He threaded his fingers through the fingers of her non—steering-wheel hand.
“Are we almost there yet? I want some of those kisses.”
“Almost,” she said.
A few minutes later, “Here.”
A beat later, Cade said, “Oh.”
The newly reconstructed bridge gleamed in the sun, the long, flat curves angling away from them.
Cade pulled the russet Guernsey on over his head as he got out of the truck. It was the first sweater she’d knit for him, and it was still her favorite on him.
“It’s been a year?” he asked.
Abigail nodded. She knew he’d get it. “One year exactly. Come on, let’s eat on the edge.”
“Doesn’t make you nervous?”
“Nothing could today.”
She took his hand. God, he was gorgeous. Look at him. He belonged in the movies, on a billboard, advertising saddle soap or something. Instead, he grinned at her, and walked with her, and loved her, every minute of the day. Even in the middle of their infrequent squabbles, she felt his love, all the time.
She was so lucky.
And they were getting luckier by the day.
Abigail led him to the edge of the bridge, to a little metal piece that was wide enough for both of them to sit on. She swung her legs over the edge. The fall sunshine danced on the water below.
They ate their sandwiches, leaning comfortably against each other.
He kissed her, and she kissed him back.
“You taste like onions,” he said.
“Yep.”
They sat in silence, looking down. Most of the metal had been cleared out during construction, but they hadn’t removed the bumper from her old pickup truck, and it shone in the sun below.
Cade cleared his throat and pushed his lunch away. He put both arms around her. “Worst day of my life.” He kissed her again, and her heart beat faster, as it always did. “And the best day of my life.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
Cade held her tighter. The handspun merino was soft under her cheek. “So, you finished the book! Eliza’s book?”
“Our book.”
“When will I get to read it?”
“Soon.”
“Is it about me?”
“No. But you’re definitely in it.”
“The knitters will love it. Big day! I wish I’d have known, I would have brought champagne.”
“I wouldn’t have had any.”
Cade laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“You love champagne. And I love how giggly it makes you.”
“No alcohol for me for a while.” Abigail smiled at him, the biggest smile that she’d ever smiled in her whole life.
“I don’t get it.”
She raised one eyebrow and kept smiling.
“Oh, hot damn!” yelled Cade. He scrambled to his feet and whooped, then he grabbed Abigail, and led them both back to solid ground. Then he picked her up and swung her around and around and around.
Abigail’s head spun, in a good way.
He kissed her. She kissed him back, and felt him stirring against her.
“We do need to celebrate, though,” she purred. “Can you think of any other way we can do it? Champagne aside?”
“Strangely enough, I think I can.”
“Back of my truck! Now!” Laughing so hard she almost fell over, Abigail raced for the truck, where she’d already laid out the blankets.
She needed him now. She always did. Always would. She opened her arms, and he held her, and the world spun away, and there was nothing but the two of them, on top of her handspun blanket.
A+ AUTHOR INSIGHTS, EXTRAS & MORE…
FROM
RACHAEL
HERRON
AND
AVON A
Love Song Sweater
A Guernsey using raglan construction
Finished Measurements:
Chest: 40 (44, 48, 52) inches
Length: 26 (26½, 27¼, 28¼) inches
Gauge: 18 sts and 26 rows =4 inches in stockinette stitch
See rachaelherron.com/lovesongsweater for color photos and/or extras.
Materials:
Worsted-weight wool, 1350 (1500, 1750, 1900) yds. (Suggested yarn: Lorna’s Laces, Shepherd Worsted)
One US #7 (4.5mm) 16-inch circular needle (or size to get gauge)
One US #7 (4.5mm) 32-inch circular needle (or size to get gauge)
Yarn needle
Four stitch markers
Stitch holders or scrap yarn
Sleeves—Make two
Sleeves
Using shorter circular needle, cast on 36 (38, 40, 42) sts loosely enough to join around needle (or use DPNs in correct size). PM and join to work in the round.
Ribbing Row: * Kltbl, p1; rep from * to end of row.
Repeat this row 8 more times.
Knit one row, increasing 6 (6, 8, 8) sts evenly spaced across row—42 (44, 48, 50) sts.
Row 1: K18 (19, 21, 22), work Row 1 of Chart A, k18 (19, 21, 22).
Row 2: K18 (19, 21, 22), work Row 2 of Chart A, k18 (19, 21, 22). Continue in this manner for two more rows.
Increase Row: K1f&b, work in pattern to last st, k1f&b—2 sts increased.
Continue to repeat Rows 1–10 of Chart A and work 2 increases as above every 8 (8, 7, 6) rows 10(11, 12, 14) more times—64(68, 74, 80) sts.
Work even in pattern until sleeve measures 19½ (20, 20½, 21) inches from beginning. At end of last row, work to 3 (3, 4, 4) sts before marker, slip 6 (6, 8, 8) stitches onto scrap yarn for underarm. Put the rest of the stitches onto stitch holder (or second piece of longer scrap yarn).
Work second sleeve using Chart C instead of Chart A.
