How thinking while knitting works.

I picked up Marcus' scarf yesterday to work on and took it a long long way.  I've just finished the second of three blue and yellow sections for this end of the scarf and have only two grey sections to go.  One more good day and that ought to be a bit later this week.  And as I hoped, Cassie's scarf yarn is in my mailbox as we speak.

Today I am reserving all my knitting time for me.  I picked up the Gridiron socks this morning to get them to where they are a little easier to knit.  Establishing the pattern takes a little care and effort, but not over much. You have to be present with your knitting till you get the cool little green lines (green in my case) running up the foot.  Once it is established it becomes very zen knitting.  You can almost zone out while you focus only on mantra the pattern establishes for you.  Very Zen.

Now that I have that set up, though, I am going to hit my sweater.  The plan is to take it another ball down the road to completion.  There are only two full balls left and I want to use up one.  That is the goal, a very doable goal.

Knitting on the sweater is at that part where the rows are long and plain.  Knitting in the round means just stockinette with only a very few rows with any increasing happening.  It is wonderful thinking time and I pan to be doing a lot of that today.

As ever I am thinking about what to knit next.  One of the plans was to knit with some of the yarn I brought home from last summer's epic adventure.  I had figured out what I wanted to do with it, and it is all wound and ready to go.  And then I saw something different that I love.  A lot.  

Hamingja.  I love the simplicity of this and the boldness of the pattern.  It's a new to me designer, but wow, what a find.  Linne Ornstein has some lovely stuff on Ravelry.  The yarn is a different gauge than what the sweater is designed for but that is not really a problem at all other than I have to think about what I would like from epic adventure yarns.

And then because my mind was needed to stop thinking of this problem, I went looking for sweaters in a way I had not searched in a while, using the advanced search with my usual filters but then setting it to show the most recent patterns by publication date.

And that came up with this, which is utterly breathtaking.

  Søster Elise by Hanna Larsen Strik.  I adore this.  A lot.  I think I know the yarn I am going to use too.  I'm just waiting for the pattern to arrive in my email.  Make sure you take time to check out her whole website.  There are some other really fine designs there including some pillows...  .

Which led me to where I am now, and my ever so confused desires, because in the midst of all this thinking, there is a lovely Hun sweater with the yarn waiting right there in front of me, waiting for love. I think about Hun a lot.  I know it is something I would wear often and I love the colours I have.  Plus I want to work with the yarn!

And then, while thinking of things I love to do, I go right back to the Gridiron sock and how much I enjoy knitting slip stitch patterns which takes me to Bacardi by Barbara Gregory from Knitty.com.  I have the yarn for that and just need to swatch and play with colours a bit before I start that sweater.  Knitting Gridiron makes me long to knit this too.

How is it that there are never enough hours in the day to knit and why, oh why do my hands give out before my spirit does?  It is completely unfair.  Okay, that is just whining.  Life isn't fair and hands do need rest.  I get that.  But still.  (whining)

I think I am looking forward for this sweater to be finished just so I don't have time to think anymore, which takes me right back to my sweater, and how I am going right now, to work on her.