I'm not myself quite yet, but I'm much better - well enough to get back to designing, at least. A few months ago I bought some gorgeous fair-trade, recycled sari silk yarn from Darn Good Yarn, which I've been staring at ever since because I could not figure out what to do with it. I don't work with silk much; being a wool fan, I'm used to fibers with a lot more give than pure silk, though silk will soften over time.
Some knitters find embarking on a new project quite scary, but for me, I'm fine as long as I'm following someone else's pattern. It doesn't matter how complicated the pattern is - I have enough self-confidence (or cockiness, maybe) to jump right into it without any fear. I find that designing, however, can be extremely scary. Nothing's planned out for you, nothing's written. Everything is up to you, including any screw-ups. And so much depends on the yarn! DGY makes the most beautiful one-of-a-kind yarns, yarns that you can't force to be anything they're not meant to be. For months now, I've been trying to figure out not so much what I want the yarn to be, but what it wants to be. Scarves and shawls are always great, but that would feel like a cop-out since I want to have a garment pattern to offer up for sale.
Right now, the yarn seems to be telling me "vest" - one-piece, garter stitch, simple shaping. I have to trust it for now and see where it leads me.
