Tag Archives: knitting

saturday.

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I took yesterday off. Like, completely off. And I’m pretty sure it was the first day in a REALLY long time that I did that. (I’m pretty sure I even did a little bit of work every day that I was out of town for my best friend’s wedding.) Back to yesterday. What did I do?

Well, I was lazy. And so was Boh. All morning. And then I went to pick spinach at my summer/winter farm’s open house. And on the way home, Boh and I spontaneously stopped for a quick walk along the rim of a nearby gorge.

So beautiful. And Boh was so excited. Then, I cast on a new knitting project with yarn recently released from a WIP, and learned a new-to-me cast on — the tubular cast on. By the time I cast on all 180 stitches of Lilac Wine, a simple cowl in 1×1 rib, I had gotten the hang of it. And then I made a quart of cold-brew tea and took the tea and my knitting out to the porch.

Except you can’t see any knitting in that picture, so here’s a shot from this morning of my progress so far:

The yarn is Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Nova Scotia (I think…that’s how long it has been since I first wound up this yarn and cast on a Milkweed shawl). I’m knitting it on 7s, and the ribbing was almost too loose at first, but now that I’m a couple inches in, I think I really like the drape I’m getting at this gauge. (I’m also expecting it to bloom a little bit when I block it.) This pattern seems like a really nice way to enjoy variegated yarn. Also, a great way to always have some easy knitting handy, which is part of why I cast on. My dear friends D and T (the folks with Coltrane, my favorite greyhound) invited me over for dessert, port, bourbon, and a movie last night — which meant that I needed movie knitting. All of my projects seemed be at spots requiring my full attention — or at least more than movie-watching attention — so I needed dto start something new. When I got to their house, this happened:

In fact, the second I turned off the car, this cat was on the hood, and it was a bit of a challenge to get myself out of the car without the cat coming in. (This cat belongs to a neighbor.) It then proceeded to settle itself right on top of the sunroof, so I snapped this picture.

Boh and I hope you’re having a great weekend. We have plans for a sunset walk and a drink on the dock with a friend. I’m doing some work today, but aiming for the kind of balance that actually makes it feel like the first weekend of spring break.

organizing.

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Organizing my knitting projects, I mean. Last night, while waiting for it to be midnight, which is when I made my students’ current essay due, I decided to empty out the bag o’ knitting that lives in the family room, mostly because I’ve been so busy with new/gift projects that I hadn’t looked in there in awhile.

Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I ended up pulling out every WIP I could think of. (Only the stuff in the tote bag is pictured above.) I put away needles, filed patterns (like I’ve looked in my knitting binder since Ravelry really took off…), and even decided to frog things I haven’t touched in years. The Thermal sweater I started in BLACK fingering weight yarn 5 years ago? Frogged. The Milkweed shawl I knit 5 rows of and put away because of something with a deadline? Frogged. The adorable Manresa legwarmers I started knitting — right after I started knitting? Bound off, right where I was. I’m totally keeping the beautifulness of my stranded knitting, despite the fact that the floats on the wrong side are atrocious, and so tight that the legwarmer probably wouldn’t even fit Boh in places!

Still, I’m keeping this as a reminder of my fearlessness as a new knitter. Maybe I need to give colorwork another go sometime soon? I also moved a bunch of my WIPs into places where I’m more likely to knit: some near my spot on the couch, and some next to my bed. I even moved a lamp I rarely use into a spot in my bedroom that will help me to see what I’m knitting — or reading. This is long overdue, as I’ve had nights where it has been hard to get to sleep. Other things I’m organizing?

Veggies! I joined a spring CSA, which is super exciting. The farm I belong to in both the summer (June-November) and the winter (December – mid-March) takes a break from providing veggies in the spring in order to get everything ready for summer. It is always a rough time of year, and I spend it anxiously waiting for awesome veggies. This year, I don’t have to wait! A local farm has rolled out a plan to fill in this gap, and is offering a mid-March through May CSA, and I got my first box this week: crunchy sprouts, braising greens, red Russian kale, local honey, and pickled ginger. Yum!

