no, really, it's relaxing!

I'm sure that some people find the idea of knitting lace to be absolutely abhorrent...I think I used to be one of those people. So fiddly! Such fine yarn! Pretty, but useless! I want warm sweaters, dammit, not doilies!

Mmmmm. My words taste goooooooood.

It turns out I love to knit lace. In particular, I love to knit triangular shawls on a stockinette background, preferably with the edging incorporated into the body of the shawl, but this time around I'm going for it with a knitted-on edging.

I've begun the Shaped Triangle from A Gathering of Lace. The book photo does not do it justice in the least - if you want to see what it can really look like, check out the gorgeous blue one on ravelry.

I wish I had a pretty, soft color to make this shawl with, but I'm bustin' stash these days, and what I have is some well-marinated Knitpicks Shadow laceweight.

This yarn knits up beautifully, with no splitting or knots thus far. But the color is kind of uninspiring (I think it is called "sunset").

I've nearly completed the first chart, which is all these little asterisk-type things. I'm enjoying the heck out of knitting this so far! It does get more complicated after this chart, but so far it's been dreamy. I find knitting lace to be quite relaxing and distracting - the stress of dealing with my son's transitioning of therapy services has been so all-consuming it actually makes me feel physically ill. This pattern requires just enough concentration that I lose myself in the pattern and my brain stops chewing on other issues.

And it's a good thing, too, because I knit lace without a safety net. That's right, no "lifelines" here. Instead I make sure I knit this when the children are in bed or zombied-out in front of a video (only used when I am desperate for peace, I promise), with no media bombarding me. I sit in good light, and softly chant the stitch pattern to myself as I go along: "knit two, yarn over, knit three, yarn over, slip-knit-pass, yarn over, knit one..."

A holiday weekend is upon us (July already???) and the weather looks good. I'm going to get the house reasonably clean (ok, tidy, clean is a reach), and enjoy the sunshine with my family. Happy 4th!