sweetfigs   s w e e t   f i g s

   

                in pursuit of a fruitful life

               

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Trudging On

We had a brief reprieve, but the Arctic air is back with a vengeance, and seems to be here to stay for a while. I'm still commuting on my bicycle, but I'm keeping the errands to a minimum and hurrying back to the bike rack before the handlebars and saddle cool off too much. No kidding -- I just compared the forecast for Fairbanks, Alaska and Chicago, and they were almost the same!

Of course it has to be this freakishly cold when my BIL from Texas gets stuck at O'Hare for 24 hours. His oldest has Northwestern University on her short list, so after a hearty breakfast on Friday morning, we headed up to Evanston (in the car!) so that he could take a look around. I'm really glad we did, because he liked the campus more than he expected. When my niece and her momma did the campus tour last Fall, he was on a business trip in South America. I told him Chicago was usually 30 degrees warmer in January, but it's probably tough for him to picture it that way.

Meanwhile, David has been making his own treks back and forth between Chicago and Texas, to take care of his brother Johnny. Johnny wants to be home as much as possible while he's battling cancer and the side effects of treatment, so David is doing all he can to make that possible. Johnny's struggle puts things in perspective for me. The toughest thing I have to do these days is ride my bike in the snow to yoga class...

Lots of cold and time home alone with Libby means I've been knitting. With wool. :) My first FO of 2008 is a hat for my mom. It's super soft and warm, and will coordinate with her dark green coat. Click to make bigger or see other shots on flickr.

P1040334

Pattern: "Three Tams" on Knitty.

Materials: 1/2 skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Couscous and Noro Silk Garden in #246.

Modifications: I combined Tam A's first 10 rows with the body of Tam C. Omitted 6 stitches from the ribbing, and broke the Noro to control the color changes. It fits well and didn't give me hat head.

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4 Comments:

Blogger String said...

Thanks for the comment, as far as the question, I dunno, I have not met her, she sews and quilts though, which is a good sign.

3:52 PM  
Blogger La Cabeza Grande said...

Three Tams is a complete delight! I'm sure your Mom will love it.

Northwestern? A good choice. It'll be nice to have family nearby. Thanks for the update on Johnny, too.

5:40 PM  
Blogger Laura said...

Modeled shot! Modeled shot!

I have been on a beret/tam search lately and would like to see it in action.

12:13 PM  
Blogger sweetfigs said...

Hiya Laura,
Modeled shot is on flickr. Just click to get there.
Rachel

12:27 PM  

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