Today was our creative day at Bible Study, and I made good progress on the sweater.  I must admit that I was a little intimidated at the beginning of this project, because I’ve never knit a sweater before.

So far so good.  It seems pretty straightforward.  So far.  I have visions nightmares of it being too big, too small, too something, and Nolemana never being able to wear it.  Scary thought.

I can now see where the increases I’m doing are beginning to define where the sleeves are going to go.  The additional cast on that I did now vaguely resembles the front neckline.  Maybe this really will work out!  It’s pretty easy knitting, so long as I make sure to increase in the right row.

Knitting this sweater means taking a risk, trying something I’ve never done before.   It’s like a new adventure.  Like taking a back road and discovering wonderful things along the way.  I am enjoying the journey, because I’m learning new knitting skills and am trying something new.

I have always been a back roads kinda girl.  If I can avoid freeways and city streets, I will.  My papa-san blessed me with his wanderlust genes, and if I see a new road and am not in a hurry, I will invariably take it just to see where it leads.  

Two weeks ago, I took a writing workshop down in Mt Angel, Oregon.  I drove down on the freeway because the back roads were very, very icy, but going home, after the temperature rose, the back roads called my name.  I headed out from Mt Angel and saw a road I’d never been on before and thought, “I’ll take it!”  And I did.  I knew that as long as I was headed East, I would ultimately end up on Highway 213, a back road kind of highway, which is what I did.  I saw all kinds of wonderful things: alpacas grazing in a field, a wonderful views of Mt Hood, hops frames in readiness for the coming spring.  I had a chance to think about what I’d learned in the workshop that day, and to have some transition time between creativity and getting back home.

When I got home, I told Nolemana about my wanderings; he is Mr Map Guy, and won’t leave home without his faithful Thomas Brothers map book.  He likes to stick to the tried and true ways, the freeways, the city streets.  He likes to have a plan.

We are well matched.  When I do the driving for rural appraisals, I can count on him to get us to exactly where we need to go.  He is an expert map-reader.  So when it’s important, we do it his way.  When we have a destination but are not in a hurry, we get to do it mine.  And sometimes, we just get in the car and drive, letting the wanderlust genes guide our car.

On this sweater, I am using a map of sorts.  I have directions, and I follow them.  Still yet, it is a new journey for me, and I am enjoying the adventure.