The things I should make more of…for me

climbingahill

‘How annoying!’

I am literally talking to myself on top of a hill, (I would like to say mountain but in global terms we are really talking about a hill). It is a sunny February day in the beautiful Lake District. Family Varnam is on our near annual February break in the fabulous North West of England, and I am very much on top of a very blustery hillside.

lakes16.1

From the photos I share, you might believe that these little retreats are all sitting by fires or perhaps walking from tea shop to tea shop. There is plenty of that kind of activity. But there is lots of outdoor adventure and conquering the slopes. We have learnt over the years that if we have the right gear, the weather does not need to stop us.

lakes16.3

Keeping our boy warm and dry is a priority, but actually he is fairly resilient.The weather can change so quickly and we know that having waterproofs, hats and gloves is so important.

lakes16.2

So here I am, thinking to myself; I make so many hats, ear warmers, fingerless mittens and where are they all now? Most days I wear my hair on top of my head.  It is easy that way, I don’t need to worry about it for the rest of the day. This means that a crochet band or ear warmer is the best choice for my head. But the version I am wearing on top of the hill has got rather saggy and is now slipping over my eyes. The wind is biting and the simple crochet band will not cut it. I need something thicker. I am now jealously regarding the hats of my husband and child. I am even weighing up (briefly) if my son has thicker hair than his mother and if I can justify stealing his hat. I cannot.

steiger2

I think back to the beautiful Yarn Stories hat I made for my husband. It is sitting idly on the stairs back in our holiday cottage. How ridiculous. So on the beautiful slopes of the Lake District, with the snow kissing the summits. I resolve to make a list. My ‘to-do-to-keep-warm’ list.

I will make a Steiger hat by Juliet Bernard for Yarn Stories in pink and cream and I will put a beautiful faux fur pom-pom on it. The double thickness due to the fairisle pattern will be ideal

I will remake a crochet ear warmer in Black and White. This will match the rest of my walking and technical gear and will actually be the most useful item on the list. In fact while I am at it, perhaps I will make two.

fruitsaladcowl

I am wearing one of my many, many cowls, but I could remake this pattern so that it matches the set. What am I thinking? The joy of walking is that no-one notices/cares whether you match or not. I shall just wear this jaunty number until it falls apart.

fingerlessmittens

Finally I will make some ribbed crochet fingerless mittens, in black, to wear on top of my technical gloves. I can use the pattern I wrote in my own book ‘How to Crochet’ (for heavens sake!).

Good! There is a plan….. a good fast thinking walk…. and a list. However I am still up a mountain and it is still cold. Think warm thoughts, think warm thoughts…..

{Big B has since requested an edit, he feels I rather under-sold the wind. Not so much ‘blustery’, more like ‘gales – we struggled to keep our son upright}

1 thought on “The things I should make more of…for me”

  1. Beautiful pics! It is just like me to leave all of my warm stuff behind! Here in SC, USA I went off to the grocery store after dark without my gloves and we are having a bit of cold snap right now. It was probably near 20 degrees and by the time you get somewhere then the heater in the car works!

Comments are closed.