Past and Present, with hat

Back in February we took the kids to Anchorage for the weekend. It happened to be Valentine’s day weekend, and we had a nice time going to movies (Coraline for Selma and Me, I can’t remember what the guys saw) and doing things you can’t do in Cordova.  For instance, we saw moose (four of them!) roaming in the hotel parking lot:

We learned there are rules about this sort of wildlife appearance in the city:

And of course we made safety a top priority:

On the ferry to and from Anchorage I worked on a Valentine’s gift for James. He liked my Valentine Hat and wished for a not-so-pink hat for himself. I did finish it not too long after Valentine’s day, but never got a picture of it until today because he ran off with it so quickly.

It’s done in crochted fair-isle and I improvised the pattern as I went.

The wool is Jaimeson Chunky, which is rustic and sturdy and perfect for an Alaskan hat. You might be able to see that I concentrated all of the increases into a couple of rounds in the crown of the hat. I did this so I wouldn’t have to worry about increasing in pattern on the sides of the hat. It did work out, but it looked ruffly for quite a while and I just had to have faith that it would smooth out when the hat got to the right size.

By the way, it was a beautiful and warm day today (in the low 60s!) but when you’re heading out to fish in the evening it never hurts to wear your hat. Keeps the bugs off as well as keeping you warm.

James caught three sockeye salmon which he’s cleaning now. Since this post began with a photo of snow, I’ll end with a slideshow of our exploration of Orca Inlet today at low tide.

Related posts:

1. Happy Valentine’s Day Hat How-To
2. Now with More Yak-A Baby Hat Pattern
3. Elissa! A New Hat and Scarf to Crochet
4. Roundup of Halloweens Past
5. Familiar Visitors at Knit Night