Farrow Rib & a Jalapeno Smack Down

I cast this scarf on last night.  I'm not using a pattern, though, I just cast on 25 stitches and am knitting it in the farrow rib stitch (which the owner of my LYS also said she's heard called the mistake rib - it would be hard to spot a mistake).  I'm using Suri Merino in Donegal Green Heather.  I made Dad a scarf with Suri last year and I'd forgotten how good it feels and at six bucks a skein it's an easy purchase.   Look how pretty....

And when I bind off this scarf, I'll have a tale to tell you.

Here's a little tale to tide you over until then: I had a very bad run in with two jalapenos this evening.  I was making jalapeno chicken corn chowder which calls for two chopped peppers.  I was very careful because today was a really bad allergy day for me so my nose was raw and 100% vulnerable to capsaicins.  Yet - even after I washed my hands - when I brushed the area near my nose, my face caught on fire.  I ran to the bathroom to splash water on it but that only made it worse - I think no amount of hand washing can save you after you've chopped a pepper. 

My entire nose was red as well as about an inch to two inches surrounding it.  It went through my head to take a photo for pure posting pleasure but I couldn't stop trying to make it stop burning long enough to pick up a a camera.   I've never been seriously injured so I don't have much to compare things to when it comes to pain but I'm pretty sure this was the worst I've ever experienced. 

I doused a cloth with milk (because you're supposed to drink milk to cool capsaicins if you're eating an overly hot pepper so why not apply it if your face is experiencing the same kind of pain) which helped a bit.  Then I smothered my face in aloe which, if it were at all possible,  made it even worse (I think it was just a case of more fingers touching the face).  I finally called my mom and she told me to put ice wrapped in a wet washcloth on it and that it would probably just have to burn for awhile.  I was freaking out by this point and trying to stay calm.  Seriously - this was unbelievable pain.  The washcloth helped, though (lesson: always fill your ice trays - I was down to my last two).  She called back a few minutes later to suggest the milk so I didn't feel quite so silly about trying that. 

I'm still really tender, though and I'm afraid to take out my contact lenses.  Every time I chop jalapenos I remind myself that I need to pick up some gloves for that express purpose but I always forget.  Not this time.  This incident is burned - no pun intended - into my brain.

So, in order to avoid taking out my contact lenses I'm going to watch an episode of Veronica Mars and knit.

Oh, farrow rib pattern - in case you're curious and not familiar:

Multiples of three plus one
1. k2 p1 end with k1
2. p1 k2 p1 across
Repeat to desired length.

Comments

[Bertha]

Oh man! That jalapeno incident sounds so awful!! :(

But on the upside, the chowder sounds DELICIOUS!

[dharma]

Jalapeños are a good reason to have surgical gloves on hand for cooking. Seriously. Hope the chowder was good, sounds it! TGF might like something like that. Hm. I have some leftover roast chicken. Hm, that's probably the only ingredient I have in the house. Oh well on to something else to do with the leftovers.