Both at the same time

It probably comes as no surprise to people who try to multitask, but there's actually no good way to efficiently do two things at once. This is my segue into talking about how much work I've been doing in my regular job this week, and how much is coming up this month. That always spells disaster for knitting achievements - when my regular job is flush with work, it usually means 12 hour days and not much of anything else but sleeping and coaxing the doctor into making meals when he gets home from his 12 hour days. Between the two of us, it gets pretty hectic during busy times.
In any case, I'm still plugging away with a variety of projects (my Aiken; the doctor's raglan, which just had an entire sleeve frogged as punishment for my not paying attention to size; an experimental scarf pattern; and still that headband, lurking in my nightstand) and have a few coming up as well. This week, my trip to the yarn store was rewarded with finding the exact perfect yarn I need for an upcoming worksock sweater (and maybe a sweater for me too!) as well as some lovely buttons. Have I mentioned how awesome buttons are? Probably not because I'm just learning to appreciate them. Before we moved here, I had incredibly limited access to excellent accessories. Buttons were difficult to find - I had to buy an assorted bag from Michaels and it was of incredibly limited use. Most buttons in it were too small and almost none of them matched. My yarn store here is fantabulous, a veritable Willy Wonka's chocolate factory of buttons: colours, sizes, shapes, patterns, you name it. So my favourite thing this week was picking out two pretty buttons to go on a crocheted bandana that's going into the shop. They don't quite match the main colour but I feel like they provide a nice monochrome accent, and they have a pretty pattern that adds a little bit of interest, depending on how you wear the piece.
Also headed into the shop: another cowl in the Magic: The Gathering series, this one for blue, or Islands. And now that I've got my hands on some lovely red aran, I'll be able to put together a red (Mountain) one. Ooh! And I just remembered I have white. So Plains are on the list too and then I'll have all five! Clearly I'm a collector. And a nerd, but that's obvious and awesome. So if you'll pardon me, I'm going to put on an Ironman marathon and do some data analysis. Happy Saturday!