need to start wearing my cloak more often

Lately, the weather has been acting like it is confused. I went to visit a friend yesterday who lives in a different area of town. The walk there took me a while (a good hour of walking) in part because I got lost and walked about kilometre farther than I was supposed to. When I'd glanced out the window before leaving, it had looked a little cloudy, so I wore long sleeves, trousers, and grabbed a sweater. And then it was warm and I was wondering why on earth I had grabbed a sweater, since I felt like I was melting. By the time I arrived, I had to drink several glasses of water just to rehydrate.

In the hour or so I was at my friend's house before having to leave to walk home, some clouds rolled in and it cooled down. I walked down the hill back into town, enjoying the clouds and the breeze that had sprung up. Then it started to rain. The wind kicked it up a notch. And suddenly I was walking into wind that was driving rain into my face with only a long-sleeved t-shirt and a cotton sweater for protection. And I'd decided, on a whim, to leave my hair down that afternoon, so it was getting whipped out behind me and soaked. All I needed was a cloak to complete the image. And yes, I do have one. It usually gets worn in the fall, but apparently late spring is also a good time for it. The wind and rain were so crazy I half-expected to turn a corner and run into Heathcliff.

I had to run a couple errands on the way home, so I went into the grocery store soaking wet with my hair a mess. When I finally got home, I changed into warm dry clothes and had some hot tea. Last night, I curled up with my knitting and listened to the wind's wailing.

And I finished a hat. This is the Yin Yang Beret by Nancy Marchant. I used bulky yarn (in an attempt to rid myself of some stash yarn...and had to buy another ball of the brown so I could finish the hat). It's knit in stockinette brioche stitch on 4 mm needles (went up a size from the pattern's recommended needle size because of the yarn weight). This is the third brioche beret I've knit (the first two were the Pecan Pie Beret from Knitty--one for me, one for a friend). I really like the beret patterns. They're fun, unusual, and easy to knit. Brioche stitch was actually my first introduction to colourwork knitting, which probably accounts for my frustration with stranded colourwork (although it's gettign easier). This took me a day to knit--bulky-weight hats work up fast. I used the Bernat Alpaca, which is a blend of acrylic and alpaca. The green was left over from Sedum, and the brown was left over from the first brioche berets I did last year.

The pattern has a braid at the bottom edge, which was fun to do. I haven't done a braid before, and now I don't have to be intimidated by them anymore.
I'll have to go somewhere today just so I can wear the hat. It turned out well. I like this style of knitting. I may have to invest in Nancy Marchant's new book on brioche knitting sometime.