It’s cold, y’all! It’s so cold! And I know, it’s winter, it’s supposed to be cold, yada yada yada, but this is Georgia and this isn’t how we like to roll. One astute Yarnathoner informed me last week that it was at that moment colder in Atlanta than in Moscow. So indulge me, my house isn’t very well insulated, more than a decade south of the Mason-Dixon line has thinned my native-New-Englander blood to an embarrassing degree, and my fingers are kind of numb.

I want mittens and cowls and warm sweaters, because after years of winters with a low of, say, 30 degrees Fahrenheit, I don’t own a real winter jacket anymore.

(Oh, I also want you to send in your trivia answers! Today’s the day! Trivia at esk (spelled out) dot com! And I apologize for any confusion over the e-mail address but spammers are to blogs like moths to a flame so we are speaking in code here, but please visit us on Ravelry if you are having trouble understanding the right address.

Such a Winter’s Day really encapsulates everything I feel about the season right now. Worsted weight, wool, big warm neck, just, cozy. So cozy I will probably forgive it for being such a pain to knit – all-over textured patterns, lovelovelove the look, lovelovelove the warmth, always dread the knitting a little bit.

These kinds of wide, almost boat-neck-style cowl necks are great, too – I am one of those people who feels like they’re chocking in turtlenecks, but if you see above, I am also always freezing any time it dips below 65 degrees, so this is a pretty classic sweater that will get a lot of wear for the effort. I’d knit it in something that will wear well since it seems like such a great every day sweater.

Blue Sand Cardigan is something I favorited last week, when it was less cold so this seemed like the perfect beautiful accessory for a brisk evening. It still is, of course, though looking at it right now makes me cold!

I love what you could do with this color-wise – knit it in color blocks as shown, or maybe do one color for the main bit and a contrast color for the pockets and hems and button bands, or even in smaller or random striping patterns!

The sample is shown in a DK cotton, which would be perfect for fall/spring in a warmer climate, and of course wool makes all of us happy.

I’d never seen Hedgerow Jam until a lovely Yarnathoner posted a picture of her in-progress “new-to-you” KAL project, but I queued it immediately. If you haven’t tried mosaic knitting, it is seriously fun – colorwork without any of the work! – and this pattern is quite stunning.

Worked in a superwash worsted weight, this project is a great stashbuster for those of you into that kind of thing. And it’s cozy. Did I mention cozy?

Sunriver Reversible Cowl is, well, reversible. (It’s also free, until 5PM today.) Which gives us two advantages – one is it’s reversible. The other is that means the fabric is doubly-thick, which will keep our necks even warmer. And it’s knit in Juniper Moon Farm’s Moonshine, which is seriously soft *and* seriously warm. Let’s just say that I’m grabbing a skein to go with my leftovers from my Portside.

Pinctada. Cables, cables, and more cables. Give me all the cables. Seriously, why don’t I own more cowls?

This one takes just one skein of Pashmina and turns it into an elegant, classic bit of knitting that your co-workers will ooh and aah over. Knit it in a neutral like the sample, or pick something bold like new color Purple Basil!