still not knitting…

Posted on April 23, 2015 by barefootrooster

…but I need to add my voice to the chorus of folks saying that the new Alabama Shakes album is AMAZING. Seriously. I loved their first album — Brittany Howard is the real deal, and also, I’m a fan of any lady who writes a song where the dude says, “Now let me take you out, buy you new appliances…”

But this is pretty incredible. Here’s Don’t Wanna Fight and Gimme All Your Love. The rest of the album is just as good. And perfect for this turn back toward winter we’ve been experiencing. Might get some snow flurries today, highs in the forties.

More of the same around here:

Boh, “helping” me prep for class.

More popcorn with the curry-cumin-cinnamon-salt spice mixture.

First spring flowers in the yard!

More “helping,” this time with formatting the bibliography of the dissertation.

Another professor costume. K. says that I should call it a uniform instead of a costume, since I’m not pretending. We’ll see about that :)

Boh keeps watch over the front yard.

And smiles after a great walk through the park. This dog is thrilled about spring. (We should be back to spring temps after a cooler today/tomorrow.)

ruination day (april 14)

Posted on April 14, 2015 by barefootrooster

Gillian Welch’s “April the 14th Part 1” is worth a listen all the time, but maybe especially today. And thank you, friends, for all your kind words and congratulations. It hasn’t really hit me yet that I did this thing. Maybe once I’ve filed the thing at the end of the month?

Anyway, my first few days as a doctor involved catching up on some sleep, eating breakfast on the porch, and taking some solid walks with my sweet dog. (And some actual celebrating.) Want to see?

Boh, basking in the sun. (I had to laugh–his eyes were closed, but he was holding up his head and sort of nodding as he fell asleep.)

More beautiful flowers to celebrate. I love spring flowers.

Our local waterfall, raging after a lot of spring rain.

Boh was pretty excited about it — can you see that he’s drooling? (This is a little gross, but Boh only drools when he is excited, either on a really great walk filled with good smells, or when he’s playing outside with new dog friends. His drool is really…viscous? So he’ll be running around with a serious strand of it hanging from his mouth. Sort of icky, but also strangely endearing.)

Celebratory beverage, the first. I have decided that all beverages should be chilled with ice spheres.

Warm enough for bare legs! Also worth celebrating after such a long winter.

Porch breakfast (scrambled eggs, salsa, corn tortillas), flowers, and a matching notebook. (For slowly getting back to work.)

My trusty sidekick, snoring under the table. I’ll take it. No knitting to share right now, but I imagine I’ll be back to it soon…

april (almost there).

Posted on April 6, 2015 by barefootrooster

Hi, friends. Boh had a rough week. Those of you who’ve been here awhile can probably tell that this face is not Boh’s regular sad face.

He did not feel good on Wednesday, and was having trouble getting up onto the couch. He tried to jump up into the car and missed, which broke my heart. So we went to the vet.

And after lots of bloodwork to rule out the scary stuff, the diagnosis was that he tweaked something in his back. Armed with pain meds and orders to not jump, play, or take walks for a week, we headed back home.

And the weather turned into pretty good hunkering weather. The fog sat low over the lake, which made the yard look eerie.

Eerie but lovely.

And look! Spring might be here soon. The daffodils are trying, anyway.

Somebody’s feeling a little better. Good enough to make that super quizzical face at the huge pile of paper on my lap. (That’s a draft of my DISSERTATION, you guys!)

And here’s a roasted beet salad I made the other night. Farm beets, homemade dressing, and bread I picked up at opening day of our farmers’ market.

Beer to help with the grading. (I’ll confess, I picked this half because I miss the West, and half because of the sheep. Beer for knitters?)

Still sleepy, but he’s definitely feeling better. The sun is shining today, and I’m so ready for Boh to finish his meds so we can get back to all of our favorite spots. Happy spring, friends. (And maybe there will be some knitting soon? I’ve got a blanket to finish, and I did recently offer to make someone a hat…)

like a lamb.

Posted on March 31, 2013 by barefootrooster

Spring! To celebrate, Boh and I headed into town and took one of our favorite walks.

The falls were raging — I can only imagine how fast they are flowing after this afternoon’s steady rain.

A couple hours of direct sunlight warmed up the porch enough that Boh and I could work (lounge) there on Saturday afternoon with a cup of tea. (Note: I am extremely upset about the burn marks on my beautiful yellow table, but I’m trying to move past it.)

