Hello! It's Officially Knitting Season!

Hey Y'all,
So I think we can agree that it's knitting season all year round. But then, there is something extra awesome about knitting when the temperature drops. Which for me-- down here in Austin-- means a brisk 75 degrees. Ha! But seriously, it's getting chilly at night and soon enough our one month of winter will be here.

I know a lot of you are up north and actually have snow to look forward to. Please send me pictures when that happens. I always love looking at pictures of snow, just can't stand driving in the stuff.

So this time around, I want to give a big shout out to QUINCE & Co yarn pictured at the top. We used some gorgeous Quince wool when we were on Monhegan Island. Really knits up beautifully and it's also eco-friendly-- most of it is American fiber and the stuff that comes from other countries is acquired from farmers and ranchers who love the earth. We used yarn from Quince that was created by Pam Allen, spun and dyed in Maine. The company has limited LYS distribution-- most of it is sold directly online to help them keep costs down.

Here's a picture of my scarflet-in-progress, which Teva designed for us to make using the Quince:

Down below there's a picture of yours truly. What am I wearing? Let's call it a PROTOTYPE okay? It didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned. I used the Swans Island Samurai Hat pattern I picked up when we stopped at Swans Island on the way back to Portland. I used super scratchy old school wool I bought at LOOP, on my trip to London. Also, I was too lazy to look up how to do garter stitch in the round, so I just took a guess, figure it involved purling, and found out later at my LYS that what I'd done was actually a reverse stockinette. No biggie. I wound up with an excellent hat regardless. Now I understand the pattern, I know how to do reverse stockinette, and I most definitely will do more of these. They knit up very quick.

And down below-- a scarf I made using Blue Sky alpaca which is so incredibly fabulous I felt like I was getting away with something using it. I mean it is so so so so so soft and buttery. I just did a simple K2P2 rib and made it about seven-feet long-- birthday gift for a friend who lives in truly cold climate so it'll get real use. Even though I have about ninety scarves of my own already, I am tempted to make one of these for myself and to keep the a/c on 30 degrees just so I can wear it all the time.

I know the trip to Queechee, VT is coming RIGHT UP. How I wish I could join y'all but I am duty bound to stay in Texas and help folks get married.  But I will certainly be with you in spirit. Have a most wonderful trip. Catch you on the other side.

Spike