Thinkin' of pumpkins 🎃
Fall time knitting, Shirin Shawl releases tomorrow, Lambtown updates.
Firstly, there are a lot more of you reading this letter than a few weeks ago. Thank you for deciding to give me a few minutes of your attention every week. I am grateful.🤎
This weekly writing forces me to slow down and really think about how things are going in my design work and in life. I have come to consider this a grounding practice for regular reflection.
I have been living in the Bay Area for the past 8 ish years of my life and fall is a relatively new season in my life. 🍁 I have grown to love it over the years. But this year summer has stayed noticeably longer and it has only just begun to cool down! I can’t wait to get my handknits out for the season.
To me, the fall also marks the tail end of a year - a little pause and a time to reflect. And my knitting habit fits right into this theme, so obviously as the season rolls in, I am ready to welcome more knitting into my days.🧶
In my earlier letter, I wrote about how as I start new designs/projects, I am also reminding myself to stay committed to enjoying the knitting itself. Well, my other commitment is to give my body and mind enough breaks, while relishing the simple joys fall has to offer.
Apart from knitting, there are a few other quotidian details that quietly get added into our lives during fall.
I light a little candle in my kitchen when the sun starts setting early.
Home-brewed Masala Chai with a store-bought pie, anyone? 🙂
As the days get colder, we settle down more often for family board games or catching a TV show together.
Long conversations, more reading, or simply pausing in the middle of a day to take a moment in the nature - somehow all of these feel like the right things to do. Just mundane, little things yet they seem to sparkle in this season.✨
What kind of fall traditions did you grow up with? I am eager to know, and may probably adapt some for myself. Leave a comment and let me know :) 💗
Oh yes, fall also makes me think a lot about pumpkins. I make more pumpkin/squash soups and even pumpkin sauce pasta, and a few other spicy South Indian preparations. We visited pumpkin patches and carved Jack-o-lanterns with friends a bit more regularly, when the kids were younger, not much now.
The Jack-o-lanterns 🎃 always remind me of the South Indian custom of drawing scary faces on pumpkins and hanging them at the entrance of a new house to ward off the evil eye.
A friend recently insisted that Pumpkin Spice Latte is a must during the season, while another friend promptly shook her head and winked at me. That made me curious. 🤔 What do you say, is PSL a must-try this season? :)
I'll end this letter with a quote 📖 from my all time favorite author.
“Why not imagine a talk with a pumpkin? Why not imagine going off for a drive with a friendly pumpkin, a companion who would not, after all, answer back; who would agree with everything you said, and would at the end of the day appear on your plate as a final gesture of friendship?”
― Alexander McCall Smith, The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
UPCOMING PATTERN…..TOMORROW
My next pattern, Shirin Shawl drops tomorrow, Oct 15. I am loving all the tester versions and I can't wait to share this pattern with you.
Look out for your discount code in your inbox tomorrow. 🤎
Here are the project details, in case you want to start looking for your yarn.
OTHER THINGS I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE
I had been to Lambtown Festival last weekend and taught a cheery group of knitters, to crochet. :)
While at it, I also treated myself to this beautiful braid from Wonderland Dyeworks and some goodies.
Until next time,
Kavitha. ♡
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Growing up I didn't like pumpkin so much, both the orange and white varieties. But now I enjoy making pumpkin soup. I even made halwa out of it.:) I love fall in the U.S too, though I never had pumpkin spice latte.
Oooh do you make your own Masala Chai blend? I had a little giggle at the ending of the quote you shared about the pumpkin, being able to eat it at the end! :)