Potatoes in the Mist

I just finished knitting this cowl. I really like it. I recently realized I like cowls better than scarves. The pattern is on Ravelry; it's called "A Cowl'd and Frosty Morning." (Bad pun, I know.)

Recently found out that someone I know is an anti-vaxxer (her two-year-old had not been vaccinated for anything). This was worrisome because of the measles outbreak that has been spreading (14 states now, according to the New York Times) and various other reasons. Fortunately we have talked her out of it. She was planning to use a "religious exemption" to New York state law to avoid getting the vaccines for school. But recently a federal judge upheld a New York City school's decision to keep unvaccinated children home from school for months at a time, because of the health risks they pose to other children. So I'm glad she changed her mind.

Tomorrow I think I will try to make a "Dutch baby," i.e., a pancake that will feed 3-4 people. You cook it in a cast iron skillet in the oven. Then you can scatter some apples, sauteed in cinnamon and sugar, on top. The cast iron skillet is very heavy - the first thing I thought when I lifted it was, "murder weapon." Not that I am going to kill anyone - but I read a lot of murder mysteries. I took a "What is your spirit animal?" quiz on Facebook, and it said I was a cat. I love when you get the exact result you want :)

Funny how when you see examples of good decor online, they are usually white (living rooms, etc.) Can't decide if it looks classy or sterile. Would also be a disaster with small children.

I want to make this . (There's a lot of text before the recipe...but it looks good.)

Discovered a new series by M.C. Beaton today. I've been reading her Agatha Raisin series for years. This series is about a Scottish detective named Hamish Macbeth. You really can't go wrong with this writer.

So I read online that if you put Vicks Vapor Rub on a child's (or adult's) feet, then put socks on, coughing will vanish instantly. I checked on snopes.com and found out that, even though no one knows why, this works 100% of the time. So I'm trying it for Z tonight. She was coughing for about an hour in the middle of the night, ugh.    

I took a friend's advice and dusted off my Etsy shop. I'll be gradually adding items. If you want to take a peek, the URL is etsy.com/shop/bearette24.

I woke up to this (our first real snow of the season), through a screen window: I was surprised they didn't cancel school, but NYC is tough about that. Upstate, outside of the city, most of the school districts were canceled. The snowfall seems to be slowing down now, though.

Just finished reading A Conspiracy of Friends by Alexander McCall Smith. He's an extremely prolific author who has written about 5 series. This one was particularly fun, including a scene where a loathsome character got trapped in a particle accelerator. Instead of "atomizing" him, as one physicist feared, he took a turn for the better - becoming more altruistic.

I finished another piece of knitting. It's called a shawlette, but could easily function as a large scarf. I like the way it came out.