My Birthday Cake hitchhiker is finally completed! I actually finished it a while ago, but it needed some ends woven in, blocking, and a bit of decoration. I think this might be my favorite one so far, but I always say that. This time it might really be true, and not just because I bought a cake completely covered with sprinkles just so I could pose my sprinkled hitchhiker with it.
I knit it large enough (56 teeth) to wrap completely around my neck and have the ends hang down a decent amount in front. It's warm and cheery and will remind me of the fun I had choosing the yarn with Ryan at The Loopy Ewe.
Because I knit this to celebrate my 60th birthday and I'm trying to make it a year full of everyday small celebrations and lots of love, I thought this shawl could use a rose quartz star, a couple of hearts, and a few beads. It seems that my desire to sew things on the end of my hitchhikers is beginning to be almost as strong as my compulsion to knit them. Hitchhiker #11 is now done and waiting for cool weather, and hitchhiker #12 is well underway!
As happy as I am with knitting this week, reading is just sort of ... meh. I'm making myself read the last book I need for a Book Bingo cover-all, and it's a struggle. Historical fiction is not my favorite, and The Last Days of Night hasn't changed my opinion so far. It's a fictional account of the battle between George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison to determine who really invented the light bulb, complete with some eccentricity from Nikola Tesla. It's not a bad book by any means; it's just that there are so many other good books I'm anxious to read after I finish my Book Bingo card.
What are you knitting and reading this week?
I love your newest Hitchhiker. I am only on #3 but I totally understand your obsession. This is a pattern for all those skeins we buy just because they're beautiful and we don't know what to do with 'em. But! The beads and decorations on the ends? I have to do that! Thanks so much for the idea.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a bite of that cake. To eat while reading the new Sue Grafton, Y is for Yesterday. Yum.
Thank you! I'm glad to hear from someone that gets the hitchhiker obsession. I think I read "A is for Alibi" back in the 90s, and hadn't thought about her being all the way up to Y. Enjoy your new read and next Hitchhiker!
DeleteOh, Bonny!! I love this birthday Hitchhiker! It is stunning! Your yarn choice was perfect as is that spectacular little cake! I am cheering for you to finish up the tale of Westinghouse, Edison, and Tesla... and I know you will win!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE and completely understand that you bought a cake to photograph your knitwear. Both look fantastic. Great use of beads, too!
ReplyDeleteI've mainly been knitting socks because they are good beach knitting. I'm reading Into The Water but I should be finished this morning.
ReplyDeleteSuch a pretty, happy Hitchhiker! Wear it in good health.
ReplyDeleteMarvelous!! I love the addition of some beads to the end (I may need to do that) and I think I need the Hitchhiker pattern (not that I need yet another obsession). That cake looks equally yummy. I've given up on Bingo, but am enjoying what I am reading.
ReplyDeletegorgeous happy hitchhiker!! I love this one a lot :) Are you celebrating all year long? I might have to do that for myself :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely way to celebrate!
ReplyDeleteI love this Hitchhiker! And the cake! (Can you sheetcake with that cake?)
ReplyDeleteHow very perfect that you bought the cake JUST to pose it with your Hitchhiker! It was the only thing you could do, really, because it is a perfect way to show off how pretty the pink is and how perfectly the yarn is named. The little doodads on the tips add to the overall perfection. Keep celebrating, Bonny!!
ReplyDeleteHope you keep on celebrating all year long!
ReplyDeleteYum, CAKE!! So perfect!
ReplyDeleteLove your Birthday Hitchhiker and the cake! They do indeed go together. Do enjoy your 60th birthday year and glad you're almost finished with the Bingo...now, on to reading something you like!
ReplyDeleteCheers~
What a happy picture! I hope the cake tastes as good as your hitchhiker looks. You are just a youngster, Bonny, so party hardy. Happy Birthday whenever it was. I am knitting at a snail's pace since I can't find the time or the concentration these days. Reading Flora by Gail Godwin. I love historical reads, but they have to be fiction-embellished for me to enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThank you! The cake was a good photo accompaniment, but it honestly didn't taste very good. Who knew that there was such a thing as too many sprinkles?! I love the cover of Flora and hope to read it sometime this year.
DeleteWhat a festive Hitchhiker!!! I have yet to make one but it's in my Ravelry queue. I love your birthday celebration idea--to celebrate small things.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your shawl. I love that you bought it a cake! And that you posed it so sweetly with the cake. That really made my day!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I don't have cake very often, but this just seemed like the perfect excuse to enjoy some!
DeleteThat yarn so suits the hitchhiker pattern, beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I wasn't sure about speckled yarn at first, but now I'm looking for more!
DeleteI LOVE the Hitchhiker "embellishments." They are perfect! (Where do you find your special beads?) I look forward to being finished with the Bingo thing, myself. I think I'm a bit too much of a rebel for Book Bingo . . . I read what I want to read and then I make the squares fit. . .
ReplyDeletePS - One of my personal "Bingo rules" is that if I've read at least 50% of the book - but really hate it - I can count it on my card. (I've only done it once -- last year. And it was the historical fiction square, too.) Life is too short to read books you hate.
Great shawl and excellent photo layout!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! :-)
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