Knit, Frog, Knit! Ace!

Ribbit!

I've been working on all the designery things lately. Knitting samples, ripping them out, poring over stitch patterns, doodling on graph paper....

And playing a lot of solitaire on my phone. O.o

The nice thing about solitaire is its simplicity. After I uninstalled Candy Crush, I wanted something easy to play while my mind's inner gears dealt with the math-side of knitting. Solitaire totally fits the bill as your visual brain bits identify the cards, your physical brain bits manipulate the movements, and your satisfaction brain bits ka-ching every time you make a successful play.

Meanwhile, your knitty brain bits percolate. What if I added cables? What if I did this stitch totally differently than it appears? What the heck do these instructions mean, slip 2 stitches then slip them back; why not leave them alone? Why?

One of the patterns I'm working on is for Kate's fiber company, A Hundred Ravens. We'd worked on it together, brainstorming in fits and starts, before she moved back to Massachusetts. Now that a couple of years have passed (cough, cough), and I feel a bit better, I decided to tackle our shawl once again.

It's truly a thing of simple beauty. Here's an old photo of my Wee P'shawl test knit because I love how it turned out in its tiny mock-up. So cute!

Am also working on socks, naturally. :) I love this sort of work, mindless and mindful. Solitary. Solitaire.