Ever love a project so much that you are sad when it is completed? My solution to “Annis-withdrawal” was to cast on Abrazo…

Long tail cast on over size 10.5 needles. (wish I would have used even bigger needles, or a stretchier cast on.)
Estimated tail required by casting on 30 stitches, measuring the yarn used, multiplying by 30 and adding a generous fudge-factor. Used stitch markers to keep my count as I cast on…I have a pair of active Irish setter puppies in the house.

Uninterrupted, casting-on this many stitches takes me about 40 minutes. With puppy-breaks it can take an hour…or two…

Decided midway through row 5 that I wanted beads after all, so as I got to the point where a bead should have been added on row 3, I dropped the stitch for two rows, added the bead and picked up the stitches. Sounds fiddly, but it really wasn’t all that bad. (Size 6 glass seed beads, made in Japan, purchased from Michaels, applied with a .75 mm crochet hook)

This will be a gift for my dear friend who welcomes me as well as the puppies to her beach house. I see her wear these colors a lot. (This will beat the washcloth I knit for her last time!)