Austria ...? Nope, Not Austria Just Austin

Turns out the plans couldn't be made and I won't be traveling to Austria this winter. Just an ordinary Christmas here in Austin TX and a secret wish that it was colder here. I almost hate to admit it but the most exciting part of going to Austria was the promise of a taste, just a taste, of a real winter.

When I left Minnesota I swore I'd never grow nostalgic for winter. I went on and on about how much I dislike the cold, about how daunting it is to live where it snows all the damn time, how I would never look back fondly on below zero days and snow up to my eyebrows. And I suppose that all remains true.

Now I'm here in Austin TX and I'm harboring a secret desire that it was colder here. Not the hurts-your-face and freezes-your-eyelashes cold of January in Minnesota. But cold enough to wear all those beautiful scarves and sweaters I want to knit.

I did just fine this Spring and Summer knitting with cotton and bamboo and other warm weather fibers. I was perfectly content, in fact happy, knitting tanks and sleeveless tops. But now it's late Fall and the weather is turning wintry in most places and the current issues of the knitting magazines, and all the blogs in blog land are filled with beautiful winter knits, and I've got a secret nostalgic yen for cold.

I'm not the only one either. Yesterday in my knitting group we dreamily admired several patterns, only to concluded with disappointment "but when would we ever wear it?". I was trying to decide on a yarn to start Flair, and I pet and I cooed over some incredible llama, but concluded "it will be too warm", and settled for cotton, again. It's not that I don't love cotton, we all know that I do, but honestly a touch of alpaca, or a smidge of mohair would be lovely.

In the end, I suppose I feel better having confessed my secret yearnings. I suppose I will continue to knit jackets and sweaters and scarves that I know I will only wear but maybe once a year here in Austin. I suppose I could take up skiing and thereby have a reason to travel to cold and snowy places. I suppose I could knit with rich warm animal fibers and send the finished objects away as gifts to loved ones left in the cold. I suppose we all make sacrifices...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. And the weather man has forecast a cold front, a big strong cold front. There is a good chance that tomorrow the temperature here in Austin won't get out of the 40's, there's a chance it will feel a little cold just for the day. It will surely be back in the 70's by the weekend. But tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, it will be cold, and I will wear a warm hand-knit something, and I will be thankful for it. Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving!