A new hat

I made this hat before Christmas but I forgot to post about it. It's the same pattern I've used for 10 years now. In fact, I made my first one during the move from NYC to NH using Noro colorways. The second one was knit about 5 years ago using Lambs Pride in blue/red/yellow. The latest is in green, I've been wanting a green hat.

It's knit in a type of stitch closely related to brioche but it utilizes 'knit one below' and regular knit stitches--on every row--so there's no bringing the yarn forwards and back, making the knitting fairly easy. Also, every row is knit in a single color so there's no carrying the other color around. The increases for this pattern give it just enough variety to keep it interesting. It makes a lovely, well defined stitch. And it's thick which gives the fabric warmth. The band is twining stiches which is also easy but slow'ish because the yarns need constant untwisting. Constant. But it's only 4 rows.

I sized this one so it fits more like a skull cap and I'm right pleased with it. This is what the stiches look like on the reverse (i.e., inside the hat):

I've been wearing it constantly outside and it's perfect.

Here's something I've never made before: mulled white wine. I've made mulled red wine many times, but never white. I'm sipping some as I type this, it's fantastic! Here is the recipe I used. The measurements are as given, and the ones in bold are my modifications. I could tell (from my experience making mulled red wine) that the amount of sugar and some spices would have been too much for my tastes. IMO, my alterations were spot on. I used an inexpensive Chardonnay. After all, this isn't about savoring the the complex nuances of a fine wine. As you can see, I altered almost every ingredient and omitted one.

Mulled White Wine

750 ml white wine

1 cup water (1/2 cup)

3 Tbsp orange juice (omitted, since there's orange slices included*)

1/2 cup sugar (1/4 cup)

2 Tbsp honey

1 orange, sliced (1/2 orange, sliced)

1 lemon, sliced (1/2 lemon, sliced)

10 cloves (5)

4 star anise (2)

4 cinnamon sticks (2)

*(eta correction 1/9/24: Since I used only 1/2 the orange as slices, I squeezed the other half into the mix.) 

Throw everything in a pot and slow cook it, stirring to dissolve sugar. Don't bring to a boil. I left mine on low heat for about 20 minutes. Yummy! After pouring a glass, I add about 1/2 jigger of brandy to replenish some of the evaporated alcohol. I mean, after all.

I finished the drummer boy for the 12-days ornaments and have also finished the piper. I noticed the order of the gifts is not the same as the song I'm familiar with, but upon doing some investigation, found that the order of these ornaments is what they were way back in 1780 (and at other various times in history). The Wikipedia entry for this song has a huge table of variations on the gifts and their order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song)

Chistmastide is now over, but I'm thinking of extending the Christmas season up to Candlemas, February 2. It was common at the old English court to do so. Works for me. A particularly interesting bit of history: In England, men and women's labor resumed the day after Epiphany. Two names associated with the first Monday after Epiphany were Plough Day (men's work) and St. Distaff's Day (women's work) for it's when the women went back to spinning again, after the prolonged holiday festivities. Cool.

My decorations are still up and I'm not ready to take them down yet. Maybe they won't be up until February 2, ... but maybe they will.

This is a really lovely channel... Richard McVeigh's "Beauty In Sound". So much beautiful music. This is the live from Christmas Eve (below). He has great visuals on his videos so you can see his feet, his hands, etc. Very well done.

The organ in his home is a very cool Hauptwerk set up, i.e. a virtual pipe organ. Basically, it's midi capable keyboards and pedalboard and optional physical stops that are connected to a computer via an intermediary audio/midi interface. The computer runs Hauptwerk software which takes "sample sets" from famous organs and plays those samples via the keyboard and pedalboard. Very cool indeed.