Knitting lace is great. It’s challenging, it’s fun and the end result is a beautiful . . . something. I know this because I have finished the Leaf Lace Shawl. (waah hoo – throw me a party) It took nearly two months and it was my first lace project and I’m pretty happy about the whole thing. Except. It needs to be blocked. I have wandered through my whole house with this thing in my hand and I have now come to the realization that I don’t have a suitable place for blocking a shawl of this proportion anywhere in my house. Between the dog, the cat, the husband and the kids, there’s just nowhere to spread it out and leave it and know it will be safe. So, the shawl sits in a heap in the sewing room for the moment. The only place I can think of to block it is on the pool table in the garage. And, as soon as they all stop playing pool, that’s what I’ll do.

In the meantime, I did some shopping. This is the stuff that came today from Jimmy Beans Wool. I ordered it on Tuesday and it traveled from Nevada to Massachusetts in two days and that’s what I call pretty good.

We have Ann Norling fruit cap patterns. C’mon, you know that Ambrynn needs some of these. A pumpkin hat for Halloween, how cute will that be?! We also have T-pins for the blocking of the shawl. And we have Rowan #34. Birch, anyone?

After a project like the Leaf Lace Shawl a little instant gratification is in order. I got it knitting this.

That’s a Flower Washcloth made out of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille. The pattern comes from the book Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick and it took about a night and a half to whip up this little cutey. You make the 5 petals and then join them together and knit the center. The chenille makes for a great washcloth even if it did hurt my hands while I was knitting it.

Tomorrow we’re off to the great state of Vermont for a reenactment here. If I bump into Norma, I’ll say hi for you guys.

The sock and I spent the day yesterday at what we fondly call the “family beach.” It’s actually on the opposite side of the pond from where Dale’s Boy Scout troop goes to summer camp and I have spent many, many happy hours there over the years.

In the summer of 1999 it’s where I learned to knit. At that time I was between library jobs and working part-time at a local fabric/yarn store and was completely obsessed with learning to knit. I kept fondling all this lovely wool and really wanted to make Hannah a sweater. My friend Lois, who can do absolutely anything, told me she’d teach me to knit. Now, I love Lois like a sister and one of the reasons I do is because she is THE eternal optimist. Here are some excerpts from actual conversations we have had:

Carole: Lois, can we start and finish a quilt in a weekend?
Lois:Sure, we can!

Carole: Lois, can we make Hannah a Halloween costume in an afternoon?
Lois: Sure we can!

Carole: Lois, can we make a Civil War reproduction ball gown in a week?
Lois: Sure we can!

Carole: Lois, can you teach me to knit?
Lois: Sure I can!

You get the idea, right? The word “can’t” does not come out of this woman’s mouth.

So, when Dale and I set off on a two-week camping trip at the “family beach” Lois and I decided she would come visit for a couple of days and teach me to knit while she was there. Now, me being the totally obsessed, anal-retentive person that I am, I didn’t want to learn to knit by making a scarf – I thought I would be bored. Lois assured me that starting with a sweater would be fine. And, while it’s great to have a friend that’s optimistic about her own abilities – perhaps she was a little overly optimistic about mine. Nevertheless, I picked out a pattern for a cabled pullover sweater (Carole: Lois, can I learn to knit with this pattern? Lois: Sure, you can!) and bought all the necessary supplies before we went camping. Lois came and we hung out on the beach and she taught me to knit. It wasn’t pretty. There was throwing of yarn. There was gnashing of teeth. There was swearing. And that was just while I learned to cast on. Just as I started to maybe get the hang of things, Lois had to go home. Without Lois there to do it for me show me the way, I was completely lost. The sweater got shoved in a closet in the camper and that was the end of that.

I might have been in over my head with that pattern, but I was bitten by the knitting bug that week. It was another year before I tried again and this time I made myself knit a scarf first. I went from that scarf to my first pair of socks and I haven’t looked back. As for the cabled pullover sweater? I never did finish it. Too many bad memories.

Yesterday, though, on that beach? It was all about good memories and happy knitting and butterflies!

So, do you think I blew it? Or do you think I kept the faith of the “Wednesdays are for Quilting” rule? Here’s a hint.

That’s 36, count ’em 36, Log Cabin blocks with the first light and first dark sides completed. So, I must have stuck to the rules, right?

Well, ummmm, not exactly. I actually worked on the blocks last weekend, so last night when Dale suggested we go out while Hannah was at a birthday party, I was able to say an emphatic, yeah, baby. And I didn’t even feel guilty about it because I’d already met my quota for the week.

Okay, so I might have felt a little guilty about not quilting on the very first Wednesday following the creation of the “Wednesdays are for Quilting” rule. But you all know how hot it is around these parts. And Cassie put it best when she wrote about the absurdity of working on things to keep us warm when it’s hotter than the hinges of hell. Honestly, though, I’m not complaining. Stephanie said it quite eloquently a while ago — you can’t complain about winter and summer. Pick one and hate it more. I pick winter! C’mon, guys, remember winter? The cold and the snow and the shoveling and the heating bills and the kids (and husband, in my case) home from school unexpectedly? That sucked! In the meantime, though, the creation of things to keep up warm just feels a little silly right now.

That’s why I’m perservering with socks (and so’s Margene!) and tiny quilt squares instead of Einstein Coats and Leaf Lace Shawls. Yup, that’s why. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that the Einstein Coat is a sweltering mass of garter stitch or the fact that I don’t understand the bind off instructions for the Leaf Lace Shawl. Not a freakin’ thing to do with those issues at all.

You guys are buying this, right?