Saturday, August 25, 2007

Entrelac Tote Progress

There's only about a week left to submit bags for the Summer KAL-CAL Purse Round-up and it'll be all I can do to get this bag finished in time. I've gotten a lot done in the last couple of days because I've been off work. It's been a fun project, but I'd forgotten how long an entrelac bag can take. Just a couple more tiers of squares and I can start decreasing for the bottom of the bag and things will move along quickly then.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Cooling Off

It was only in the eighties here today, and just as the weather has cooled off so have the colors in my bag. At first I wasn't sure about the lavender, but it's grown on me and it seems to tie in with the blue shades pretty well. Actually I just checked the label and it's LP's "Supreme Purple" but it's a very light purple. Now for another tier of the Noro Kureyon, always the more fun yarn to work with. And now for the gratuitous cat picture....

My photography skills have improved enough that I've been able to take a picture of one of my black cats without it looking like a featureless black blob. This is my cat, Madison whose baby picture I've posted before. She was a Christmas present from my (soon to be) husband back in 1991, so we've had her longer than anyone else in our menagerie. She is quite precious to me. In the last couple of years she's had some health issues: kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes. We're managing all with diet and medication. And yes, my husband and I have been giving her insulin shots twice a day for the last several months. I used to be squeamish about such things, but in addition to the shots, I've learned to give subcutaneous fluids, and changed enough bandages on my pets that I could probably be a vet tech by now.

Anyway, she's in pretty good shape considering all she's gone through. She's never been what I would call a sweet cat, but I think lately she's grown to appreciate and even love me. I've always adored her, you just have to admire a cat that can intimidate a 95 lb German Shepherd or two.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Summer Heat

I've made some progress on my entrelac bag. I love these colors, but I'm beginning to question my choice of such warm colors - the temperatures here topped 100 for the third day in a row. Fortunately the weatherman's predicting a cold snap (90 degrees) for the weekend, so I'm sure I'll feel better about it soon.I'm making (or rather re-making) the first entrelac bag I designed. It's not exactly a quick knit, but it sure is a lot of fun. I'm knitting it in Lamb's Pride Worsted and Noro Kureyon. Any excuse to break out the Noro Kureyon....

Thursday, August 2, 2007

When in Doubt, Entrelac

I love coming home from a long, hard day at work to find a new package of yarn waiting for me. Thanks to all the hard working UPS workers who made it possible for me to have this yarn in time for my day off. Yummy. I just love Noro Kureyon.
I ordered it from Yarn Market because they also had Rebecca #27, the pattern book that includes the pattern for the marvelous Apricot Jacket that I've been admiring on so many other blogs. I'm not sure when I'll have time to make it, but I was worried that the pattern may not be available forever and I didn't want to risk losing out.

The Noro will be used in another entrelac bag. I had been kicking around ideas for a new bag design but it's not quite coming together yet. Then I had a request for directions for making my Entrelac Experiment bag (catchy name, huh?) and while I thought I had taken pretty good notes, they're a far cry from being a real pattern. I realized that I'd probably have to make it again to do a good job of writing it up, so I figure I'll just use it as my next bag for the Summer KAL-CAL Purse Round-up. I pulled a few skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted from my stash to see how they looked with the Noro.
I may not use all of them, I'll probably just decide as I go. Gotta go - I can't wait to get started!