Lessons Learned In Florida

Spending the winter in Florida taught me many things.  Not the least of which was 'Climate Matters'.

I guess if I had thought about it I would have known that with cold weather, one needs more hand knitted items - mittens, hats, scarves etc.  Conversely, if the weather is warm, one needs them less.  But beyond that, Florida taught me that is the weather is cold, and one doesn't stay outdoors for hours on end, then one has more time and more importantly, more inclination to knit.  When the weather is warm not so much.

And so my two months in Florida produced little knitting.  Here is the sum total of all I did - and that includes the 20 hours in the car going down and again coming home.

All of these projects, but one, are stash busters.  That being  a goal of mine for 2016.

A baby sweater.  Top down from Cabin Fever's baby book and using Cabin Fever, Cotton Tweed. A washable cotton /acrylic combo, perfect for a new Mom. 

A masculine cowl.  This pattern is a freebie from Chez Lizzie and used up some leftover Cacscade 220.

 Elizabeth calls it the Boring, Unglamorous, But Essential Neck Thingum.  Exactly - essential Canadian winter wear.


The shades of natural neck wrap is the Crescent Scarf from Cabin Fever. 

Although quite a bit heavier than the recommended weight for Crescent, my Cascade Eco Duo natural fibres in natural colours made a lovely soft squishy neck piece that stays put. 



This brightly coloured cowl, I might have completed before we set out for the south.  So if you have seen it previously, my apologies.

 It is a simple cast on of 100 stitches, then  an inch or so of stockinet sandwiched between an inch or so of moss and repeated until my yarn ran out.  This yarn too is very  soft and  squishy, barely spun and  brightly coloured.  A ball snatched  from another of Sandy's sister, Bag Lady Sue's great give-aways.  Thanks, Sue.

And lastly, a new purchase bought specifically for the trip.  It is a Shirley Brian  shawl kit that I bought at Wool&Silk in Shelbourne.

Shirley's creative kits make beautiful shawls.  Using 4 strands of cotton about the same thickness as sewing thread, the shawl is plainly knit except for the periodic  stitch patterns.  The stitch patterns take place at the same time as the colour changes.  No work for the knitter, though, as Shirley has tied off one strand of the previous colour together with one strand of the new colour.  This shawl started with the 4 strands of ivory, then went to 3 ivory, one green, then two ivory two green  and so on.  Fun to knit and the cotton is perfect for summer.

And that's it.  My lesson learned is that climate controls my knitting output.