To MS3, or not to MS3, that is the question

Temptation lurks everywhere. That stinking thing is all over the internet. I can't turn on a browser without reading about clue this and clue that and shiny wee beads and 2/14 alpaca/silk on cones.

I see pictures of stoles-in-progress. Me likee. See the beads? Shiny!

I am signed up. I have clues 1-3 in my hands, and clue 4 is only a download away. My stash contains appropriate yarn and the perfect matching beads. (If we're telling honest truths here, there's not much my stash does not contain, but that is something we need not speak of.) The correct needles are mere feet away. No purchase necessary. I even went so far as to make a tiny mite of a swatch.

And we loves us some lace knitting, we do. We really, really do.

But here's the rub. I am a happy little lace knitter, but I am not a girly girl. I could quite contentedly knit lace all day, every day, pretty much forever, but (except for the occasional random pair of girly socks, easily hidden under jeans) I do not WEAR lace.

So, here we have the problem. Do I really love it THAT much, that I want to devote weeks or months to it, knowing full well that the end result will be something that is draped artfully over the back of the sofa and rarely worn?

Well, yes.

But. There are many projects, all worthy, all demanding my attention. Forest Darkness wants finishing. Blue Shimmer wants beginning. Wild Apple... well, it just wants to arrive safely, have a bit of a rest from its long journey, and be fondled and petted and admired for awhile, but the handspun Guy Sweater is not going to be so patient, and neither is the Dale.

Dither, dither. Dudes, I really want to make this stole. From what I've seen so far, it is gorgeous. There doesn't seem to be anything hideously complex about it. And it does have those pretty shiny baubles, 'cause ya know, mere gorgeous lace knitting might not be quite enough temptation all on its own. Add a few sparklies, just to increase the oozing dripping lust factor...

This could lead me down an interesting rabbit hole of self-examination if I let it. There's clearly a divide between who I am and who I think I am. Or maybe I know who I am, but secretly long to be someone else. Does lace knitting satisfy some inner diva gene that I am not consciously aware I posess?

Must. Resist.

The most likely thing that will happen to me today does NOT involve Prince Charming showing up at my doorstep and saying, "Yes, yes, you are the one I want. I took one look at your stole pattern and was smitten." Problems with that scenario are abundant and do not end with the fact that I already have a quite acceptable husband.

More likely, the way the day will play out is this: The hens will escape from the pen and I'll spend a half hour wading through mud and chickenshit to round 'em up, the little hussies. Perhaps you can see why my life does not lend itself to abundant lace-wearing.

Must. Resist.