Is that snow on your garden gnome, or did he get into the cupcakes?

It's my favorite day of the year. It snowed last night and I woke while it was still dark. Andy brought me a cup of coffee in bed and Roper hung out with me while I relaxed into the morning. I snuck outside while still in my pajama's to take a few pictures. The sun was just starting to come up and the sky was a beautiful whitish blue. The only sound was the ice cracking on the trees as the breeze blew through them.

After living in Maine for so many years, I stopped enjoying snow. The last winter I lived there we had 99" of snow accumulation over the winter. There was so much snow and it was so incredibly heavy that the roof of the barn needed to be shoveled. By the end of the winter I could stand on the huge snowbank next to the barn to reach up and shovel more snow off. The first winter that I lived in Virginia was like being on vacation! It didn't snow at all and I don't remember it being colder than mid 40's. Since then, I've found that it does snow here on occasion, but it's never very much. It melts within a few days and looks pretty while it's here. There never seems to be that gray sludge on top of the snow from the street that happens further north. It's just pretty and pristine and reminds me of a frosted cake.

The Nikomedes pattern is nearly finished.  Im putting the final touches on it now.  Shannon and Beth have been really wonderful test knitters. The pattern should be ready to be released by the end of next week.  I've really enjoyed writing and designing this pattern   It's fun knit with a very easy to remember stitch pattern.  The lace  continues down the heel which is perfect for showing off with clogs!

Nikomedes shown in Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock Driftwood

Here is a little teaser for Mirrored Step, which will be coming out at the end of February.  It's a great pattern for semi-solid as well as variegated yarns.  Knitted cuff down and will come in three sizes.  The Mirrored Step stitch pattern really helps to break up any pooling and will work well with a variety of yarns.

Cindy and Tierney have just gotten the test pattern for this fun knit.  Im anxious to hear how they are doing and see progress pictures.  It's so exciting when I get to see my patterns come to life in the knitting of others!  

  Check out Tierney's blog if you have a chance.  She has some really fun things on there and is very talented!

Leaving

Anne Hanson is one of my favorite pattern designers.  Her patterns patterns produce amazing results. 

This is Leaving and it's first sweater that I have knitted where I am completely happy with the fit. 

Knitting a something as large as a sweater and not knowing how it's going to look on your body is a little daunting.  If you look at the finished projects page for Leaving on Ravelry it looks wonderful on everyone.  It's light enough to wear in early fall with a shell under it and later on in winter would also look great with a blouse. 

The yarn is hand dyed BFL by Wits End Serenade.  It was a gift from Andy at the Montpellier Fall Fiber Festival last October. There is a skein and a half left over.  Enough for a shawl or perhaps a vest.  The nice thing about yarn is that it doesn't have an expiration date.

Seams?  What seams?  They don't really stand out, do they?  That is thanks to Ann McCauley, another fabulous designer, author and mentor.  She was here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and was kind enough to teach a seaming class at our knit group.  While Ive done some seaming in the past I was never satisfied with the results.  After Ann's class my seaming has improved one hundred percent.  If you ever have an opportunity to take one of her classes, I highly recommend it.

It's been a fantastic week!  Ive been spinning every day for the Tour de Fleece and making great progress.  Here is one of the skeins of Cotswold that have been spun, plied and then finished (washed).  500 yards so far plus one fully plied bobbin that needs to be skeined and measured.  The Cotswold has such an incredible luster and sheen.  It's really a joy to spin.  I'm looking forward to knitting a sweater with it later on this year when the temperatures cool down a bit.

Ive also been having some fun in the kitchen!  Last week Beth and I took another trip to Morris Orchard and this time picked black berries.  They are sweet and oh so good.  Hard to stop eating while we were picking!  Beth shared a recipe for Black Berry Liqueur and of course I had to try it.  It takes 10 days to process.  Andy and I anxiously awaiting the results.  I think this is a good excuse to find some cordial glasses!

Our garden is producing tomatoes almost faster than we can eat them.  I canned salsa on Sunday and it's really good!  I'm not much for using mixes for anything, but found this at the store and thought I would give it a try:  Mrs. Wages Salsa  It's very good and super easy to make.  I also made some seedless black berry jam.  Yum!

The Stripe Study Shawl for the Shalimar Yarns KAL is off the needles and blocked.  I changed the width of the stripes from the original pattern and love how it turned out.  It took one skein of Breathless in Cranberry and Black Truffle.  We are getting ready for our next Shalimar KAL and would love to hear your ideas!  Please join us on our Ravelry Group.