I’ve got to forewarn you that this month is going to be a parade of projects. Book projects, mag projects, lots of projects that I worked on quite some time ago are finally published. And my slightly-lazy-when-it-comes-to-blogging self has been remiss in posting. Mostly because I actually took a few days off like the rest of America, but, let’s be honest, the procrastinating preceded the turkey!

The first project I have to tell you about is in a book by Tanis Gray,  called Knit Local: Celebrating America’s Homegrown Yarns. It’s a charming book, full of mostly knitting (and 2 crochet!) patterns, all inspired by American-made yarns. The best part about this book, if you ask me, is reading all of the stories about the history of over thirty yarn companies. In my opinion, many of the people working in the yarn industry, myself included,  do it  for love–and I love to read about the whys and hows, plus see pretty pictures of cute sheep, alpaca, goats and more.  The patterns are wonderful too, ranging from pillows and shrugs to cowls, vests and gloves. Many of them only take a few skeins of yarn, which is great because it makes supporting local yarn companies doable, even if you are on a budget.

My project is the Wildflowers scarf, a very simple lace pattern that utilizes increases and decreases to make the pointy petal shapes. At the time, I was interested in experimenting with them, because most crochet patterns tend to use chains and skipped stitches–for instance, filet crochet. I also wanted to do something in jut one skein of the luxurious–and boy howdy is it luxurious–yarn, Buffalo Gold Lux. The finished scarf measures about 5″ wide by 74″ long, but if I had it to do again I’d probably start with a shorter foundation chain and make a shorter, wider ascot-style scarf. It was really a treat to work with such a high quality fiber (a blend of bison, cashmere, silk, and tencel) and I’m honored that Tanis asked me to contribute to the book. Even if you don’t knit, Knit Local is worth checking out just for the sheer volume of information about American yarn companies. That is, assuming you are a dork like me.

Full Disclosure: Book links are Amazon affiliate links, and I have a project in this book, so they sent me a free copy of it. Also, I used to eat lunch with Tanis at least a few days a week for a couple of years, so, I might be biased.