yarn along: january 2022

 

Is it cheating that 98% of my first finished project in 2022 was knit in the last few days of 2021?  I knit two halves of the shawl, edge to center, and grafted them together, only to have the thing grow to a ridiculous size with blocking.  I unpicked the grafted row, ripped back four pattern repeats on each half and grafted it together again.  It's now of normal human proportions, and ready to be bagged and given away.  I also have about a skein and a half of purple yarn left over for something else.  Purple's not really my thing, so I'm sure little M would appreciate a purple neck warmer.

My 2022 goal is to work those WiPs down!  I'm setting monthly goals for finishing things, and I'm close with several other projects besides the prayer shawl.  Stay tuned...

The bickering in our household has been slowly creeping up to unpleasant levels; I blame the stress of re-entering our usual schedule followed by the looming school and activity closures and cancellations.  There's lots of unstructured time right now, and bored kids find ways to entertain themselves both productively and unproductively.  I am re-reading this book, in conjunction with this one, because we've gotten into a rut and I need a boost to help everyone else get out.  I'm reading and applying a chapter or section each week, hoping that I can change my habits.   In the past I've blown through these kinds of parenting books, only to have the advice leave my head and actions as quickly as I read.  With some of our activities suspended or moved online, we'll have more time together to focus on change, and I'll have some mental space to make those changes more habitual.  Silver linings...

p.s.  I haven't given up on Dante!  I read the last Canto from Purgatorio on Christmas Day, and started Paradiso not long after.