All days should be this great . . .

The first truly warm day of 2012 in Portland and it was spectacular.  Woke up early with crochet inspiration for a Nordic style toboggan hat.  Allright, so my inspiration is not always on track with the seasons . . . but oh well.  Got my yarn ready and took Laney to swim lessons.  I love swim lessons because I get to sit on the pool deck and relax with my crochet and every once in awhile look up and smile and give a thumbs up to little Laney as she blows bubbles for 5 seconds in a row with her nose or whatever.  Progress made on the hat . . . got the ribbing done.

After swim lessons I got a huge cup of coffee and some scones on the way home at the drive through Starbucks.  Mmmmmm . . . . scones. . . . coffee.  At home kids played outside while I fiddled with the hat pattern . . . coming along.  Picnic lunch, more play, bubbles and then . . .  Nap time! Yeah!!!  Nap time = crochet time in my house.

After naps we went to the Willamette river beach to bask and play in the sun. 

The kids had a ball checking out the ducks, throwing rocks in the water, filling buckets with sand.  The kids were busy!  I just love that feeling of the kids being so entertained by their natural surroundings, just busy busy busy, breaking only for a quick snack.  This beautiful park is a 5 minute drive from my house.  This park is a blessing I count often.

What was I doing?  You guessed it, working on the hat.

The hat features my favorite stitch . . . the granite stitch [sc, ch 1, sk next st] and has the appearance of a complicated color work pattern.  If you know my work, you know I don't do complicated . . . easy only please!  Wanna see it?  Drum roll please . . . .

Ta dah!!! The ribbing is hdc in blo, I'll probably change that to sc in blo so it's a little stretchier.  But otherwise it's just getting the sizing and testing done and I think it's a go!  Maybe someday my creativity will coincide with the correct season . . . one step at a time.