Be Brave

Welcome to Week seven of the 2024 Sweater Challenge! This is Yarn Chicken Week,  so brace yourself and get ready to test your nerves of steel.

In case yarn chicken is a new concept to you, here's the Urban Dictionary's definition:

Yarn chicken is a term often used in online knitting/crochet circles. It is a self-imposed 'game' in which a crafter is unsure if they have enough yarn...to complete a project, but rather than going through the process of measuring and weighing to find yardage, they start the project and hope it's enough. The crafter wins the game if they finish their project with just enough or extra yarn, and they lose if they run out of yarn before completing their project.

Some of us like the adrenaline rush of yarn chicken and some of us tend to buy three extra skeins in order to avoid the stress. I'm in the latter camp‑‑I knit to relax, not to create tension in my life. But sometimes a yarn is just so gorgeous that you have to make a sweater with it...even though there's a strong chance you'll be sweating it at the end.

Since we're on the subject of chickens (sort of), I'd like to introduce you to the amazing Emotional Support Chicken by Annette Corsino. She seems like the perfect little project to brighten your kitchen or make a nest in that corner of the loveseat where no-one ever seems to sit. 

She's knit in worsted weight yarn, on US 7 needles, so you probably have something suitable lurking in your stash. Go take a look!

I have not yet knit my first ESC, but I can already see myself sending Emotional Support Chickens to faraway friends who need love and support. Is it even possible not to be cheered a bit by a knitted chicken?

I'm sincerely hoping you have plenty of yarn to get you where you're going on your project. But if you might not, I hope you win this game of yarn chicken!

And, as always, if the end of your sweater is nowhere in sight, enjoy the view from where you are.

Warmly,

Gaby