Vineyard Rows, from Hill Country Weavers

As it happens, the recent Prairie Bliss collection from Hill Country Weavers included not just one but two of my original patterns. The first was Rockabilly Soft, and the second is Vineyard Rows: so named for the textured horizontal stripes, and because that's exactly the sort of luxurious thing you might wear while touring the vineyards of the Texas Hill Country.

Thanks, Hill Country Weavers!

On a more serious note, those of you keeping one eye on the news will know that the greater Austin area spent much of Labor Day weekend burning. Fortunately, the fires have thus far spared Austin itself, but the surrounding communities have suffered immensely, especially Bastrop. Over 600 homes have been lost.

If you have spare change, please consider donating to the Red Cross of Central Texas - or barring that, your local Red Cross. These are the people who come to help those who find themselves in a terrible place without warning. We should all be good neighbors and help now, when we can.

Rockabilly Soft, from Hill Country Weavers

Well, well, well. You may have heard there's a drought on these days here in Texas... Both our lawn and this blog have dried to a crisp in the face of severe heat and a really rough time at work.

On the upside, I'm learning all sort of things about HTML at work, including better and more nutritious ways to create line breaks and boldface type!

I do have some exciting news to share. Hill Country Weavers has now released my latest pattern: Rockabilly Soft.

Let me say something about the yarn called for in the pattern, Road to China Light from the Fibre Company: holy snot, that stuff is amazing! And did you know it has a little bit of camel mixed in? Soft, soft, soft!

It made working those colorwork sections a dream. And, by the way, take a peak at the pictures of the Western-style piping at the shoulders: I'm not telling you how I did it (you'll have to buy the pattern, natch), but I feel pretty dang smart right there. I even attended a design workshop with Shannon Okey at HCW in the spring, when I got to show off how I did it - and there was trigonometry and everything.

In the demonstration. Not the knitting. (Calculator not required.)

Anywho, I hope knitters will enjoy this pattern. It's funky and luxurious, all in one!

Teaser Pic: Rockabilly Knits

New design in the pipeline, and I'm not allowed to give pictures yet - but here's a teaser shot:

As I said in my last post, Latvian braid makes you feel like a stud.

Another hint: This sweater really needs some fiddle music to make it complete.

I can't wait to show off the whole thing! Hill Country Weavers will start the photo shoots soon.