It’s been cold in my cube at work. Really cold. I’ve asked the building services people several times to see if they can warm me up a bit, but so far no go.

Friday I was freezing. When I found myself pouring a cup of tea for the sole purpose of warming up my hands so I could type, I realized I needed to do something! And, being a knitter, I knew the perfect thing to do.

Friday lunch break was spent at the Yarn Garden, picking up a skein of Regia 4-ply mini ringel color # 5220. And this weekend I made fingerless gloves. You can see the results at right. Click on the picture for the bigger version.

Yes, I made two. And yes, I matched the stripes. And, yes, my cube is plenty warm today, so I don’t really need these. But I think they make quite a fashion statement!

I also had a big, big jones for 90-minute Beer Bread. It’s a yeast-bread recipe that really does take only 90 minutes and results in a yummy, hearty bread that’s perfect with soups, stews and chilis. It also takes a bottle of beer — or, rather, it takes a partial bottle of beer (the rest goes in the cook!). I usually use ale, but all that was in the fridge was a bottle of MacTarnahan’s Blackwatch Cream Porter. It was the best batch of Beer Bread I’ve ever made! From now on, Porter it is!

Click on the link below for the recipe. I served mine this weekend with a vegetarian chili. The recipe makes 1 loaf, but I always double it and make two loaves so I can freeze one to have on hand.