Breaking knitters' block

(Also bloggers' block, I suppose!)

I've been working on Arietta for nearly a year, and have been stalled on it for only slightly less time. Every time I pick it up I make a mistake, or get confused, and stop again in favour of patterns which require less attention.

But because of getting confused about quantities and washableness of Koigu when planning a present for a brand-new baby, I had a 50g skein of sock yarn in rather fetching reds and pinks, and decided to make a mini-Arietta with it, in the hope of finally getting the pattern.

And I think, cautiously, that it's worked. This is my mini-Arietta blocking:

It's 48" long and 14" wide at the widest point, which is plenty big enough for a small shawl or a scarf, and it's lovely. And now I'm working again on its red laceweight sibling...