Hat+Blanket+Sinus Explosion

Well, between the beginning of term and being knocked over by a cold and then flattened by a sinus infection, I haven’t had a lot of time to knit lately! I had a lovely, relaxing weekend off, so I have had a chance to do some in the last few days, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to fit a bit more in this week and especially this weekend. I might try and start something special on Sunday, and of course Stash Dash starts on Friday, so I’ll have some things to bind off!

Thanks in part to the long staff meeting on Tuesday, I was able to finish off the first of the rainbow baby brioche hats. I could have done it all with the Felici, but I for some reason thought I had a lot less so I started it with the white. That just means I’ll have two mostly rainbow hats; I cast on the second one yesterday.

I got two more stripes done on my second chevron blanket! While I still love the pattern, boy am I ready to do it in something other than cotton… Interesting fact, that lilac yarn for the end is actually scented. I bought some several years ago and just haven’t got around to using it. I’m using the same colors as I did on the first one (since I found all the other yarn I treated a week ago!), but am using the purple to help stretch the blue. I think it won’t look too weird?

I’ve been working to get over a sinus infection this weekend; irrigating my nasal cavity with a small teapot has not been the highlight of my adult life, but seems to be effective treatment in addition to all the supplements and rest. Hopefully I’ll be over this in time to enjoy my birthday weekend despite being on duty. Plus, having a sinus infection sucks the energy out of you like you wouldn’t believe! I should have a lot more to show for myself next week after I finish the things I’ve been hoarding.

Parting shot: Part of my therapy this weekend was to spend some time out under the pine trees on the edge of the soccer field. This Piney Woods gal sometimes craves the music of wind through the pine boughs!

A lovely cowl, a loss, a new treat, and new shoes

This last week has been pretty busy getting ready for term to start, so I have pretty much only been knitting on one project. Not only am I planning for this term, but I’m trying to leave an ironed out curriculum including weekly projections for my successor. And despite my exhaustive record keeping, there is so often some funny thing every term that makes it hard to set out what a ‘normal’ term 2 should look like. A teacher’s work is never done…

It’s been all chevrons, all the time here in the bush! When I started my rainbow chevron cowl I did a bunch of math, figured 15 repeats would do it, and started. I did a few rows of garter in black for the bottom, and then started alternating the two skeins of rainbow Felici. When I tried it on however, it was going to be way too big. Weird; from my swatch I was expecting each repeat to be 1.75”, and they were clocking in at more like 2.75.” I felt wounded that my taking the time to swatch had not paid off but, math is math, so, RIP!

I did 7 rows of garter this time, and only 12 repeats figuring that would hit the sweet spot for a no-wrap cowl—not too tight, but not so loose it doesn’t keep you warm. Well, now my repeats are more like 2,” and the cowl is just on the edge of being too small. So…either I am terrible at measuring, or the knitting fates have seen fit to smite me. Thankfully I can live with the size it is, and I have a feeling that a little blocking will also help. The only thing I’m not thrilled about is the rolling edging; I was hoping the garter would fix that. I’m not sure if I had done less garter if it would have rolled less, or if it is just an integral part of the structure of this stitch pattern. Maybe I’ll do fewer rows at the top and see what happens, or maybe it will block out?

This week brought the sad news that a favorite musician of mine, Jed Marum, had passed away. I had the privilege of seeing him perform live a few times at Four Winds Faire, and he was one of my favorites for several reasons. First of all I loved his rich baritone voice, and second I appreciated that unlike many other shows at faires, Jed’s never was raunchy or off color. I enjoyed the wide range of songs he played, and his original songs were thought provoking and moving. Jed was a born story teller, and there was a great story to go with many of his songs. Several years ago when I attended the Celtic Music Festival out at the faire, Jed performed with many of the people who were there, and also helped run the sound to support his fellow musicians. He loved to collaborate with other musicians, and never gave the impression it was the "Jed show." I had hoped to make it to Dallas to hear him again this summer, but sadly I’ll never get to do that. The world is always poorer whenever anyone dies, but this week it’s been sad to think of a world without such a talented musician, faire gentleman, and gifted storyteller. He will be missed.

I was off this first weekend, and I saw a recipe for cinnamon roll pancakes pop up on Facebook. Intrigued, I saw I had all the ingredients, so Sunday night I tried it out.

A few notes if you should decide to embark on this journey. A) The sugar makes a real mess--be warned! You're going to need some hot water to clean it up. B) The filling mixture would do at least two batches of pancakes; I'm stashing mine in the fridge for round two. C) I don't have cream cheese to spare, so I just made a regular glaze icing--which was fine! But I can only imagine how good the cream cheese one would be...

Parting shot: I can't get over how CLEAN and NEW these are! My green converse served nobly and well for almost 5 years; it's time for another pair.