A Blue Hill hat
Every year Mr. G’s family does a Christmas exchange. I find these things pretty hit or miss, depending on how much care the participants put into considering each other’s character, tastes, and needs. Not that I have anything against gift certificates or money, but I like it best when the gifts are really personal. This year we drew Uncle Bill’s name (we floated some more creative ideas, but it turned out all he wanted was a gift certificate to Cabela’s) and when our package arrived, it was from Cousin Brian. And let me tell you, he hit it out of the park. His thoughtfulness revived my faith in the value of this kind of exchange. In our box were items Brian had gathered in traveling the country: apple butter from his friends’ farm in North Carolina, coffee roasted in Olympia where he lives now, soap made by a friend of his, and three skeins of yarn from a pueblo where he stayed in New Mexico. It was beautiful sheepy wool spun at a little place called Tattersall Mills (and it must be really small, as they have no web presence whatsoever): a chunky dark single-spun Debouillet still rich with lanolin, a soft Aran-weight gray Jacob 2-ply, and a bulky marled light and gray Jacob.
This struck me as the kind of gift that needs to be shared, so I’m sending some of it traveling farther on — to Deer Isle, Maine, where my friend Betsy is spending the winter and where it’s cold enough to merit chunky woolen hats. Betsy is a rare friend who writes beautiful letters (yes, with pen and paper) and sends tiny accordion books bearing poems she’s chosen just for you, or sketches of things she’s seen in her adventures. She also leaves you little jars of cherry liqueur she’s put up from the trees at school, bakes delicious muffins and breads with surprising ingredients like green tomatoes, and can help a goat give birth and intubate the runt to feed it when it’s too weak to survive on its own. I admire her greatly and she’s just the kind of person it’s worthwhile to knit for, and I thought she was most deserving of this special wool. I grabbed a pattern from The Knitter’s Book of Wool, which seemed the thing to do with an unusual farm yarn, and the Blue Hill Country hat was quickly born.
I doubled the length of the ribbing for extra warmth over the ears. But I couldn’t send it out immediately. By the time I’d finished photographing the hat, this was my view of the box I intended to pack it in:
This hat took only a few hours to knit, but I love the thick, warm, stretchy, rustic result. The Jacob wool is soft enough that I hope the ribbing won’t be itchy against Betsy’s forehead. But the Debouillet has clearly had minimal processing and should be good for repelling the snow and damp.
Here’s what else is a warming thought: my husband comes home tomorrow after ten days in New York and Boston. I quite like a bit of solitude now and then, but I miss my partner and best friend when he’s away. As my neighbor Sarah, who’s finally moving to DC so her young family can be together all the time instead of just for a few weeks a year, told me last night, it’s easy to find a routine on your own and to forget how to be together. I’m fortunate that we aren’t apart all that often, but two busy people living parallel in the same space can suffer the same thing, and it’s a good reminder to make the most of it every day. Hurry home, honey.
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 1:41 am
What a lovely post on so many levels. I continue to be a bit of a pedestrian knitter but just love doing it and non-knitters seem hugely impressed so that works for me! Your skills inspire me to keep trying new things.
My husband goes away every May for two and a half weeks walking coast to coast in Scotland. This year I have the added frisson of a diabetic pre-schooler on four injections a day and the carb counting to do alone. The first day is bad as I feel really vulnerable but after that I find my groove and it feels odd to have him home, all beardy and smelling of heather.
Hope the reunion goes well and that you give his neck a good sniff as you hug him when he arrives home. Always makes the transition so much quicker, I find. Just follow Lark’s lead, although my guess is she won’t be going for the neck!
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 8:06 am
Thanks for starting off my week with such a lovely post. I enjoyed reading it so very much.
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I love the way you used a contrasting yarn for the ribbing–I’d never thought to do that. What a thoughtful gift you received, and how nice that you passed that thoughtfulness on to your friend. Your work and your posts are lovely.
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
I definitely understand what you mean. For me, I want to give gifts that show understanding and creativity or ingenuity. A twist on what you know they want or need that they wouldn’t have thought to get for themselves. A gift card when you want to build or make or find a treasure seems so much like cheating.
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
What a beautiful hat. I’ve yet to knit or spin with Jacob, but I’m dying to try! And I understand what you mean about a little distance every once in a while. J and I are best friends and always together and, while I love that, there’s also something sweet about missing one another once in a while.
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
What a lovely post. I check in with your blog often. How many extra rounds did you knit for the cuff on the hat?
Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
We should all be so blessed as to have a partner that moves us. I love and adore mine…
Posted: February 9th, 2010 at 8:37 am
If it fits, it ships? How about sorta fits? 🙂
Great hat! I think I’m going to borrow your basics, line it and surprise my hubby with one, because he definitely is in need of a new hat.
Posted: February 25th, 2010 at 2:52 am
How thoughtful!
And surely you know that any cat-sized box left open becomes a cat trap. This is my all time favourite Cheezburgr photo! http://icanhascheezburger.com/2009/08/17/funny-pictures-cat-traps-are-working/
Posted: March 19th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Hello! I stumbled across your post through a google search for Tattersall Mills. They are working on their web presence… tattersallmills.com. Thanks for knitting with love and spreading the word about Tattersall Mills!