Blue Chevalier

The weather has officially turned crisp here in College Town, New Hampshire. My favorite thing is to walk into the lab and note which trees have changed colors since the day before. The yellow maples and russet oaks seem especially vivid this year, perhaps because oaks line part of my walk. I'm really glad I get to walk to work every day, as it gets me fresh air, lets me be outside for part of my day, and generally keeps me in a good state of mind.

But all this walking in crisp air means that my extremities get cold. I am always trying to keep my hands warm enough, as they never seem to be. I've had a pair of fingerless with mitten flap wool/Thinsulate gloves that my dad bought for me out of one of those pictureless hiking/outdoorsy catalogs a couple Christmases ago, but I've worn holes through both thumbs and as warm as they are, they are also several sizes too big.



Enter my new Chevalier mittens. They're knit with a local worsted weight called "Scrutinize This" that Celeste got for me. I have no idea where it comes from or what it exactly is other than wool. Oh and also, it's been mule spun! I don't exactly know what this is, but it sounds exciting!

They're very warm and smell faintly sheepy. Also, the yarn retained a higher lanolin content than most wools I've used, so they made my fingers soft while I was knitting. I wouldn't want to turn this wool into a scarf or other object I wear around my neck/face, but for the hands it's perfect.

I'm working stats this week in the lab but spent four hours weighing out frozy seaweed with my undergrad today. We needed to do it, but I'm afraid that my advisor will wonder why I haven't done stats yet. Because the stats scare me, I'm afraid.

Also, there is a quiche in the oven that so far has taken an hour to bake fully. Please bake, quiche.