I haven’t picked up my needles since before Christmas. No doubt the stress from all those deadlines for Christmas tree decorations and gifts has caught up with me. How to recover my enthusiasm? First, order a library book, full of project ideas. A bit disappointing to find that I am already currently borrowing this book from another library – the same book with a different front cover. I discovered this treachery during a full hour spent looking through four knitting books. That in itself is a novelty, putting aside some time when I’m (a) fully awake and (b) with all books, a notebook and pen and some sticky notes all immediately to hand.

Despite enjoying the hour and marking a few projects to try, I slipped into the next mindset which is…I can’t start that until I’ve got EXACTLY the correct yarn and PLENTY OF TIME during the DAY to fully concentrate on it, given that the project is for a SPECIAL OCCASION and must therefore be PERFECT, the result being, I don’t start any projects at all. Today, that changed. I chose a small project to make for myself, so it doesn’t have to be perfect, I can treat it as a practice piece but more importantly, actually get on and knit.

Voila, a blue butterfly (I can’t be more lepidopterological than that) from 100 Little Knitted Projects by Sarah Keen. The beauty of these projects is that they all use double knitting yarn (DK yarn, or light worsted in the US) and are knitted on 3.25 mm (or UK10:US3) straight needles. I finished all the knitting in two and a half hours; the dreaded making up took one and half hours. Looking out appropriate buttons to decorate and attaching them took about half an hour, plus time spent searching for the dropped needle, then sewing on a brooch clasp at the back, let’s say five and a half hours. Is that good? I don’t know.

However, I’m getting the hang of casting on using the long tail method. Also known as both the German and the Norwegian cast on method, you use your thumb…but this is not to be confused with the thumb cast on method…and this is why I use the basic cast on method with two needles whatever the pattern demands. Anyway, I’ve learned that the most important aspect of the long tail method is calculating how much of a tail to allow, and this is done using maths. Yes. Say you need to cast on 20 stitches. Wrap your yarn around your needle twenty times, pinch this length between finger and thumb. Measure out this length another three times, then add about another 6″ (15 cms) of yarn and make your slip knot at this point, then off you go, cast away! It’s worth doing properyl. There’s nothing worse than casting on to find you are running out of yarn. I know.

Anyway, the point is, I started and finished this project and was wearing it all in one day, not to mention photographing it, then writing and publishing this post. And it’s got an Estonian vibe going on too 🙂 Welcome back, Motivation, come on in.