Blogtoberfest continues apace. It occurred to me the other day that we've passed the half way mark and what I feared appears not to have happened. I worried that a) I'd get sick of myself b)readers would get sick of my posts (can't guarantee that hasn't happened) and c)I'd just throw in the towel and miss at least a day or two. Nope. Day 20 and I'm going ok. I'm enjoying the discipline and challenge of it! I'm not saying I'll keep it up, but, as Donna Lee said a week or two ago, blogging daily forces you to look around yourself more, be observant, dig a little deeper for material. I like that. The writer in me in particular likes it.
I worried initially that the saturation would be horrible but then I had to realise that I signed up to this for myself, really and if people can't keep up with reading, well, that's ok because life is busy and no one has time to follow daily blog posts.
So, to lace. Now that the pi shawl is finished, I went in search of a new lace pattern for my next Long, Lacy Summer project. Would you believe I got stressed? By Friday afternoon I hadn't left work convinced I had a project to start that night, despite some serious looking. By bed time, I was frustrated beyond belief and did what I so often do when that happens, and talked to Sean about it before going to sleep.
What? Don't you all discuss complex knitting dilemmas with your other half just as he's nodding off? *snigger*
To his credit, he gave me his full attention as I described the issue. The issue was this.
I've knit lace. I've knit nice, slightly complex lace with sock yarn and heavier yarn. I've also knit now with lace weight yarn. But I haven't knitted with both a complex pattern AND laceweight at the same time. And I really want to but i've got this crazy hang up about screwing it up.
I want to knit all these huge, complex patterns and just lose myself in them but I'm spoiled for choice. There's so much out there and I do seem to have accumulated a fair amount of lace yarn. My brain shut down in a fit of indecision and fear.
Sean, the best sounding board in the world, came back with a solution. In the end I didn't take it but it got me on the road to a new project without forcing me to evade actually starting.
He suggested I do a lace scarf that was both more complex than I usually do and in lace weight. That way, I could get used to a complex stitch pattern and lace weight without the heavy commitment of something like an enormous shawl. The next morning, I started the Sweet Alyssum Shawl, kindly provided as a print out some time ago by Tinkingbell when she sent me some Kid Seta as a gift. Pale pink mohair-silk blend and it's just lovely.
Here it is.
It's bigger than that now because I've been powering on. I wasn't convinced about doing lace in mohair and still don't think I'd do it as a rule, but it's making a soft cloud of loveliness and the results speak for themselves. It's a joy, as is being married to a man who listens while you sort out lace knitting issues at 11pm and provides meaningful input at the same time!
It's bigger than that now because I've been powering on. I wasn't convinced about doing lace in mohair and still don't think I'd do it as a rule, but it's making a soft cloud of loveliness and the results speak for themselves. It's a joy, as is being married to a man who listens while you sort out lace knitting issues at 11pm and provides meaningful input at the same time!
Bells
ps big, happy best wishes to Amy in Rhode Island who in just a few hours will meet her new little girl. Thinking of you, Amy. xo
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