Tropical headgear

Well hello, Virginia summer. Nice to see you again. Might I say that while you are hot and steamy, you have nothing on a Florida spring? Mm-hmm. It's true.

Last month, I spent a week in Florida (and fell in love with Miami), a trip which included a stop in Jacksonville to visit with a friend, Jaye, who lives there. Jaye's mom is going through cancer treatment, so I made her a couple of hats. They're easy-care hats, made of acrylic. However, I realized that acrylic might not be the most comfortable material to wear in the Florida summer. I had some nice, high-end cotton yarn -- just enough for a hat, I thought -- in my stash at home. Any worsted-weight cotton yarn will do, of course, but I wanted to use something special for Jaye's mom.

What you'll need: 1 skein (really, about 90 yards) of your favorite cotton yarn, 12" or 16" circular needles in US sizes 6 and 8, a set of US size 8 double-pointed needles, one stitch marker, and a tapestry needle. Using the smaller circular needle, cast on 90 stitches. Place marker, don't twist the stitches, and knit 8 rounds. Switch to larger circular, and knit 22-25 more rounds, depending on how big you want the hat to be. Now begin your decreases. Once there are too few stitches to work on the circular needle, switch to double-pointed needles, distributing the stitches however you like.

First decrease row: *K8, K2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (You'll have 81 sts left.)
Next row: knit
Second dec row: *K7, K2tog, rep from *. (72 sts)
Next row: knit
Third dec row: *K6, K2tog, rep from *. (63 sts)
Next row: knit
Fourth dec row: *K5, K2tog, rep from *. (54 sts)
Next row: knit
Fifth dec row: *K4, K2tog, rep from *. (45 sts)
Next row: knit
Sixth dec row: *K3, K2tog, rep from *. (36 sts) -- This is usually when I switch to dpns.
Next row: knit
Seventh dec row: *K2, K2tog, rep from *. (27 sts)
Next row: knit
Eighth dec row: *K1, K2tog, rep from *. (18 sts)
Next row: knit
Last dec row: K2tog, rep to end of round. (9 sts)

Cut yarn and use the tapestry needle to thread the yarn tail through remaining 9 stitches. Weave in ends, and there you have it -- a lovely little cap!





I am a hat model, I suppose.



I love how the even decreases make a spiral pattern.

Tomorrow morning, this hat will be on its way to sunny Florida!

Frosted fluffiness

My mom has asked me several times to make another scarf for her. She has roughly a dozen of my scarves, but she always thinks of a new color or style that she would like. So I set aside my Etsy knitting and made another scarf for Mom.

One of her favorites is this furry beast:



Rawr!

She wanted a pink furry beast in the same style. Luckily, Michael's had Fun Fur on sale last weekend, so I picked up the necessary materials. This scarf is an excellent weekend project; I started it on Friday morning and finished it on Sunday evening during a "Whale Wars" marathon. (I would have finished it sooner, but I didn't knit a single stitch on Saturday.) Knit with me, won't you?

What you need: 2 balls of white Lion Brand Fun Fur (or another eyelash yarn), 2 balls of any color Fun Fur (the purple one is "grape" and the pink one is "soft pink"), one pair US size 11 needles, and one tapestry needle or crochet hook for weaving in ends.



I swear that the top strand is pink.



Holding one strand of white and one strand of color together, cast on 16 stitches. For every row, *K1, P1, rep from * for K1P1 ribbing. When you have knit your scarf to a desired length, bind off in patt, then weave in ends.



Tada! Using white Fun Fur with a color gives the scarf a frosted look.

Variation: cast on 12 stitches instead of 16 for a narrower (or child-size) scarf. The scarf will be about 4 inches wide with 16 stitches and about 3 inches wide with 12 stitches.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

That's right! Get your needles and your yarn, and get out there!

My WWKIP Day is this Sunday, June 13, but you can click here to find the day your knitting community has chosen. If I remember to take my camera, I'll post pictures here of both the event and my project -- a summer chemo cap for my friend's mom.

Happy (public) knitting!

Summer joys

I love flowers, whether they're cultivated or growing in the wild. At the beginning of this year, I moved in with my mom to save money and to get my life on a different track. My mom inherited the house a couple of years ago, but throughout my childhood, I spent many hours there visiting with relatives. I never quite realized, until this spring, how many gorgeous plants grow there. Azalea season is huge in our area, and we had quite the variety this spring! In late summer, the gardenias will bloom profusely, and we will cut the flowers and set them in shallow bowls of water in the house. In the meantime, though, I want to share some of the lovelies that adorn the yard right now.





Purple clematis behind the mailbox, and clematis bud. (The vine won't grab the plastic mailbox, so we installed an iron trellis.)







I have no idea what these yellow beauties are called, but they line one side of the house, and I love seeing them when I pull into the driveway.



Magenta clematis. Technically this is the neighbor's vine, but it grows on our mutual fence. These are democratic clematis. Flowers to the people! :P







Pink clematis by the front porch. These are on a trellis, too, but the leaves are so thick that you can't really see it.



These were a gift from one of my mom's customers. I planted them in the front yard flowerbed, and I really, really hope they don't succumb to my black thumb.



I suppose that people with no imagination would call this flower a weed and pull it out of the ground. Good thing the little plant is growing in my yard.



Another "weed". As a little girl, I called them "bee flowers" because the bumblebees seem to love them. They smell sweet and lend a bit of interest to an otherwise homogeneously green lawn.



Lastly, a whimsically beautiful dandelion puff.

So there you have it, some of the beauty of the front lawn. I love pulling into the driveway (or up to the curb) and seeing all the flowers. The back yard is lush and green...





... and we can see the cows when they're out to pasture. Believe it or not, I don't live in a rural area. There are family farms tucked away here and there, and I merely happen to live right next to one. It's just one more of my summer joys.