Survival of the Knittest

Dear Lynn,
So wonderful to get your note. I laughed so hard reading about you taking your yarn for a tour around the house. I hoped you laughed about it too. I would have been mildly annoyed at having lost so much knitting, but then had a good chuckle at myself.

Things are good here in Christchurch, New Zealand. Life goes on. There is still so much in the news about the earthquake recovery. Has it really been almost three years since the first big one? There are many people still living in houses with holes in them, and with winter firmly here, it's going to be another cold one for them. People are starting to really speak out, which is not usual for Kiwis, but rightfully so. There are lots of signs of rebuilding though, and slowly but surely, things are improving. Not normal yet...I don't think normal will apply for some time. We still don't know when our house will be repaired, but we are lucky there was not much damage.

So on to happier subjects...like knitting...and yarn! Thank goodness for this craft! It keeps me content in a way I can't explain. It is meditative and satisfies my need to create.

I've been busy working on things. It's amazing how it piles up when I haven't reported in a while. First, I finished my brother Greg's birthday hat.

He likes to camp and practice survival skills, so I made him a cold weather survival hat. My brother has very similar coloring to me, so I made it green and 'guy colors.'

The brim is double thick. To make it super extra warm, I added a lining in -- of course -- camouflage fleece! It has a secret pocket to tuck emergency money or a couple of matches, or perhaps some survival chocolate.

That's a New Zealand $20 bill, with the Queen peeking out. It's her birthday celebration this weekend in NZ. How appropriate!

If my brother needs to go commando, he can turn the hat inside out and use the lining to help him blend in to the scenery.

I am also knitting your hat pattern again. Have I told you lately how much I love this pattern?

I used Plymouth Yarns 'Boku' which is a 95% wool, 5% silk blend in worsted weight. It's very similar to Noro. Of course Noro will always be my favorite, but I really do love the colors in this version of Boku. Gorgeous! I only had one skein which was just enough to make the brim only, so my idea is to knit the top in a harmonizing color of Cascade 220 and then do the crochet edging in the same color to tie it in. I have these adorable buttons in mind for brim. The funny thing is, I'm not usually a big fan of straight garter stitch, but I really adore it in this pattern! As soon as the pattern is done and tested, we can get it up on the website and share it with others.

I'd like to add a lining too. I may have to keep this one!

Love and hugs,
Christine

ps. I forgot to mention how awesome that Tunisian crochet is. Wow, really beautiful! I think it's cool that you keep learning new stuff.