Sunday chuckles and knitting and more chuckles.

Smokey was lying in bed while I got dressed this morning. He asked, "Well, what's new today? Did anyone break in overnight and clean and organize our house?"

"Nah," I replied. "Probably because we forgot to leave the door open. Or forgot to light the beacon. You know, the grail-shaped beacon* on the roof."

We started the day with a laugh.

Which was a good thing because about an hour later I broke the garage door.

* * * * *

Email from Andrew: "Hey mom, mom, guess what I'm learning about."

I email back: "No idea. Give me a hint."

Andrew: "I was watching a lecture I missed for musculoskeletal pathophysiology (that means bone and muscle disease class). I attached my notes for it, and you should have a look, both of you. The lecture is on seronegative spondyloarthropathies, a disease category that's a lot more familiar to you than it sounds."

(It turns out that psoriatic arthritis is one of those diseases; Smokey suffers from it, although I generally tell people rheumatoid arthritis because the effects are very similar and people have heard of it.)

Anyway.

From Andrew's notes: "...Or also gold salt is a remittive therapy. Q: Why? A: We don’t know why, but macrophages eat the gold, so maybe the gold messes up the macrophages somehow and yeah, kittens."

I love my boy man-child.

* * * * *

Now the knitting.

I really like to make hats. So simple, don't need a pattern, great way to try out color ideas, portable, yada yada; all of which is also true for socks except that I can finish a hat in an evening of concentrated knitting. Try to do THAT with a sock.

So I was delighted to read about the Handknit Hats for the Homeless at the Simpson Shelter. Once again, thanks for helping me re-find it.

Last year I made this hat just because. I knew eventually it would find a good home.

Yarn: Bernat Lana (100% merino, although it doesn't feel as soft as other merino) worsted weight
Pattern: Seaman's Cap (Ravelry link; this is my go-to hat pattern) done on 96 st.
Needles: US#7 (I think) circ, Magic Loop.

Last weekend I knitted up a couple balls of super bulky yarn leftover from who-knows-when.

 

Yarn:Lion® Wool-Ease Thick and Quick
Pattern: Improvised, based on Cathy-Cate's Casbah Toe Sock. One hat worked on 60 st, one on 56. The latter worked better for the decreases.
Needles: US#10 circ, Magic Loop.

Last night I started and very nearly finished another hat, this time in worsted weight again.

Yarn: Colorado Yarns Durango (50% wool, 47% acrylic, 3% rayon) in a brown tweed.
Needles: US#6 circ, Magic Loop.
Pattern: Improvised. Cast on 96 st, join. K1, p1 for 5.5 - 6". Decrease same as Seaman's Cap, above.

I finished the first Red Scarf. (Color is off in these pictures; it is more of an intense dark red and less dull brown IRL.)

 

I love that it is so easy and mindless. And reversible.

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK, Garnet; 3 skeins (150 gr, ~300+ yds).
Needles: US#6.
Pattern: Yarn Harlot's One-Row Handspun Scarf (Rav link).

Red Scarf #2 is nearly 1/3 done. Yay for mindless knitting!

* * * * *

One A couple last chuckle chuckles, this one these from MyLifeisAverage.com:

Today I was walking into the grocery store when I saw a small boy in a trench coat that was clearly too big for him. Suddenly a tall man in a ski mask sprinted around the corner, bowed to the little boy, and said "Master, things are not going as planned. We'll need another one." He then handed the kid a potato. I've never had so many questions. MLIA

Last night, I was knitting at a bar. A guy came up to me and said, "I've never seen a hot chick knitting before." I mustered up the deepest man-voice I could and said "Me, neither." He left very quickly. MLIA.

* Monty Python & the Holy Grail reference; we also used to have a cat named Zoot, named for one of the eight score young blondes and brunettes who lived in Castle Anthrax, the castle topped with the aforementioned beacon. Yeah, MP nerds here.