I finally surrendered to the massive case of startitis I’ve been fighting and started a new project last week. I reasoned that this was a special project and that this was a goal I had set for myself from the very beginning of the year.
Oh yes, I had all sorts of justifications, but in the end it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that I have something on the needles that delights me to no end. It’s the Flower Basket Shawl and I’m using my very own handspun yarn.
I did get off to a rough start though. I began with size 5US/3.75mm needles and the resulting fabric was less then delightful. I just didn’t care for the stitch definition.
As much as I hated to admit it, I had to start over on smaller needles. Ripping out what I had done was a careful process as was more then a little nerve-wracking. I kept thinking that the yarn was going to crumble beneath my fingers! Of course that wasn’t the case, as the yarn isn’t nearly that delicate. Paranoid? Who, me?
Once I was done with the frightening frogging of the handspun, I started knitting once again with size 3US/3.25mm needles. Before I had gotten through the first repeat of the second chart, I knew I had made the right decision.
The difference might not be quite as discernible to others, but I can see it and that’s what counts. Since then I haven’t been able to put this down. This is how much I’ve been able to get done since Saturday.
Working with my own yarn tickles me endlessly and helps keep me entertained with this relatively simple stitch pattern. I keep stroking the material that I have created from the very yarn itself and the feeling of wonder never ceases.
