I got up to the divide (for the placket) on Thermal last night. It feels like a bit of a milestone has been crossed (even though I'm not near done with the top, and I'm now having to knit back and forth, and what's more, do two different rows depending on what side of the marker I'm on).

Fortunately, the waffle pattern is easily remembered, so it doesn't take too much concentration, even with having to shift rows from time to time. (and I'm within 2" of binding off for the arm holes.)

I like this kind of knitting - simple, but you can see that you're getting somewhere.

And I keep thinking about a line from an article in the new Knitscene* from a woman who recently learned to knit. She said she wanted to learn because she envisioned it as being kind of a "white noise for your hands."

I like that line, and I think that does kind of address one of the nice things about knitting - if you're kind of a fidgety person with an excess of that kind of energy - it allows you to sit without having to be still. And it does also provide some kind of occupation for part of your brain. I wonder if, in some people (like me) the "worry centers" of the brain are close to the parts of the brain that are engaged by knitting and sewing and things like that, because it seems that it allows me to de-track from worrying about stuff.

(Interestingly enough, going for long drives in areas where there's not much traffic has a similar effect. Being out more or less alone on a country highway helps my brain to shut off the constant chatter of "what ifs" and "why didn't yous" and all those things)

(*It's all 'simple' projects aimed at beginning knitters. Sometimes I like a good simple project, but if you're the sort of person who's put off by garter-stitch cowls and such, be forewarned)