A Finished Knitted Project - after more than a year!!

I took a large break from knitting.  An unbelievable break for a knitter of over 30 years!  A slightly worrisome break that maybe, just maybe, I was done knitting for good.  That last thought I found disturbing and it contributed to my return to knitting.  Mind you, I still went to yarn fairs and made modest purchases.  The air at those events is infused with more than just the smell of sheep and tasty food.  

Someone really should jar up that air and sell it!! 😁  

But getting back to actual knitting happened mostly because of my downsizing efforts.  I got rid of bags of yarn that I no longer loved.  I got rid of left over yarn. I got rid of half finished projects.  I was pretty brutal about it.  But here is the thing ...  at the same time I found yarns in my stash I still desperately loved - that I still wanted to cast on to needles  - projects that I really wanted to wear.  THAT is what got me back to knitting in the end - a reminder of the beautiful yarn gems I had stored out of sight.  Those discarded yarns were with me for years (probably decades) because I thought I would eventually use them.  After all, I have a very long life ahead of me and I would use them at some point.  

That last sentence is filled with so many false assumptions - the greatest of which is that no one no matter how young you are you can't count on “a very long life ahead.”  We all think it anyway.   But at my age I am past the point of thinking I have infinite time ahead of me.  It came down to this: Do I love, love, love this yarn?  Will I be disappointed with myself if I never get to knit with it or wear it?  Notice - the word “like” isn’t any part of this decision making process.  Love is the standard.  Be assured, that all the yarn that left my ownership went to good homes.  I even donated to a Senior Center that had a knitting group - and one day as I was walking past the place where they were meeting, I saw some of that yarn being used.  That was SUCH a good feeling. I walked away with a smile on my face.

And that brings us to this ...

I loved this yarn the moment I saw it online during the On-Line Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May 2019 - during the early days of the Covid Pandemic - when large in person events were strongly discouraged or in some cases forbidden.   

The yarn is 100% silk Fingering yarn from Neighborhood Fiber Company in the color way called Cooper Circle. This project turned out to be more of a shawlette than a full size shawl.

When I soaked the shawl before blocking - the color bled something fierce.  

And tacking the shawl to the blocking board also turned my hands red.

Regardless, I still love it.  I have enough of this yarn left to make another something.  I purchased 1600 yards of this silk at the time.  It was my only purchase that year and it was a pretty hefty price per skein.  And since I still love it,  I plan to use it up.  My blog friend, A :-), on Knit and Run had the same yarn in her stash and made it up in a shawl called Drops of Joy, by Janina Kallie.  I loved her shawl and immediately purchased the pattern. It requires only 435 yards.  I have quite a bit more than that so I will be extending this shawl size for sure. 

I will definitely cast on Drops of Joy before the New Year.  Right now I am working on another project ... that will be spotlighted on another post.

So the knitting drought is over! 

Next up - grand daughter pictures from a recent visit.  I promised several posts ago.  Time to make good on that promise.