Category: Life

Fishermans Kep Knitting to Support Fair Isle Museum

I came across this Facebook group while browsing Ravelry. It was created to support the George Waterston Memorial Centre and Museum in Fair Isle. When accepted to the group, a Kep pattern (traditional “hat” of the region) is offered for sale, and the profit goes toward supporting this museum.

Links to FB Page and Museum

Here are two links to the museum page and the Facebook page. Knitters of this style Kep share their photos and knowledge and support other like minded knitters who have joined the group.

Keep reading about my experience knitting this pattern.

Love Fair Isle Knitting?

Yes, I do! I joined the group and ordered the pattern, which is sold in GBP (Great Britain Pounds) and was around $14 for me here in the US. After about a week or so I received the pattern PDF in my e-mail and began knitting right away.

(If you think that is expensive, it’s more of a donation with a pattern to go along with it. Also, the basic pattern will give you the opportunity to make many variations of this hat. OR… don’t buy it.)

  • Fair Isle fishermans kep brim in yellow and blue
  • Fair Isle fishermans kep hat knitting
  • fishermans kep
    Doing crown decreases
  • Fair Isle fisherman’s kep Shetland wool
    Trying it on

Review of the Kep Pattern and Instructions – you must buy the pattern from the group.

The pattern is not listed here, but you can buy it when joining the Facebook group – link above. I am not a fan of using Facebook, but do so for my business and groups like this.

It did take a little while (about a week) to receive the pattern, so just be patient. The group is run by volunteers and I’m sure they have other things going on in their lives! It arrives as a PDF which is downloaded and then printed out. I don’t have a color printer, which is unfortunate because sample keps are shown on the front page in full color.

A bit of history about the tradition of knitting a fisherman’s kep is included, as well as suggested yarn colors to use for a traditional look. As I rummaged through my wool, I found similar colors in my Jamieson & Smith and Rauma yarn. I figured for my first kep I would try to follow tradition, and the pattern, as closely as possible. Rauma is not from the region, but is a similar wool.

Fair Isle stitch pattern pages are attached in a variety of sizes which can be used to create colorwork designs of my own choosing. I followed the suggested cast-on number and used a size 1.5 US needle. I’m hoping it won’t end up too small, but decided on this size after looking at my Katie’s Kep notes.

The pattern instructions are basic, with cast-on number, placing the plain knit and purl rows, turning instructions (the brim will fold up and be doubled), and when to change needle size. There are detailed instructions for decreasing at the crown (which I would change next time). But all of the patterning is left up to the knitter, which makes for some interesting keps! Having a Fair Isle pattern book is useful at this point although some pattern suggestions are included.

The Hat is On Hold

I had planned to write about how I made the tassel for this hat. The tassel is added after the hat is washed and blocked so I have a ways to go at this point. One kep knitter created an ocean / fishing themed kep and put little fish hanging off the top in place of traditional tassels! I thought that was so clever.

I had planned to write about how I made the tassel for this hat, but I’ve decided to put this hat on hold after finishing the knit. There are lots of ends to weave in, and I’m not liking the fit. I should have gone up a needle size and made the hat shorter. I don’t like the big bunch of fabric on top of my head, and I don’t like the puckering of the crown.

I did have fun playing with the colorwork, and I’m happy with the colors, just not the hat’s fit in general.

fishermans kep

Keep Reading Knitter Friends!

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Easter Day Treasure Hunt Reminiscing

Today is Easter and my son is grilling ribs. I made southern style potato salad and we will eat outside later. It’s hot here in Florida so I have the AC on.

My other children are spending the day with their better half’s family. Did I say that right? They are in New Hampshire and Kentucky. Anyway, like every other holiday, nothing special happens here. We eat and drink and relax.

Years ago the kids and I would dye eggs using food coloring, or one of the popular store bought ways to dye eggs. It was fun, and we made memories. Funny, but I don’t remember their father being a part of any of it.

When my kids were small I would hide eggs (for the Easter Bunny) and put little notes inside which would have clues as to where to find the next egg. It was a treasure hunt, which took a lot of planning and organizing. At the end of the hunt there would be a big Easter basket which I had put together for each child. Usually there would be candy and a wrapped, special gift.

One year when my youngest son was small, he and my grown daughter searched for eggs in the woods near our rental house. Usually I didn’t put eggs outside because of animals, but this place was in the woods and it was perfect for a good-weather egg-hunt. I wrote down the number of plastic eggs I hid, and I think we came up one short although they looked and looked, and I couldn’t remember all the spots, so it may still be there. It could contain a dollar bill or maybe a quarter!

When I was a kid, my father used to do the same type of treasure hunt notes thing for me and my sister. None of my kids have kids of their own, but if they ever do, they may carry on the tradition.

Easter dogs
Thank you Spiritze at Pixabay for this cute image

Begin The Day With Movement, End the Day With Calm

I’ve been following the Keto Diet plan since August 2020. (Read about my Keto experience here.) I’ve been walking regularly for a couple of months and I should have done that sooner. Begin the day with movement to get the juices flowing. End the day with calm and relaxing activities like knitting and watching television. These are my goals.

