My new hat was a test for Beatriz of SambaKnits. The pattern includes 3 children's sizes and 3 adult sizes, each with two versions, beanie or slouchy style and is knit in DK weight yarn. I knit the adult small slouchy version thinking that it would be a hat I would keep here and we could share, but Carter liked it so much it went home with him. He loves to wear hats on chilly days and thinks Rowan Softyak DK is very soft so I was certain it would be a hit. Softyak DK is mostly cotton with a tad of yak making it just warm enough for our mild California winters. I love the stained glass effect of using a dark main color and then adding brights. This pattern is great for scraps or for a mini skein set. It knits up in a flash and would be great if you're wanting to give mosaic a try. You'll see why so many people love mosaic! It's easy and effective but the best part is you only knit one color per row. 

Looking ahead at our spring and summer garden, I've started the tomato, pepper and squash seeds in the greenhouse. I plan to set them out in the garden at the end of March or early April. We had a good amount of rain last week and yesterday morning we unfortunately found another sink hole in our garden, possibly an old well as this was once a apricot orchard and we are only a few hundred feet from Adobe Creek. It appears to be lined with cement or cement blocks and has an undetermined depth. Today we had a large pile of rock delivered to fill it up, so that will be this weekend's job, with some hired help of course. We also have to redo our whole vegetable garden as our old beds were rotted and falling apart. This is a long overdue project and I'm glad to finally get to it. Those old beds served us well for several decades, but they were past repair. Once we have these projects out of the way I'm really looking forward to a great summer vegetable garden! To figure out when to start seeds in your zone, go here.

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