Two faced Janus: indecisions

This January has felt, more the usual, ruled by its namesake, the Roman god of beginnings and endings.  After successfully defending my master's thesis in December, just before Christmas, this month has felt like a kind of limbo, finishing my thesis revisions and tying up loose ends in the lab before leaving academia and getting ready to ponder some life directions.

This overall feeling of indecision seems to have bled into all aspects of my life, even that which I consider my most soothing of diversions, knitting. I pondered resuming the Baltic Sea stole I abandoned a few years ago, tried the same yarn for a Gilmore girl vest, and still not happy with the beginnings of either, have now stuffed them back in the closet.


similarly, my attempt to start a short sleeved top down cardigan in some stashed Noro Kureyon met with the same fate. I'd thought the bright colours would cheer me in the cold winter, and certainly they still could, but not in the form of this sweater. Only a pre-teen could wear this and look cute instead of ridiculous. So again, this has been set aside.



however, I loved the pattern - perfect for knitting while chatting with friends, watching Mystery! on PBS, and almost all stockinette with a few simple increases. I liked it enough that I was willing to actually BUY MORE YARN at my local yarn store, because I was in need of immediate gratification. I still wanted Noro, and found this new-to-me blend of wool, silk, and mohair, Noro Yuzen - still striped, but with just a bit of a tweedy look.



and after a few evenings, and one long weekend bus trip to Regina and back, I have this:



which, while barely adequate for the -30 C temperatures we're experiencing again, gives me something to look forward to wearing when it's time for spring breezes instead of winter blizzards. It's the closest thing to instant gratification one can get in a wearable, sweater like garment, and just the thing to break me out of my slump of indecision.

more details, if needed, on Ravelry.