Honeycomb Hat and Simcha Hijinxs!

I'm so excited that it is almost fall! For me fall begins the first day of September and lasts until Thanksgiving no matter what the Farmer's Almanac says and it's my favorite time of year. With a Harvest Moon coming early this year (September 8, 2014) I'm sure that must be a sign of an early fall too. To celebrate fall's early arrival and to kick off my fall knitting I chose the Tweedy Honeycomb hat. Or rather the Tweedy Honeycomb"Toque" whatever that means.

Usually I select my knitting projects because there is something about the design that resonates with me. With this hat the obvious appealing element is the honeycomb stitch and I do love my honeycomb. Every morning I have a large slice of homemade bread toasted and slathered with honey and for a treat I'll splurge and add the actual honeycomb. Not everyone likes to eat the honeycomb but I love it. When I was a teenager my dad kept a hive and we all ate a ton of the honey and most of that was right from the comb. He kept the hive on the side of our house and on a sunny afternoon when you stepped outside you could smell the warm honey wafting in the air. I used to like watching the bees land and and trundle into the hive laden with pollen. It was a sorry day for me when my Dad gave up keeping bees and although it was but a short time in my life the appeal of eating honey right from the comb has stuck.

Another reason that I look forward to fall is that the season awakens within me a desire to craft. I think an apt analogy is "spring is to lovers as fall is to crafters." Snort. Anyway, I always like to try different types of craft projects and this year I've been playing with watercolor paints. I have no background whatsoever in painting or drawing which will be apparent. But I've discovered that watercolors are a very forgiving medium and work well with stamping, drawing, and collages. The small journal pictured below with my hat is made with watercolors used in combination with stamping. I've actually found that my favorite medium is to sketch a picture and then paint it with watercolors and I'll be doing a lot of that in the coming months. There's just an endless number of things that you can make and decorate with watercolor paints.

Particulars: Tweedy Honeycomb Toque (free Ravelry pattern) by Kent Turman; US 6 and 9 needles; 2 skeins The Fiber Company - Terra; My only modifications were to a) increase the CO stitches to 88 (instead of just 80) b) twisted rib for 12 rounds; and c) I eliminated rows 24-27 of the chart because I prefer a more fitted toque. Finished dimensions: 8.5" x 7."

For those interested in honeycomb, I've tried a variety of honeys and some are too sweet for my taste. If you don't like a super sweet honey you are best off with an organic honey or any local honey otherwise I suggest trying the sage honeycomb by Honey Pacifica that I find at Wholefoods. If you would like to decorate your own note journal I purchase small moleskine journals (sold in packs of 3) on Amazon. Lastly, if you are interested in making your own bread, my post Easter SundayWrap has more about the recipe I follow.

Simcha Hijinxs ~

Simcha looks so happy here because he is playing a game. He has control over his ball which he thinks I want. Therefore whenever I try and pick it up (to throw for him naturally) he will snatch it away at the last second. He finds this game much more enjoyable than I do and he can play it endlessly....
Until next time be well and love well and enjoy an early start to your fall and all the crafts, colors and treats that go along with the season!