And maybe, to keep with my blog post theme, I’m organizing myself. Yesterday I lounged about all morning, Skyped with a dear friend, and generally took it easy. Then I put on a pretty outfit, and went to a coffee shop, and did not leave until I’d written 800+ words. The draw of meeting a friend for a beer when she got off work at 5:30 helped me to keep going. If I can do 4 hours of writing work most days this break, I’ll be really happy.

And here are a couple of porch pictures: me reading, Boh lounging. (As it should be?) I’m thinking we’ll do a bit of this today, weather permitting!

friday again.

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Oops. I snapped lots of blog-worthy photos this week, but didn’t find the time to actually upload or post. Maybe this whole pictures-from-last-week thing is my default blogging rhythm this semester? Anyway, here’s what I’ve got:

Egg, avocado, sriracha, and cheese on toast.

Beans, greens, and reading. (This was a super delicious, energy-boosting meal heavily modified from a recipe in one of Heidi’s Super Natural  cookbooks — I swapped kale for dandelion greens, and butter beans for chickpeas.)

Coffee and oatmeal with bananas, peanut butter, and agave syrup. Breakfast of champions.

Some sock knitting, almost to the heel flap. (And a sleeping pup.)

Sunset on the lake. Stunning. Daylight savings meant that I got home early enough to snap this photo.

Striped baby hat number 2. This one went to my cousin’s daughter, on the occasion of her baptism this weekend. I hope it fits!

The first bloom in my yard. I moved here in May, so I’m still discovering what’s in the yard. Hooray for spring flowers! (Anybody know what this is?)

Sushi. A lot of it. A group of my favorite grad-school friends have been getting together to watch The Bachelor and offer some analysis — which is fascinating and a lot of fun because it is so different from what we work on. And since weekends are filled with work, it feels super indulgent to set aside some time on Monday night for something like this. The sushi was to celebrate the finale. (And we were definitely ready for it to be over!)

My sweet dog, sunbathing on the porch. Which is totally what I feel like doing. Yesterday the weather was glorious, and I was able to enjoy the sunshine on my way to the post office, and then as I did all of the errands I’ve been putting off for a couple of weeks. I mailed my last grant application of the season, and today marks the start of spring break — which doesn’t mean I’m taking a break, exactly, but means I get to shift my focus from my teaching to my writing, and that I get to focus on one thing instead of seven. Or something. I’m planning to take it easy this morning, and then get some writing done this afternoon. Hooray — and happy Friday to you.

(almost) FO: hap blanket.

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I’m on a roll. Yesterday, between writing the first paragraph of something that will be a draft of the first chapter of my dissertation (yay!), and attending a colloquium on campus, I bound off the hap blanket I started months ago as a wedding present for C and A, who got married at the end of November. I’m so happy with how this turned out. I even cuddled with it while watching Colbert!

I’m really happy with the size, pre-blocking, and I bet I’ll get another inch or so in length and width when I block out the feather and fan border. All that remains is to weave in the ends and give it a soak — which means, C and A, you should have it before it gets too hot in Florida…

No actual knits in this picture, but I snapped this because I’m wearing my new pashmina, which was the gift all of the bridesmaids received at M’s wedding last weekend. The color is lovely and surprisingly versatile, and the shawl is so soft.

And here’s my silly dog again. His friend Tango came over last night after I got home from campus, which meant he slept very deeply, and did not want to get out of bed this morning. Instead, he wanted a belly rub. I know, Boh. TGIF.

Time to get to work. Happy Friday to you!

biscuits, boh, and an almost finished blanket.

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This is how Tuesday started. Sweet, sweet dog.

Tuesday was a constant struggle for productivity. Finally I gave up for awhile, and instead, made these incredible yogurt biscuits from one of my “Heidi” cookbooks, Super Natural Every Day. You can find the recipe here. These were AMAZING — and surprisingly easy. Maybe the tastiest biscuits I’ve ever made. I didn’t use a food processor — instead, I just used my pastry cutter to work the butter in, and then mixed with a wooden spoon. I also did a pretty half-assed job of pressing the dough into a thin square and then “cutting” (I tore) the dough in half and stacking them to repeat again. I was skeptical that my efforts would yield results as fluffy, flaky, and light as Heidi promised…but these were everything I hoped they’d be.

