"Uncle!"

Challenge yourself in the New Year - I said. Don't always knit within your comfort level - I said. Try lace - I said.

Well, I can tell you that it is like trying to knit dental floss with toothpicks! I worked hard, really and truly, for the better part of a week, trying to get past the 10 or so setup rows. I wrote out charts into row by row instructions. I set aside the one pattern I wanted to try because it began with "Cast on 329 stitches." I put in life-line after life-line each time I started over. It's not that I can't do all the stitches that the patterns called for - I can - most of them in my sleep! I have concluded that the sheer size of the needles and the yarn are what sits between me and success. A deadly combination!

By the time I finally admitted defeat, my eyes hurt, my hands hurt, my shoulders hurt - if only it could all be counted as an honest workout!

So, fine lace knitting is now set aside. I will probably try to give it another go at some point in time, but not for a bit.

You don't have to be a knitter to understand the frustration of failing at something that you anticipated you would be able to do. Onward, to a project that will be new, but not quite as challenging!