I meant to post this sooner, but the cold knocked me on my butt hardcore.

Finances are tough all around, which means that as more people need the help of their local food banks, people donate less. If you are able, please consider donating to a local food bank — if you’re in the US, you can check the Feeding America website for a list of local banks that will be grateful for anything you are able to give.  

Okay, public service announcement over, onto knitting.  I cast on and finished my Gretel hat.  It is quite nice and warm, which will be great for an upcoming trip to Canada.  Now I need to figure out how to block it since it has a tam shape.  The question is whether to block it with a plate in it or not.  

On the sad knitter front, I was forced to go out and buy a couple of sweaters to make up for the great lack of sweaters in my wardrobe and the coming of the voyage into the cold.  Can someone please explain to me why I go to the store and all the women’s sweaters are mostly cotton and acrylic with a little bit of wool and the guys get the 100% merino wool sweaters?  Aren’t women supposed to be the ones that are always cold?  Cotton just doesn’t do it in the warmth department for me and it has the unsightly tendency to grow in length.  It’s a  good thing I knit, cause it’s a pain in the butt to find basic, classic wool sweaters.