Zippy

That is how I would describe my secret project. I crocheted the In Bloom bag from Debbie Stoller's the Happy Hooker with some leftover Elann.com Peruvian Highland Wool. You may recall this yarn from my Sesame Street inspired diaper soakers so this was definitely stash-busting. My embroidery is Dia de los Muertos from Sublime Stitching.

Quite a while ago I had ordered some patterns from Sublime Stitching. I kept looking at them wondering what I could embroider and was coming up at a loss. So, I thought to myself, I will make a clutch and then spice it up. Embroidering on this clutch was not an easy task. It was a little too thick for my hoop and the orange didn't really let the ink show through. There was quite a bit of free-hand (you can click on the pic to get a better view of my stitching).

I still need to add lining, an inside clasp, and of course some warm weather. But I have a few months to go until the Day of the Dead, so there is not a rush!

Speaking of Elann.com, this has been one of my favorite sites to catch a good deal. For some reason, I haven't been there in a while (my last few purchases have been supporting local yarn stores, which is a good thing, since one of them just closed because the owner didn't feel as though it was turning a profit fast enough). Anywho...I peaked in last night to see what was brewing, and stumbled across this. I immediately started scheming for a project I could use this on. I love the colors. I really LOVE the colors. So, I pulled out my trusty Wrap Style and saw that Tzarina Wrap could be lovely with this. By the way, I ordered the Santiago :) I am so in love with the colors available that I might have to pick out a couple more projects! Alpaca.....woo hoo!

Ice Ice baby....

Yup, we got blasted. Freezing rain and then snow. Power outages across the city from big tree limbs down and lots of the weight on the power lines. Luckily enough, we have had our power going all weekend. Yesterday was a whole day inside, mystery project finished (plus embroidery), and today it is blocking. I still need to line it (hint hint), but I think that will be delayed until I actually get out to a fabric store. Most likely, pics will be on the blog before lining, I am not so good at keeping secrets.

After a day of being cooped up inside and riding his trainer, hubbs ventured out to ride in the snow. Snow biking, I love the pics he brings back. The pic one is from the road that leads up to my high school....snow makes everything soooo beautiful. One of my friends just called who lives out in the country (about 45 min outside of Dsm) and they have had their power out since 10 a.m yesterday...she said that they might not get their power back until the end of the week (apparently rural communities are low priority?). Brrrr, at least her parents live about 20 miles away and have their heat so that they have a place to stay!

This afternoon I was stir crazy and so hubbs dug us out and we zipped over to Starbucks....yum. I soooo love my Starbucks. It was a nice treat. We joked in the car about how Starbucks was a necessity :)

I did manage to work on Trellis, just a little. Lace brings with it all sorts of fears: Are my Addi's going to drop stitches? Am I going to make a mistake and have to work backwards? Is this delicate yarn going to snap?

Lucky for me, I am getting sort of used to working with this yarn and needles. I think it will definitely be a project for a "little bit at a time" because it is taking some serious concentration. I have to keep a close eye on those itty bitty stitches. Here is the progress after 8 rows of the border.

Otherwise, we have been watching movies to pass the time (and avoid too much work around the house). We watched the Brothers Grimm (thanks M&D) as well as The Departed. The Departed was great, and we found the Brothers Grimm to be entertaining as well. I also am becoming addicted to myspace. Do any of my knitting buddies have myspace?

Lazy weekend ahead

The weather is turning on us again this weekend in Iowa. We had nice weather all week (enough to melt most of our snow), but the weekend has brought another blast of ickyness...right now it is freezing rain with potentially lots of snow behind it. And the winds are really strong. That means a weekend inside. Good for relaxation and a date night tonight with hubbs.

I have been a little bit blah on my knitting lately (can't get the juice going to want to work on cobweb weight yarn), so I am playing with a little crochet again. My "object" is done (I will let it be a blog surprise for the finished project), but I am wondering now if I can embroider on top of this. I have some great designs from Sublime Stitching that are just itching to get used. Well, I will give it a whirl and pull them out if it doesn't work.

What are your knitting inspirations right now?

I Heart my Valentine

Yup, hubbs did it again. In his sweetness he ordered me exactly what I wanted for Valentine's day....a heart rate monitor. For the last few months, we have been actively going to the gym together and I decided that I needed a better way to track/chart my progress. My typical activities are more cardio then anything and my favorite machine is the elliptical. I also will do some biking as well as spend some time on the track.

I soon developed a frustration with the machines. Often times on the elliptical, it was unable to read my heart rate. Now, you can plug in your height, weight, & age, but I really have been doubting the accuracy of the machines (heart rate, calories burned, etc). The solution? My own monitor programmed exactly for me keeping track on my progress!

On of our buddies, P Bear has been a running fiend lately. She is training for her 1st half marathon and has already managed to Run herself Ugly (or hot as her man B would say). I myself don't have any goals/events set to work for, but I just want to improve my general fitness level.

I am especially excited about being able to upload my activities on the computer to see the progress. One of the features I think will really be key is to view heart rate intensity and different training zones. And to top it off...my heart rate monitor is the vibrant red...perfect for a Valentine!

Knit Out and Le Slouch

We made it to the Knit Out on Saturday just in time to check out the dogs from Woof Wear modelling their collection. I am such a sucker for poofy tails and cute sweaters. I am getting ideas for another sweater for Ein. Too bad winter is nearing its end. Knit Out was sort of what I was expecting. There was a great turnout of knitters of all styles. Many people just had their projects knitting away in the middle of the mall. Knitting dynamics were in action!

