It looks like I have a new Christmas tradition! For the last five years, I’ve been knitting one (and some years, two) sweaters in the fall to start wearing the day after Thanksgiving. This year, I chose The Folk Art Sweater, with gorgeous Swedish Dala Horses marching across the yoke.
I love it, and I had so much fun knitting it. The pattern is a good one—knit from the top down in DK-weight yarn, with the colorwork thoughtfully designed so there are only a few rows with long floats. I really appreciate that!
And I used my beloved Rowan Softyak DK, so I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.
Have you decorated for fall yet? Or maybe the better question is, do you decorate for fall? My hand is definitely up for yes, although I like to keep it pretty simple. If I put everything out in mid-September, it has to stay around for two and a half months, and that's a long time to look at the same things! So for me, fall decorating needs to be minimal, but still pretty enough to make the house feel like fall has arrived.
This week I've been easing into the season in other ways, too. I cut some hydrangeas to dry, cleaned and organized the freezer—and then went to Costco and messed it all up again. Such is life.
I am so happy with this kerchief-style scarf that I’m already thinking about making another one. It’s one of those little projects that doesn’t take much yarn, doesn’t take forever to knit, and is just the thing for using up those single-skein leftovers we knitters seem to accumulate.
Every season has its own knitting mood, and for many knitters, autumn is the favorite. As the weather cools, designers fill Ravelry with cozy pullovers, textured cardigans, warm accessories, and earthy colors that make it impossible not to start another project. I've been saving patterns that capture all of that goodness, and today I'm sharing the best of them. Welcome to The Best of Ravelry, Volume 7--the Fall Edit.
Hello friends—another week and another sweater to share! This one is a classic top-down boatneck with slim sleeves that finish with a bit of a flare. The sleeves and yoke are worked using a top-down contiguous construction, which is both ingenious and surprisingly easy once you start knitting. If you’ve never tried the contiguous construction before, this would be a great pattern to give it a try. There are no seams, and you get a traditional set-in sleeve fit—perfect if you love knitting top-down but don’t want a raglan. In other words, you can have your top-down AND the look of set-in sleeves!
I've felt that summer for us has been go, go, go, but our August has slowed way down, which I love. I've been doing a lot of sitting and knitting and listening to audiobooks, and for the remainder of the summer, we have no more hosting or big travel plans. Just us, at home, being quiet with little Biscuit.
I've always been good at finding ways to keep myself busy, but I'm happy with small projects right now, and I have a few to share. The garden is still giving, just not at the breakneck pace of July, and I've been finding ways to preserve a little of summer for later, but without the urgency. And, of course, there are always a few knitting projects clamoring for attention.
So today, a little bit of this, a little bit of that from my slow August days in sunny California.
We had so much fun at last week's annual BLT party! For my international readers, a BLT is a classic American sandwich made with bacon, lettuce, and tomato nestled between toasted white bread spread with mayonnaise. It is one of those simple, beloved summer meals that many Americans grew up eating—especially when garden tomatoes are at their peak. My grandfather was a commercial tomato farmer, so BLTs were a summer tradition in our family. We could never get enough of them!
The party was one of those evenings where everything came together just the way I'd hoped, and I even managed to take pictures! By planning an easy menu, doing as much as possible ahead of time, and accepting help from friends, I was able to relax and enjoy the party right along with everyone else.
