Beach brain

I love the ocean. Growing up my favorite times were when our family went to the beach for a week or two. When I had my own family it continued to be a favorite spot for us to unwind and reconnect. I am usually with people who like to go and do while we're at the beach - amusement parks, water slides, shopping, sight-seeing - but once I'm at the beach I just want to stay put because there's just nothing better. And I love any beach - north or south, sandy or rocky, calm or stormy. Even though I didn't mind all the snow and cold weather we got this winter, I did seem to start thinking about the beach pretty seriously toward the end of it and I gravitated towards colors and designs inspired by the sea.

Sea Salt

Pawleys Shawl

Sun Tea

Yarn Shop Envy

This past weekend I had a trunk show and did a class at Knitters Nook in Columbus Indiana. Nyra should probably be glad I don't live nearby because I would be sitting on her couch knitting ALL THE TIME. She has such a fabulous shop - beautiful and well laid out, stocked with great yarn and supplies, and really nice, friendly, helpful staff. Her customers are awesome too. I have to admit that it was a little hard to get geared up to do this after the events of the past month, but I'm so glad I did! My husband went along to help with the driving and we both had a great time. Columbus is a very cool city and we are grateful that we got the chance to spend some time there. Here are a few photos -

!!!

Merrywood looked right at home on the shop couch.

Alicia stayed busy winding yarn.

It was grey and rainy outside but bright and cheerful inside!

That's Nyra on the left.

It was a shop birthday/pajama party Saturday night! (Not quite ready in this photo but everyone looks happy!)

Being serious :)

Thank you Nyra and everyone in Columbus for making us feel so welcome!

Dragonstone KAL!

On March 15 I will finally be able to make Dragonstone available for general purchase! To celebrate I am hosting a KAL in my group on Ravelry.

There will be lots of yarny prizes, including 2 sets of yarn to make the shawl with that will be given in random drawings to first day purchasers (March 15 EDT).

See the KAL thread for the other prizes. The pattern will also be on sale for 40% off through March 19 (EDT).

Hope to see you in the KAL thread! The more the merrier :)

Winter is staying....

So I get to wear the two cowls I made from leftovers :)

You may recognize all my sweater yarns from the last 3 months -

and my Christmas cowl yarns -

The pattern is Aftermath and it is 40% off through March 9th!

I hope I'm not delaying spring because I'm working on a summer tee right now....

A little behind....

... but I've been busy!

Newest release - Sleepy Hollow. Since it's lucky number 13 I am having a BOGO - details are on the pattern page.

I also released a shawl - Dunbar

and some mitts - Spiced Cocoa

It looks the the holiday craziness has worn off and I am back to my old boring neutrals :)

A special place

I released my latest sweater pattern last night - Brier Island.

It's named after a very special place where the four of us have spent many happy summer days - Brier Island Nova Scotia.

This sweater will be in my suitcase next time we visit!

Presents!

I have 3 free patterns for you all as a gift from me to you on my birthday :)

The first is a new pattern that will (probably) remain free - Rhinecliff Cowl

It's a cowl inspired by the cables in my Rhinecliff sweater. The sample shown is knit in Dragonfly Fibers Super Traveller in Mermaid. This is such a nice yarn to work with and being bulky, it knits up in no time!

The second is a new hat pattern based on my Glühwein cowl - Spiced Wine

This was also knit in Super Traveller in Red Maple - I love this colorway! After my birthday is over, Spiced Wine will be $5.

The third is my revamped Hot Tea pattern -

I thought it would be so nice in the Swans Island Natural Colors Worsted I've been playing with so I updated the pattern to include directions for a worsted weight version. Once my birthday is over, it will go back to being $3.

Thanks for celebrating with me!