self-preservation?

or procrastination? anytime i get overwhelmed with something, school, work, relationships, whatever, i turn to knitting or crocheting, or sewing. this in and of itself isn't necessarily an unhealthy thing - however, the way i go about it, apparently, is less than productive.

see, when the urge hits me to escape, nothing i'm working on will do. possibly because they all have something wrong with them - they're too complicated, they're tedious, too monotonous, i'm at a spot where i have to sew before i knit more... at this point something new starts to sound really good. something quick, comforting, easy, perhaps repetitive but evolving. so i dig in my stash for some fluffy, slow-color-changing lionbrand homespun and some large needles, and i cast on for a shawl. that, and when i'm knitting, i can't really be doing anything else. if i could find any of these books on CD i'd be ecstatic.

yes, the pattern is simple (see below), but the yarn changes colors charmingly and it keeps growing, so it's not exactly the same every time.

i might actually see if the preemie project could use any of these as comfort shawls; it'd be a great opportunity to teach a beginning knitting class and do something good at the same time. check out their website anyway, they're pretty cool people.

crazy simple one-skein shawl
1 skein lion brand homespun, size 15 (29 or 36") circulars, stitch markers, 11.5mm crochet hook (optional)
abbreviations: k = knit, p = purl, yo = yarn over, kfb = knit front and back

cast on 5
row 1: purl across (WS)
row 2: k2, yo, k1, yo, k2 (RS)
row 3: k2, p3, k2
row 4: k2, yo, k1, yo, place marker, k1, place marker, yo, k1, yo, k2
row 5 and all WS: k2, purl across to last 2, k2
row 6 and all RS: k2, yo, knit to first marker, yo, slip first marker, k1 (center), slip second marker, yo, knit to last 2 stitches, yo, k2
finishing row 1 (RS): k2, kfb, knit to one stitch before first marker, kfb, remove marker, k1 (center), remove second marker, kfb, knit to last 3 stitches, kfb, k2
finishig row 2 (WS): knit across
repeat finishing rows once, if desired.
bind off *

* if you want to knit until you absolutely run out of yarn, do a crochet bind off, loosely with an 11.5mm hook. start at the opposite end than your working yarn, slip 2 stitches onto the crochet hook, pass the first (lower) stitch over the second (higher) stitch, slip one more from needle onto hook and pass the lower stitch over the higher stitch, repeat until you're at the end and tie off! alternately, you can skip the finishing rows and just bind off whenever you're finished.