Cave Point Shawl

 

Pattern:  Cave Point, by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Yarn:  Quince & Co. Chickadee, Lichen colorway

Needles:  size 7

Well, it's not quite an Irish kind of green, but it IS green. Green enough for me to avoid being pinched. This was a fun knit, finished just in time for St. Patrick's Day this week.

The body of the shawl is super easy. I started it back in January before we were all hit with the post-Christmas crud. And I quickly got to the end of the easy part and was ready to start the edging. I even had knitted the row where I added all the markers between little "menorah" repeats. (I heard someone say that the edge pattern looks like menorahs. Do you see them?) And then everyone got sick. I stuffed the shawl into a bag to wait for better days.

A couple of weeks after my fever was gone, I pulled out the project bag with this half-knitted shawl. I looked at the shawl and looked at the pattern. Absolutely nothing made sense. I felt like this was the hardest pattern ever (it isn't)...but it was more like I still had brain fog left from my bout with the winter illness. I read and reread the pattern but my brain would not process it. Maybe the illness or the medicines had killed a few brain cells? So I crammed the shawl back into the bag again.

I let more time pass and then I looked again. 'Bing!' The light went on. It all made perfect sense. This time my brain was ready. For the first time, I noticed the link to the video tutorials that explained a couple of things. It didn't take long after that for me to finish this crescent shaped shawl.

What's the lesson here? Know when it's time to lay a project aside. I'm glad I waited until my thinking was clearer. It's too easy to make mistakes when you don't feel well, when you're tired, and when you're rushed. Be honest with yourself. This knitting did not come with a deadline, so there was no need to push. Maybe pull out an even simpler knit, but those under-the-weather days.

And thank you, Mother Nature. You turned the thermostat down this week for a last blast of winter so that I don't have to wait until next year to wear this.

 Happy St. Patrick's Day!