Bane Or Joy?

When I told Guy I'd started a new lace project, he winced. "That means lots of swearing and frustration and unravelling, right?"

But I love lace! It's delicate and challenging and. . .oh right. Easy to mess up.

Girl came across a lone half-skein of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in the stash, and asked me to knit her a sweater with it. Um, yeah right. I'm going to knit a $70 sweater for a growing not-quite-five-year-old. I wouldn't even knit myself something that expensive (on purpose, anyway. The gorgeous poncho is a black hole of yarn, and what was once three skeins is now six).

On the other hand, her birthday is coming up, so if she wants a sweater, I'll figure out how to resize Magknit's Fragola sweater and make it with elann aka affordable yarn. (And she's watching Fraggle Rock, which rocks totally as much as it did when I was growing up, so it's perfect).

What does this have to do with lace, you ask? It has to do with guilt. Girl didn't want a fun peacock green cotton Fragola sweater, she wanted gorgeous yellow mohair soft enough to have been made of kitten fur. And I honestly can't blame her for that. And I do have this half skein just sitting there. Of course, half a skein won't go far. . .unless you knit a yarn-efficient lace shawl with it (and yes, she is the type of five-year-old who would appreciate a shawl).

You see the trap I'm in?? It may be one of my own making, but that doesn't make it any less trap-like. I made my mom a scarf out of this self-same yarn, and, well, lets just say it took more tries than I was prepared for. I love lace, it's beautiful and not deathly boring you-can-read-while-you-knit. Unfortunately, sometimes (usually when The Gilmore Girls are on the tv set) my concentration leaves something to be desired. Grumble.

Not to mention, how on earth did Girl looking through my stash turn into two time-consuming projects that must be done by mid-July??

Song:
I Pity The Fool, Ann Peebles

Quote:
Rory: Oh, and I told Paris that you would make all of our costumes so she wants to have a concept meeting with you tomorrow at three.
Lorelai: What?
Rory: Yeah, she needs a resume and samples of your previous work and, uh, referrals.
Lorelai: And my bare butt to kiss?
Rory: If you think that will set you apart from the other applicants, yes.
(Gilmore Girls)