This spring the leaves on the trees have been abandoned by the sun and they slowly eke their way to unfurling in the rain and cloud full days. The grass doesn’t seem to complain and the garlic grows unfettered by the weather and this morning I see the first of the dandelions blooming bright. It’s a good spring to knit, for the coolness of winter lingers and being inside still feels right.
This week I moved from rafia, to wool, to cotton on my needles. It was kind of a frantic knitting week. Just like the weather I wasn’t sure whether to knit a sun hat, create a wool shawl or knit a cotton hat. I did them all in this confusing week. The rafia was really fun and as soon as I get some millinery wire my summer sun hat will be finished.
I was inspired by a customer who knits with the Custom Woolen Mills Prairie ‘Sea Fusion’ bulky yarn, creating shawls of grey. I downloaded an e-book “A Stillness of Trees” that includes three shawl patterns for the Fusion wool. I’m half way through and really enjoying the knit.
For awhile I have been looking at a yarn called Cumulus from Juniper Moon Yarns. It is made from cotton, grown in Israel and spun to be very light and lofty. The colours of the yarn are very strong so this week I have knitted my hat in Cumulus, bright pink. Knit with the Kilda Stitch, it has a lacy feel and is very Cumulus cloud like.
I have decided to commit to completing the many projects of the winter. I have a Cowichan style sweater on the go, my Rowan cardigan, several hats, a couple of blankets and a scarf or two all lay in their project bags waiting for me to figure out where I left off. My Fair Isle project waits and a group of knitters at the store are knitting squares for a blanket designed by Kate Davies. A lovely flower pattern blanket designed for the beach.
I must say that I really love knitting and this winter I have fallen deeper into the love of all that knitting is. I am so inspired by its simplicity and then its complexity and the infinite ways to explore knit and purl. What a gift to find something that answers to your very whim. You can slip, twist, wrap, bind, cast, and turn, all backwards or forward in a dance of the hands, needles, heart and mind. As I participate, practice and learn, new patterns of understanding arrive, leaving me sitting in awe at the amazing possibility of all things yarn.
May the many possibilities of your life bless you this week. Let the sun shine.
Love,
Kathleen.
52 Hats!
This week’s hat is being modeled by Steve. Kathleen managed to capture a moment of entertainment and I couldn’t resist adding it to this week’s newsletter!
This is the “St Kilda” hat by Tabetha Hedrick. You can purchase the pattern directly from the designer through Knitting Fever here : Pattern. Or you can come into the store to get your hands on the pattern and the yarn!
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