and now for something completely different

My latest shawl project has been progressing quite steadily this month. Somewhere along the way I've found myself in the midst of my third cake of yarn. How many stitches must that be? It boggles the mind to consider. One day I may calculate such a number on a work in progress, but for now I'll take the growing fabric as a sign that incremental progress, stitch by stitch, can add up to quite a significant whole given time. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.

In the long rows near the end of the body I did hit a point where the doldrums set in. Stitches went by without seeming to add to the whole, and gosh I was getting kind of tired of the wrong-side rows. Then the right-side rows. Then all at once, I was done. One of the things I read about this pattern before deciding to purchase it was that it was like knitting three projects in one, with each section so different from the last that it keeps the maker engaged. I'll second that. I'm now well into the second section, a long weighty cable that drapes across the edge of the center crescent, and I'm back to the thrill of a newly cast-on project, just like that.

Technically, of course, this new project happens to be attached to my last one.... in such an intriguing way. I wasn't quite sure how the whole thing would go, but the pattern is written so well, and the attachment and set up for the following section devised so cleverly that once I got through the first few rows I just had to laugh and think 'of course'. I really appreciate the ingenuity of the folks that take the time to design these lovely things! I'm looking forward to working up some more of this designer's patterns and having similar epiphany moments. But, there's the rest of this to finish first.