After I completed my Channel Cardigan, I was fried. I could not drop back into designing anything. Channel was technically challenging and I needed to do the opposite of that cardigan to get back into a creative space. I decided to make something up. I’d plan as little as possible in advance and take no notes as to what I would do as I went along.

I knit this shawl.

The only things I chose ahead of time were the yarn and the shawl shape. My friend, Lori, helped me choose the yarns (Bello and Snug) from Plucky, while we were at Stitches West this year. I was curious about this curved triangular shawl shape, so I followed the basic shape recipe from Aroha Knits.

How did it go? It felt like I was turning my brain inside-out, clearing the crumbs from the corners, and then getting comfortable with making good design decisions on the fly while guessing at how much yardage I had to play with. In short, it went very well.

The project worked beautifully. It was just the reset I needed and the design I wanted. In retrospect, it was even worth having to redo the cast-off (and rip out two previous rows) when I ran out of yarn. That process made me realize how gigantic the shawl had gotten, and it made me appreciate the geometry of the shape in a whole new way.

Now? I'm reinvigorated and deep into a new design. More details soon!