White world/colorful knitting

It's snowing again today. It's cold, too. Last week we had temperatures in the high 60's and even low 70's ; today it's in the 20's.

At left are my poor crocuses and daffodils. Enough said.

I came across some clever ideas for using odds and ends of leftover yarn while browsing Ravelry recently.

This is the Little Coffee Bean cardigan, a design by Elizabeth Smith and a free pattern on Ravelry.

I used three colors of DKwool/acrylic blends for this cardigan. The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, so I went down a needle size and ended up with a sweater about 3-6 month size.

I bought the yarn for this hat, "Fun Baby Hat," while in Victoria, BC, last September. The rich, varied colors in the skein caught my eye.

The pattern, which came with the skein of yarn, is designed by Natalie Kuehn. The yarn is Adriafil Knitcol, a DK weight. I had fun knitting this little hat because the pattern is quick and easy and the colors change frequently.

 Here's another Little Coffee Bean. I had several small, leftover skeins of Berroco Comfort worsted weight and Lion Brand Cotton Ease, also worsted weight. I selected a lime green forest green, bright blue, and purple and went to town. This cardigan will fit a 12-months child.

And finally, a Tamarugo hat, by Anna Hintikka. This is another free pattern on Ravelry, and it's another enjoyable knit. I wasn't sure I'd have enough brown yarn for the entire hat, so I mixed in some jade at random intervals. This hat will be a donation to a winter clothing drive this coming fall.

Actually it would come in handy today for someone's chilly head.