Knitting Zen

I finally took a couple of pictures of the vest I'm working on. I've finished the ribbing and a few inches of the body; I'm almost finished with the first skein of yarn. I'm using a bamboo circular needle. The stitches don't slide very well on them, so it's hurting my hands some--I can't do much more than four rounds or so at a time. But that's okay.

One of the things I don't like about working with large needles is that it makes me rush, makes me feel like I should be finished NOW. Sort of like reading short stories. I don't know exactly why that is, but as a rule I avoid both.

I like to read substantial books that let me sort of fall in and get involved. I tend to stick with smaller knitting projects because of my afore-mentioned problem with commitment, but even with small projects, I prefer small needles because it makes me slow down, makes me relax into the knitting, which is what I'm knitting for.

This vest is knit with size 6 (for the ribbing) and size 7 (for the body) needles, which aren't exactly tiny, of course, but small enough that I don't feel like I have to finish the vest in a weekend or something.

Here's a close-up of the vest showing the basketweave pattern.