looky!

taking a break from pickles (what's interesting is that i hate pickles, but chose the word pickles because it's a little inside joke that i'm the only one who will probably understand the joke behind pickles).

anyhow i went to the batting cages this morning since it was under 100 degrees before noon for the first time in days and days. i started in the 50 mph hardball cage, did a few rounds, practiced switch hitting in one round of slow pitch softball, and moved up to the 60 mph hardball cage.

the 60 mph cage is a decent one for me right now, because i have to work a lot harder to make contact with the ball, much less hit it well. in my last round (which would have wound up being my last regardless), the ball was wild, and slammed into my thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers of my left hand at whatever speed 60 mph plus however fast i was swinging the bat was.

it's swollen. i tried taking pictures of it, but they didn't come out well, so i took a comparison picture. which just shows me that my hands look old.

(left to right: swollen, not swollen)

anyhow, i'm still knitting stuff lately, too. mr. pants asked for a scarf, in black. i've never knitted with black yarn before but it's difficult to see what you're knitting. especially if your sister requires low lighting indoors at all times. anyhow, i had thought that i'd make a pattern with broken rib in squares, grouped into blocks of 4 squares, but the squares of the broken rib weren't coming out well. so i changed to squares of seed stitch, grouped in blocks of 4.

it's also tricksy to photograph stitch definition in black yarn, but it's what pants wants. and what pants wants, pants gets. except when i overrule him. for those of you playing along at home, the yarn is patons satin in ebony on US7 needles. even though the blocks are divided by stockinette, it also is effective to flip it over, and have the blocks framed by reverse stockinette. i am a dodo and didn't take a picture of that.

but i did take pictures of a really boring looking WIP.

see? nothing all that exciting right now. it's wendy's sizzle. i'm using the brown sheep cotton fleece from the first honeymoon cami, in sedona. i did not remember to take a picture of rogue number 2 in an annoyingly bright teal. i'm really not sure about the color. when i was in the store looking at the color (patons classic merino in too teal) i thought, "hey, i wear bright colors" but i'm wondering if i'll wear this one. however, i've got the body, the back, and one sleeve done. i need to do the hood and another sleeve still. too far in to surrender, basically.

aaaaaaaaaaaand, i'm spent.