My Texas

One of the first signs of spring in Central Texas are the blossoming Redbud trees. They put on a stunning show of white, fuscia, and lavender blooms before leafing out. They really stand out against everything else that is still dry and dormant.

Redbuds in Bloom is an assigned pooling colourway. Bark covers most of the yarn with a third blooming in buds.

Fingering Sock, 55% SW BFL, 45% Silk, 100g (3.5oz), 400m (437yds)

Shroom is a soft cream base with the slightest hint of green and purple. It would complement so many colours but was designed to coordinate with Catkins fingering yarn.

Lace weight 53% baby alpaca/34% silk/13% cashmere, 50g (1.75 oz), 400m (438yds)

Bark is a grounding, warm, dark grey tonal yarn, the colour of the bark of the Redbud tree.

Fingering Sock, 55% SW BFL, 45% Silk, 100g (3.5oz), 400m (437yds)

The Catkin Sock Set has an added pop of colour in a purple mini skein inspired by the resilient, drought-tolerant purple Lantana flowers that pop up in the most unexpected places.

1 skein of Catkin Fingering, 75% SW BFL/25% Nylon, 100g (3.5oz). 424m (464yds)

and one 20g mini of Wild Purple Lantana in SW BFL/Nylon

Unearthed is a messy blend inspired by the toll road expansion that’s carving the earth, exposing strata, propping new concrete roads with wood and rusty steel. It’s the limestone and concrete that live together side be side everywhere here. It’s a construction mess with a bit of blue sky to look up from.

This non superwash yarn is very soft with a lovely matte finish.

100g Fingering, 411m (450yds), non-SW Shaniko wool (merino/rambouillet)

Look Up! invites you to enjoy a sunny, softly clouded blue sky while you look down and craft. While not the sunniest city in the US, we have one of the sunniest cities in Texas, boasting (or lamenting) 300 days of sunshine each year.

100g Fingering, 411m (450yds), non-SW Shaniko wool (merino/rambouillet)

From a distance the dense Mountain Laurel tree is a deep, grey-green with pops of deep purple in bloom. This low contrast assigned pooling yarn is three quarters dark grey-green and one quarter deep purple. All-over speckles add a bit more depth to the colourway.

Fingering Sock, 55% SW BFL, 45% Silk, 100g (3.5oz), 400m (437yds)

Middle Child is the middle colour of the Mockingbird Fade set, somewhere between the tealy blue eggs and the juveniles browns.

100g Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)

Just the Blossoms, Please is just that, just the blossoms of the Redbud tree. This is a highly tonal fuscia yarn with speckles.

Fingering Sock, 55% SW BFL, 45% Silk, 100g (3.5oz), 400m (437yds)

Whitestone Blvd. is a blend of the various creams, golds, browns, and yellows found in the native limestones and other rocks from the area. This tweed non superwash yarn is very soft with a lovely matte finish.

100g Fingering, 402m (440yds), 89% non-SW Shaniko wool (merino/rambouillet), 6% acrylic, 5% rayon

It wouldn’t be spring in Texas without the sudden, coordinated appearance of massive Bluebonnet fields and families risking life and limb roadside to snap a quintessential photo among them.

These Bluebonnet Spring rolags are inspired by the flowers, the wide-open cloudless skies, the not-yet-scorching sun, and the soft green of spring.

Fiber is 75% SW merino, 25% nylon and sold by the ounce.

Limestone is a warm white with speckles of fossils and texture. This tweed non superwash yarn is very soft with a lovely matte finish.

100g Fingering, 402m (440yds), 89% non-SW Shaniko wool (merino/rambouillet), 6% acrylic, 5% rayon

Don’t Mock Me is the softest, lightest colour in the Mockingbird Fade set. Light beiges and blues and brown/black speckles make up this lovely variegated colourway.

100g Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)

Sea Glass is the second teal-est colour in the Mockingbird Fade set. It’s a variegated blend of browns, blues, and teals with brown/black speckles.

100g Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)

The Texas state bird is the Northern Mockingbird. They’re easily distinguished by their adult gray and white stripes and long tails (juveniles are brown) and they’re excellent mimics of other bird calls. It’s lovely to hear them sing in the trees on evening walks. They’re also quite resilient! I’ve seen mockingbirds dive bomb cats, chase off hawks, and relentlessly attack a rat snake big enough to swallow them whole. Texas Tough, as the saying goes.

This sweater quantity set of 5 colourways was designed to produce a fade from the soft grays and browns of the Mockingbird through the pale blue sky and deep tealy blue eggs they produce. Running through all the skeins are deep brown-black speckles.

5 × 100g skeins in Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)

for a total of 500g, 1670m (1830yds)

Also available as a set of mini skeins

5 × 20g skeins for a total of 100g

The strong artificial grape scent of the Texas Mountain Laurel tree greets you long before you catch sight of one in bloom. Grape Bubble Gum is the saturated tonal purple colour of the lighter blossoms.

Fingering Sock, 55% SW BFL, 45% Silk, 100g (3.5oz), 400m (437yds)

Coastal Live Oak trees shed their leaves in the spring as they burst forth new ones so they’re never bare. Also in spring, they produce beautiful, vibrant green, trailing catkins. As these tiny flowers blow in the notorious Texas wind, they spread their profuse yellow pollen absolutely everywhere and make most of us miserable with allergies. The nicest season here to be outdoors temperature-wise is, sadly, rather inhospitable.

Catkins yarn is inspired by the gorgeous greens and purpley-browns that appear through the various stages of oak catkin growth and decay. So much colour in such a brief life cycle! This is a complicated, labour-intensive dye process and is dyed-to-order.

Fingering, 75% SW BFL/25% Nylon, 100g (3.5oz). 424m (464yds)

Expansion could be a starry night sky but my inspiration is the mounds and mounds of speckled dirt waiting in line for their time and place in the local toll road expansion. This tweed non superwash yarn is very soft with a lovely matte finish.

100g Fingering, 402m (440yds), 89% non-SW Shaniko wool (merino/rambouillet), 6% acrylic, 5% rayon

Strata is a mix of limestone, gravel, and blue sky with nepps of beige and black. Despite the inspiration of some toll road construction encroaching on our neighbourhood, this fibre is a happy blend of earth and sky tones.

100 g, 89% Non-SW US Shaniko Wool, 6% Acrylic, and 5% Rayon.

Juvenile is the brownest colour in the Mockingbird Fade set, though it contains blues and a hint of teal as well as the brown/black speckles that run through the entire set.

100g Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)

Wild Eggshell is the deepest colour in the Northern Mockingbird Fade set. It’s a deep tonal teal with brown/black speckles.

100g Fine SW, high twist, low pill Merino wool, 334m (366yds)