I got your attention with that title, didn’t I!? Well, my son gave me an A Little Knitty gift certificate for the “Knitting The National Parks” book for Christmas and I finally pulled the trigger and bought this beautiful book. There are so many colorful patterns of so many great National Parks. Where do I begin? I started thinking about my brother, who is an outdoor enthusiast and has visited many of these parks. He loves wearing hats on hikes, when he camps, and especially when he goes caving. He would love one but which one? I knew immediately when I turned to page 190…. the “Hawaii Volcanoes National Park”. It is perfect!!! My brother loves volcanoes and recently went to Hawaii and saw this volcano oozing beautiful yellow, red and gold lava. How could he not like this stunner. So out came the needles and I began to search for the perfect yarns to match the colors in the photos.
I know a lot of you have purchased this awesome book but maybe the patterns and all of the color schemes seem overwhelming or intimidating. I get that but I’m here to tell you they aren’t! I dug through my stash and searched the store and realized there are lots of choices which all can be winning colors and they don’t have to be the actual yarns called for in the pattern. Here’s what I ended up choosing: First I chose Universal Yarn Deluxe Worsted Superwash for the turqoise water called “Azure Heather”. The water color in the photo of the actual volcano almost looks fake it is so blue green. If you have visited Hawaii you know that this is typical of many colors in the Hawaiian landscape. They are deep and rich and simply gorgeous. This yarn captures that intense deep jewel color. Second, I picked Universal Yarn Deluxe Worsted Superwash “Oatmeal Heather” for the sand. A perfect neutral color that makes the water pop. Third, I chose a Dragonflight yarn called, “Autumn Leaves”. It is stunning with the gold, red and orange tones throughout the strands. This yarn is Sport weight in 100% superwash merino wool and even though the pattern called for Worsted, I just doubled the strands and wow!!! The colors came alive!!..yellow next to red, orange next to red, and yellow next to orange. The surprise ended up being the cool black flecks that appear every so often in the yarn. It looks like volcano rock pieces in the lava! Lastly, I picked “Plomo”, a Malabrigo Rios yarn. This is absolutely perfect for the actual volcano. The beautful deep grey tones look just like the rock. The bright lava colors interspersed on the hat flows over the dark hues and works.
The best part of this hat is how quickly and easily it is coming together. The pattern is intuitive and straight forward and I’m cruising on this WIP! So grab your book and pick a pattern and some fun colors and start discovering a National Park. Regardless of whether you have actually visited in person or not I guarantee you will feel like you have visited and experienced the beauty firsthand!
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