Worth it.

Hi, Knitters,

I have been working up a storm lately. And by working I mean knitting and writing. I finished the lovely shawl I talked about in my last podcast episode. I am pretty much crazy over it. It is long, long, long. Long enough to wrap around yourself in so many different ways. More to come on this one soon.

After I cast the one shawl off I immediately hand-wound a new skein of yarn and cast on the next shawl I am working on for a different little company. I already had a plan in my head but I have started and restarted this one many times at this point to get it exactly right. I like to design and create news things directly on the needles with only a sketchy loose plan in mind before I start. This means that I'll usually have to start several times before I figure things out to my liking.

The photos today are of this new shawl design in progress. The photos are in black and white because it is an exclusive colorway dyed up by a dreamy (and hard to get your hands on) independent yarn company. It is all very hush-hush and downright fun. I think most of you, or at least I hope, will be very excited when all is revealed. I suggested the color and it turned out better than I could have imagined.

So I sit and knit and write notes in pencil in my hand-bound notebook and sip ice water and snack now and again, and get up and stretch my hands, arms and legs. And then I repeat for hours on end. It takes stamina.

I get asked a lot how I find time to get things done. To finish the last shawl I awoke at 2am the other night and started the coffee pot and began working to get it done. I worked straight through the next day with only a few breaks. Sometimes I have to resort to this type of schedule with the way my life is right now. I only get little tiny bits of broken up time throughout the day to get my work done. At times you simply need a long chunk of time to accomplish something big.

It was worth it.

I am feeling quite confident this next shawl design is going to rock. It's really all about numbers when designing. Numbers mean everything. 

My love to you all. I hope your week is less work-filled than mine. I don't have much personal knitting to show due to the heavy workload but I wouldn't want it any other way. I love what I get to do. The other work I am doing at the same time as the shawl knitting is writing a new book. I have a gigantic deadline due to my publisher on August 21st. I am starting to see another 2am rising time or two on the near horizon.

On top of all of the work right now, it's such a busy and somewhat bittersweet season for families with kids, isn't it? Summer's over, the kids get a grade older, changes come, a few things remain the same, new locations are found, and adjustments are made over time. In the end everything works out as it should. 

And life goes on. We are lucky that way.

I'll be back soon with more....

xo ~ susan