It's All One

Once morning chores were done and the fire was built, I sat down with the four-ply merino to knit a test swatch for a lace pattern.

 

Lace knitting is new to me so three rows into the chart it became clear that a magnet board might be useful. I think I have one around here somewhere.

Twenty-something years ago, when my sons were in grade school, I used to be an avid counted cross-stitcher. It was creative, colorful and portable. I never went anywhere without a cross stitch project. But as my sons got older, quilting gradually took over where cross stitch had been. Now where was that magnet board, it has to be here somewhere.

I went into the sewing room to look for the magnet board and saw all this quilting stuff - fabric, notions, books and patterns, quilts yet to be made. But I was looking for a tool from two hobbies ago, to use with my current love interest - and I wondered - is quilting going to go the way of counted cross stitch, displaced by knitting; why does that bother me? Because I have a *whole* lot of quilting supplies in that room! I found the board and returned to my knitting.

More than a little time later I had a 2 inch swatch of lace that worked up pretty good despite my lack of experience knitting from a chart. But really, it wasn't that different from following a counted cross stitch pattern, maybe I could knit lace after all. I'm glad I made a swatch though, turns out I didn't like the look of the pattern after all.

But I learned a lot.