UPDATE 6/25/14: Congratulations to winner Kate M! Check your email, Kate M! -------------------

Traveling is difficult with a young child. Sleeping is an issue, a weird bed, a new place, new sights, sounds and people. We're fond of "mini trips," a 2 or 3 day excursion not too far from the house so we're not gone for too long. We recently went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home to delicious pretzels, Amish folk, lots of animals and some really beautiful scenery. I knew we'd have about 6 or 7 hours roundtrip in the car, and the husband likes to drive so that means I get some knitting time in. I grabbed a design I had done all the math for and was ready to cast on...

We had a great time in Lancaster, visiting quilting shops, wooden toy shops, eating pretzels, drinking homemade root bear, taking Callum to Dutch Wonderland and checking out the LYS. If you find yourself in Lancaster County, head over to the Lancaster Yarn Shop, situated nicely right in the center of the town of Intercourse. I picked up some locally spun, natural yarn and a hank of something special you'll hear more about later this summer.

I am spoiled to have a great local hand dyer, Shalimar Yarns close by over in Maryland. I had some lovely Missy Bulky on hand and knew it was destined for a top down, raglan style child's hoodie with some fair isle around the midsection. What I like about this yarn is it's a bulky, so it knits up fast and beautiful on US 10s. I love the subtleties you can only get from a hand dye and the contrasting colors of blue raspberry and tequila sunrise look great together for either gender. Topped off with an elf-style hood and chunky buttons easy for small hands to manipulate, this is a cute hoodie for everyone! Sized from 6 months all the way up to 12 years, the wide size range ensures you'll find the fit you need for all shapes and sizes. Being a top down raglan, you start at the neck, work your way to the end, finish off the sleeves then do the hood last. How adorable would it be to make matching ones for siblings? As always when knitting for kids, if they are old enough to help, let them pick out the colors for the hoodie or the buttons. They're more likely to wear it if they had some input. Get started now for that "back-to-school" hoodie for the fall! Named after the county we visited, the Lancaster Hoodie is available for download here.

As always, let's do a giveaway, shall we? Answer this trivia question (open to readers worldwide) to be entered to win a digital copy of the pattern: About how many Amish people are there living in the US currently?

A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday.