Winter really took its sweet time to get here in the northeast. On Christmas Eve, I wore a short-sleeved mini dress with sandals to dinner and on Christmas Day, I was enjoying drinks al fresco. Today, however, I'm bundled up inside as my heat has been going non-stop. 21F is what my Apple Watch is telling me and as I look down at all the people on the sidewalk, I can see their breath as they race towards the subway.

This past weekend was a phenomenal way of ushering in the cold temps. Olga Buraya-Kefelian stayed with me over the weekend. She was in town promoting her Capsule Collection Book at Gauge + Tension. And VKLive was going on! Olga and I were able to pop in Friday night (after a shopping spree at Sephora) and say hello to a few of our favorite people and meet some new friends. The rest of the weekend was spent at Gauge + Tension teaching short-row techniques, eating a lot of bagels, drinking a lot of lattes, and swatching new yarns. We had so much fun and I'm sorry that it's over.

But with all this excitement, I haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and look at the BT Winter 16 Collection. We work on collections almost a year before they're released so when they drop, it's like seeing it for the first time. Even though so much time has passed, I can still remember what inspired me and what brain-space I was in. For me, I find the BT Winter Collections always drop at a time when I really want to knit something for myself. I'm not knitting a Rhinebeck sweater or a holiday present, but rather something I want to hang out with, bond with and hopefully wear for a long time.

Cadence was a nod to my past. Bedford was one of my first designs for Brooklyn Tweed, and I wanted to make a sort of sister sweater to it. And what better way to showcase some of the newest BT colors! With three neckline options and two sleeve length options, you can customize your Cadence to your liking.

And for me, Tallis is the sweater I would wear day in and day out. It's a little modern, but very wearable. With minimal shaping, and mostly stockinette this makes for the perfect TV-watching or sitting-in-front-of-the-fireplace knit.

And there was a little indecision when it came to Snoqualmie. I originally had rope cables just running up and down the entire piece, with a larger cable motif at the center back. I had definitely done that before and felt like it was time to move on (Rowe, Stonecutter...) so then it was just rope cables all up and down the whole piece. That also felt odd. Too simple? Too blah? So, I finally settled on trying an all-over pattern, crossed my fingers and hoped y'all would like it as much as I did.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to design things that are effortless to wear, could hopefully become a wardrobe staple, but not boring to knit and definitely not boring to look at or feel like it's been done a thousand times.

I hope you enjoyed this collection!

Winter has arrived.