Comfort Knitting

Do you ever have times when you can’t settle on a knitting project?  Something is either too large, too complicated, too much stockinette, don’t have the right yarn for what you really want to knit?  Or maybe you just have too many choices and can’t decide?  That’s where my knitting has been for the last few weeks.  I have plenty of things I want to be working on but I can’t seem to make a decision.  It’s kind of  like looking into a full fridge and deciding that there’s nothing to eat!

Instead of not knitting at all, I decided to work on a couple soothing projects, completely mindless knitting, until this period of indecision passes.

My go to project for when I don’t want to work on anything else is my Beekeeper’s Quilt.  I’m pleasantly surprised that this isn’t just a passing fancy for me – I’m still having as much fun with today as I was back in August when I started making this addictive little puffs.  I think one of the reasons I still like it is that I have an embarrassingly large stash of sock yarn leftovers so I have an infinite variety of colors to choose from.  It’s so much fun to pull something out and remember the socks that were made with them, some of them long worn out.  I keep a bag of scraps and puffs in a bag at the end of the sofa so I can pick it up any time I want to.  And, because I’m pretty much a dork, every time I complete a puff, I have to hold it up for my husband to see, toss it in the bag, and say “Puff!”  I’m a little bit embarrassed to admit that I do this when no one’s home.  Yeah, dorky…..

The other project I managed to whip out this week is an alpaca blanket for my little sick cat.  Now, before I go any further with the story, let me just say that she’s doing great so no need to worry at all.  But, she has been put through the wringer for the last six weeks so I thought she might like to have a luxurious blanket all of her own.  It’s basically just a large gauge swatch, stockinette stitch surrounded by a garter stitch border.  But it’s knit with Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky which makes it incredibly soft and warm.  She does seem to really love it.  It’s soothing for her and it was soothing for me to knit – just lots and lots of stockinette.  The yarn is wonderful to work with and it knits up super quick on size 10 needles.  I picked the very girly color Taffy Twist but in hindsight, I kind of wish I had picked something that matches my furniture a little better.  Ah. well.  No matter, she love’s it and that’s what’s important.

Tonight I think I’m going to pull out some yarns I haven’t worked with yet and do some swatching.  Maybe that will finally get me over the hump and back into some more creative knitting.

Do you have a favorite comfort knitting project?