Maybe next year

Today's post is not what I had planned.  My intention was to show you bunches and bunches of little hearts I'd knit from all that pink yarn I showed you the other day.  I was going to knit bunches and bunches of them, stuff them, then hang them on a mini Christmas tree for display.  

The problem with that idea.... I never knit a single heart.  My pattern has you casting on five stitches on dpns and knitting several rounds on those five stitches before increasing.  Knitting multiple rows of only five stitches on tiny little dpns and knowing that once I finished knitting one, I'd need to knit bunches of bunches more, and then I'd have to go dig the mini Christmas tree back out of storage to hang them on....  Well, I remembered why every single year, Every. Single. Year., I pull out that pattern and yarn and then never knit a single heart.

If I had any sense, I'd throw away that pattern book and be done with it.  But nope!  Maybe next year...

What I did knit instead was the Big Secret Baby Thing.  I finished it!  Whoop Whoop!  Once it has been given, I'll show you pictures.  Assuming I remember to take them.  Sheesh.  

I also started a K2P2 cowl knit with THE softest alpaca yarn.

2x2 cowl knit with Simply Alpaca

I had planned to knit a different cowl with this yarn but...  It's been a rough week around here and I needed something portable, mindless and heavenly to knit.  This definitely fits the bill.  

The pattern is so simple I can't believe I bothered to download it.  It's simply a matter of casting on 140 stitches with bulky yarn (or in my case, two strands of aran Simply Alpaca held together) and knit K2P2 in the round until you only have enough yarn left to do the bind-off.

Simple, simple, simple.  And it grows fast because it's bulky weight yarn.  And did I mention how soft this yarn is?  It's Heaven in a skein!  Let's just put it this way - it's so soft I don't even mind knitting an entire skein's worth of  K2P2 ribbing.  Have I mentioned ribbing is not my favorite thing to knit?  It's a little boring.  But this....  This is just glorious!  

The alpaca is so soft and light and wonderful to knit with.  Normally my hands/wrists begin to ache after only about 20 minutes of knitting with bulky yarn but this...  This I can knit on for hours with no issues at all.  There's no weight on the needles, my hands and wrists are fine, and my neck is dying for me to put it onto a bigger needle so that I can try it on.

But that's not going to happen.  In order to try it on, I'd have to stop knitting long enough to dig out a longer cord for my interchangeables.  And right now, I just don't have the time.  Like I said, it's been a rough few days and right now, besides my yarn, I also have a glass of wine and Aquaman waiting for me.   Just as soon as I press "Publish."

I may not even proof read this.  I mean.... Aquaman, i.e. Jason Momoa, my TV boyfriend is waiting.  Who would blame me?