posted by Lily on books, knitting

6 comments

One thing we especially like about living in Melbourne is the weather.  Now many people may hoot with amazement at this declaration but we love the distinct seasons and at this moment, the cold weather.  (Except for the drying the laundry aspect – give me Brisbane’s eternal winter sunshine for the laundry).

We love the falling leaves, bare trees, foggy mornings, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, the layering of clothes to go out and the snuggling amongst flannel, quilts and wool in the evenings.  Last weekend – in Olinda – Abby spied a stand of very sweet knitted and crocheted hats, however they were all wee sized.  So I pulled out some Cascade Eco and the crochet hook and got to reproducing the chosen piece – a bear hat with earflaps and tassles.

I used a basic beanie increase for the crown, then continued in treble crochet until we reached the desired length.  I then kept going back and forth for just 10 stitches to make one ear flap – decreasing at each end after a few rows.  We stuck the hat on for working out where the next ear flap should go, I attached the wool and began again for the second ear flap.  I stitched a simple red single crochet row around the whole rim of the hat – looks very neat on the straight bits and a bit wonky on the curved ear flaps – oh well! – then around again in bear brown.  For the bear ears, I stitched a row of single crochet in the right spot and then made a flap of treble crochet which I then finished by folding in half and crocheting back onto the body of the hat.  I am sure there are far more “realistic” ways of doing ears :-) but this was a winging-it project and Abby loves them.

Finally, I wove 6 strands of the red wool into the end of each ear flap, then plaited them down to a knot and a wee tassle.  So easy, so warm and pretty cute.  Abby loves it and pulls it on each night with her jammies after her bath.  Toasty indeed!

p.s. and the book - Catherine, called Birdy by Karen Cushman.  One of the my all-time favourite young teenage reads.  Birdy is a young girl in medieval England who has been given a journal to write in by her elder brother who has recently joined a monastery.

Birdie writes – very humourously – about her daily routine, her father’s machinations to marry her off to an older shaggy bearded troll of a man, her friendship with one of the boys who works for her father, and her musings on the saints and moral code of the day; beginning with the very droll – “I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family!”

It is delightful, witty, intelligent, and despite the vast difference in time and place, so very pertinent to young teenagers who are just beginning their quest of understanding who they are, what they want and where they fit in.  If your girlie is a bit young, find a copy and read it yourself – you’ll love it :-)