When I left the house heading to work yesterday morning, accuweather said it was 14 degrees outside. This morning? 17. SEVENTEEN. The last few weeks have been some of the craziest-weather weeks I have EVER seen. It's supposed to go up to 50 tomorrow. It shouldn't be surprising after 2 weeks of this back-and-forth, but it somehow still is. It's downright scary, frankly!
The cold had me digging for winter accessories in the coat closet yesterday . . . the closet I never organized after we moved in. It's so nice to have a coat closet after so long without, I got over-excited and shoved way too much stuff in there, and none of it was accessible. And who designs a 4-foot-deep coat closet with the clothing rod all the way at the back?
After a much-needed Salvation Army trip, returning some things to some stores, and installing a new rod at the front of the closet, we can at least now hang up our coats and take them back out when we need them without having to dig. I even bought one of those hanging sorter thingies to hang off the rod to fill with the winter stuff. But did I actually FILL IT? Nope, that's where I ran out of steam. All the winter stuff (and as a typical knitter, I own about 30 scarves, 15 hats, and who knows what else) is shoved in a pile at the bottom of the closet.
Which means for the last 2 days I've been wearing a red earflap hat with a white zigzag on it, this handpainted turquoise-and-brown seed stitch scarf, and these pink-and-brown herringbone mittens with my navy blue winter coat. At the very least I look crazy, at worst . . . let's not go there.
What a clear case of "cobbler's children" -- except in this case, it's the cobbler herself!
All of this is a very long lead-up to the winter accessories I'm planning to knit, however late a start this may be. I'd like to make a few berets, since I wore my Gretel so much it stretched out and needs to have the ribbing redone . . .
First up, this Opus Spicatum beret (free pattern!) from Kelbourne Woolens:
I'm thinking pink and grey or pink and navy . . . or maybe purple and grey? I have this new pair of violet leather gloves that I'm obsessed with so it needs to not clash with them . . .
This lacy beret also caught my eye while reading I'm Knitting as Fast as I Can, it's the Baroness Beret (another free pattern! So nice not having to do any work!):
I think I might have seen someone walking in Soho wearing this exact beret last week . . . clearly this one isn't as warm as the colorwork one, but I think it's be gorgeous in one of the tone-on-tone yarns in my stash . . . which probably don't match anything else I already have, so I shouldn't go there! Maybe just in grey? I think it would be too girly in pink.
Thoughts?
We’re here visiting from CA, and Monday was definitely an adjustment! I had to run to Bloomingdales to get DS a better hat than the beanie I made him. I reminded him that he hadn’t wanted a bulkier yarn, so that’s why it was too light. Yesterday was better – DD and I walked from 56th and Lex to 72nd and Broadway! Today doesn’t look like walking would be a lot of fun, though. There’s lots of good food in this town :-).
Kat
December 23, 2008
(whispers quietly) I think the puppy needs a sweater, first.