I did buy a hat, in a…

I did buy a hat, in a fetching wine-red felt, which looks rather smashing with my purple tweed coat and dark red gloves. However, I could not find a matching scarf, which was more than a little frustrating -- until I remembered that I still had several balls of wine-red yarn (made from unravelled silk sari fabric), hidden deep in my closet. So I came home yesterday and while watching about two hours of tv, crotcheted a matching scarf. It looks much like this one, but primarily in shades of red and wine and plum with occasional threads of black or gold. Using treble crochet made it go really fast, and I have to say, I find it deeply satisfying being able to make clothes as necessary. It's the survivalist in me. A survivalist who enjoys silk scarves (and can't actually crochet any other clothes), but still. :-)

So I should no longer be cold when I go outside, which means I had no excuse for not going to the cafe this morning, except that I'm leaving town tomorrow and I have a fair number of small things to do around the house before I go. So I'm declaring today a break from writing, and will focus on reading instead. I finished The Amulet of Samarkand this morning, fun, and I started poet Meena Alexander's engrossing memoir, Fault Lines, yesterday, and am hoping to finish it today so I have one fewer book to carry on the plane. I like to travel light.

It's also awfully grey and icky out today, making me disinclined to go out. I will go to the gym, though. Beyond that, I plan to huddle in here, where it's nice and warm and I can keep my fleece slippers on.

Oh, and in case you were worried, it wasn't skin cancer. Just a rash. Apparently, I have sensitive skin -- who knew? :-)