Leaves!

Remember the Cedar Leaves Shawlette I wrote about in my last post? Yes, the one where I was almost halfway done and then realized I needed to rip it out?

Well, I finished it last weekend!

Here's a picture:

(I know, not the most flattering shot of me, but I love the way the scarf looks!)

I have been wearing it pretty much every day since I finished it. It's soft and really fun to wear, and the leaves turned out very nicely, if I do say so myself.

Now I'm making the Cascade Lacey Tee for a class -- learning the tubular provisional cast-on and waist shaping. Challenging....

And I'm also trying to finish the beautiful ribbed Joelle's Favorite Vest I started last summer. Never enough time to knit.....

The zen of knitting

I am working on the Cedar Leaf Shawlette pattern by Alana Dakos. It's a long, narrow shawl, with 270 stitches to cast on. On row 32, I came to the sinking realization that I had made an irrecoverable mistake in just about every row -- I miscounted the short row stitches.

So I did what I've done so many times before -- ripped it out and started over. I've just finished the border, again, and before I make the mistake again, I am checking with my favorite knitting "sifu" (master), Lisa Whiting.

For some reason, the fact that I had to rip it out is disappointing but not frustrating. I've learned how to wrap and turn, and I get to spend more time working with this lovely Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn in Manzanilla Olive.

This is the zen that knitting reinforces for me. Nice.

I'm looking forward to finishing and wearing the shawl, though!

Knitting and thinking

I find that when my hands are busy knitting, my mind is free to think. Sometimes it's small things like errands I've forgotten about, but often I get some interesting ideas, such as new ways to connect with others in my community or potential business ideas to explore.

Do you find that too?

I just finished a huge project that was just row upon row of garter stitch. It turned out to look really nice, and the singular stitch allowed my mind to really wander. (And I of course forgot to take a picture of it -- d'oh!) My list of to-dos and ideas is really long now!