Finishing the Hat (not nearly as momentous as it sounds, but a good start)

So the first week of my internship combined with the first (half) week of school, plus first time back at karate for the kids, and a book club meeting had me almost comatose by Friday evening, but this Saturday morning everything seems fresh and new. (I'm the only one up yet, and I'm thinking about trying a brand new breakfast recipe

or I may just fall back on our tried-and-true French toast.

Just thinking about that whirlwind makes me smile. The internship takes time (amazing time wherein I'm relearning how to work in a workplace with colleagues and about library science in action), but it also gives the gift of time, in the form of a 1.25 hour commute each way,mostly on the 4 train, and often sitting down. On Friday morning I even got to have a knitting conversation with a fellow passenger ("I used to knit . . . a doctor recommended it for relaxation . . . I hated finishing; I made a scarf and I could never finish it" but she seemed interested in picking it back up.) Hopefully she can go to a knitting circle at a local library. There are so many to choose from at NYPL.)
As we chatted, I was able to complete my variation on the Helix Hat (started last week) described in Circular Knitting Workshop (p.130 in my edition),

with only a few bumps along the way. I'm so used to knitting in intarsia, that I was convinced I needed to pick up from the bottom or wrap around when I changed colors, but it only took about 10 rows for me to notice that wasn't quite working:

Once I stopped doing anything, the material became miraculously smooth, but from the outside it's really a minor blip.

Maybe next time I'll read the directions a little more closely instead of figuring I already know what to do. Coincidentally, or not, exactly why I rushed to the wrong book club location Thursday night. Just a little closer reading could have saved me a teen-minute speedwalk in 90-degree heat. On the other hand, Brooklyn Heights is lovely and sweating gives your body a chance to work out impurities.