Signs of Fall

My peak knitting season is football season.

There are hours in the car riding to games like this Hawkeye game at Kinnick last weekend.  A perfect day for football.  No wind and sun to warm us.

Saturdays and Sundays, usually include time for a game, or even two at home in the knitting chair.  Football and the plethora of commercials and replays allows a lot of knitting to be done.  When the air starts to turn cooler, the wool feels good in our hands and on our laps again.  I am ready to start or complete a bigger project.  I have two sweaters taking turns for my knitting attention.  Does your color palette change in the fall as well?


 I love cycling.  In the fall I move to the three wheeler sometimes.  It is a recumbent bike and I sit up more and can see the world around me.  It is not nearly as easy to pedal, so I have to scale back my speed and miles expectations.

It is the right bike to catch a vista like this along our bike trail.  The vine using the tree as a trellis has turned a brilliant orange red.  It feels like I should be knitting with Cayenne in September.


I hope you find yarn in your hands more often as it cools at night - Shades rich and warm and comforting.


If you have a sweater on the needles, come join our Falling (S)leeves sweater KAL in our Ravelry forum.  You will love the joy the knitters share as their projects are being created.

It's Fall KAL Time!

It's time for our official Fall KAL! These two patterns would be perfect for Holiday gifting or to keep for yourself (shhhh we won't tell if you don't!).

Our paid pattern is Clarus by Laura Nelkin. Find Clarus here to purchase on Ravelry or buy directly from Laura's web site here

Our free patten is Fallberry Mitts by Anne Hanson. Find Fallberry as a free pattern on the new fall Knitty.com here.

Choose one of the many colors of Breathless or Zoe Sock and please tag your project with "ShalimarFall2011"

The KAL will run from October 19 thru November 20. Great prizes, fun and support await you now!
Join now on our Shalimar Yarns Group on Ravelry!

It's a Busy, Busy Fall...

So now that soccer season is officially over (daughters team, Dickinson College, lost in the Sweet 16 to National Champions, Messiah College) I am trying to work in a little extra knitting time between dying, designing and winterizing (I always wait too late).

We are getting wonderful feedback on Breathless, which will be hitting LYS's this winter and early spring. Breathless is 75& SW Merino/15% Cashmere and 10% Silk in a fingering weight. Simply divine!

And we're also excited that Zoe Sock is in two new books, just out and available at your LYS...



Dolce Handknits: Simple, Sophisticated Designs

and also in...



Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders

Kim (whose designs are indeed timelss) did up Seville, an adorable Bolero, in colorway: Merlin's Beard, and the Shalimar pattern, Clover Honey Shawlette designed by Hannah Six, is done in colorway: Sno Pea.

Both these titles are wonderful additions to your knitting book collection!

Fall is for Soccer

...and knitting at soccer games...

Saturday, I was able to go visit Edie at school for one of their 'big' soccer games. They played Haverford and won in OT. Now, while my girl didn't play (she is a freshman goal keeper), it was still a thrilling game. And perfect soccer weather...cool, with clear blue skys, warm sun and lovely breeze.

As most parents of athletes know...there is almost nothing more enjoyable than watching your kid in their sport. And how cute is she...



Dickinson women's soccer is ranked 17th in this week's NSCAA National Poll. Go Red Devils!

Finally Fall

I've been loving fall this year. It's been warm with periods of cool, perfect Indian Summer over and over. Now we're starting to have regular cool, crisp fall mornings and the leaves are turning nicely because of the late rains we've had. The great thing about this weather is that it turns up my creative juices and gets me excited!

We have a lot of fun surprises we are working on for the next few months. Here are some sneak previews of a new Stonewash colorway...American Beauty, a true Vampira, that special bustier, Valentine's Day candy box RED!



And I've been knitting like a fiend...working on a luxurious new base yarn that we will introduce in late November. Here it is in two colorways I dyed up for this little scarf, Cinnamon Grace. Very quick, very cute. I think I'll try it in worsted weight for a more wintery scarf.



And now that our Ludivine Mystery KAL is over, we have another KAL we'll be starting early next month. Watch for it on our Shalimar Yarns Group on Ravelry.

Is it Fall yet?

We've been busy lately filling shop orders, chatting about Ludivine (our first Mystery KAL on Ravelry) and planning for TNNA in Long Beach in January. Whew!

And this beastly hot and super dry summer has chomping at the bit for a smidgeon of cool, fall air to blow through. The only cure for that, my friends, is to play with color!

So here is a sneak peak at one of five new varigateds that will be released in January.



Wishing you cool knitting wherever you are!

Raven's (and fall) Rule

Over the last several weeks, we've seen a dramatic change in the foliage here in Maryland. This is just one of many reasons why I love living where there are lots of deciduous trees. But the evergreens never cease to impress either...

Like the lovely carpet of pine needles in the drive after a windy night...




The lichen which seems to thrive on the cool, moist air...



And my favorite Maple in the backyard always has the most stunning color around Halloween...



Which brings us around to another favorite of the fall season...Football! And the Baltimore Ravens have some pretty cool colors that yearn to become hand dyed yarn.



This is Raven's Rule! which is available exclusively this season at the lovely All About Yarn in Columbia, Maryland. Get your team spirit on!

Lovely Thing

As I was leaving the house this morning, this is what I spied under the pine trees...



At least 6" tall and standing all alone...



And this is what this morning looks like in mid-October in Maryland...



With expected highs in the 80's! It feels more like spring than fall. I'll take it though.

It's beginning to feeling a lot like...

It definitely snuck up on us this year; fall is here and we have the low morning temperatures to prove it. Somehow, I've been too busy to really enjoy our very short Indian Summer, but we did have one. And now the trees are beginning to turn and I'm thinking that it's time to start winterizing the barn, before it turns bitter cold and it becomes a chore.

But with fall comes new fall colors! Here is one of three that we recently released. It's Merlin's Beard, a neutral composition of grays, browns and cream. This palette never seems to go out of style.




Happy Knitting!