I have been in a kind of design frenzy this afternoon.  The projects at hand are a pair of fingerless
gloves (the yarn is lying on my desk and I have been fighting the urge to wind
it into a ball and start swatching!  mostly
because I could swatch tonight in front of the Mariners game) and a summery
shrug.  Also, I have Nancy Bush’s Knitted Lace of Estonia lying
shamelessly open to a lily-of-the-valley shawl that I have no business even
considering – but I discovered Knit Picks new Shadow Tonal Lace Yarn last night
and am allowing myself to fantasize heavily (maybe the Springtime shade –  “Lime green
shifts to chartreuse, green tea, celadon, mint, and green apple”…..mmmmm….).

I have taken hand measurements
for the gloves, sketched and graphed bits and really it would be time to wind
and swatch (except that I am going to do that tonight in front of the Mariners
game – I have to keep reminding myself! 
maybe I should remove the yarn from my desk).

The shrug design process has
gone like this:

1)     
Fall in love with
Mango Silkie yarn (merino and silk) from Butternut Woolens

2)     
Decide to make
Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style
(Pam Allen and Ann Budd, eds.)

3)     
Find out Sarah has
dibs on that pattern!

4)     
Mutter a tiny hmff
and decide to design my own pattern

5)     
Order yarn

6)     
Study up on
top-down sweater knitting in French Girl
Knits (Kristeen Griffin-Grimes) and make a little sketch

7)     
Begin leafing
through stitch dictionaries for ideas

8)     
Drink a double
cappuccino

9)     
Wish the yarn would
arrive (by magic, poof!)

10)  Select a few good possibilities

11)  Notice that I am still in a leaf pattern phase!  Beech Leaf, Drooping Elm Leaf, Fancy Leaf
Edging, Twin Leaf, Willow
Leaf, Delineator Leaf Lace

12)  Eat a chocolate egg

13)  Photocopy patterns (this involves lifting a 2×3 ft. puzzle
board off the copier without letting the completed puzzle slide off – George
spent a long time on this difficult puzzle and is, I can only suppose, very
proud of himself and/or cannot let go now that it is done, as the puzzle has
been lying-in-state on the copier for about a month now)

14)  Replace puzzle board on copier reverently

15)  Begin writing notes on pattern copies (book title, what
the abbreviations stand for, etc.

16)  Eat 5 jellybeans and a chocolate egg

17)  Finish notes and sit staring into space

18)  Wish the yarn would arrive

19)  Sigh

20)  Gaze longingly at the lily-of-the-valley shawl and
decide not to order lace yarn

21)  Remember that there are still Easter cookies in the
kitchen

22)  Decide not to eat Easter cookies

23)  Reason that it rather too much to give up both lace yarn and Easter cookies

24)  …………