This fun, quick knit  was donated to a charity auction at work. It was a shop pattern.

It’s definitely one of those knits where the yarn is the star: Noro’s Daria Multi, a DK weight, in 55% cotton, 45% rayon. Three small 54-yard skeins equals one small purse. The yarn is, well, cord. Really nice cord. You know it’s not yarn, even though it bears the Noro name. Looking at it makes you want to try it anyway. Unfortunately, trying it made me not much interested in knitting with it again. Others must have had the same reaction because it’s been discontinued.

Still, it knitted up to a cute little purse. Fairly sturdy–enough so that it didn’t seem to need a lining. But a better seamstress than I am would have sewn one up.

I thought my button choice, for once, was inspired. I prowled through Gram’s button tin and there it was. A button in the exact shade of green that Daria dabbed into her Multi.

This is a Head Hugger knitted from Nancy Lindberg‘s pamphlet NL-12, shown here in a Wool-Ease gray heather. I knitted it many years ago and it’s held up well. There’s some pilling, a common problem with this 80% acrylic, 20% wool worsted weight yarn. But it’s stood the test of many winters and still keeps my head, neck and shoulders quite cozy.

My son dubbed it a knitted babushka, which it sort of is. But I go for warmth rather than style. If you’re looking for the pamphlet, google “Nancy Lindberg Head Hugger” and you will find that many shops still carry this pattern, including WEBS.

Last weekend’s M.U.S.H. (Mid-Union Sled Haulers) dog sled race at Clear Lake State Park, near Atlanta (Michigan), caught me unawares in the adventurous hat department. This musher wore a knitted hat with dog fur spun into the yarn. Siberian Huskie, I believe.  It works for the athletes doing all the pulling, so why not also for the musher?

These Samoyeds donated their hair to be spun and knitted into another warm hat:

Samoyeds go through a massive twice-yearly shed (they “blow hair”) and also basically keep up a steady supply of tufts that a dedicated dog hair spinner put to good use in this hat. Its owner told me that there’s nothing warmer. This hat looks like it’s felted and molded itself to its owner’s head. The Samoyed has longer guard hairs but it’s the shorter, softer undercoat that sheds seasonally.

This musher looked so perky in what might have been a synthetic fur, I thought I’d show off her hat for its inspirational value. It takes a confident woman to pull off this look. (And she does!)

Finally, there’s this gentleman. Yes, for me, at first there’s a strong gross-out factor. But that wears off. Mushers have very strong bonds to their dogs. Since this was an event celebrating dogs, I assumed this was one (and not a coyote, for example). And I’m imagining that this was likely a very special dog. Maybe a team leader. Maybe he had heroic moments somehow. Maybe he spent tons of hours by his master’s campfire. Or I suppose maybe his master just decided he’d make a nice hat. Waste not, want not. Anyway, here they are:

I thought the races would be interesting and they were (see my previous post). But I was surprised that the day also provided some knitting inspiration.

This weekend we saw our first sled dog race. A Mid-Union Sled Haulers (M.U.S.H.) race. It was a perfect day for spectators. 20 degrees and sunny. About 8 inches of snow on the trails. We watched the 5-dog event and the very exciting 7-dog event. We also watched one and two-dog skijoring.  In skijoring, a cross-country skier wears a harness and is connected to dogs by a length of rope. The dogs are also harnessed. The skier skis like crazy and the dogs run like crazy.

Before their races, we walked around and met the dogs.  All of them seemed to be in game day mode. Some paced a bit. Some barked. Many rested calmly. They were well-fed, well-groomed, and well-hydrated as all fine athletes must be.

Every team had its top dog. This alpha, leading a 7-dog team, was howling in wolf-like fashion as the team’s handlers were harnessing the dogs into place. The message?  I imagined: “Team…this is it! This is what we live for! The chance to run full out and show what we’re made of!”

There were many young people tending to the dogs. Feeding and watering them.  Shoveling up LOTS of poop because that’s a M.U.S.H. must. Leave nothing but pawprints behind.

M.U.S.H. allows no whips. Except in the one-dog event, each musher must carry a dog bag. If a dog is hurt, he’ll be picked up by the musher, tucked into the bag (on the sled) and packed out by his buddies. I came away feeling that these folks understand the responsibility that comes with participating in a two-species sport.

Enjoy some scenes from the day. My next post will feature some amazing musher hats–including some knit with yarn spun from dog hair.

