Some Thoughts.

 It occurred to me yesterday that the difficulty of the lace I am working on is directly proportional to the amount of stress I am experiencing at any given time.

 Thus...with almost five weeks of illness in our home along with several other issues that I'm dealing with right now...my Princess shawl is getting a LOT of attention.  It takes 30-45 min to complete a row, but I've managed almost 40 rows this week alone by carving out little bits of focused time when I can. 

 78 stitch pattern repeats?  yarn that is literally threadlike?  2.0 mm needles?  Yes please!  You would be surprised at how natural and easy it all feels when I allow myself to relax into the flow.

People always seem a bit shocked when I tell them that no, in fact I don't knit 'for fun.' 

I knit to help put order into life.  I knit to forget my troubles...even if just for a little while.  I knit to sooth myself with the combination of math and beauty.  I knit to release pressure so that I don't blow up in other areas of my life.  I knit to create, which counterbalances all of the negative.

The fact that it is intensely satisfying is a bonus.

And this particular project is more satisfying than most.