Books, Knitting, and Cooking

Boy is holiday nice! My students assume that I roam the station bored out of my tree, but so far I haven't had to resort to plastic canvass or lawn mowing... Having the time to inhale books is so nice, and while a much longer process than anticipated, I'm glad that I can now say I've made my own spaghetti sauce from scratch.

When I haven't been in the kitchen, napping, or in the library, I have been getting in some great knitting time. Here is what has been on my needles:

Here is what Magrathea looks like one me; it was already done, but the blocking photo really didn't do it justice.

I also finished my first Tintern Abbey sock and started the second one. All that was done in one day! To be fair, there were two Skype/FB chats with friends and family overseas and two Great Courses involved, but I'm still pretty impressed. At this point I might just get Judy's Magic Cast On memorized!

I also stumbled across a set of imaginative dinosaur patterns, and fell completely and devastatingly in love with the Apatosaurus Scarf. And, as I'm watching through the Jurassic Park Movies (2 & 3 for the first time), it was doubly serendipitous! This was the perfect chance to try out the skein of Preciousa that I got from Knit Picks to see if I'd like it. So far it is lovely and soft, and I was happy with how it held up when I pulled out the gauge swatch. I love things like this which let my inner geek flag wave in socially acceptable ways!

I also picked my Mystic Spiral sock back up and hope to get the first one finished tomorrow and get the second one going. At the moment I have almost three single socks sitting around--possibly a record for me. Before I can cast on another one, I feel I need to get a pair finished. I am starting to itch to cast another one on, so I guess I'll have lots of motivation!

Just in case you were wondering, my grand total meters for Stash Dash 2017 was 3,771. Woot! I'm trying to remember the last time my project page had so few WIPs on it. I think I might dig out a shawl from hibernation, and oh! I need to figure out a baby sweater. So many patterns, so little time!

Parting shot: Java is so CUTE!