Hitting 50 with a cold lake & warm knits

Sometimes it's nice to venture out when all other sane creatures seem to be hibernating. Today it was a grey 29 degrees. We braved the cold and headed out for a morning hike. Our most frequently walked trail has become new again now that it's frozen over. The swans, fish, frogs and turtles are gone. At least gone from our view. The place that was bustling with constant motion and sound is now still, quiet and mysterious. 

It gladdened my soul to see these plants sprouting up in the springtime. In summer and fall this weedy shelter was home to tadpoles and fish. This grass is still beautiful, but in a whole new way. Each stage has a magic of it's own. 

My birthday was last week, I hit fifty years.

The current "me" feels very connected to this season of the lake. Partly because I was born this time of year.  But more than that I see I have changed...yet I still remain completely myself. I think even more myself than ever.  I can only describe it as a "truer" me. There is a certain clarity, a peace, even a stillness inside that has come with the years.

I am still knitting away. I just finished this scarf, ribs with random bobbles here and there.
It's a match to this Bobble Hat.

I also made these little hats. Hats are instant gratification fun for me to make. They are the only thing you've got to show off when you are bundled up from chin to boots, which I am these days. Each day I can at least have a bit of fun by popping one of these on my bean.

My daughter came along with me to brave the frigid morning, it was actually her suggestion. She was also grabbing the opportunity to snap some photos in the great outdoors for her online taxidermy scene.

I hope you are all warm and well and taking on this new year with a spring in your step, discovering and creating beauty wherever you find yourself.

a fighter's hat

About this time last year I posted The Prayer Hat, about my dear friend and her battle with cancer. She was losing her gorgeous hair and I made her what I consider a gentle, healing hat. It was slouchy, soft and the color reminded me of a dull cloud.

A year has passed since that hat. More operations, more chemo, more battling. More Prayer. When I love someone and feel helpless to fix their pain, I pray. I pray to God for their healing and I pray for an idea of something that I can do to ease that pain or sadness. For me the answer usually comes in the form of an image of something I can make for the person. Whether it's a doll, a shawl, a meal, or a hat. Praying through the entire process of creation is such a good way to pray. You not only devote that time with your head and your heart, but you also dedicate your hands to the task. 

This new hat is a strong, non apologetic screaming red. A fighter's hat.

If you can, please say a prayer for healing. You don't need to know her name. Just call her the beautiful red hat mommy. God knows who you're  talking about.

blizzards, bobbles and beans

I’m sure you all saw how NYC got slammed with snow and wind this past Saturday. It was convenient to be snowed in on a weekend. We were ready for it. I planned to knit, bake and enjoy the beauty of the snow. Which I did. I made another bumpy hat. This one is less slouchy and more bumpy. My daughter modeled for me, much better than those weird angled selfies!

Bean Cake. I found a garbanzo bean cake recipe in an old Mexican cookbook. Folks today are baking with beans for GF and other health reasons, I was surprised to see it as an old  fashioned, traditional cake. 

The basic recipe:

 2  10oz. or 1 19 oz. can garbanzos 

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

Bake at 350 degrees in a loaf pan for about 50 minutes

I have been tweaking and messing around with this. It is very adaptable to all kinds of flavors. You can add a grated apple, banana, vanilla, lemon, coconut, ginger, espresso powder, cocoa, cinnamon...you get the idea!

I also made a chocolate one with black beans instead of garbanzos, it was really good and less “beany”. The garbanzos do have a distinct flavor that some people won’t like. I have tried white beans and they are milder. If you are trying to hide the fact that you are eating beans go with the white or black beans over the chick peas.

freestyle booble hat

After that fussy cabled sweater I had the urge to knit something without a pattern or plan. What began as a wide scarf ended up a slouchy hat! As I was knitting I realized that I have a wide large scarf from last year that looks pretty much the same. 

I ripped it out and started a hat.  I wasn't having enough fun with it, so I started throwing in some random bobbles to make it interesting. As soon as it was finished I tried it on and took this selfie. Which doesn't do the yarn justice at all.

In need of some natural light, I went outside and popped it on the bird feeder. You can see the delicious color and the bumpy bobbles much better.

prayer hat

A good friend of mine is fighting an aggressive cancer. A couple of weeks ago she was telling me how she was going to start very strong chemo and her hair was most likely going to fall out. In the two decades that I have known her I have always been struck by two things when she walks into a room: her long-legged height and her thick long brown hair. When she told me about her hair I tried to not let my face react the way my heart felt. I know that in the grand scheme of things hair does not matter. But, it is the needle on the haystack of a series of already unbearable things.

As soon as she said she would lose her hair this exact hat popped into my mind. The style, the color, the fit. It was all there. I knew I had to make it. Four days later I was sending it off to her. It also happened to be her birthday. 

She called me yesterday. She has been feeling lousy from the chemo and yes, she did lose her hair. She loves the hat, it's the hat she has been looking for. She found one on etsy but it wasn't right. She said she never takes if off because her wig looks bad without it. I feel like this hat was a gift from God to my friend. I just had to follow a path that was already laid. 

I  prayed for healing through every stitch I knit. 

Would you please say a prayer for my friend?