I am so squeeful about it being cooler weather, there really aren’t words. It is comfortable to knit, comfortable to spin, fun to work with fiber again! Suddenly, things are getting finished and bumped off the Ravelry queue. Yep, feels like knittin’ season again…

I finished a hat! Here modeled by the gorgeous #2 offspring:

The hat itself is made of some handspun that miss Funky C herself spun me – some kind of mystery wool, perhaps ultrafine merino (it is just that soft), with a brim of Beaverslide Dry Goods worsted (doubled). The pattern is Knitty’s Foliage.

I tried to be clever and knit it as a slouch, but was defeated by two things. 1, I ran out of handspun. 2, I didn’t decrease enough at the brim. That’s okay though, it looks fantastic and I’m happy it’s a little big because it slips right over the Jew-fro with no pouf, but still sits snug enough to stay put. That’s a valuable attribute in a hat, trust me.

We are on our second round of illness in less than two weeks. Last week a virulent norovirus, this week people are waking up with no voices, throats raw and sore, sneezing and coughing. WTF, I think, and am starting to rethink my stance on getting everybody the flu shot this year. I think maybe we’ll all go in for the regular seasonal shot and the H1N1 vaccine. We had a pretty good winter last year, moving out of Casa de Slumlord really helped us all stay healthy, but there seem to be badder than usual bugs floating around this term. Plus I’m in classes and everyone is coming to school sick, swine flu is in full swing at my happy college campus, so short of going to lab in a hazmat suit, I think the shots are a wise idea. Now if I can just get us all healthy at the same time, so we can drive to the Dr. for our jabs… due to missing lectures and illness, I got my first B in Anatomy class, which was horrifying and disappointing, but I am still carrying an A average in the class and I will wrestle it back up before the end of term. Algebra continues to get positively surreal at times. Today, we visited the Island of Dr. Moreau, and did a little genetics 101. My math teacher was trying to explain relations and functions and how they operate with their own kind.

He says: “So you have a hippo. Which is like a function. Well that hippo can operate with other hippos. They can have a candlelight dinner and a little while later, there will be one baby hippo that is unique in all the world. A relation is a giraffe, a hippo cannot operate with a giraffe.” and he goes on to write some stuff out on the board, f of x, p of x, f(x), p(x), p times x, and, stuff.

me: “Well you wrote one problem p(x) and the other f(x) and those are not the same, can they have a candlelight dinner?”

prof: “Those are still both hippos. One is just wearing a different outfit.”

me: “But… f… looks different… it is not p….”

prof: “p(x) is a hippo, because it is written p(x), like f(x) so it is the same. Unless it is p times x, in which case it is a giraffe. No dinner.”

me: “What if it is a very flexible giraffe?”

prof: “No.”

me: “In fabulous platform sho-”

prof: *interrupting* “NO.”

me: *sulking* “That’s speciesism.”

prof: “ABOUT those functions.”

me: “So you’re saying a hippo can only go out with other hippos.”

prof: **longsufferingsigh** “Yes.”

at which point one of my classmates goes, “But… wait. p(x) and f(x) look totally different.”

prof: “Right. But they’re both hippos. functions. Hippos. FUNCTIONS, people.”

classmate: “So they can have a candlelight dinner and operate with each other?”

prof: *sigh* “I regret ever starting this. Right.”

Me: *helpfully chiming in* “But not with any giraffes, not even flexible ones.”

**math teacher almost chokes to death**

Clock: “time to leave”

Everyone: “Thank god.”

Math teacher: *stands there looking at the board like he’s not sure what just happened*

Sometimes I feel bad for my poor math teacher. But then I think that maybe that’s why he says we’re his favorite class. I tipped my desk over during a test yesterday, while I was still in it. Twice. That was maybe not my favorite math moment ever. And then my phone went off. He says I have to bring donuts for everyone. I should ask him if he wants me to bring extras for the hippos.

#1 Daughter continues to enchant and amaze with inspired creations:

That’s sugar. She heated it up to over 300 degrees and twisted it into shapes before it cooled off.

I can’t wait to see what she’s doing in a few years, with a little fine tuning and experience under her belt. I think she will be doing some very pretty things.