beebonnet report: a solstice for the solstice

My trip to LA was short and sweet. My brother is an estate manager for a fancy estate in LA and we stayed with him in the lap of luxury. The house overlooks a lovely reservoir (can you believe this is the middle of Los Angeles?).

Because LA is the land of perpetual sunshine, there were flowers blooming everywhere - take a look at these roses! Can you believe it's almost Christmas? That's how the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl started, as a way for Southern Californians to brag that their roses were in full bloom while the folks in the North and East were shivering in frosty weather.

We spent time with family, ate more than we should, relaxed with friends and enjoyed being unplugged for a few days. And while I was there I did a bit of knitting. The yarn hug is now officially a cowl.

It took a bit of forensic sleuthing to figure out what I did when I designed the first cowl, but just when I was about to give up, it all became clear to me and I realized it was quite an easy pattern! Deceptively fancy looking and pretty easy to do while watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. This was a quick 2-day knit. I finished up the cowl on the plane ride home yesterday, and gave it a nice blocking last night. I just love this yarn, it is deeee-lishus! At this gauge, with this yarn, the cowl is drapey and lacy, with enough flare at the bottom edge to hug the shoulders and open out to show the lace. Just the thing to add a bit of fancy to your Christmas Eve or other celebrations. Made at a tighter gauge, with a heavier yarn, it would be warm and cozy. My little handspun yak version is smaller and tighter and is a wonderful little neckwarmer to throw on under a jacket.

And now I'm ready to wear the Solstice cowl on the solstice, (which will be December 22 this year). And I think in honor of that I should name the pattern solstice.

Pattern coming tomorrow!