B is for Beannie Cap.... and for Bernice

The “Heads Up” beanie from Interweave Knits was finished just in time for DH to wear on Father’s Day. He has worn it almost every moment since then, and I’m pleased with how it turned out. The picture will have to wait until I have digital camera access again, so I’m forcing you to use your imagination. If you hear loud shouts of, “Ooooh- Pa!” coming from the Wisconsin area, that would be my husband. He was thrilled to learn that the yarn for his cap came from Greece. He’s in some turmoil, though, because he thinks it looks like a Reggae cap, and his father said it made him look Muslim. He may ask me to make baklava now, season with Caribbean jerk, or make tabouleh depending upon which ethnicity wins out with the cap. For now, he picks an ethnicity to match his mood. It’s a Reggae cap when he is lighthearted and trying to sing along with the music on the radio following his own tone-deaf technique. The cap is Muslim when he is trying to focus and deeply reflect upon something, and the Greek cap appears when he is celebrating and hanging out with family.
The idea that the cap can be multicultural pleases everyone in this family. No matter which kind of cap he thinks it is, he is proud to wear it and tells everyone that his wife made it. It will go out on its first canoe camping trip soon; that’s the reason he wanted me to make it.
Imagine Picture Here“Heads Up” BeanieYarn: Tahki Cotton Classic leftovers (from baby caps) in forest green, orange, lime green (looks more yellow), and blue. Needles: size 5 USStart Date: something like early JuneFinish Date: June 18, 2005

I’ve been a bit absent minded lately and remiss in blogging about something that happened on Mother’s Day. There’s a bit of history here, so bear with me. When I was a mere child, my lovely aunt owned a yarn shop in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (EAA fans will appreciate this reference). In the 1970’s, she taught classes in macramé, crocheting, knitting, needlepoint, and punch needlepoint. Knitting was not one of the more popular classes.
She owned this shop before I became a knitter, and therefore I wasn’t able to appreciate what opportunities were all around me at the time. I remember going to visit her with my mother. We would drive from my hometown of Sheboygan, Wisconsin (about an hour and a half drive) and go directly to the shop. After 20 minutes, I was bored to tears, and begging for a couple of bucks to walk down the street and poke around in some of the dime stores. To keep me quiet and enjoy her visit with my aunt, my mother shelled out the cash and off I trotted. After I spent all of the money on candy and soda, I would work off my sugar buzz by galloping back to the shop. After another few hours of boredom, my aunt would close the shop and we headed to her house. When I look back on those days with an adult knitter’s perspective, I could scream. Here I was, surrounded for hours by hundreds of dollars of yarn and materials, and I was clueless! She would have given me pretty much anything I wanted, or charged my mother very little for it. By the time I had learned how to knit (from my cousin {the daughter of my mother’s brother}, not my aunt), the yarn shop had gone out of business. Oh, the humanity!
Over the years, my aunt has cleaned out her home and found bags of yarn and materials left over from the shop. Because I am the only avid knitter in the family, and let’s face it, probably her favorite niece or nephew (sorry to the rest of the family, but let’s face facts here, ok?) she has given me a ton of great stuff over the years. The last time I got a bag from her was more than ten years ago, so I thought that she had hit the bottom of her leftovers. WRONG! When I went to my mother’s house on Mother’s Day, a bag was waiting for me from dear Aunt Bernice (pronounced Burr niss). What was inside, you ask? Here’s the list of what I kept after donating the Red Heart to my mother’s friend to use in tying quilts:
100 grams of Reynolds Kitten in fuzzy green (screams scarf!) --- made in Belgium
9 ounces of Britannia Shetland in cream
180 grams of Spinnerin Cashmere Plus in white (I melted when I found this one – gorgeous!) --- made in Italy
2 x 50 grams of Phildar Luxe 025 (one in cream, one in sage... can you say MITTENS?) – made in France
300 grams of Pingouin perle fin in navy blue --- made in France
150 grams of Pingouin coton neige in a white and blue nubby yarn --- made in France and six pairs of slipper sox bottoms
Everytime I think about this yarn I make an unconscious low, sarcastic giggle in the back of my throat. It’s mine... ALL MINE!
Aunt Bernice is now my all-time favorite aunt! Well, she’ my favorite at least until I want Aunt Carla to make her world famous raspberry jello salad. Hmmm, Thanksgiving is five months away, so enjoy the moment, Bernice!
I know I am.