I ate them with some butternut squash that I’d been meaning to roast. But since the oven was otherwise occupied, I cooked the squash on the stove, simmering it with a little bit of olive oil, butter, and water, covered until tender, and then taking the lid off to brown it up with a bit of sage, which is still struggling to stay alive on my porch.

And here’s a close up. I reheated these for breakfast and dinner on Wednesday, and they were almost as awesome as they were right out of the oven. I’ll definitely be making these again.

And here’s that hap blanket — so, so very close to being done. C, if you’re reading this, get excited. I really only have a couple more rows to knit, and it has my full attention again now that M.’s wedding shawl is finished! I’m excited to bind off and block this — it is so scrunched up on my circulars that I can’t fully appreciate it.

Can you tell that I really need to start writing a paper? I can always tell — my blogging becomes extra wordy and descriptive. Time to direct that energy into today’s to-do list!

FO: snow drops and snap peas shawl.

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I did a lot of knitting last week (and Boh did a lot of sleeping). We spent a good deal of time in this position on the couch, and we finished the shawl with plenty of time for blocking and packing.

Here it is, almost done.

Blocking on the dining room table. (So nice to have a table that is big enough for a substantially-sized shawl.) Speaking of, I ended up knitting a size in between the medium and large sizes — I did one less overall repeat, just to make sure that I wouldn’t be rushing, and I’m really happy with the sizing. I do need to work on my blocking skills — I’m not so good with the long flexible wires for blocking a shawl into a perfect half-circle, as you can sort of tell. There are a couple of scalloped edges, but I aimed to make them symmetrical so that it wouldn’t look sloppy.

This lace pattern is gorgeous — and not too difficult to execute, which was perfect for this project and the timeline I was working with. I knit this on size 7 needles, using Shibui Sock in the Pagoda colorway. Right after I cast on, I panicked about not having enough yarn (I had about 600 yards) and so I ordered another few skeins, which was a great idea. For a size a bit smaller than the large, I used almost half of a fourth skein. And now there’s plenty of yarn for something fun for me — tall socks? My very own shawl?

Here’s a crappy mirror shot of me wearing the shawl, for scale more than anything.

And here it is, Snow Drops and Snap Peas, all folded up and ready to be packed and then gifted to the bride.

And here’s a glimpse of my maid of honor bouquet — so lovely. I don’t have any pictures of the wedding to share, but my head is filled with wonderful images of my dearest friend, radiant and happy, marrying her partner. The weekend was filled with celebration, and I’m so thrilled to have been able to be part of it. There’s something really special about getting to participate in your best friend’s wedding, and it meant a whole lot to me to get to support her in all the small ways (bouquet-holding, dress-bustling) and to get to write a toast for M. and her husband(!). I’m still on a bit of a high from the whole thing, even as I’ve been struggling to jump back into the pile of things that must get done.

Off to campus!

pictures from last week.

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I did it again: I uploaded and formatted photos last week with the intention to post. And then I didn’t. So I’m doing it now. (What’s sort of fun about this is that I can’t remember what I took pictures of last week, so this will be a bit of a surprise for me, too.)

Oooh! I finished a sock — the first of the pair I’m knitting out of Plucky Knitter yarn in the touch of mink colorway. This sock is on the snug side, but I’m hoping it will loosen up a bit with wear.

Knits in action: my first eternity scarf. Still holding my coffee mug. I’m guessing this is from Monday or Wednesday, which are my early-to-campus mornings.

Research! I’ve been really good these last two weeks about blocking off several 3-hour chunks of time to look at the materials I gathered on all of my late summer and early fall research trips. I really need to start writing soon, as I’m giving a paper in April. I’ve been telling myself that I have to begin this when I get back from the wedding I’m in this weekend.

It’s official. I’m obsessed with the carrot-miso soup Deb posted about earlier this winter, except instead of drizzling it with toasted sesame oil, I’ve been lacing mine with sriracha. So good. Why have you not made some of this yet?

Boh lounging in the sunshine on the porch. Is it really February?