Body
Using longer circular needle, cast on 180 (198, 216, 234) stitches. PM and join to work in the round.
Ribbing Row: * K1tbl, p1; rep from * to end of row.
Repeat this row 10 more times.
Work even in stockinette stitch (knit all rows) until piece measures 14 inches from beginning.
Purl one row.
Knit one row, increasing 2 (0, 2, 0) sts evenly across row—182 (198, 218, 234) sts.
Purl one row.
Knit next two rows.
Row 1: PM, k16 (20, 25, 29), p1, work Row 1 of Chart A, p1, work Row 1 of Chart B, p1, work Row 1 of Chart C, p1, k16 (20, 25, 29), PM, k91 (99, 109, 117).
Row 2: Slip marker, k16 (20, 25, 29), p1, work Row 2 of Chart A, p1, work Row 2 of Chart B, p1, work Row 2 of Chart C, p1, k15 (20, 24, 29), slip marker, k91 (99, 109, 117).
Continue in this manner until piece measures 17 inches from beginning.
Join Sleeves to Body
At end of last row, work to 3 (3, 4, 4) sts before marker, slip 6 (6, 8, 8) sts onto scrap yarn for underarm. Continuing to work sleeves and front of body in pattern, PM and work across 58 (62, 66, 72) sts from first sleeve holder, PM, work across front of sweater to 3 (3, 4, 4) sts before next marker, slip 6 (6, 8, 8) sts onto scrap yarn for underarm. PM and work across 58 (62, 66, 72) sts from second sleeve holder, PM, knit across the back of sweater to end of row—286 (310, 334, 362) sts.
Work even for one inch, keeping in patterns as established.
Raglan Decreases
Decrease Row: * K1, ssk, work in pattern to 3 sts before marker, k2tog, k1, slip marker; rep from * to end of row—8 sts decreased.
Repeat Decrease Row every other row 25 (27, 29, 32) more times—78 (86, 94, 98) sts remain. Change to shorter circular needle when necessary.
Back Neck Shaping:
Row 1: Knit 3 sts, wrap next st and turn.
Row 2: Purl 3 sts, slip marker, purl to 3 sts past next marker, wrap next st and turn.
Row 3: Knit to 2 sts before previous wrapped st, wrap next st and turn.
Row 4: Purl to 2 sts before previous wrapped st, wrap next st and turn.
Knit one row, picking up the wraps as you come to them.
Neck
Ribbing Row: *
K1tbl, p1; rep from * to end of row.
Repeat this row 7 more times.
Bind off all sts loosely in rib.
Finishing
Graft (kitchener stitch) underarms together. Wet-block and dry.
List of Abbreviations
DPNs—Double-point needles
K—Knit
K1tbl—Knit one through the back loop
K1f&b—Knit one front and back (increase stitch)
K2tog—Knit two together (decrease stitch)
P—Purl
PM—Place marker
Rep—Repeat
Ssk—Slip two stitches as if to knit, then knit those two stitches together (decrease stitch)
St(s)- Stitch(es)
Stockinette stitch—in the round, all rows knit.
Acknowledgments
My deepest thanks to Bethany Herron for her cheerful willingness to keep reading and editing before this was even a real book, to Christy Herron for believing in me and for perfume samples, and to Dan Herron for instilling in me a love of cowboys. My love and thanks to Lala Hulse for being my best cheerleader and for opening the champagne, again and again. I am so grateful to my wonderful, amazing agent Susanna Einstein, who believed in me first, to Jenny Arch, who pulled me out of the slush pile, and to my fabulous editor, May Chen, who made it all possible. My thanks to Eddie Dwyer and Bonnie Terra of the esteemed Alameda County Fire Department, for their help with research, and to Charlie and Marilyn Foscalina of Livermore, for regaling me with sheep tales. To the Providers of the Desk, thank you for that beautiful vote of confidence. My thanks to Elizabeth Sullivan for taking my chicken-scratch notes and making Cade’s sweater pattern readable, and to Kiyomi Camp for being my super-speedy test-knitter. To Oakland’s own Chris Baty, thanks for starting NaNoWriMo—you’ve changed the world. And to the readers of Yarnagogo.com, over all these years, I couldn’t have done this without your love and belief. I have the best readers in the world. Thank you.
About the Author
Rachael Herron has rarely put the needles down since learning to knit at age five, except to pen the popular website YARNAGOGO.COM.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Credits
Cover design by Robin Bilardello
Cover photograph © hana/Datacraft/Getty Images
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG. Copyright © 2010 by Rachael Herron. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Herron, Rachael.
How to knit a love song: a Cypress Hollow yarn / by Rachael Herron.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-06-184129-3 (pbk.)
1. Knitters (Persons)—Fiction. 2. Ranch life—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3608.E7765H68 2010
813'.6—dc22 2009045028
EPub Edition © January 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-198621-5
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
55 Avenue Road, Suite 2900
Toronto, ON, M5R, 3L2, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
How to Knit a Love Song Page 30
