This coat was conceived out of a practical concern: the common experience of feeling cold in an overly air-conditioned office building. I loved the idea of making a warm coat-like sweater that would go with everything and feel like hug when I put it on. I’m pleased to say that this piece fits the bill. Walker’s intricate Woodgrain II stitch pattern (from A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns) provides an added sense of home for me, since it reminds me of the gnarled roots of a maple tree in the front yard of the house I grew up in.