Thursday night is Laundry Night (except for the Thursdays when I have evening meetings). I don't know how that came to be, it just is.

I changed the sheets on my bed and put on a different quilt (I rotate the quilt I use about every 2 months; that way, no single one gets too much wear.

I can't remember if I posted my Snowman quilt before or not and I'm too lazy to search the archives (and anyway, most of the stuff I'm working on is long-term stuff that isn't really very interesting to photograph in progress), so here you are:



I found the snowman fabric at a JoAnn's fabric - oh, man, it must have been 5 or more years ago now. It was kind of hard to make into a quilt because that lilac background kind of resists matching with, well, anything.



But I persevered, because I loved the fabric SO MUCH - skiing snowman and sort of a vintage-y feel to it, with those colors.



At first I didn't know how successful it would be - I was afraid the coordinating colors I had chosen (trying to match the little "highlight" colors in the print) were fighting too much with the lilac background, but it's come to be one of my favorite quilts because of the vintage-y feel to it.

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You might have noticed in that top photo that it looks like I have an awful lot of pillows on my bed. Well, I do. I'm up to five: one that I actually put my head on, two that form sort of a "headboard" (my bed does not have a headboard or footboard), and then two "outrigger" pillows. I started using those with the last cold I had; I used them to shove under my back when I was having a hard time breathing and needed to prop up, and they also "forced" me to lie on my back better (my natural inclination is to sleep on my stomach or my side, which doesn't work well when you're congested).

But I also found - after the cold was gone - that I slept better with the pillows there. Call it the "crib bumper effect" - there's something comforting about having the pillows there, on a subconscious level. (I suppose it's similar to having someone next to you in bed. Or even a dog). And you know? For someone who suffers from occasional insomnia (which is one of the most quality-of-life-sucking minor disorders I know - it's not life-threatening, it's not even all that dangerous, but wow, when you're in the middle of it, is it MISERABLE), finding something that makes you sleep more soundly is a Godsend and you don't question it too much; you just do it.

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I don't know if the annual tradition of a February 2nd "Blogger's silent poetry reading" is still going on (I've not it seen advertised anywhere), but I have a good poem so I'm going to do it (as long as I remember tomorrow), even if no one else does.

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One little thing I did start the other day - one of those hyperbolic (not "parabolic," as I originally said. Too many years since Geometry, I guess) ball things out of crochet.

It's still not done yet (it needs a good many more rows to show off its true hyperbolic quality (hyperbolicness? Hyperbolicity?), but even in a larval stage it is showing the exponential quality that the pattern is designed to demonstrate.

(This one's pattern is from "Kooky Crochet")

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I did wind up giving in and getting sort of a fluster. But it sort of isn't, either.

A couple weeks ago Elann offered a Donegal Tweed type yarn (their own house brand). It made me think of a pattern I saw years ago in Interweave Knits - I think it was called the Tuscan Hills Pullover or something like that? I just remember a sweater, in a nice dark brown Donegal tweed, with knitted-in ridges. It was being modeled by that pretty African-American lady model Interweave used to use; she was smiling and sitting on a gate.

I searched Ravelry but unless I'm misremembering the name of the sweater, it's not on there. (I wanted to get an exact yardage required. I knew it took aran weight, but didn't know how much). By the time I gave up and said, "I'll just order a bunch and if I have leftovers, I'll make hats for charity or donate to someone who does that kind of thing," they were sold out of the color I wanted. And my second choice color. And my third choice.

Well, they got new stock today. So even without knowing exactly how many yards the sweater will take, I ordered a big bunch of the "Cognac" color (that was the one I really loved) and figure I ordered enough (I got nearly 3000 yards, which should be more than enough, even for a long textured sweater). I'll have to search through my back issues of Interweave (I think the sweater was pre-2003, but I'm just guessing there).

And it turns out I had - without realizing it - one of those "HSICBIBSMYFYG" discounts. So I got $50 off of it, even better.