LACE...the final frontier

I have been sitting on some very nice fingering weight yarn for several years now. I originally purchased my Skacel Merino Lace yarn to make the Sheer Poncho from Magknits' very first issue. The thought of many little stitches and provisional cast on quickly put this pattern to rest until I was more "advanced". And the more expert of a knitter I became, I had another reason not to do this piece (lots and lots and lots of stockinette).

This yarn is such a vibrant teal blue color, and very soft....I really need to pull it out and create a masterpiece (I do have well over 2,000 yards of the stuff after all). But the thing is....many of the lace pattern really turn me off. Some of the lace shawls strike me as "granny knits" or at the very least, not my style. Seeing Eunny's beautiful lace creation is enough to inspire. I am leaning towards the Trellis Scarf from Interweave Knits Spring 2006 or Eunny's Print O Wave Stole. I know that there have been many gorgeous Flower Basket Shawls out in blogland (another Interweave pattern), so that could be an option too!

What patterns out there have caught your eye? If I do the Trellis Scarf, I plan to modify it so that it is more of a stole. It has the stained glass look that I love.

Are you on the edge of picking up the fine needles to try your hand at lace? Join me and we can struggle through it together :)

Psst....Lady E is cranking away still...I see the end in sight (well, in the next week or so anyways). Maybe lace knitting will slow me down a bit :)

Still growing....

Lady Eleanor is now around half of the length (right around 35 inches)...50% complete (minus the fringe). If you look really close to the upper left corner, you can see a little nub of a yarn end that was going to be woven in easily until one of the kitties got ahold of it when I stepped away from it. Who knows, I might be able to do something with it when I start doing the fringe.
Have I told you how much I love weekends? They are the perfect time to relax and do whatever it is you have been thinking about or putting off all week. I don't know what I would do without my weekends...probably go insane.

Today, my sis & I went over to our Grammie's to do one of our favorite Grammie activities--make Chex Mix! Our mix is pretty traditional (Rice Chex, Cheerios, pretzel sticks, peanuts, & Bugles), but we like a fair amount of garlic on ours....YUM! We have our mix process down to a science I have to tell you.

Tonight, it is out with Hubb's dad for dinner at one of the local pizzerias here in town. Last time we went, they left a little to be desired, but you can't drop out an old favorite quite yet. Hopefully tonight they will be back to their classic tastiness. Their Italian Sausage pizza is the standard, along with onion rings. We have been really careful about eating healthy lately, so this will be a treat. Maybe they will live up to their East Side Pride tonight :)

We are introducing a lot more vegetarian to our diets. I have a great vegetarian cookbook, and we have found that Whole Foods has some good recipes too (we have tried the butternut squash casserole and it was mighty tasty). Where do like to go online to get recipes?

Lady E

Over the last few days, Lady E has made some progress. I am working on the 3rd ball of Silk Garden, and already have 15 inches + in!
The width is right around 20 inches so I am pretty close to the pattern. Yesterday, our little knit group had an impromptu get together at a quaint little coffee shop here in the old part of town. Progress was made and it is great to knit in the company of friends where you can enjoy good conversation and coffee. If you don't have a group to knit (or whatever you enjoy doing) with, I highly recommend that you find one in your area.

Friday I was brave. I rarely wear the knits I make, and especially don't wear them to the job I have with the "suits". Casual Friday lacks much meaning at my office. The men usually wear shirts and ties as usual and since I am the only female in the ranks with them, I try to stay pretty formal (although sometimes you can't help but wear a little casual from time to time). Lately, sweater vests have been sneaking out around the office and I decided that I was going to wear one of my knitted vests (the one I say is brown, that my knitting buddies say is grey). Hubbs said I am really not brave for wearing my knits because they don't tend to look homemade (in a bad way) or wonky. I was wearing my knit in comfort, enjoying it as I should.

Yesterday, hubbs and I went to one of our local independent movie theaters to see Pan's Labyrinth. I would highly recommend it for those of you out there who like a little fairy tale that has some darkness and life along side it.

