Questions I Have Asked Myself Recently

1.  Is it slovenly to get into my housecoat shortly after supper?  It is dark, black here around 5:30.  With no snow yet, there is nothing to lighten up the night.  It's like some kind of Dr. Who thing where a big, black cloth is draped over the earth. So I draw the curtains at 5 and turn the lights on to keep out the darkness.  I feel like getting all cosy and having a mini-hibernation each night.   But I don't own a pair of track pants or yoga pants or those lounge pants that look suspiciously like pyjama bottoms (although Himself assures me they are not pyjamas) so my housecoat is my cosy clothes.  So no, I don't think it is slovenly, just cosy.     

2. What does 10lbs feel like?  I recently had surgery and was instructed not to lift any more than 10lbs for 8 weeks.  But unless I'm holding a bag of potatoes, I don't really know how heavy 10lbs is.  So I've been assuming everything is 10 lbs.  The hoover?  10lbs, so no vacuuming for me.  The laundry basket?  Too heavy.  Someone else will have to lift it upstairs.  It's starting to wear a bit thin though because I can't go about my day; I have to wait for Himself to get home & help me.  And even though he knew before my surgery that he'd have to do the vacuuming, it seems to come as a great shock when reminded to actually do the vacuuming.  And once a week as well.  I have 4 weeks to go and it will drive me nuts in the lead-up the Christmas.  All my decorations boxes weigh way more than 10 lbs.  so again I have to get Himself to help me.  I think that's what bothers me most; having to ask for help all the time, especially when I feel fine.

3.  Does sugar go bad?  In an attempt to organize myself, I checked my stores for ingredients for my Christmas baking.  I found an unopened bottle of corn syrup and was a little surprised to see a Best By date on it, which is long past.  Wait.  What is in this bottle of corn syrup that could possibly go bad?  Glucose - that's sugar, Glucose-Fructose  - that's sugar, water, salt and vanillin.  I don't think any of things goes bad so why is there a Best By date? 

4.  Why are there socks for dogs?  I was in the pet store the other day and noticed a display of tiny, little socks meant for dogs.  These weren't the wee winter boots that you may need to protect vulnerable paws from ice and the tons of salt people put down on their sidewalk.  No, these were cloth socks that the dog is supposed to wear in the house.  And for the life of me, I can't figure out way you would make a dog wear socks?

5. What footwear do I wear with leggings? In the summer, I was okay because I could wear sandals or flip-flops.  In magazines and on TV women are wearing cute little ballet flats with no socks but seriously, this is Canada.  I can't go outside without socks.  Do I wear ankle boots or high-cut sneakers or something else?  I just don't know.  I've even consulted Science Girl with is laughable because she goes out with 'Stocks and socks in the winter. 

6. Is ssk a new knitting stitch? I've been knitting for a long time now and it's only in the last few years that I've come across this stitch.  It's a decrease stitch which I assume stands for "slip, slip, knit"  because you have to slip 2 knits, one at a time, from your left needle onto your right needle and then knit them together.  Instructions for this stitch run from the what's the point? ("slip next 2 stitches knitwise one at a time.  Pass them back onto left-hand needle, then knit through back loops together" - from a Paton's pattern for a hat) to the I don't get it (slip next 2 sts. knitwise, one at a time, to right-hand needle, then insert left-hand needle through fronts of both sts. from back to front, and k2tog as usual - a Mary Maxim pattern) to the finally, that makes sense (slip one, slip a second one, then put your left needle in the front of these two and knit them together - from The Yarn Harlot).  The common element is passing them one at a time.  That must be important but I haven't  figured out way yet.

7. Why is there a pair of underwear on the dining room table?  I have no answer for that.  And I'm not sure I even want to know.