Today is the Autumnal Equinox, so you all know what that means. It is officially fall. Fall here is a little less pronounced than in other parts of the country. Here, our summer gradually blends into winter and fall is that blending period. It means that the high temperatures are in the mid-80s instead of high-90s. It means that is is cool enough to sleep without the air conditioner and the leaves start changing.

Here, they don’t all seem to change at once. You see a tree here and a tree there but often we don’t get that blaze of color typically associated with autumn. Also, there are lots of evergreen trees here so even in the dead of winter, there are still plenty of patches of green.

We have a few flowers that only bloom here in the fall, like the spider lily

and the confederate rose. My confederate rose hasn’t bloomed quite yet this year but that first bloom of the year is always reason for celebration. It tends to get featured in a knitting pattern.

I also still have azalea blossoms. Our mild climate is suitable to a variety of azalea that blooms in the spring and fall. I rather like this particular plant.

With the temperatures not being so miserably hot, I have renewed creative energy so my knitting and designing tend to kick into high gear. This year is no exception. Here is my latest design.

Debbie’s Diamonds Shawl

I have been working on this pattern for a while. It was my first attempt at a fully charted lace design. This shawl was designed for my friend Debbie of Dodge Creations. The sample is knit in her lovely hand-dyed yarn – Dodge Creations Dye Works.

This lovely rectangular shawl featuring a bold diamond motif will be a versatile wardrobe addition. It looks as fabulous with eveningwear as it does with jeans. Shawl is knit in one piece using basic lace techniques. Design is fully charted, and no line by line written instructions are included. Pattern is suitable for Intermediate to Advanced knitters. You will need to know basic lace techniques as well as chart reading.The pattern file is quite large (over 3Mb in size) so please contact me if you have trouble downloading it and I can send a multiple file version of the pattern.

$7.00

Before I shut up, I need to announce the winner for my “The Thing about Summer” contest. The winner is Joyce. I will be sending your patterns to you through Ravelry later today. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who played.  The next contest will be in October – it will be a scavenger hunt.

Until next time, happy knitting.