Kung Fu Knitting

SufferJets vs. Utica Roller Girls: my birthday bout! Photos by Jennifer Hamm and Lauren Comly

Photos by Keith Thompson :-)

Photos by Keith Thompson

I was jamming during a scrimmage on 2/4 and got knocked down several times. I fell on the same place on my leg that I bruised before. It wasn't healed yet. The impact pretty much dead-legged. You can see the result. That night I woke up sobbing because any little thing that touched the area that surprisingly has no coloration made my skin burn and sting. It hurt so badly and was (is still) swollen about an inch puffier than the rest of my thigh. Luckily the next day that same area went numb. I still can't feel jack on that lump, but the rest is still tetchy.

My new skates slid out from under me when I was skating backwards and rolled onto my toe-stops. It hurt! Skating that night was so worth it though. I haven't scrimmaged since the bout in November. The last few times we have scrimmaged I haven't been able to because on X-mas eve I sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in my right knee. It had nothing to do with derby, but it got me down because tryouts for my team are coming up soon. I want to make sure I get rostered. In any case, my knee is healing well. I've been doing rigorous physical therapy beginning this week. I taped it up on Thursday and went for it. I felt scrappy. This is always how I like to feel when I skate derby. I skater better in this mind frame. It was just at the end of practice skating backwards for fun when I had my little accident.

I was out shopping and couldn't help but stop into one of the local knitting shops that carries Malabrigo. I ended up with a skein of worsted in cypress, which though it looks black, in the sun light (and under the flash) takes on a deep green, varigated coloring. I also purchased a skein of Malabrigo Twist in red. I think I am going to make a hat out of that one, too. I wanted to make another cloche because this is definitely my new favorite style of hat. I think it's suited to my face. Plus, I needed a plain, black hat that covered my ears. Living in the Ithaca, I now think that all hats should do this. Otherwise it's just too cold for my little earsies. I searched Ravelry for a cloche hat pattern that met my gauge needs, and I finally came up with the Retro Cloche Stash Hat . It looked quite whimsical and comfy, not quite my vision of a cloche, but nice anyway. I was a little frustrated with the pictures on Ravelry as most just showed the back of the hat. While this is d