FO Friday: Bray Cap & Homebrew Round 1

Where have I been? In Philly! I surprised one of my besties for her birthday and had a fabulous weekend surrounded by some of the best friends a girl could ask for. And I came back to a new California slump (and a lovely boyfriend who had berries & wine waiting). So now I am back, in a bit of a slump and planning on all the ways to make Autumn awesome. Because I can't be in too much of a slump during the best time of the year!

View from my hotel. All my favorites.

So, Philly was awesome. But we know this, because I love me some Stinky Philly. I got a little emotional when I walked past my weird hotel home, which is hilarious to me since I was so miserable when I found out we would be moving there. First World Problem to the max. I had a little cry and pressed on, exhilarated by being in a city again. I spent each day with a friend (or five) and just enjoyed this breath of fresh air. In short, I needed this.

A trip to Philly wouldn't be complete without yarn and knitting (and eating mussels 3 times in a week). Most of the friends I made there was because of knitting and most of my favorite memories from these past two years have been the assorted sheep & wool fests/knitting circles we have spent together. I won't be attending Rhinebeck this year (:'( tears forever), so we knit it up while I was visiting. And bought some yarn.

Peace Fleece WW, PF dk, Shepherd's Wool WW

My dear yarn hoarding protege & I took the train into Manayunk to visit my friend Lisa's shop, Hidden River Yarns. She stocks Quince! And so many other good things! It was hard to leave without a sweater's quantity of that middle yarn, but I only had so much room in my suitcase. Our visit was the same day Brooklyn Tweed's Fall '13 collection came out and I knew immediately that I wanted to make a Bray Cap ASAP. I get a sick thrill from casting on for things as soon as they come out :) So I bought my yarn, bought the pattern & cast on that very evening. And finished it the next day.

Seriously. How beautiful is this hat? I love me some cables like you wouldn't believe, so I was stoked when I saw the entire BT Fall '13 collection. Stonecutter pullover might just be the most beautiful sweater I've ever seen. I would love to knit it (someday), but cables make me look boxy. Maybe I'll just knit it and hang it on a wall somewhere.

(I'm not kidding)

Anyways. This hat. I knit it in a day and a bit, and I'm already itching to cast on for another one. This was my first time using Peace Fleece, which is actually a bit more of an aran weight, and it won't be the last. I would love a squishy cardigan out of this yarn, again, someday. Because it was an aran weight, this hat turned out a smidge too large, but that won't stop me from wearing the heck out of this next weekend when I'm in Portland(ia). As a result of the size, I won't be blocking it for the time being. And by that I mean until I knit another one. I have some O-Wool Local waiting to be swatched for an upcoming design (Colorwork! Holla!), so I might tuck into that while I wait for my other colors to arrive. Bray in Local? Amazingness.

Action shot

Ashiepoo22's Bray Cap

Pattern: Bray Cap by Jared Flood

Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Wild Mustard

Needles: Hiya Hiya Sharps in 4 & 7

Mods: used a regular cast on

Knitting Bray in a day was a nice break from my Taking a Chance shawl, which is coming out beautifully...aside from the huge issue I discovered yesterday (and refuse to talk about). I love everything about this shawl and I can't wait to finish it this weekend. Plucky Bello is wicked nice. Wicked. I also cast on for Terra (I need to stop with the Jared Flood), which has been in my queue since the pattern was first published. I'm using the Shepherd's Wool I bought while I was in Philly and it's so soft. It's coming along quickly and is perfect for knitting during my Breaking Bad binge watching/wine drinking. I'm hoping to have that one done next week :)

The other FO I should mention is our first batch of homebrewed beer. We made beer! That actually tastes like beer. We've done a few small samplings along the way and epically failed with the bottling (you need to add bottling sugar? Duh), so this batch was the actual, final result. And it was beautiful. 

Pint glass compliments of Skyle

It's a cloudy, light summer ale that we dubbed "Clementine Summer Ale" after our cat baby. As you do with anything, the obvious next step was to go to the brew store the very next day and brew batch two, this time a Saison. It will be ready in about three weeks & this time we are going to do it all right ;) I'm fighting the temptation to add some hibiscus ala Jolly Pumpkin's Baudelaire Hibiscus Saison, but there's always next time. We are already planning Christmas brewing.

Clementine seal of (dis)approval