It's Thursday Already?

How did that happen? This week is just flying by. Work has been busy, but mostly enjoyable. High school students are generally a lot of fun to work with.

I do try to get in a little knitting before and after work, and this has allowed me to finish one of my Knitvent projects and start another. Here is my completed Land of Sweets cowl, made from left-over sock yarn and a ball of KnitPicks Hawthorne:

 I have to admit that I am very pleased with it. I will try to get Keith to take picture of me wearing it this weekend.

I immediately cast on another Knitvent project, the Tchaikovsky Hat in a skein of Sun Valley Fibers DK that I've had for a couple years. 

It seems like it is going to go fast, and will go in the gift bin. I rarely wear green, even though I like it. I mean, who doesn't like green? 

At any rate, I am so glad that I joined Knitvent, and I won't be surprised if I end up knitting all six projects in the next year.

For now, I'm looking forward to the weekend, but also kind of dreading it. Two holiday parties! This requires more energy than I usually have during the school year. I'm determined to make them both. After that, things will calm down and I'm hoping for a restful break over the holidays.

Potato Chip Knitting and Reading

First, I want to thank all of you for kind words this past week for my cracked tooth. I swear those digital good wishes do translate into pain relief! It certainly does help to have so many friends out there pulling for me. (ETA: the verb "pulling" is definitely a pun)

I have had the perfect knitting and listening to get me through this. I am 80% of the way through my Land of Sweets Cowl, and I just can't stop. It's a proverbial "potato chip" knit -- just one more round! Even the lace sections are easy and relaxing.

Yesterday I got to the end of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng on Audible. It is a page-turning story that examines what it means to be a mother from many different perspectives. It also compares a an affluent family with a vagabond artist and her daughter, and raises complex questions about how important money is. It's really quite thought-provoking. I highly recommend this book -- and that's not something I say often. If you like audiobooks, this one is well-done.

I had to pick up the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook as soon as it hit the bookstore. If you haven't discovered Deb Perelman's web site and books, you are in for a treat. She makes amazing food that isn't too complicated in her tiny Manhattan kitchen -- and then shares the results with us. 

Now I'm off to sip my tea and catch up with you!

I'd Rather Be At Work

Remember how I said that my jaw really hurt during Thanksgiving weekend? Well, it seems that my constant jaw pain had merged with the pain from a fractured tooth. No wonder I was popping Advils!

Late yesterday afternoon, I found myself at the endodontist (a word I'd never before encountered) expecting to get an emergency root canal, but the doctor there said the tooth was beyond saving. Thus, this morning, an oral surgeon removed the tooth.

I won't bore you with the details, but it's been a rough morning. At least I've had the perfect knitting: I just love the Land of Sweets cowl. It is mindless and fun -- something I can do while gulping down pain pills.

Reading is probably beyond my drug-addled brain today, but the hours are passing nicely while I knit to the audiobook version of Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. It's not great literature, but it is a good story, well told. It's the story of two households, one wealthy and one not, whose lives become entangled in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Joining with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday.

About To Go On The Needles

This delicious cake of Hawthorne Fingering in the Birthday Cake Speckle colorway is going to be cast on today as the start of my Land of Sweets cowl. I'm hoping that this plus my scrap yarn will be enough to complete the cowl.

I hope to squeeze in some reading time during this 5-day weekend, though it will be busy with family. I am halfway through The World Broke in Two. I am thoroughly enjoying it, but I would say that it's definitely a book for a book-lover.  If you are not fascinated by Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, and D.H. Lawrence, I suspect you'd find this book a bore.

I've just begun Bluets by Maggie Nelson. It's lyrical blend of genres, including memoir and true crime. It's short so I should have a review by next week.

Kola urges all Americans and anyone else who wants to join in to count their blessings this weekend. Kola herself is grateful for all crumbs dropped on the floor or countertop. She also appreciates a warm stove burner.

Advent Isn't Just About Christmas

Being a Jewish girl, I tend to tune out Christmas projects such as Helen Stewart's Knitvent. But then I saw Deb's post about the Land of Sweets Cowl, and I fell in love. Not only is it a gorgeous knit, but it is perfect for stash-busting.

Here are the scrap yarns I'm starting with. I have no idea if they are going to be enough, but in a squeeze I could force myself to buy more yarn! There is yarn that is designed just for the cowl, if you don't feel like stash-busting.

So, with ANOTHER cast-on coming up, I felt obliged to pick up a WIP, and what is more perfect for the season than a wool hat? This one is Snawheid by Kate Davies, knit in KnitPicks Telemark, a yarn that sadly has been discontinued.

Telemark was similar to Jamieson & Smith that Davies calls for, but more affordable! It softens with use, so I love the stuff. But I am almost out of the supply I bought years ago.

It's a cold weekend here. But I'm not complaining. It is perfect weather for cleaning and baking. Then this afternoon, we are celebrating Thanksgiving with Keith's family. 

Oh, the weekends just fly by!