Happiness is...

Happiness is...

Last weekend started out with a morning knitting date with Yang. She's helping me draft a raglan sleeve pattern for my two-tone sweater. It's the exact colors of peanut butter (Skippy) and chocolate (Hershey, milk). The way the colors come together also reminds me of brown tabby cats. Even it's color associations are cozy, and I can't wait for Autumn and a chance to wear it.

Happiness is...

Dandylion was very helpful during the entire process sleeve-drafting process. He was instrumental in suggesting that I try a decrease technique that wasn't in the book.

Yang is in the process of teaching me how to knit the Chinese way. She has what seems to be an infinite well of patience, and I feel more than a little slow in picking it up.

However, I also have a really annoying low-grade repetitive motion injury from doing too much knitting, and I'm hoping to find enough patience to learn this new technique - it's amazingly fast, and involves a lot less motion than the technique I've been using.

Happiness is...

So here I am back at the very beginning of learning to knit - again. Forgetting how to hold the yarn, feeling like I'm holding the needles wrong, hoping with each stitch that it's going ok - it all feels entirely familiar.

I have a bit of a reprieve from the learning curve I know is just ahead. The random two-tone stippling pattern comes out differently when I knit Chinese-style, so I'll be finishing this project the old way (and oh boy is my elbow annoyed about that already).

I'll post more pictures as this sweater progresses!