The 'Zen' of Lace Knitting...

My dear friend Jane was musing last night as she tinked Highland Triangle Shawl that she just didn't think she had the "Zen for lace."

I replied (in my middle-of-the-night epiphany): "You're new to it. I cannot tell you how much I tinked on the first Triangle Lace shawl. And I made that really major goof on the QOH that I never caught (tinked that shawl a lot tho'). I think the "zen" to it, is that (when you know there's something wrong), you go back and work on it, tinking, or frogging to a lifeline, but even tho' you're upset with the mistake and the time you lose, you do it, you focus on it. It's not that lace isn't frustrating, because it is, but it's satisfying, it's tantalizing, it's consuming. It's like life - you can choose to muddle thru it and it'll be okay, 'the blind man on a galloping horse at midnight' thing, OR you can choose to tink, to frog, to work at it, to grow with it, to try to reach a level of perfection..."

I'm still new to knitting lace, too...and wish I could work on it more than I have time to do. I'm not sure I have a 'zen for it' but I'm certainly consumed by it. When I'm knitting lace, I don't think about much else, I don't worry or fret or fidget, I tend to have more "present moments" than when I do anything else...that's meditation, so they say - being in the present moment.

We're having snow again today - not a lot, a pesky too little to really count, just enough to cause havoc on the roads kind of snow. Roanoke has the equipment to deal with snow. The problem with snow/ice around here is that people think they know how to drive in it (especially if they own an SUV) but they really haven't a clue...I learned to drive in winter in Vermont. Roanokers think they can barrel on thru and the 4-wheel drive will save them, but you can't do that. You have to be careful, you have to be defensive, but you cannot be tentative.

It's a balance, a security of knowing your vehicle and your own abilities and having just enough fear and respect of the unknown (the snow and ice, the road conditions), and just enough understanding of the laws of physics to remain smart and alert, in the present moment.

Driving in snow is a lot like knitting lace...