Sorting through stuff...

Last week I had a minor surgery and, as a result, had the rare opportunity to have a few days off work for the sole purpose of resting myself. Very refreshing to spend a few whole days with my feet propped up on the couch, knitting. Because I was stiff and sore from the surgery, I concentrated on a few simple projects I had previously pushed to the back burner.

The combination of required off-my-feet time and a mild pain reliever put me in the right mood to contemplate what I've been knitting in recent years, and I realized that I am no longer taking on increasingly complex projects each time I start something new. Although I am always willing to try a new technique, I no longer feel obliged to rasie the bar on my skill level and complexity of design each time I start something from scratch. I find that I have been concentrating much more on good simple structure, great color, good proportions in keeping with Fibonacci numbers, and creating a great-looking fabric. I've been cranking out yards of simple, well-balanced, highly repetitive patterns and find myself pleased with the results.

The older I get, the more I like garter stitch in great-looking yarns.

Also spent some time sorting through bins of yarn stash and coordinating yarns into project bags for the near future. Collected an array of various shades of medium-to-dark blue yarns in all sorts of textures from shetland to eyelash yarn, with a few skeins of purple and teal, and a dash of metallic yarn for added interest, to make an "Isis Stole" from "The Knitting Goddess."

There's a bag of Lion Brand "Thick 'n' Quick" In shades of grey, cream and brown that will become a couch throw for my husband's assistant.

There's also a pile of fine-weight yarns which is destined to be another Boomerang Shawl (my own design), with oddments of leftover novelty yarns to combine for a funky fringe.

Finally, also, I committed several skeins of vintage Lana Borgosesia "Spectrum" yarn in a colorway of copper, purple, hunter green, gold and other autumn colors with some wonderful chocolate chenille, golden mohair, copper mohair, and faux-fur in a range of shades from gold through chartreuse into a pile together, which will become a large, dramatic ruanna for myself. I haven't knitted myself a "big item" in a long time, and am looking forward to commencing this work.

This was a good time to plan Christmas knitting: an Einstein coat for Mom, wild Ya-Ya scarves for my gal pals, cell phone holders for co-workers. Still don't know what to make for Dad, but I'm considering some thick, felted slippers in an easy-to-put-on elf-boot style.

Time for bed, alas. Looking forwad to further stash organization this weekend.

Mambocatz