Most people can handle surprises. For example, most people can wait until the gift giving occasion arrives before giving the gift. I cannot.
When I was six or seven I was charged with bringing my sister to her surprise birthday party at a family friend's home. Before we arrived, she not only knew there was a party, but my excessive exuberance led me tell her what her present was from our mom. I don't know what those adults were thinking, giving me such a heavy responsibility. I was not to be trusted with surprises, nosiree. Poor sis.
Now that I am a married woman, living in the cocoon of married life, I don't do much damage anymore. I have learned to wait to open my own gifts until Christmas day, but I have not yet learned restraint when it comes to withholding the pleasure of others.
My latest accomplishment was not getting on the cell phone to tell hubby I was surprising him with an ice cream cake, once I picked it up last December. I was able to hold off until about a half an hour after he came home from work. It was the best I could do, truly.
I write this all down as my disclaimer, because it turns out I do not have the ability to wait until a lace project is done to see what the finished product may look like. Yesterday afternoon, after working another repeat, I steam ironed my WIP.
I'm pretty in love with it. The pattern is the Sunshine and Shadows lace triangle, from Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles. After getting through one repeat yesterday, I think I have a pretty good idea why no one can be found by googling, or on ravelry, to be knitting this particular triangle.
If there is just one shortcoming in Ms. Clark's wonderful book, it is that the book is written more like a stitch dictionary. With a pattern, you hopefully get a picture, and then you get the written directions and/or some charting. The patterns in this book consist of a verbal outline, such as "use the medallion lace beginning pattern and seven repeats of the lace leaf pattern." It is up to the reader to go looking for each of the charts in the verbal description.
I chose my triangle based on the fact it wasn't one, but three different laces. I wasn't sure the monotony of a one lace project would hold my attention. Not yet understanding the directions, and how that meant I would be toggling between seven different charts on five or six different pages, I chose what may be the most logistically challenging pattern in the book.
Jumping from one section to another, all the while keeping one's place, as well as learning the basics of lace knitting, was difficult. I finally broke down and took the author's advice and xeroxed the different sections, taping them together sequentially to form the pattern. This should make things much easier.
When I was six or seven I was charged with bringing my sister to her surprise birthday party at a family friend's home. Before we arrived, she not only knew there was a party, but my excessive exuberance led me tell her what her present was from our mom. I don't know what those adults were thinking, giving me such a heavy responsibility. I was not to be trusted with surprises, nosiree. Poor sis.
Now that I am a married woman, living in the cocoon of married life, I don't do much damage anymore. I have learned to wait to open my own gifts until Christmas day, but I have not yet learned restraint when it comes to withholding the pleasure of others.
My latest accomplishment was not getting on the cell phone to tell hubby I was surprising him with an ice cream cake, once I picked it up last December. I was able to hold off until about a half an hour after he came home from work. It was the best I could do, truly.
I write this all down as my disclaimer, because it turns out I do not have the ability to wait until a lace project is done to see what the finished product may look like. Yesterday afternoon, after working another repeat, I steam ironed my WIP.
I'm pretty in love with it. The pattern is the Sunshine and Shadows lace triangle, from Evelyn Clark's Knitting Lace Triangles. After getting through one repeat yesterday, I think I have a pretty good idea why no one can be found by googling, or on ravelry, to be knitting this particular triangle.
If there is just one shortcoming in Ms. Clark's wonderful book, it is that the book is written more like a stitch dictionary. With a pattern, you hopefully get a picture, and then you get the written directions and/or some charting. The patterns in this book consist of a verbal outline, such as "use the medallion lace beginning pattern and seven repeats of the lace leaf pattern." It is up to the reader to go looking for each of the charts in the verbal description.
I chose my triangle based on the fact it wasn't one, but three different laces. I wasn't sure the monotony of a one lace project would hold my attention. Not yet understanding the directions, and how that meant I would be toggling between seven different charts on five or six different pages, I chose what may be the most logistically challenging pattern in the book.
Jumping from one section to another, all the while keeping one's place, as well as learning the basics of lace knitting, was difficult. I finally broke down and took the author's advice and xeroxed the different sections, taping them together sequentially to form the pattern. This should make things much easier.
Comments
The worst part is that my hubby is the same way. We don't even try to hold out to exchange gifts on major occasions anymore. We do, however, wait to exchange cards. This way we both have something to open on the actual celebration. :)
BTW - my eldest daughter is just like you. One time, when she was younger, she came home from Christmas shopping for me with my parents (a tradition), and just blurted out that she got me a blue bathrobe and a silver ring with a purple stone in it! She just sat there and grinned. She was proud of herself. She still has problems with keeping surprises to this day! :)