Weather like we’ve been having lately makes me a tad sad, and a tad frantic. It’s been cold. Unseasonably cold. I just heard on the news a few minutes ago that a few weeks ago, something like 80% of our days were well above the average temperature, and now, 19 of the last 24 days have been well below the average. It’s cold. My normal “winter” wear doesn’t differ that much from what I wear in the fall and spring - just long sleeve shirts with an added jacket when I go outside. But when it’s so cold like it has been these past few weeks, it makes me want to bundle up in nice warm sweaters. Shouldn’t be a big deal for a knitter, right? Wait - I don’t have many sweaters. Enter the “sad” and “frantic” emotions. Sad, because I realize how lacking my sweater collection is (and how negligent I’ve been in my knitting), and frantic, because I see all these fabulous sweaters (and my ever-growing stash of yarn), and think about how quickly I can get them whipped up. Of course, even the fastest of knitters couldn’t possibly whip out several warm wool sweaters before this cold snap breaks, so… I’ll just be cold for a few more weeks, I guess.

Despite this frantic urge to knit sweaters, I put the V-neck sweater down tonight and worked on some socks. I ripped out what I had of the Chocolate Covered Cherries and started a new sock in a lacy cable pattern. So far I like it, but only time will tell what it’ll look like once I get some more length on it. No picture yet - it’s hardly worth photographing at the moment, as I only have a few rounds done. My fingers move a bit more slowly in this cold, not to mention the transition from knitting straight stockinette on 6s down to cables on 0s. I’ve got a knitting date on Sunday afternoon with a fellow knitter I met online, though, so maybe I’ll get some more work on it done. And Lost night is scheduled for tomorrow evening, so perhaps I can get some sweater knitting done during that time. :)

I’ve decided I am officially in love with Louisa Harding, and were it genetically possible, would offer to bear her children. Like any good knitter, I enjoy browsing through the Rowan books and sometimes find things I like in Interweave Knits. There’s the occasional Vogue pattern I like, and I usually get a kick out of just browsing through new collections of patterns whenever I’m at a yarn store. But Louisa Harding… never before have I been so in awe of a designer. I don’t think there’s a single design of hers that I dislike. A few weeks ago I bought her new Modern Classics, and I love it. I even made mom go look it up when she went to market last month (she, too, loved it when she saw it). I started browsing around at more of her stuff this evening when I saw Kay’s newest post over at Mason-Dixon Knitting about her nearly-completed Ingrid sweater. There may be several new Louisa Harding pattern collections making their way to my bookshelf in the near future. Personal favorites were Gathering Roses: Design Collection and Winter Muse Classic, and these patterns in particular:

What can I say? I like plain and simple, with just a touch of pizazz, and Louisa Harding delivers just that. Every. Single. Time.