It’s Friday, my friends. And on this Friday I find myself preparing for the inevitable: my plane trip back home. I find it satisfying that I’ll have managed to finish all of my knitting projects before I set foot back in the mother land after 10 long months away (At least I hope so – there are one last pair of mittens 75% finished that I should be able to complete on the plane!).
Last night I furiously wrapped up the remaining rows of my brioche cowl that I had designed as part of the #initiateknitdesign Instagram challenge that was hosted by Aroha Knits. It’s a fairly simple design, which I’ve decided to call “Freak Street”, named after the famous street in Kathmandu near Durbar Square, where hippies and backpackers seeking spiritual enlightenment resided in the 60’s and 70’s.
Although I’m very happy with the overall look and sizing of the cowl, the milk cotton fibre wasn’t the greatest choice for it (although in my defense, I was rather limited with choices of yarn when I started the design). The milk cotton fibre doesn’t have much structure, and I think the design would hold up much better with a stiffer merino wool. Maybe something like the Malabrigo Rios? Any excuse is a good excuse for some more yarn shopping, right? 😉
This design also gave me a chance to try, for the first time ever, one row button holes! I used this tutorial from Ysolda’s blog, and found it super simple to follow! Now that I’ve gotten over my fear of the one row button hole, I think I’ll be using buttons a lot more in the future … I love how they can completely change the look of a design. And there are just so many buttons to choose from! Just take a look at these ones. Or these! If you’re wondering where I got my buttons, I found them in a small shop in Thamel, Kathmandu for a pretty decent price of $1.50 USD for 10 (at least I think it was a decent price, although it’s more likely I was unknowingly scammed)!
Despite this rather cheerful banter on beautiful buttons, I’d be lying if I didn’t at least mention this cloudiness and confusion I am feeling today as I contemplate returning to Canada. The truth is, I’m scared of falling back into the same routine. The routine where the days all seem to blend together and before you know it it’s been 5 years, 10 years, even 20 years down the road and you can’t figure out where the time has gone, or what you ended up doing with your life. Which is why I’m trying to look at things differently. To think of returning to Canada, not as the end of an adventure, but as the start of a new one. Of getting a chance to reconnect with friends and family, to enjoy the first days of snow, and of appreciating the beauty of my own backyard.
Taking a quick look at last year’s A Look Back at 2015 post has also made me realize how much has changed and how far I’ve come! I can’t believe that just 11 months ago I only had three subscribers, whereas I am now at 560! How crazy is that … thanks to each and every one of you, I am super inspired to continue with my blogging, knitting, and less frequent but ever present traveling, in the years to come!
PS: F.O. = Finished Object in knit slang… but I’m sure you already knew that ;).
