Baby it's Damned Chilly Out There

Wow - it suddenly - for us - got cold. The Landlord even showed up at my door carrying a furnace filter for me to install!! And then he turned on the heat. I think a lot of people suddenly turned on the heat over the last couple of days! It's not that we're cheap, well maybe we are cheap, but that damned Hydro bill just keeps going up every year. Even as a renter, I try to keep things turned off & down low. As I age, my previously damaged parts really feel the temperature & barometric changes. My knees hate being cold so much that my new wardrobe contains a lot of thick, fleece lined sweats to go with the handmade wool socks & the electric lap blanket. 

This sudden decrease in temperature caused me to remember most of my house plants on the covered patio yesterday but it seems I forgot a couple .  .  .  oops. They're tucked in the corner, under my patio table & hopefully survived near freezing. The Jade is 15 years old & used to being quite cold but not sure about last night .  .  .  .  I tucked my Rosemary into the fern box against the back wall of my covered patio for the winter. It needs a little protection & the ferns do a good job. They're good for things like fuchsias that you want to save for next year.

I've been knitting like mad on tuques again for street people. I've been knitting them for years. I said I was tired of them. I said my hands & fingers were too sore. But here I am, again. Street people like dark colors that blend into the darkness so that's what I make. My buddy Bryan hands them out on the street to folks who don't have a hat in the winter. Sometimes I take them down to a small industrial spot by the Pattullo Bridge where I used to hand out Bum Bags at Christmas time. There's always a bare head needing coverage there. I still have a few balls of this & that which have been popular in the past. But I have a few balls of "Craft" yarn that've been hanging around for eons. Stuff the street people shy away from. I wondered what to do with it until the other day. 

I hauled out my Denise interchangeables - I love them. I cast on 100 stitches on a size 6mm or US10 with a 10" cord so I can knit a circular hat. Idid the usual K2,P2 ribbing which I may just carry all the way up the hat. I'm not a fan of the color but it will be warm & comfy. I may even wear it myself.
This yarn is some sort of fancy Italian yarn made up of wool, acrylic & nylon. Not sure how it will wear or how warm it will be but it certainly will be better than nothing at all. It can be hand washed & air dried so what the heck. If worse comes to worse, I'll overdye it with Koolaid.