Lovely Autumn

As I was pulling some of my sweaters out of my cedar chest today, I came across one of my favorites. I loved making it, starting with collecting autumn leaves outside and matching up the colors with yarn to make the knitted leaves, finding the perfect tweedy yarn for the sweater, and then seeing it evolve as I knitted it. Autumn is so lovely and this sweater celebrates that!

Autumn classes are in full swing and I'm loving it! It is such fun to see returning students greeting each other and re-connecting. There's a happy buzz in each class as everyone catches up and meets newcomers. My students are such a blessing to me and to each other. One group spent time sharing with each other their cancer survival stories to support one student who was recently diagnosed.

I found some Fabio yarn made by Skacel in my yarn stash that I had bought several years ago to make a sweater with. It's a bulky chenille type of yarn. I decided that I really wasn't going to ever knit that sweater and so turned the work I had already done on the sweater into a scarf for a Christmas gift. (I'm very much into EXTREME Christmas knitting mode right now!) The scarf felt so cuddly and soft, that I decided to design a neck warmer pattern using it. I have made up kits with the pattern and enough yarn to make the neck warmer for my students. Here is Brenda modeling the it:

The Fabio neck-warmer has 3 buttons and can be worn loosely like a collar or buttoned up on the top button to have it snuggle up close on your neck when you're going out in cold weather, which is soon to come here in Maryland!

So dear knitters, enjoy the beauty of this autumn and celebrate its beauty by knitting something beautiful!

Mary (who is now going to get back to her EXTREME Christmas knitting...)