[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignnone" width="560"] Souplesse[/caption] Does such thing like the Knitter's Block even exists? Oh yes: I'm alive to prove it! Last month I have decided to impose on myself the obligation (as self-employed it's the only way to go, unless I call my mom) to publish 1 pattern a month for 2016. That means 12 patterns. The first 2 were simple: I wrote them during 2015, so I just had to edit them slightly and ask dear friends a little translation job. No inspiration needed: just a precise work of writing. But coming from years and years of recipes writing, the job was quite simple for me. You have ingredients, yield and directions for both knitting and cooking: the more precise and simple you are in your explanation, the best chances people would be able to reproduce it. The problem is what to write or even knit. Shawl? Cowl? Lace? Cables? Colour fun? For adults? Children? Babies? Which yarn? Too much choice! If you add on top of it Barbara Walker and her extensive, incredible and infinite choice of stitch pattern, you can spend (many) hours each day only flipping from one stitch pattern to the other, with pencil and eraser at hand! Days went by in this way. Dark days, let me tell you! Put together dark inspirational days with very windy weather and the combo is deadly! I wasn't even temped to cast on anything, because the few times I have tried the result was a giant meh... I even ask google a possible solution! And of course it dutifully answer me back with Clara Parkes words: hurray! I was even ready to re-read all Yarn Harlot's books! I even went for a walk and a lunch afterward at a nearby design museum. I began to feel desperate! Dreading to face another day of useless mind wandering, a few days ago I sat myself down in my knitting spot with the intention to just knit the projects on hand all day long. Just to be on the safe side, squared notebook, pencil, eraser and Barbara Walker's books were near by. And then, like lighting, inspiration struck. Little by little I began to settle on yarn, type of garment and stitches. But altogether with "inspiration", also realism struck: 12 pattern in 1 year? I like so much to make fun of myself! School holidays? Sick days (not mine)? Work overload (I have to finish 2 custom orders by March!)? And also self imposed stress? Who am I joking with? Let's say that a rough estimate of 6 pattern in 12 months looks much more realistic!