Umbilical Cord Hat

I was never interested in knitting baby hats, because it didn't seem challenging enough. I changed my mind when I wandered through Takashimaya and saw all the cute knit hats. They were so tiny and so soft, I knew I had to make one.

I chose the Umbilical Cord Hat pattern by Jennifer L. Jones from the Stitch n' Bitch knitting book, it seemed easy and had very little sewing up. My hat was knit up in Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Wasabi on size 9 needles. I really like Blue Sky Alpacas yarns, but I was surprised at how lovely the organic cotton was. It's very soft and the colors are very vibrant. I was surprised I had to go up to a size 9 needle to get the gauge, guess I am a tight knitter in the round. The hat knit up within a few hours. This project hit the spot, since I can barely concentrate lately. My only complaint is that the pattern called for a lot of yarn, 197 yards. I used up less than 2/3 rds of that. I will save the excess yarn to knit a sweater or a romper suit (if I can find a pattern).

Barcelona

We came back from our trip to Barcelona several weeks ago. I have never been to Spain. I thought I could use my elementary Spanish to get along, but they mostly speak Catalan there, which is very different and closer to French. After visiting, it was clear why so many Europeans vacation in the Mediterranean. It is gorgeous in the summer time, not humid and there is always a cool breeze. We spent most of our days lounging on the beach, one of us got burnt badly (hint, it's not me). We also wandered through the old and new city, hitting the local market place and touring some Gaudí buildings. I didn't know too much about Gaudí before going, but quickly became an admirer of his organic and whimsical structures. We toured Casa Milà, Casa Battló and Parc Güell. Also, I have to point out how fresh and well prepared all our meals were, and this was from the market vendors to the restaurants we went to. It was a really nice break from the rainy New York summer we were having.


One thing hubby could not get enough of in Barcelona was gazpacho. So, on arriving back, I tried to make him the recipe from The Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook. In the process, I managed to get the walls and myself covered in vegetable paste. I am not very good with the hand blender. He seemed very satisfied with the end result, though he wished it were thicker. I don't like gazpacho, and this was no different, it tasted like spicy cold tomato juice to me.