Out of the Rut!!

I feel triumphant. Energized. Renewed. Like I can only imagine Steve Carrell’s character felt in the 40-Year-Old Virgin, when he finally wound the bobbin, so to speak. (I can only imagine because I’ve never seen the end of the movie. So I’m making a pretty big assumption here, but go with it.)

I haven’t felt great, or excited, about my knitting for a long time. I could sit here and dwell on all the reasons, but seriously, that would be a drag for all of us. Let’s just say that I’ve cast on for the February Lady Sweater in THREE different yarns, and yet do not actually have a February Lady Sweater. Also? I was pregnant for 9 months, and the only baby things I knit for EJ were 2 little hats.

So. It was bad.

The hero of this story is a beautiful yarn, Sundara Aran Silky Merino, the last of the Seasons shipments. (The last shipment Ever, as it happens to be, as Sundara is no longer offering Seasons subscriptions.) It’s a silk wool blend in a gorgeous hand-dyed green:

and it was the first yarn in a long long time that made me want to cast on for something special, RIGHT NOW.

And in a little over a week, I had finished this:

The details are on Ravelry, but let me just say that the textured shawl recipe by orlane is a wonderful pattern conception. Simple, clever, and beautiful.

In the 2 days since I finished this, I’ve knit almost 25% of a sweater. But I’ll save that for the next post. We’ll see if this jump start turns into something special.

And just in case you’re just here for the baby pictures (um, Dad), here’s a shot of EJ from last weekend when we were out and about: