Well, it's not so long if you take into account that I was listening to an audio book the whole time ("Last Chance to See", by Douglas Adams). I generally try to knit while I'm listening to an audio book or an audio drama (generally the Eight Doctor's Adventures...), or even watching something if it isn't very image-reliant. It keeps me from getting bored with the knitting (much as I love it, it's hard to keep my interests up while repeating the same two stitches hundreds of times), though it's probably why I'm such a slow knitter. I keep having to go back to the pattern and checking my stitch count because I've forgotten where I was when the plot of what I'm hearing/watching gets interesting. XD

I love simplicity, too! There's a certain beauty in it... though I tend to get bored if something I'm making is too easy, so I often try to look for something that will pose a bit of a challenge. :)