Home on the Free Range...
I’ve only been a “free range knitter” since December, and it’s been an interesting process.
Because of the way DestiKNITions worked, I spent 90% of my time knitting projects given to me by yarn stores. I enjoyed the adventure—I tried things I might not have dared otherwise, and learned loads of new skills. But it also meant that in the past eight years I have very rarely knit something just because I wanted to.
Now I can, and well, the freedom is rather daunting.
Step one was easy. I had a rainbow Pfeilraupe shawl I hadn’t yet finished that only needed about two hours of stitching to complete. Nothing gives that jolt of momentum like binding off a beauty of a project.
But next?
The nice people at Love Knitting had gifted me with three scrumptious balls of MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran, hoping I’d write about my experience with the yarn. So I knew what fiber I’d use, but to make “what?” was a wide open landscape. Let’s face it, I haven’t had to answer the question “what shall I knit?” in a long time.
Ravelry to the rescue! It’s handy search functions let you browse from projects made with a particular yarn and from patterns using the amount of yardage you have on hand. With these two searches, I was able to select Angelique den Brok's Far Isle Fun cowl (provided I didn’t do all the sections). Pretty, colorful, and representing a challenge to my long-ignored colorwork skills.
I happily cast on, basking in the notion that I could get this finished whenever I got it finished—no deadline! Honestly, it made me nearly giddy to think of it.
I had to make a few minor alterations to the design to accommodate the fact that I wasn’t knitting all the sections, but that was easy enough. I’m delighted with the result, and couldn’t resist sharing it with you.
Who knows what I'll tackle for my next project? Actually, I do. But you'll just have to wait until it's ready for sharing. After all, I'm a "free range knitter" now...
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