Speaking of tweed, isn't this a beautiful sweater? This is my mom's Kendrick in Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran, 85% wool 15% angora. Kendrick is a design by Ann McCauley, published in Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People 2. Kendrick has lovely detailing: columns of coin cables on the body that merge gracefully with the front neck shaping, and single coins at the cuff and waist that gather the fabric gently.

Oh culture, what a funny and charming thing. I've just been perusing images of "Tweed Runs," and had to share. For a little history, check out the official site. I was looking at the images of the New York City Tweed Run, and thought, "Wow, these people look like models. And where did they get all these great clothes?" Ah, some of them are models, for Ralph Lauren Rugby Tweed. But it's all still pretty fabulous. There are also some great shots of Ewan McGregor in the tweed run, with a pipe and a stuffed bear. The bear makes me think of Sebastian's bear, Aloysius, in Brideshead Revisited.

Hey everyone, Happy Year of the Dragon! May your coming year be full of yarn and auspicious knitting.

Last time it was Year of the Dragon (2000), our first son was born, so hurrah for dragons! Yes we are a family of one dragon, one rat, one monkey, and one sheep. There, enough clues for you to figure out my exact age. 

Warning: this post may contain wild generalizations about men and women.

I was updating the site with the Trestle Hoodie that just came out in Knit Issue 45, and it got me thinking about men. Or rather, knitting for them.

Oh men. We are drawn to knitting sweaters for them, despite the fact that they are sometimes ambivalent about it. It's such a puzzle that Bruce Weinstein has made a book titled Knits Men Want: The 10 Rules Every Woman Should Know Before Knitting for a Man. And you've heard of the curse of the Boyfriend Sweater. The Mythbusters should do an episode on Knitting for Men, its mystique has reached such notoriety. 

Did you see Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches, when it came out? Lovely book on how to, well, knit your own dog. Charming, and somehow quite dignified photographs of knitted dogs throughout. The Jack Russell is my favourite. I blogged about it in March, take a look at the gorgeous photography.

And now the same authors have written a sequel: Knit Your Own Cat: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 16 Frisky Felines. The paperback will be available in February, I can't wait, because (don't tell anyone) I'm more of a cat person than a dog person. It's their unapologetic hedonism and quiet disdain that I admire.