Safe at Home is my “it grew on me” pattern this week. When I first looked at it my negativity bias kicked in immediately, I came up with a bunch of reasons why it was a terrible project to recommend. I thought; “It’s too hard, it’s too much work, there’s too much seaming, the yarn is something objectionable …” etc, etc. But it’s really pretty so I looked closer and told my dumb mammalian brain to take a break and let my frontal lobe carry some of the load … as I slowed down and took it all in I realized it’s a project with a lot of potential!

First off, its knit with worsted weight yarn, which everybody has in their stash. To supplement (’cause lets not kid ourselves, you’re going to need more yarn, a project like this always requires more yarn) there are really affordable options with great colour choices, like Berroco Vintage and Cascade 220 Superwash. Because the design is already so patchworky, I love the idea of mixing different yarns of the same tension and creating slight textural variances. I think it would be so cool for different parts of the houses to have different textures. The pattern calls for 12 colours, but you can use as many as you like.

The skill level is advanced beginner to intermediate, but I think that’s ok, it’s good to push ourselves to grow and try new things (or revisit old things we haven’t done in. a while). Plus, if not now, then when? There also isn’t as much seaming as I expected, the little houses are knit in rows, and it’s all worked in garter stitch which is easy to seam.

Finally, the theme has grown on me. It’s a lovely metaphor that EVERYTHING is connected. When my mammalian brain does what it was designed to do and wanders off into selfness, I think it would be nice to have a happy reminder to help bring me back into balance.