Sunday, April 21, 2019

Easter Bonnet 

Happy Easter, friends! The day dawned beautiful and very frosty, so I had no choice but to press my newly finished Wurm hat into action as my Easter bonnet. I hope I can retire it until fall after today, because I am excited to start gardening. I had to cover my blooming gooseberries and currants last night to protect them from the frost. This afternoon is gloriously warm and spring-like.


Knitting details -
*Pattern: Wurm (free pattern)
*Yarn: 1.7 skeins of Savage Hart Farm DK weight yarn from Vermont (purchased at the Whipple Tree Yarn store in Woodstock, VT)
*Needles: 6 (brim) and 8 (body)
*Start: March 6, 2019, plane knitting to New Mexico for ASTA conference and back
*Finish: April 15, 2019 - took a little longer as I had to re-order yarn...
*Ravelry link: HERE



A few other knit decorations for the day that I made a few years ago. The Cadbury robins eggs in the candy dish are DARK chocolate, a delightful find!


Somehow I have another five unfinished knitted items in my Ravelry queue, so hopefully I'll be able to show off something else before too long. And share a few early gardening endeavors!


I the meantime, China Cat Sunflower is not really helping my knitting productivity with his naps on my projects! I'll wake him up when he gets less cute... haha!

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Hats... because it's April

Happy Yarn-Along Day! It's April, and basically Spring, but I have been on a tear to knit hats! I think it started with the airplane knitting on the way to a conference. I got a great start on this Wurm hat, and promptly ran out of yarn on the way home. I finally re-ordered some from The Whippletree in Woodstock, VT, because of course the skein was a souvenir. I am eagerly waiting for more!


Last Saturday, after a whole day of rain, we suddenly got two inches of snow that came down fast and furiously. It stuck beautifully, and did nothing if not inspire another hat! I've been using the Lopi spun alpaca from our lovely Dark Star. 


Coincidentally, we had to make a run for hay on Sunday and got this very appropriate U-Haul with which to carry it home! Who knew that prehistoric camels came into Canada to possibly be our alpaca's ancestors?!


I recently already knit an Elizabeth Zimmermann Spiral hat in Dark Star Lopi yarn, but it was too small for an adult. I used the instructions on Pg 96 of The Opinionated Knitter. My cast-on was not very loose, and honestly needed a few more stitches. It turned out pretty well, though the Suri alpaca yarn still loves to drape, in spite of its thickness. More Ravelry notes HERE.

 

So I set to work on a second hat that would be more comfortable on me. This time I used the instructions for the 5-spiral hat on pg. 94 of The Opinionated Knitter. It feels a little bit big, but I am excited that I could possibly add a tight beanie underneath to insulate it more for windy days. More Ravelry notes HERE.


 And here is the second hat on the model head! Just a TAD looser and larger!


Since it's also my Spring Break, I've been doing a fair amount of hiking and walking. I am obsessed with the Knobstone Trail, and was able to hike another section with a friend last Friday. I love the starkness of the bare trees contrasted with small spring flowers starting to emerge!



My neighbors set their Brahmin bulls out on the pasture while I was out on a walk yesterday. Magnificent animals!


 Hope you are all enjoying springtime. Check out all the other knits and reads at Ginny's Yarn Along HERE!