I did wind up sleeping last night. I think what I did wrong Sunday night was stayed up later than I "should" on a night when I didn't have to, and also spent too much time online right before bed (in part, trying to diagnose the slow-drain issue and see if there's anything I could do as a homeowner to fix it. The answers are most likely: roots, and no, unless I want to risk damaging my pipes.)

I also didn't take the usual 20-30 minutes to read before trying to go to sleep (because it was "already too late"). I think I need that actually to make myself stop thinking about the stuff that went on during the day.

And of course I did the thing every insomniac is counseled not to do: I would look at the clock and think, "Okay. If I can get to sleep NOW, I can probably get enough sleep to function normally tomorrow." And of course it never works that way, and at some point (around 3 am for me) it tips over to, "If I fall asleep now, I won't have very long before the alarm goes off anyway.")

It is very cold out this morning (Or so I am told; I am still home and have not been outside yet). They're telling us (on the local news) to "dress in layers," which they normally never do.

These are probably not warm enough by themselves outside, but depending on the temperature of my office over at work, I might be wearing them in my office:



This is the last finished project from over Christmas break. (I feel I have to specify "Christmas" now, seeing as it's been that long).

They are fingerless mitts, knit out of Austermann Step in one of the "Cocktail" colors (I forget what this one is called. I think of it as "yellow" rather than the cocktail name).



The pattern I used is "Porphyria," which is a free download from Ravelry (but you must be a member to have access). It's a simple and rather neat stitch pattern - it starts out as 3 by 3 rib, but then in the "pattern" row, you first knit together the 3 knitted stitches, and then immediately increase so that you have three knit stitches again - it looks ALMOST like a cable but is a lot simpler. (I could see using the same stitch pattern in socks).

I'm not sure why the name of the gloves, unless it's designed to be like the "Bella's Mitts" that are everywhere now. (Bella being the star of a rather popular book series featuring vampires that sparkle). I'm guessing this because porphyria is a disorder that supposedly was at one time linked with vampire legends, apparently because of the photophobia of people suffering with it. (I think that hypothesis has since been debunked...that it wasn't porphyria sufferers that gave rise to vampire legends).

I kind of forgot about the mitts when it got warmer for a while, but I think I'm going to pull them out now. They're a lot warmer than the lace mitts I have (they are longer, and also, no lace-holes to let the wind through). And the Austermann Step does have a bit of aloe vera embedded in it, it is supposed to soften the skin.

And the mitts match with my heavier winter coat, which is kind of a camel-hair color. Which I think I am going to have to be wearing today.