a trade: I’ll spin this fiber, and she’ll do something painterly (her work is stunning) or sewing-related for me! I am really excited to dive into this spinning project. These bags of natural fiber are both labeled alpaca, though I’m thinking that the brown stuff is a blend…or at least baby alpaca. It is so much softer! I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
Happy Friday!
Enter my new camera. The old one, which, for the record, I’ve had to alternately shake/smack to get it to turn on for the last two years, up and died yesterday. I thought maybe it was the heat, but I tried every trick last night and this morning, and still, nothing. We’ve had a good run. Unfortunately, my life has become a money pit lately, and this didn’t help. (I may have spent the first hour of my day at the Honda service center in order to determine if the check engine light refers to something that impacts the overall drive-ability of my car. It doesn’t, so my plans for a weekend road trip are still on, which is good. The not-so-good? I will have to replace an oxygen sensor before my car’s next inspection. Oh, and I have a strut that should be replaced eventually. Can I apply for a fellowship to help with that? Ha.)
Anyway, it wasn’t until I opened the box that I realized my new camera is red! And I like it! Basically, I was looking for something that has a solid lens, wasn’t super expensive, had macro-capabilities, and used as much of the stuff from my old camera as possible, so I stuck with Sony. I can use the same memory cards, which is nice, but the battery for this baby is about half the thickness of the old ones.
Here’s where I was on Day 5 of the tour with my garland targhee singles. I’m going to try to spin a bit more tonight before Boh and I hit the road in the morning.
My textured shawl. I’m taking this with me — we’re off to see the friend who gifted me this fiber!
And a gratuitous zinnia shot to kick off the weekend!
barefoot rooster 