I’m a sweater girl. Oh, I’m devoted to my sturdy, throw-it-on, functional fleece. But there’s nothing like thick wool or supersoft cashmere to make me feel warm, cozy — and something extra. Classic, maybe? Distinct? Stylin’? Many of my sweaters were knit by my gifted late mom, adding a whole extra meaning to “warm-and-fuzzy.”

What I really like about hand-knits: Their personality! Nobody else has a sweater, scarf, vest, etc. just like it. And when the knitter goes that extra level beyond basic to create something with a story — it’s magic!

So now that the weather’s cold and I’ve hauled out the woolies, it seems like a fitting time to share some standouts from my Witty Knit Hall of Fame:

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You know the expression, “You can take the boy out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the boy”? That was my dad. He died last week, just 20 days shy of his 88th birthday.

Sylvester Patyk may have raised a tract-house-full of suburbanites (five of us) and lived in three different ‘burbs himself, but for my whole life he seemed like a fish out of water. He was a small town fellow through and through, born in tiny Wakefield, Michigan, among the lakes, forests, farms, and mines of the beautiful Upper Peninsula. (Picture Bedford Falls from that old movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”)

I’m still processing his being gone – it was amazingly sudden, even though he’d been in decline – but his passing has me thinking a lot about a person’s legacy. And how that legacy is tied to place…

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Walking into a bakery this week, I sniffed the allspicy, gingery splendiferousness of pumpkin pie. Okay, so my sniffer has been pumpkin-programmed ever since I wrote about the great pumpkin shortage last week. (I’d like to say I walked into *my kitchen* and smelled the pie, but alas I haven’t yet mustered the courage to roast and mash and bake with a whole pumpkin…but thanks for all the great tips…will keep you posted!)

That spicy pie smell, I realized, is just one of the reasons I’m so invigorated this time of year…

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