Inspired by Boh, I spent some time working on the porch.

I managed to snap a picture of the train going by. Can you see it?

Thursday morning omelette: spinach and cheddar, drizzled with sriracha. Yum.

I love these wrinkles.

Procrasti-knitting? I finished the first sock and cast on the second, instead of just buckling down and finishing the wedding shawl. I can tell you this now because the shawl is currently soaking, and soon will be blocking on the dining room table. Time to go pin it out. Stay tuned for more photos!

sunset and sweet stripes.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the last day of January, it was easily in the mid-fifties here. And on my enclosed porch, it was a warm and cozy seventy degrees, due to a handful of hours of direct sun. I put on my flip-flops, brought my teaching prep to the big yellow table, and enjoyed my view of the lake. And when it got too dark for actual work, I just sat and took in the sunset. (And snapped a few pictures of it for you.)

It was a lovely way to say goodbye to January.

And here are the sweet stripes I made mention of: a basic baby hat, modeled on one of the many awesome hat patterns in cosy‘s book, Knit One, Embellish Two. I knit this with grey Cascade 220 and some super soft undyed mystery yarn that I think was left over from something my friend M.’s mom was making. I did more subtraction to turn a child’s hat into a baby hat, and I’m hoping it fits the wee one in question, born on Sunday morning. It went into the mail on Monday, so I’m counting on it arriving today. (I may also be counting on the new parents, one of whom is at least aware of this blog, being too busy to find this sort-of-spoiler alert.) This was so much fun to make that I’ve cast on another. I’m sure I can find a baby to put it on.

I’m reaching back to Monday morning (excuse the artificial light) for this knits-in-action shot of my Idlewood. This is the first time I’ve worn it this year, and I love it just as much as I did when I finished knitting it. I even put it back on as a cozy layer as I was walking out the door to yoga on Monday night, and when it was time for savasana, I pulled the huge cowl up over my head for deep relaxation. I may need to make another. Or at least put it on to help me with today’s tasks: a grant application, a student recommendation letter, and maybe, hopefully, some time spent going through my research.

another post from last week?

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Hi, folks. Rooster here. Another doozy of a week — the start of classes (including mine!), and the work of adjusting to a new routine, a new commute (from the lake house), a new pattern for Boh. Here’s hoping I’ll figure out where blogging fits into all of that very soon. All went well this week, but there’s just so much to do. And I’ll keep attempting to cross things off of my ever-elongating to-do list after I write this post. Guess what? I’ve got (gasp) photos of actual knitting!  (Though the knitting occurred last week.)

Here’s that vanilla sock in Plucky yarn I started earlier this month. I began the toe decreases on a bus almost two weeks ago, when I was headed to a bachelorette gathering. I only had super short hiya-hiya circular needles with me, and the decreases were not so fun to try to work with those — just not enough give to comfortably do ssks and k2togs, and the bumpiness of the bus didn’t help. I really should put this back into my bag (with the dpns I need to keep decreasing), especially now that my commute involves a short bus ride each morning and afternoon!

And here I am, working on the border of the wedding hap blanket I’ve been knitting…ahem…as a gift for two lovely people who got married in November. I’m so close. C+A, it’ll be done soon! Promise!

And I’ve got big plans for this yarn. Wedding shawl plans — for my best friend. She’s getting married in March, and she picked the yarn and the pattern. More on this soon. (On today’s to-do list? Wind this yarn!)

I’ve been wearing handknits, especially my cowls, this week. I love this wurm cowl so, so much. Handspun around my neck is one of the best things I can think of right now.

More handspun around my neck. Remember when I made this stripey shawl over the summer because I was sick and didn’t have the focus necessary to follow the instructions for the Daybreak shawl? (One of these days I’m going to actually knit that.) I love the colors, and the drape of this fabric of loosely knit singles is fantastic. And I love how it sort of goes with this cardigan I picked up on clearance at Banana Republic when I was visiting my parents for Christmas.

And then there’s this guy. No knitting in this picture, but an extra dose of cuddly sweetness. I’m happy to have Boh to keep me company as I tackle a draft of a grant application today…