So, you remember when I was complaining about how cold it was?  Turns out I was completely wrong.  20 degrees is lovely, balmy weather.  Practically a tropical paradise. It seems especially lovely when you have Christmas cookies and hot chocolate, and the only time you go outside is when you feel like going skiing.

Real cold has now settled in.  The kind of cold that makes people worry about frostbite when they run to the 7-11 down the block.  The kind of cold that makes the state of Michigan (Michigan!) close down every single public school.  The kind of cold that makes you curse the first Norwegian trappers who found Chicago and said “Hey, I bet this would be a great place to start a city.”

It’s the kind of cold that cancels almost 2000 flights at O’Hare Airport.  That’s right, two thousand.  Including mine.  (I was supposed to fly back to Seattle last night).  I have still not actually managed to reach a real person to help with rebooking, but their computer system automatically gave me a new flight.  Next weekend. That means that I will be spending an unexpected week in Chicago, before getting back home.  Luckily, my folks are letting me stay with them, so I don’t have to stay hotel for a week (yay!),  But, it means I have to stay another week in -13 degree (-40 windchill) weather, before going home (boo!).

At least I have plenty of knitting to keep me busy and a good book on my Kindle, so I’ll be a happy camper inside the apartment.  If I have to go outside, however, I think I’m going to need knitwear a little more extreme than my usual hat and mittens.  Maybe I’ll make myself an emergency balaclava or two.

I could go girly:

From Russia, with Love: Cabled Balaclava by Nikol Lohr

I could go classic and functional:

Antifreeze by Jenna Adorno

Or, I could go viking:

Dwarven Battle Bonnet by Sally Pointer/ Wicked Woollens