Since spring of last year, I’ve had this set of 4 half-skeins of YONY Times Square Sock begging me to make the design that’s swirling in my head. Nothing has felt quite right for the yarns. I’ve sketched pages of ideas, flipped through my stitch dictionaries so often that I’ve basically memorized them. Start with Chai is honestly a swatch for one of my ideas, and I’ve let it sit with me as I worked through whether that was the design I wanted.
I love big, huge shawls. But I don’t wear them.
I want to use every bit of these yarns, knitting until I’m playing the penguin equivalent of yarn chicken.
Last year I found myself reaching for my Aryton sample frequently. It’s a design I still love1.
The current plan is for a mild blending of the two designs. Maybe. I am not sure my brain wants anything other than super squishy garter stitch right now, so we’ll see what happens after I finish the neckline. I thought about making a cape; that’s easier to get into and out of. I have other designs on the back burner that will think about … practical wearability.
The other issue that held me up: I want to blend the yarns from one to the next. The maths for that are simple, but I kept overthinking it because I wanted to make it more complex. I looked at various number sequences and just couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. Until this week.
In a fit of exhaustion crossed with frustration, I recognized that I needed a decision made. Dot was fast asleep, so I asked Claude. It took some back and forth for the AI to understand what I meant (did I mention I’m exhausted?), but we got there in the end. It’s simple maths that I can do, and I’m a bit embarrassed I asked an AI for help, but have I mentioned I’m exhausted? Decision fatigue on top of general exhaustion does not make a helpful combination. This isn’t a life-changing type of decision; it’s the sort that a roll of dice or magic 8 ball are good for. Claude was perfect, and I came up with a plan that’s “good enough.”
Last night, I used a cable cast-on and while watching TV, cast on my required number of stitches. After a few rows I joined in the round and continued in garter stitch. I love purling so I enjoy garter stitch in the round. I have one more ridge to go and then I need to decide if I’m going to start in on a different pattern stitch.
- Though I really should revise the pattern layout so it’s accessible and the instructions are more approachable to newer knitters. ↩︎