We moved to Utah the 1st week of January 2019. It was extremely cold our first week, probably about 6 degrees or so, but started warming up, which I thought, eh, it’s cold but not so bad now. Then, the snow started…..and it didn’t stop until the end of March. I swear, there was probably around 14 days total that it did not snow. We ended up with 30 inches, which was a big deal to the people that have lived there but a MASSIVE deal to us, who had come from Las Vegas and Guam.
As a knitter, I was excited to live somewhere where I would be able to wear the sweaters and cardigans I’ve knit for more than 3 months out of the year. And, also, being a stay-at-home mom, I didn’t have to go out and deal with the snow everyday, so the 1st month, I was good. But then, all of a sudden it seemed like I wasn’t. I couldn’t figure out why all of a sudden I just felt depressed. ( I figured out later that I had SAD – seasonal affective disorder, which I had never dealt with before.)
I started ordering yarn (Knit Picks!!!) to try and snap myself out of the funk I was in. In one of the orders, I bought Stephen West’s ‘West Knits Best Knits’ and yarn to knit 3 shawls – The Doodler and Boardwalk from West Knits, and The Butterfly Shawl. While I waited for the order to arrive, I kept knitting.
The colors I have knit with historically have all been very….calm. Nothing bright or anything that really stands out in a crowd. When my husband was in the casinos in Vegas, I learned to not draw attention to myself. So I just kind of kept everything very neutral. But being in Utah and having the blahs, I wanted to try something new. I thought, maybe color would help.
After my order arrived, I knit The Butterfly Shawl by Marin Melchior in Knit Picks Hawthorne Kettle Dyed in “Slate’ and Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering Multi in ‘Burlingame’. The colors I chose weren’t too far out of the norm for me and honestly, knitting the red/pink DID start to help. After I finished this one I started….
Dotted Rays by Stephen West. I used Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering Multi in ‘Happy Valley’. I LOVED how the bright colors really changed my mood. My father came to visit in March and I gave it to him to take back home to Florida. From what I understand, my aunt tried to steal this when she was visiting in April. I am absolutely making this one again – multiple times it would seem since my aunts want one.
From Dotted Rays, I went to Boardwalk, also by Stephen West. I used Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in ‘Pearlescent’ and ‘Cordial’. Stroll Tonal is my absolute favorite Knit Picks yarn because it is so, so soft. This one has gotten a lot of use since being back in Vegas – I’ve worn it pretty much everywhere. This was also my last knit while living in Utah. my husband lost his job and we had to move back to Sin City. He had 2 potential job opportunities here, and so we found a house, packed up everything, again, and moved back. Then, everything went sideways. The house fell through and we ended up having to put everything in storage and stay with family.
There’s been ups and downs since being back. I’m anxious to get back into my own house, but this past Friday, I was especially blah for some reason, so I went over to storage so see what I could find. And I found this:
I had ordered these to knit The Doodler by Stephen West. I went with Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in ‘Pansy’, ‘Poppy Fields’, and ‘High Tea’. And since I had to pack everything up, I forgot. I cast on today EVEN THOUGH when I asked my parents what they thought about the colors (like I normally do) they both said they didn’t really like them. I’ll admit, I hesitated for a little bit, thinking maybe I should go back to the storage unit and dig through my stash to see what else I could find. But a few on Facebook and Instagram said they liked it so I just went for it. We will see how it turns out.
Patterns: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly—papillon
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dotted-rays
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/boardwalk-8
Yarns: Stroll Tonal Sock Yarn
