I Guess This Is OK

 I have a long list of things I was going to accomplish over spring break. Very little of it is checked off. Part of the reason is that I'm still experiencing side effects from my treatment. But I also think I'm suffering from plain old work burn out.

I've been nibbling away at projects, like this Toboggan Run hat:

 It's part of my stash-busting efforts. All I know about the yarn is that it's been in my stash for a long time, it's worsted, and it's very soft. It might be Dream in Color, but that's just a guess.

I've taken some nice walks to a coffee shop, where I've drawn my latte, a habit of Liz Steel. Steel is a well-known Urban Sketcher, and I just finished her online watercolor class, which I loved. It gave me the confidence to start using watercolor all the time.

 One of our last assignments in the watercolor class was to paint cupcakes. This was a fun one!

Somehow I resisted eating any of the cupcakes, though I did gobble down the macaroons!

Passover starts tomorrow night, and I promised to bring all sorts of food. Then my oven died yesterday. I guess I'll have to invite myself to someone's kitchen later today to finish my contributions!

Double FO Friday

When you are under doctor's orders to sit around all day, you can get a lot of knitting done! As a result, I have two finished hats to show you.

This first one is the Toboggan Run I was working on earlier this week. Details are here. It's a great pattern if you don't mind miles of seed stitch. I think it's worth it. I love the yarn and tried to get more online, but I don't think it's possible😞. It will be a holiday gift. One down!

This is Maayan's Hat. My own design. There are lots of baby hat patterns, but I couldn't find a colorwork style that I liked, so I made up this one:

I don't think it qualifies as a Fair Isle design because some rows have three colors. I've wanted to figure out how to do that. My method is clunky, but it gets the job done. I used Encore DK yarn because it's inexpensive to experiment with, hard-wearing, and washable.

Now I need to get the model over here to see if it fits!

Mindless Knitting; Thought-provoking Reading

I feel so lucky to be part of this blogging community. I can't thank you all enough for your comments and thoughts and prayers. Especially being cooped up in the house, it really helped to feel all that support from all of you!

So, an update: The incision seems to continue to heal. I have been doing a good job playing couch potato, partly because it hurts less when I don't move! I really can't complain. I've had good care and good company. I am VERY squeamish, though, and I kind of freak out when my hand brushes against a staple!

I set up a few hat projects before my surgery, including this Toboggan Run, a pattern by Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus.

Isn't the yarn fabulous? It is Fox Trail Fibre Arts MCN Worsted. I picked up this skein in Montreal last year. The yellows and oranges really pop out from the dark gray. It's going to be a gift. I kind of hate to give away the yarn, but there is a limit to how many knitted items one girl needs!

Still reading these two books. The Sixth Extinction  bogs down in the middle and is very depressing -- a litany of how we are destroying the oceans and the forests, etc. I appreciate that we need to know this information, it's just hard to read. The last couple chapters are more varied, though, and I should finish this soon.

Homegoing is a sweeping, multi-generational story of eight generations beginning with two half-sisters in Africa during the era of the slave trade. It is an important book, but not always easy to read.

Joining up with Kat for Unraveled.

Hats and Books

I'm in the midst of two hats. The one of the left is a Toboggan Run by Jaala Spiro, knit in her gorgeous Knit Circus Yarn, Ringmaster worsted in the colorway Birds of a Feather.

On the right is a Pussyhat I'm making for a friend who is going to the Million Woman March in Washington, D.C., on inauguration weekend. I didn't realize this hat was supposed to be in pink until I was partway through it. Both colors are leftover Encore.

Knitting from the North is a library book that I am in love with. The patterns, mostly accessories, have a peaceful simplicity to them.

I'm not sure I'm going to finish My Life in Middlemarch. I can't say exactly why, but it's just not compelling to me. And I haven't started American Housewife, a collection of short stories. It looks like the stories are rather unusual.

Joining with Ginny to Yarn Along.

Let the Startitis Begin!

I finally finished my Robson scarf, though I haven't taken any FO photos yet. The important thing is that I'm working on something else: the Toboggan Run Hat by Jaala Spiro of Knit Circus. I'm making it in the same colorway as the sample: Birds of a Feather.

Gorgeous as it is, this pattern is probably not for everyone because it's miles and miles of seed stitch, which I know that some people cannot stand. I don't mind it and I love the look it. It is especially scrumptious in Jaala's worsted-weight yarn, which is as soft as it is beautiful.

I also (finally!) finished Middlemarch, which I thoroughly enjoyed. One reason I'd wanted to re-read it was so I could read a recent book, My Life in Middlemarch by New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead, a blend of commentary on the novel, George Eliot biographical information, and reflection by Mead. It's a bit slow-going at the start.

The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan turned up on a lot of Best Books of 2016 lists this month. It's about a fictional bombing in Dehli. The author follows the parents of two brother who died in the blast and the bomb-maker himself after the tragedy. It's not always easy to read, but it is very well-done.

I'm joining with Ginny for the year's last Yarn Along.