.... and found!

Hi, Knitters,

Yesterday my husband and I went out for a long hike through the nearby woods and then we went ice skating on a frozen lake not too far from our house. I took a very short video of our skate for you. It's one of the prettiest winters I can remember around here. White is hard to capture on camera, unlike the fall season, but I still try. For email subscribers, if you can't see the video on your email, click here to see it on youtube.

Now for some serious business, the winner of the Knit with Me book by Gudrun Johnston is knittingrandma (rav id) or Debby! Congratulations to Debby! I have already collected her mailing address and forwarded it on to Gudrun. What a great turn out for Gudrun's book giveaway. Thank you for entering and I have another fantastic giveaway for you just around the corner. Keep your eyes out for that, you won't want to miss it.

Do you remember this hat? It was lost. The hat was knit out of the most favorite yarn I ever spun. It was from Fiber Optic roving I purchased with Laura and Leslie from The Knit Girllls by my side at the Kentucky Sheep & Wool Festival. It was a vibrant gradient silk/merino blend. The hat went from fuschia to purple to red at the top. This favorite handspun yarn turned into my most favorite handknit hat ever (and that's saying a lot because I have been knitting for almost 30 years and I've knit hundreds of hats). I had the photo above on my blog banner for a long time. It was a hat that couldn't be replicated due to the memories of being with Laura and Leslie and Dianne (my host) at my first ever fiber festival and then spinning the yarn. The process of creating the hat and the memories involved could not happen again.

I even made a pattern in memory of my favorite knit hat that was lost called, The Lost Banner Hat. This has been an incredibly popular pattern in my pattern shop even though the numbers don't really show that on Ravelry. This made me happy that at least a fun, simple hat pattern came about for people to enjoy. 

Now for the twist. I've told the story before but for story's sake, TC wore the hat to school one day and then I never saw it again...... until now!

This photo was taken yesterday! Look who's wearing her favorite hat again! That's right, it's back on my head once again. Here is what happened. Last week I was digging through the garage for something and I happened upon an old tattered black backpack that belonged to TC a couple of years ago. You guessed it, when I looked inside the backpack before I threw it out, my crumpled hat was on the bottom of that dark backpack! 

I gasped. 

I really could not believe my eyes. 

I swear I looked in that backpack for this hat many times before. But I won't question. I gave it a wash and it has been back on my head where it belongs ever since. True hat love has been found once again. This hat feels and fits like a million bucks. It keeps my head and ears so warm. The Lost Banner Hat is everything I remembered it to be and more. I am hoping for many years of togetherness to come.

Even my Amaryllis is celebrating the Found Banner Hat. I have four of these beautiful blooms in my living room right now. I can't get over how beautiful this flower is in contrast to the white snow outside. I still have a second stalk ready to bloom soon. I look forward to that.

When we came home from our winter hike and lake skate our house smelled so good. My son had just pulled these homemade loaves of bread out of the oven. The warm bread with a little butter really hit the spot after being out in the cold for hours. He is loving his new bread book that I gave him for Christmas. It is fun to watch him go. 

Well, I finished the Belfast Hoodie and it turned out great. I'll see if I can get someone to take a proper photo of me wearing it today instead of taking the photo of myself.  I'll post all about it then so you can get the full view.

I hope you are all enjoying the season. I am soaking up every minute with my house full of kids and friends and cousins, and the beautiful cold temperatures and the snow and ice outside. It's the best.

I'll be back soon with more.

best, susie