The Lusekofte Hat

Well, so that hat, the Lusekofte Hat from my least favorite hat knitting book turns out to be the perfect, classic Norwegian hat pattern. (And just look at the happy grins on the faces of the models on the cover of the book. You can clearly tell the mother and child haven't actually knitted anything from the book.) A few years ago I made this hat, in softest Alpaca, for my brother. Except it was before I realized the gauge issue. So I made a hat that ended up fitting Sylvan. Then thought I had figured out the gauge and knit about half of it, before realizing it STILL wasn't big enough, tearing it out, and knitting the final version. Which turned out beautifully blue and matchymatchy with his handsome blue eyes.

Then he was frolicking about with friends in a snowstorm, lost the hat, only to discover it later, munched up by the snow plow.

So I knit him another, hat, different this time. A hat with stripes like the Fibonacci sequence, which is everywhere in nature, in case you forgot. (In the mean time, I returned to the Lusekofte hat for Jonas, like a woman in a bad relationship who goes back for more bad treatment against all good advice to the contrary.)

you can see the place of prominence

of one of our favorite girls:

front and center in close proximity to creche

But now, my brother has cut all of his hair off. And since the Fibonacci hat is also Alpaca, it stretched out and is now floppy. So he has asked for another hat. It's winter and his head is cold, he tells me.

But not just any hat. The Lusekofte hat. The Norwegian hat that is the bane of my existence. Something knit finely, because he "likes that look." You know, size 3 needles and all that. So I am using Dale Heilo yarn and attacking the Lusekofte again.

frosty mornings lately

It is a library book I am using. And I admit to having a really really strong impulse to DEFACE the book, to actually write in the library book (not even Rockport's own copy!) in PEN, to warn other hapless knitters who might take a knitting book author's word for it on the gauge issue.

And in this season that can sometimes be stressful and rife with disappointment, here is a story that proves that really there is nothing to worry about. All will be taken care of. We had a lovely donated gingerbread cottage at the library, donated by some artistic middle-schoolers. We took donations for tickets and had a drawing on Saturday. Sylvan really really REALLY wanted to win. (I was secretly ambivalent, thinking of people sneezing and coughing, etc.) He happened to be in the library and actually drew the name of the lucky winner. Which was not his.

And he was quite gracious about it all. On Sunday, we went to join our favorite Froggie Princess and Recipient of Handmade Advent calendars for breakfast at her house with her sweet family...She was waiting at the door with a beautiful gingerbread house that she had made for our family. So very special. And almost more special because we had let go of the idea of a gingerbread house altogether.

It's a good thing to remember.

Hello Crafting!

I have three knitting projects in process, for three different men in my life. So you know, I can only knit on certain projects in front of certain men. That cute needle case is from Emily, that dear soul, who makes me laugh because when she knits on size 3.5 needles things go so quickly for her (as compared to her usual hummingbird size 000s).

This Hats On! book (Charlene Schurch) is my nemesis. The gauge in it is completely untrustworthy. For example, for a two-color Norwegian hat, the author suggests worsted weight yarn and--get this--6 stitches per inch. OK, so if you are not a knitter, let me translate: Norwegian hats are dainty things with intricate patterns, meaning that they are basically double-knit because you are carrying yarn almost all the time. If you knit them in worsted, at 6 st/in you will have a fabric that is very close to the flexibility of cardboard and about as pliable. Que ridiculo! (More on the reason why I subject myself to this hated pattern FOR THE FOURTH TIME to follow. One hint: L.o.v.e.)

Another round for the elder boy with a fever, only two weeks after he was sick with something similar. So lots of couch time and reading for him. When we decorated the Christmas tree last night, the lights were too bright for him to stay in the room! He's so snuggly when he's sick. We have been reading Nicholas Again for laughs, and also Edith Hamilton's Mythology when we are in a more serious mood (like when Jason is such a superjerk that Medea slays her children), a gift for his eleventh birthday from his GodMama.

Sylvan has been hard at work tending the nature table, blending wooden animals and figures with the plastic Playmobil creche, to admire the new baby. Somehow I think Jesus would approve of this harmonious approach to toy brotherhood/sisterhood. Not that we are really religious most of the time, but the story of a special baby born in December has had significance for our family since we had our firstborn during this month, eleven years ago!
Oh the quilt! Will it be done in time for Christmas??? I can't wait to snuggle under it!