Oh lace, how you challenge my faculties..

What's currently in the works? A lacy scarf. It's June, and I have been fumbling with the idea of knitting all of our Christmas gifts this year. But this scarf may have to remain with me. I have messed up and unraveled more times than I care to admit. But it the end it will serve to remind me of the hard work and attention to detail that I haven't really given to previous projects.

I learned to knit by going to the library and checking out Stitch 'n Bitch after I saw Debbie Stoller on CNN. At the time, I didn't know anybody else who liked to knit, so what I was doing was pretty unique. Oh, the poor people who received my first scarves and head kerchiefs probably wondered why I would give them such misshapen and poorly-crafted pieces of crap. My first attempt at a purse went horribly awry, but my grandmother asked to have it for its sentimental value (not its worthiness for carrying ladies' necessities.) My first hat was a very cute butter yellow, but too big for my head. In small-town Arkansas, the yarn selection doesn't go far beyond the acrylic cheap stuff, so the pieces I knitted just weren't all that great. Oh, and there is also the fact that I LOATHE sewing. Anything that involved joining seams turned out to be uneven and awkward.

All these failures aside, knitting still excites and relaxes me. Now that I'm living in San Diego, the selection of yarns available to me has increased exponentially. I want to learn new things about knitting and try new challenges. I want to move out of the newbie stage. I want to make socks, purses, table runners, shawls, hats, sarongs... that's why the lacy scarf is kind of like a stepping stone for me. The combination of trying a lace pattern for the first time and actually having the patience to correct the mistakes I've made is turning me into a better knitter. By Christmas time, perhaps I'll have even made some other pieces so lovely that other people will enjoy wearing them.