I needed to knit. My new job fills my brain to capacity each day, and I needed to come home to knitting—to count out the stitches, lean the decreases left or right, knit the garter stitch. So I did. The result of a week’s worth of knitting is my Blue Bale Arroyo, a pattern by Sarah Wolf.

The yarn is the rare and perfectly sublime Lot 3: The Kraemer Experiment from The Great White Bale. It’s merino blended with silk, dyed by Jennifer Heverly at Spirit Trail Fiberworks. Each of us received just one skein, 390 yards. My scarf used less than 300 yards.

I’m so pleased with how it turned out, but now I wonder… could I have made it a little bigger? I had enough yarn. No, I like it just the way it is!

I dressed up my little cubicle at work. There’s not much you can do with beige walls, a beige desk, and a beige floor. Well, I’m sure there is, but I’m just not going to take it all that far. A few more photos, or a poster, then I’m done. I think I like the minimalist look.

My job is reminding me that my brain needs to be flexible, that I can be nimble, and that I have more than enough room in there for all the new things I’m learning. There’s still a way to go before I feel comfortable with all the routines and how to be in an office instead of in a store, but I’ll get there. And I might be tired at the end of the day, but I drive home in a good mood—a simple thing, but something that I realized I hadn’t felt for a long, long time.