It’s Sunday morning, 4˚C. Rain and hail storms are accompanied by strong gusts of wind. Fancy a walk? If you do, make sure to wear warm wind-and-waterproof clothes. And wellies, too, because the path will be flooded in places.
It can get quite busy here with walkers and cyclists, but today we seem to be the only ones. Why would that be?
No wait, there is someone there in the distance. It’s one of the shepherds with her two dogs and part of the flock. They are out in all weathers.
Walking here, I often think of the people who built these burial monuments.
How did the landscape look in their time? What was it like living here then? And what would they think, seeing us in our colourful synthetic outdoor clothing?
I am wearing a hand-knit woolly hat and cowl. But underneath my bright red polyamide rain jacket I’m wearing a polyester and elastane fleece sweater, and my hands are kept warm by fleece-lined machine-knit gloves. Fie! As a dedicated knitter, I really need to do something about that.
First the Northman mittens for our daughter and a few other things, though. I’ve started them again and have made quite a bit of progress. The first attempt was on the small side.
Going up a needle size, from 3.5 mm (US 4) to 3.75 mm (US 5), makes them slightly wider and longer. They’ll be the right size now, I think.
Writing this, I’m thinking of the book of Winterverhalen / Winter Tales, written by Dawn Casey and illustrated by Zanna Goldhawk. One of the stories is about a grandmother whose needles go clickety-click, clickety click…
… and a very special mitten, welcoming all animals seeking refuge from a storm.
A wonderful image, and a great book for both children and adults.
Well, time to close off. There is just one last thing. Towards the end of our walk the sun peeks through, and LOOK!
Oooh, wat een prachtige regenboog, een kadootje!
Ja, zo voelde het ook echt. Fijn weekend!
What a lovely walk! We walk in all sorts of weather too, I love the das when no one else is out.
The Northman mittens have been in my queue for so long. Yours look beautiful!
That book…what a sweet concept. I’ll be looking it up to go in my winter collection.
We seem to have the same sort of taste in knitting. These mittens have literally been in my queue for years, so maybe you’ll get round to them too someday. Any tips about books to add to my winter collection are welcome!
Do you know the story The MItten by Jan Brett? It sounds very similar, I wonder if she based hers on this on. The illustration are amazing! It might be a nice book for your grandson.
I didn’t know it, but have looked it up. Yes, it’s a re-telling of the same story. Brett’s illustrations are wonderful! Unfortunately it isn’t available in Dutch, but I can always translate it myself while reading to my grandson. It’s gone onto my wish list.
I was going to suggest any of the Jan Brett books to you. Her books are exquisitely illustrated by her, and are so delightful to read aloud to children. Each page has a beautiful border which reflects the particular text on that page.
The author lives fairly close to me in MA.
My students, and now my grandchildren have loved them. They had not been published when my own children were young.
This is another lovely post!
I have Kate Davis’s pattern for Baffies which is the Scots’ word for house slippers. I’ve been gathering yarn to make slipper gifts during these cold days of winter. I also the the slipper patterns from Churchmouse Yarns and Teas. Currently, I am working on the Chunky House Slippers pattern, and I’ve also made the similar pattern which calls for fingering weight yarn.
I’ve got an extensive queue of projects which are waiting patiently for their turn!! How about you?
I’ve taken a look at those Jan Brett books and they are really lovely. So far I haven’t found any in Dutch (I may have to translate them myself). Slippers, yes a great idea and something I haven’t knit before. I’ll make a note of them. My queue of projects to make is huge, and I keep adding things to it. Sometimes it’s hard to choose, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. With a well-filled queue we’ll never run out of ideas.