For most of my adult life I left the house to go to work. Most of my jobs meant standing or walking around for long periods of time. I was a bank teller, cashier, florist, teacher’s assistant, substitute teacher, and at-home babysitter when my own kids were little. Like most mothers, there was not much time for me.

Now I work from home, and have been doing so since 2007. It means long hours in front of the computer – sitting. My knitting hobby also keeps me sitting for long periods of time. Sitting is not great for us so it’s important to find something that keeps us going.

What’s Your Reason For Improving?

My number one reason to continue to eat well and get moving every day is the fact that both my mother and my sister have had, and currently have dementia. My mother died of Alzheimers and my younger sister is suffering with dementia. No relatives ever had these problems.

Long story short, after much searching for an answer, I am convinced that good health begins first with eating correctly. Second to that is getting daily exercise. I won’t be in good shape if I don’t move, and at my age, it will be lost quickly if it’s not used. Old age is tough. Our bodies are not cooperative. In fact, I think my body would love to be in a chair all day. We must fight ourselves to keep going!

Florida oak trees
Oak trees with Spanish moss in my Florida neighborhood

I don’t like where I live, and I would love a few hills to climb, but whenever I get out and take a walk, I try to enjoy the scenery. My neighborhood has some very big and beautiful oak trees. They are not like the New England oaks I knew, witch had huge leaves that dropped late in fall for me to rake. These oaks are filled with Spanish moss and have long, crazy limbs. Those are called “Live Oaks”. But Florida has many types of oak, and I am not familiar with them all.

New Hampshire roads are where I’d love to be walking. The photo below was taken on my trip and I had walked up this road past huge, beautiful farms and homes. Walking here is so much better. The air is clear and the views are sweet. But for now I deal with what I have. Moving is the most important thing, so I need to go take a walk.

View of mountains while taking a walk in New Hampshire
New Hampshire

A Nomads Life, Places I Have Lived

Reminiscing about all my moves while in New Hampshire

One of the reasons I have kept this blog even though I no longer live in New England is that I have shared some of my favorite photos here.  Now I use this blog to share my knitting adventures and dream that one day I will be able to write again from a New Hampshire location.

All photography on this page is my own and is copyright protected.

When I moved from Florida to New Hampshire I had a nice house where I expected to stay for a very long time – maybe forever. I have to laugh at that. Silly me.

It didn’t turn out that way. I moved, and moved, and moved some more. I rented at four different places and lived in one house of my own before high expenses and lack of income forced me to head back to Florida.

frozen lake ice skating
Life by the lake, my son skating in the cold

My first, third and fourth homes in New Hampshire were near Gregg Lake in Antrim. I loved this area. The lake is small enough that it never gets crowded and it’s very quiet when the summer people have gone. New Hampshire doesn’t change very quickly, and I love that. After living in Florida where there are really no small towns, being part of one was a welcome change.

winter sunrise
Light at the end of the tunnel?

My first rental house was in Hopkinton and I snapped this photo of the sun rising just at the top of the hill. I lived here for a year but rent was too expensive so I moved (almost) into a condo.

The condo flooded before I could get in, so I temporarily lived in a little “camp” near Gregg Lake. It was August and we were right on the water which was nice for the kids, but it was only temporary. The condo was taking a long time to renovate and I was desperate to find a permanent rental that was decent. I lucked out when I found the duplex (photo below), where I stayed for three years.

Deep snow

This area is so beautiful. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had really belonged by having my own place. But walking was beautiful and I enjoyed the views of woods, hills and the lake. My landlady had a black lab and I would take her for walks with me.

dirt road forest photo

I’ve always loved taking photos and I used my digital camera for all of these. I never had a nice cell phone until just before I left the state. With the change of seasons, there is always something amazing to photograph in this area. Fall and winter were favorite times to get photos. I loved to go out after a snowstorm and get photos before the wind ruined things.

Trees covered with snow after a storm
Winter Trees

Because I was feeling more like a normal person – having a home helps – my kids talked me into getting two cats. Richie and Fontana loved to sit in the front window and watch the birds.

Richie was killed by a fisher cat after I moved into my own home, but Fontana is still with me. She is about 14 years old now.

my cats Richie and Fontana
Richie and Fontana

Yay, My Own Place

The house I bought (below) needed a lot of renovating. You can read about that here. I was having siding, windows and new shutters put on when we got a freak October snowstorm which brought the work to a halt for days.

October snowfall snowstorm
October Snowfall 2011

Now I am back in Florida where I deal with heat, humidity, crowds, tourists, and hurricanes. I no longer walk in the woods and take photos of the change of seasons. I blog about seashell identification and our boating trips where we attempt to catch fish large enough to eat. I write about Florida landscaping and gardening and life in general on my Hydrangeas Blue blog.

I miss New Hampshire, but I am a nomad, and my goal is to move again… back to the Northeast.

Waterfront park in Edgewater Florida