We are getting another blasting of snow and the weather people are advising people not to get out on the roads until 3pm today. Lazy Sunday ahead, with the usual weekend chores around the house. Maybe hubbs will get us set up for some inside riding today. I have to tell you that this indoor riding definitely takes some getting used to. All I know is that I need to find a new bike seat!

What activities have you been enjoying this weekend?

First Finished Project of 2007

The mittens are done and eager to go outside and play in the snow (see how they are reaching to be outside). The color is a little off in this pic, but closer representation is in the post below. After the XL mittens produced last year, these children's size turned out perfect for me. I love Dale of Norway's Baby Ull...so soft.

Next project: Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole from Scarf Style. I am using Noro Silk Garden in color #208.

Usually, this would not be my top pick for colors, but hey, with a LYS going out of business and 40% off, how could I resist? This is my first experience with Silk Garden and I would definitely say that the yarn has a "rustic" appeal. Size 8's seem to be working the best for this pattern, and I hope that the variation between skeins isn't super dramatic (although I know that Silk Garden is known for that). This is also my first experience with entrelac and so far it is keeping the pattern interesting, but it is not a difficult technique.

The weather here has finally turned and winter is full speed ahead. Tonight we might get around 7 inches in the metro, which makes having the day off from work tomorrow even better..maybe Ein will want to go out for some snow dogging to enjoy the snow!

Working away

This year has started off to be very busy on the workfront. This week, I spent 2 and a half days traveling to Wisconsin and returned home after clocking about 930 miles on the road. Good news is, WI is a beautiful state. A little plain in the winter months (especially with no snow), but the winding roads and topography are splendid nonetheless. Although I was working away, my partner and I did manage to stop at a cheese shop (we were in WI afterall), drive through the Wisconsin Dells, and spend a little time driving around Taliesin. The Dells were not at all what I had expected, but I can see how it would be a fun place for families to go. I however prefer the natural beauty of a state and being able to enjoy activities such as biking, hiking, and getting out on the water.

I am a pretty big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and it was really interesting to see his home. I have decided that it would great to go back in the summer months for a tour, and maybe camp in the area. I think Hubbs would find some great mountain biking in the area.

I wanted to stop in a cheese shop to pick up some cheese curds for my mom, and came home with a couple things for hubbs & I. We stopped at Carr Vally Cheese in Sauk City. They have won over 60 top awards in the U.S. and International competitions for their cheeses. I brought home their Applewood Smoked Cheddar as well as their Gran Canaria (which the women at the store told me is similar to Parmesan in that it can be grated with a similar texture). Time to have a little wine & cheese tasting I think :) You can order their cheeses online. I noticed that they call their blue cheese...Ba Ba Blue. Hehe.

My family has vacationed to Bayfield and to Door County, but this was my first "tour" of the state. We drove past Madison and up to Oshkosh, and then made our way back through some very scenic roads and little towns. By far, the prettiest little town we saw was Watertown, with its old buildings kept up very nicely. It is fun to drive through the little towns, and see all of the old buildings of each's main streets.

Mitten progress? As they say in Wisconsin,"you betcha". #2 is now complete and so it is time to weave in the ends & block. We will see when I get to that....look at how many ends I have!

Happy New Years!

Wishing you all the very best this new year!

There has been only a little knitting done on the days off from work (4-day weekends are nice). As you can see, I had some help from Trowa who is eagerly awaiting progress on mitten 2. I am pleased with the results thus far, knitting the child's size was the right call, the first mitten (with only minor adjustments to when decreases began), fits nice and snug. And, given that we got some SNOW last night (not very much, but the ground is white), I am happy to have some mittens that fit! This weather gives me encouragement to get going on #2. Didn't my sis pick out the best colors for these mittens?


Hubbs is outside right now enjoying the 25 degree weather for a bike ride (Jan 1, training begins for '07). The group was going to ride whatever miles were equivalent to the temperature when they met at 10 a.m. So, 25 degrees, 25 miles. If it was zero out, then they were to do a century (100 miles). Brrrr, talk about dedication!