Amazing Lace, Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself

I am Jeanette, one half of this bi-coastal knitting blog. I am a knitter, and many other things too, but that doesn’t matter for now. I am taking part in The Amazing Lace this summer, my teammate is my new, long term relationship, Sharon Miller’s Wedding Ring Shaw. We are taking part in the Amazing Lace in an effort to save our relationship. Before I get to that though, let me tell you about my love affair with lace.

It all began innocently enough last year with Butterfly, from Rowan. From there it progressed to a lace stole, a circle shawl, then another lace shawl. I was undoubtedly in love with lace. Then I saw it, the Wedding Ring Shawl, and it was love at first site. I returned to Sharon’s site over and over again, would I buy my love, or could I be satisfied with another? Eventually I broke down and ordered my mail order groom, but only the pattern. More time passed and I began other lace work. Finally, I brought the rest of my love, the cone of gossamer silk, from across the Atlantic. Even knowing that my precious gossamer silk was coming to me did not stop me from having a fling with some Helen’s Laces and with some Lacey Lamb, though. Helen’s Laces and Lacey Lamb were both bought on vacation, and the gossamer silk hadn’t arrived, so that wasn’t really cheating, was it?

I returned from that trip to find my lovely cone waiting for me, smooth, shiny, and slinky. It was perfection on a cone. I had my pattern and I had my yarn, surely WRS had everything I needed to satisfy my hunger. It had challenge, complexity, a certain amount of uniqueness too. What more could I possibly want?

Apparently, I have a cheating heart. Instead of casting on for WRS, I started Madli with my Helen’s Lace. I had a passionate, torrid, and brief fling with the Helen’s Lace before committing to WRS.

Finally, I cast WRS on and from the start our relationship has been turbulent. The yarn is so fine I barely feel it on and in my hand. Each stitch requires a level of patience that I have never experienced before. Each row is time consuming and requires all of my attention. There is no leaving a row half finished. There is no talking on the telephone while working on a row. There is no knitting while around other people. WRS demands 100% from me and no less than that. If I spend 1 row of time with WRS a week, I consider myself to be doing well. Don’t get me wrong, WRS requires attention but I am not confounded by the pattern (at least not yet!) it is just so small and delicate that everything is an effort.

A few rows into WRS I needed to resume my co-dependent relationship with Ethereal Fichu, a shawl began many moons ago. After spending time with Fichu, an old seducer piped up and while I was able to withstand the seduction before I caved and began an extra-WRS affair with my Lacey Lamb and with the Frost Flower and Leaves Shawl. LL/FF&LS and I have been sharing guilty stolen moments since late April, and we have gone much further together than WRS and I. My time with WRS has suffered as a result, and we have done only 14 rows together.

Clearly my relationship with WRS needs help. The Amazing Lace may be just the thing to help us.