Busy bee...

I've been busy at work and at home. This time of year is always exciting with new yarn, new patterns, and I always love cooking at home - even more when it's cold out. I've been knitting away on shop samples for the new Simple Beret by Knitbot and I just finished the last of the 4 weights today. This is the fingering weight in Shibui Staccato and the one that is now drying. It turned out lovely, just as the others did. I will share more later, but I will say now that this pattern and the samples have been a joy to knit from beginning to end!

I also recently cast on Grace, she is the last of the 5 designs from Jane Richmond's Island collection - some have been knit more than once because they are so much fun and perfect for showcasing the amazing yarn at the shop. Grace waited awhile because I had a tough time deciding on yarn and color. I must say that I am 100% happy with the final selection of SweetGeorgia's Tough Love Sock in Saltwater - it is the perfect marriage of amazing base yarn and fabulous color for a super fun knit! I am a bit further now and will give updates along the way.

It's also bread season in our house. I love bread and have tried making bread over the years and was mostly very unsuccessful. A few years back I received a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and have been successfully making delicious bread ever since! I started a fresh batch of dough yesterday now that life is resuming somewhat normal pace, I made a batch of dough and this is the first loaf fresh out of the oven this morning. Can you say, "YUM"?

We've had some odd weather here. It was almost 60 degrees early last week with a snow storm and below zero temps shortly after. There is one guy that I rely on for loving the white stuff, that is my amazing Mr. Joey. He will be 12 this month and I'm contemplating baking him a cake - really, can you blame me? I have a book and he's a dog, so he will be kind to my baking incompetence, as will his sidekick Mr. Logan our 9 year old German Shepherd.

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What are you knitting and what are you doing in the kitchen? Do you have different cooking habits this time of year?

Cheers!

Alisa

New on the needles...

Swatching for the last Simple Beret shop sample in Shibui Staccato. So pretty!

I also finally made the color decision with Saltwater in SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock, so Grace is now on the needles.

I'll be back with updates soon - I'm planning on quality knitting time today!

What's on your needles this weekend?

Simply Perfect... The Simple Beret

I love knitting and wearing hats. A great hat or beret is one of the most enjoyable knitting projects for me - fun, functional, great for chilly and/or bad hair days and nice to break things up when working on larger projects. I love Hannah Fettig's patterns because they are well-written and classic in styling - there's something motivating about knitting something that is going to stand up to the test of time. The new Knitbot Simple Beret pattern is classic, fun to knit and - quite simply - the perfect beret.

The pattern includes instructions for fingering, dk, worsted and bulky weight yarns and the finished berets in all of the weights are lovely! I started knitting shop samples before the printed patterns even arrived (thank you ravelry in-store sales) and I'm just about done. I started with the bulky and I'm closing in on the fingering weight now. I posted my original yarn and color selections last week and everything has stayed the same with the exception of the fingering weight - I'm testing out another yarn option for that beret that is totally making me drool.

This is also the perfect pattern for those of us that need a 'go-to' gift. You can easily match up yarn weight with the time you have available - I knit up the bulky weight for a friend yesterday in a matter of a few hours. It's been cold in Wisconsin so I knew a bulky beret would be well received.

I'll share the finished photos of the shop samples soon. I just have to say that I've loved knitting this beret multiple times and I can't wait to finally knit one that is for me to wear!

Cheers!

Alisa