Hill Country Hat is included in Clara Parkes Knitters’ Book of Wool and Parkes has generously released it as a free pdf on her Knitters Review website. This is my third time knitting the pattern, shown here again in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky. 85% wool, 15% mohair, in a wonderful palette of 98 different colors.

This pattern knits up lickety-split, at 4 stitches to the inch. I (basically) got gauge with 10.5 needles. One skein was all I needed, even though I made one extra repeat of the Hills and Valley pattern, knitting 16 rather than 12 rows in the body of the hat before beginning the crown decreases.

Cold weather is bound to come to Michigan soon. A day here and a night there just won’t do. This hat will keep all heads toasty as can be. In fact, I may wear this to the dog sled races at Clear Lake State Park this weekend. The Mid-Union Sled Haulers (M.U.S.H.) will be racing as long as there’s enough snow on the ground and the weather conditions are proper to allow the dogs to work safely.

This sweet vintage-looking blanket is a Project Linus Security Blanket. Linus van Pelt is Charles Schultz’s character from the Peanuts comic strip who took comfort from his blanket and was rarely drawn without it. “Blanketeers” from all over the country knit for Project Linus and send knitted and crocheted blankets to be distributed to where they can do the most good: children.

This modified feather and fan blanket is worked up in a simple, completely reversible, three-row pattern. My large-sized one, on 210 stitches, turned out to be 44 inches wide by 42 inches long. The pattern is “reproduced with permission” from Project Linus in Betty Christiansen’s Knitting for Peace.

It is a real yarn eater, knitted of 1600 yards (8 skeins) of Plymouth Encore Tweed in #2334. No name for the colorway, which is kind of refreshing, just #2334.This colorway is actually rather shy. I’ve photographed it several times and can’t quite capture it’s true color. It’s a bit less green.

For a few years we didn’t bring Hoover to Long Lake. Everyone knows, and is told, that cats don’t like change. They have their places and don’t welcome new ones. They don’t travel well. Upsetting their routine upsets them. We believed that was all likely true and for about three years Hoover stayed home, with daily visits from his cat sitter, while we frolicked at the lake.

Hmm. Then we let him give travel a try. He has a favorite blanket in his carrier (that doesn’t accompany him to the vet). Right from the get-go, Hoover was ready to get going. After several months of regular weekend visits, and longer visits too, he seems as comfortable at the lake as at home.

In warm weather, he moves from window perch to window perch, watching the birds and small mammals. Chipmunks, chipmunks are his favorite. He also finds the small red squirrels quite fascinating. In cold weather, he sits for long periods watching the area around the bird feeders. After awhile, he’ll find a cozy spot and fall asleep, no doubt dreaming feline dreams of the hunt.

And the best warm spot of all is by the fireside.

This is Stephen West’s nifty quick pattern: Windschief. I’ve knit four of them so I’d say I’ve gotten my $6 worth out of the pattern already! The pattern includes a hat, which continues the cowl’s twisted rib swath through the crown section. I’ve knit that as well and it worked out very nicely.

These are knit in Berroco Comfort, a wonderful skin-friendly worsted spun in 50% acrylic, 50% nylon. It has a nice bounce-back effect and great stitch definition. If you can’t find the color you want, maybe it doesn’t exist. Comfort comes in 66 solids, 13 heathers and 14 prints. On top is Olive (9781), Sprig (9721) is on the left, and Dried Plum is on the right (9780). Comfort is a 16-ply yarn that is presented as being split-resistent. I didn’t find it so, but think a bit of splittiness is a small price to pay for this much comfortable.

Here’s a few closer looks at the cowls:

This is how the Lake House looks approaching in a kayak on a late summer evening. Nothing grand. Just welcoming. There might be a ceiling fan turning the warm air. Maybe dinner will be sizzling on the grill. Well, that might be true if I were arriving by kayak and Steve was home. It’s a mighty rare evening when I would be doing any cooking.

But it’s early January now. This is what the lake is up to. It’s mostly thinly frozen. The ice is creeping toward Belly Button Island. Our small bay is ice-covered.

The kayaks are cleaned, UV protected, and stowed in the garage waiting for spring. By ice-out in April we’ll be back on the water but, for now, we watch the lake turn solid. The turtles are snug in their cold muddy places. The beavers are active but not seen much. They are mostly living off the cache of downed trees stashed convenient to their lodge entrances. Deer will soon be browsing on the cedar trees that rim some sections of the lake. An adult Bald Eagle flies low over the lake looking for dinner. Our bird feeders go quiet. Winter is here.

If you want to watch the entire slideshow, at the end of each page of twenty slides you will have to return to the main page and click on the next slideshow page.

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