There was an old man named Michael Finnegan

He kicked up an awful dinnegann Because they said he must not sing again Poor old Michael Finnegan....Begin again.


And that is what I did.  Begin again.  This is the story of an entire day of thinking about beginning again.

I went looking for projects. With a purpose.  I need something to wear to a family wedding this summer and if I put it off any longer, I will be going without.

I had been contemplating a colour block top but I just didn't feel the love. I did sort out a pattern, or perhaps, more of a way that I will knit up the intarsia for that top, but I really just didn't feel the love.  I pulled out the yarn for it and played with it, but yup.  No love.  There isn't a point in starting something that I am not feeling the love for right now.  It's going to be a busy next 6 weeks and I need to feel love if I expect to finish in time for a late summer wedding.

I did think about just going out and buying something, but honestly, where is the fun in that?  I used to tease Brian that I didn't have stash, I had pre-clothes and I do think of my yarn that way. It only makes sense to use what I have.  I have a black skirt and a camisole top or a black dress to wear.  I don't need more dressy clothes.  All I need is a bit of a coverup.  

I meandered through patterns and thought about summery weight yarns that I have in my stash but I really just couldn't get the two things to mesh.  Ravelry is almost too big sometimes.  I get distracted so easily that sometimes, when I am struggling, I want less to look at.  Whenever this happens, I go to Knitty.

Knitty has such a great range of patterns.  It is a wonderful source of inspiration when I get stuck, without the overwhelming awesome of Ravelry.  All of the Knitty stuff is on Ravelry, of course, but sometimes things slip by you just from the sheer volume of patterns. And so it was yesterday.

Searching Knitty, I came across Annette from the Summer of 2009 issue.  It's a cute little pattern, perfect for summer, but I wasn't sure this was the lace I was looking for.  It did give me an idea.

There is a little lace pattern in The Complete Encyclopedia of Stitchery by Mildred Graves Ryan that I used before.  I have been trying to find a good place to use it again, because I enjoyed knitting it so much.  The Lace Wings pattern, Dutch in origin, is the perfect lace for a summer coverup.  Only one small problem.

The lace repeat is a different number and that means reworking the pattern.  Since I rarely stick word for word to a pattern, I pulled out Ann Budd's Knitters Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters.  By starting fresh, I also get to look at my entire stash for yarn.  I ended up pulling out my 5 skeins of 3995 Persian Red Butterfly Cotton. It will be the perfect punchy colour against my dress wardrobe's all black.  

So this pretty thing happened.

 

It is mindless but not really.  It is a 4 row lace with purl backs between the patterning rows.  The patterned rows are different enough that you don't get them mixed up easily and even if you did, the lace has a strong column that carries through all the way. You know if you are off before going too far.  I am not sure I started with enough stitches at the neckline and may have to restart to sort that out, but I really do like what is going on on my needles.

So, it looks like a good day.  The forecast is for a warm sunny sort of day.  I have some chores outside later that I am looking forward too and right now my coffee is hot and just right strong.  Time to knit. Always.