Several vendors were lined up handing out free knit/crochet patterns (Lion Brand, Patons, Bernat, and several others), and I even got some free Clover 17's and a skein of Bernat's Boa furs. This was a great opportunity for people interested in learning to knit/crochet to get a crash course and a free set of needles or hook & yarn. One of our good friends, Julie (and her hubbs Kyle) were with us for the bike expo and so ventured to Knit Out with us. Julie got in line for learning to knit, and boy is she a quick study. I hope to have converted another hip knitter out there!

As for meeting knitwear designers/authors, I didn't really succeed much in that arena. There weren't any there at the time that I was familiar with. I did, however, get to meet the Glitter Knitter....wow does he have knitting zest! Their shop is the Yarn Garage and they were there teaching people our art! It is great to see such creative people in the industry...definitely not stuffy knitters in that shop! Oh, and did people oogle my Lady Eleanor? You bet they did!

As for how I spent the car ride, I thought I would use some leftover Noro from Lady Eleanor to try my hand at Knit & Tonic's Le Slouch. This pattern is well-written, but for me Le Slouch turned out to be Le Flop. Silk Garden's stripey tendencies turned my Le Slouch into a Rasta hat. I mean, I love the Caribbean and the flare of the islands, but this look isn't for me :) I love my reggae, but I don't think I could pass much for a Rastafarian.

I used size 7's for the ribbing and 8's for the body. If I had to do it again, I would have used 6's and then 7's for the body as this was way to slouchy and loose for my small head. I will probably rip this and then use the yarn for something else. What to do with 2 and a smidge skeins of Silk Garden.....hmmmm.

What are your thoughts? Does this hat float or sink as much as I think?

What luck!

Hubbs and I are heading north to Minneapolis for a bike expo this weekend that we go to every year for one of the big cycling distributors...and when I was searching around on the Mall of America website, I saw that this weekend is the Knit Out 2007 !

Anyone going to this?

I hope to make it there for a while one of the days (how could I not), so if you are out and about, keep an eye out for me in my Lady E!

What luck! I am really excited about the designers that will be there.

The boys are snug....

And all is right with the world :)

Hubbs V Day Scarf was finished over the weekend. The pick above is pre-blocking, but it gives a good illustration of the texture. I do believe that Last Minute Knitted Gifts was right in that it was a 4-6 hour knit. I even blocked it and fluffed it up in the dryer this morning on delicate so it would be ready to go for our next big storm. Hubbs says that it is super soft. The storm isn't here yet :)Yesterday we picked up a new bed for Ein. Costco has everything. He loves it. Sometimes our pooch is sooo spoiled :)Last night was a perfect night to watch the Grammy's and snuggle by the fire. And yes, the pets all snuggle up by the fire too! What was your favorite Grammys moment? We really enjoyed Justin Timberlake...that man has some serious style.

Finit-o

Lady Eleanor.....blocked, warm, & soooooft....LOVE IT!

Do you remember that skit from TV...I think that it was SNL when they would do movie reviews and they would chime in "Hated it"...well, definitely not the case with Lady E.

If I were to knit this again, the only adjustment I would do is to use size 6's instead of 7's. Lady E looked pretty perfect while I was knitting, but post blocking, the stitches have a little more gape then what I like.

I would highly recommend this knit. Entrelac is a fun technique and Noro made for a great choice...how could so many knit bloggers be wrong? Well, of course they weren't!

After indulging myself with this expensive knit, it is time to get hubbs up to speed with a nice scarf of his own. With this cold weather, he has been wrapping up in a crocheted scarf I made for him like 4.5 years ago when I was still living with my parents (pre-engagement/marriage) and just getting into knitting/crocheting. The yarn is some type of a wool/acrylic blend so it has been durable, but I decided he needed some luxury around his neck.

He picked out a pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that he liked (the Men's Cashmere Scarf). I zipped out to one of the local yarn stores and picked up some Debbie Bliss Casmerino SuperChunky. I got out my 11's and right away found out that this yarn is too "springy" to show the nice texture of the pattern. Hubbs couldn't find another pattern he liked better, and so I altered this one to spread out the "waffles" a bit. So far it looks up to hubb's standards. I hope to have it wrapped around his neck by V Day.

Tea, anyone

What is it with knitted Tea Cozies? Is there something I just don't get being an American....are these a British thing?

I love my tea....but really, who is knitting these things?

Super Bowl Sunday

Wow, it is crazy cold here in Iowa. Freeeeezing!What does that mean? Lots of time to work on Lady E...and the body is done! Woot woot! Time to block and then add the fabulous-o fringe. The pattern calls for cutting 52, 40-inch strands for the fringe. This could definitely be a Super Bowl project. I actually did the same fringe technique on My So-Called Scarf last year. This one will be more elaborate.

Hubbs called for some gluttonous football food this weekend and so we are treating ourselves to an abundance of goodies. We made Puppy Chow yesterday, got an early start on Red Beans & Rice that is simmering away this morning, and will be having cornbread as well as a cheesy bean dip. This is my first attempt at some New Orlean's style Red Beans & Rice...beans soaking overnight and the whole deal. We will see how that goes. We are truly spoiling ourselves today. Comfort food for a cold-a$$ day!

I am happy, Hubbs downloaded a few iTunes for me that have been lingering in my head from radio play. I am all about Hate (I Really Don't Like You) by the Plain White T's and Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats (did I just confess that)? :) What songs are stuck in your head lately?