Casting on

Pretty much the only time I find time to knit or crochet is in the evening after the kids are in bed. I've been knitting dishcloths during this time for the last two weeks, mostly because my mother-in-law wanted some but also because they are a quick, easy knit. Very gratifying. I think I needed something instantly gratifying.

Last night, I forced myself down to my studio to wind up some yarn for two new projects I've been wanting to start. The forcing didn't occur because I didn't want to wind yarn. I actually enjoy winding yarn on the swift. It's therapeutic. But I've been so involved in so many other things that I felt guilty taking the time to wind yarn. You know. There's been a lot of necessary tasks and activities, and, well, knitting just isn't a necessary task so it gets done only if there is extra time at the end of the day. 

So I wound up skeins of yarn, getting lost in the hum and spinning of the swift. Lily joined me partway through and helped. (She loves winding yarn as well.) And then after the kids were in bed, Brad and I sat down on the couch, turned on Netflix, and I cast on for a linen stitch scarf. I'm using Berroco Maya which is a squishy soft blend of baby alpaca and pima cotton. I'm using this pattern as my guide, but she uses a fingering weight yarn. The Maya is worsted weight. 

I also wound up some Cascade baby alpaca in lace weight.  This is another yarn that I purchased over the winter with the plan to crochet it into an Alpine Frost scarf for myself. I bought enough yarn to make my scarf a bit bigger than what the pattern makes. I will probably work on both of these scarfs simultaneously and hopefully finish them by the end of summer.

It felt good to take a half an hour to rest my mind (and body) while I winded up the yarn. And it felt really good to cast on for a new project; one that I've been waiting to start since late winter. It was just what my busy, bogged-down mind needed.