Rough life.

Working on the second-to-last stripe, with Boh’s permission and close supervision, of course.

A little bit of dissertation writing on the couch today, wrapped in my terra shawl. Perfect for a damp spring day. Back to work — and to eating the Easter chocolate my mom sent me…

spring blooms.

Posted on April 25, 2012 by barefootrooster

I snapped these photos with my phone on my walk from the coffee shop to my car last week — before the snow, sleet, and coldness that blew through here over the weekend. I do love spring. (Also, I love that purple paint job in the first picture!)

And here’s my sweet dog, keeping me company as I knit around and around on my lilac wine cowl. I could probably bind off anytime, but I sort of want to use up all the yarn. We’ll see…

signs of spring?

Posted on April 14, 2011 by barefootrooster

The first Caesar salad of the season. (My dad’s recipe. Also, further evidence that Boh is my dog. He LOVES the smell of garlic. He kept licking his lips and leaning on me while I inhaled this enormous bowl of salad. So silly.)

First daffodils in the yard.

Shorts! (Only for a few hours, on an unseasonably warm Monday night.)

And then a few days of rain. And reading. Both of which create the ideal conditions for Boh to make this wrinkly face. (And, let’s face it, for me to want to knit instead of work. I’m on my final stripe of the shawl. Pictures soon!)

another stripe.

Posted on April 3, 2011 by barefootrooster

Still here, still knitting! I didn’t mean to disappear this week. I was just waiting until my stripe study shawl “looked” bigger. As the shawl grows, each stripe takes longer. I’m not convinced that I’m doing the increases at the off-center center correctly, because the point of the dark stripes looks a little wonky. I wonder if a less open increase, like a kfb, might help with that. (Because I’m totally going to knit this again. And again.)

I’ll leave you with some visuals that demonstrate to me that spring is almost here:

Me, last week — wrapped in my terra shawl, a warm sweater, long underwear, and warm house boots.

Me, yesterday: in a lightweight shawl, a floral print, and pink! As I type this, the sky is clear and the birds are chirping. I’m headed back to the library as soon as it opens, but first, Boh and I are going to take a nice walk. Happy weekend!

flowers + pie crust = spring break.

Posted on March 19, 2010 by barefootrooster

And that was today. Windows open, music loud, pie in the oven. Boh spent the morning in a pocket of sunshine on the comforter, and I played in the kitchen and sat at my wheel. We are on spring break. (Which mostly means longer chunks of time to grade exams, read, write a conference paper — but also means we can justify things like longer, more leisurely walks, elaborate kitchen experiments, and having another beer — which is code for not working late into the evening.)

Happy weekend!

spring sunrise.

Posted on April 4, 2008 by barefootrooster

I had prettier pictures of the sunrise and the mountains this morning, but I wanted to share this one — see the leaves on the trees? So nice to see green around town here in the Southwest.

Also, even though I’m not sure that you can tell that I’ve made progress, here is a picture of what I have been referring to as the jellyfish:

I’ve started the seed stitch border. It is hard for me to tell how big it is going to be — I want this to serve as a cozy lap blanket for curling up with a good (or required) book. I am planning to make a handful of these this spring as gifts, and I find myself knitting quickly in order to see if this is going to be the size I am envisioning…

Happy Friday!

normal, shitty loop.

Posted on February 23, 2008 by barefootrooster

I’ve begun sharing this space with dear friends from my “real” life, and their reactions are a lot of fun. (Hi, you guys! I’m glad you’re here.) One friend, whose lovely daughter was the recipient of the first baby bib I knit, wondered why it had taken me so long to tell him about my knitting blog.

“Are you worried about me meeting your knitting friends?” He asked.

Another friend took a look through the posts and told me that he was particularly intrigued with the magic loop method.

“I’m so glad you’ve learned how to do the magic loop — it is clearly much better than normal, shitty loop.”

That’s right. My friends are awesome. (I have some great pictures of you guys, but I’m not sure you want them on the internet…)

A few pictures of the beginning of spring here —

Screen door.

Rain clouds.

Black bean salad. (Okay, this is more of a summer thing, but I got a massive bunch of deliciously smelling cilantro in my CSA box, and this salad is a staple in my kitchen, thanks to a summer spent living in Minneapolis with a friend who is queen of these kinds of salads.)