Teenage woodpecker

We are fairly sure that this is an adolescent red-headed woodpecker. You know, the ones that almost don’t look anything like this when they grow up? Grown up, they have a bright red head, front and back, as if someone dipped them in a fire-engine-red paint can up to their neck. If you look very closely at this guy, you can see that his head is a slightly different shade from the black color on the rest of him– sort of dark gray. And he hasn’t yet got his black and white feathers properly sorted out on his wings and back.

He ate suet at our lake-side feeder. And then he hung out in the white pines for a bit.

If we meet him next year, he’ll look like this:

 

Warm wurm

This is Katharina Nopp’s hugely popular slouch hat: Wurm. It’s a free pattern on Ravelry, available in German, Finnish, French, Italian and English. I chose English.

I know this stitch as a variant of “Quaker Rib.” It’s a wonderfully rhythmic knit. Once you make a quick review of the pattern, you won’t be needing to consult it again until the crown decreases. The band uses an easy “tuck” stitch that results in a warm, firm fabric.

Wurm is knitted here in Stonehedge Fiber Mill‘s  “Crazy Mill Ends.” It’s basically a DK weight, with surprises of color and even fiber. The pattern is a real yarn-eater. Mine took about 315 yards.