The mystery is solved!

Dorothy and I took an entrelac class today and I must admit to being totally surprised as to how easy the technique is. It is basically nothing more than a lot of short rows! WoW! Who knew?! That wasn't the only thing I learned, however. I learned that I was a much bigger yarn snob than I thought. We were told to bring scrap yarn so I stuck a couple of colors of Cascade 220 in my bag. When we got to class, we were each handed a ball of yarn and told that we would pass them around for each row of squares. The first ball I got was beyond awful! It reminded me of that craft rug yarn we would use for weaving in girl scout camp. It was nasty stuff! The next ball was some acrylic worsted which was a little better, but not much. For the third row I just pulled my own stuff out of my bag and it felt 100% better! It really doesn't matter since it's just a sample, but the cheap stuff just didn't feel good in my hands. I've been told that I'm way too anal about my tools and materials, but nice stuff feels--well--nice! If I'm going to spend hours with this stuff in my hands, why wouldn't I want it to feel nice!

Here is my sample. The different colors really help you to see where you are. Now I have to see how I do with a self striping yarn and garter stitch entrelac. I have some Noro Silk Gardent to do a scarf.

I got out of Lovely Yarns with a minimum amount of money spent. I almost bought some Crystal Palace Popcorn yarn but I didn't like the color selection. I found a wider selection of colors online, but I don't think I'll buy it until I know I'll really use it. As I was getting ready to leave the store, I saw a gorgeous little scarf on display which was made out of a new Bamboo tape which was very nice! It looks like Rayon in that it has an incredible sheen with some higher shine spots which give it almost a metallic gleam. The scarf pattern is a simple lace which I thought would be nice for spring and summer which is why I picked out a light beigy color.


Before we went to the class, we stopped at Cloverhill where I found some nice green sock yarn for the Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Sock Pattern that I have. That pattern needs a solid color to show off the lace pattern and I have been looking for a green. They had Louet Gems 100% merino sock yarn which is gloriously soft! I also broke down and bought the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook.


It is going to be a major adjustment going back to school on Tuesday after almost a full week off. Talk about being spoiled! Tomorrow is my last day of freedom! I think I will go start David's Pop Up Paws this evening. I'm leaving off the flap and just making the fingerless gloves for him to wear when he plays his fife. He wants the style to be as historically correct as possible. I didn't tell him that I'm using a merino alpaca blend yarn. Granted it's all natural fiber, but in Colonial times they probably used some scratchy old wool which I refuse to do. It's bad enough having the little woman sitting at home knitting these things. That's already taking the authenticity to the extreme!

Cold Spell

Well it seems that the extreme cold spell may be coming to an end. It's been horrifically cold!

I found Harley nestled between the portable radiator and the baseboard heat! He ended up sleeping there 2 nights in a row!

I finally finished Maddy's mitts! I've decided that the Frog Tree Merino was worth the trouble. Of the three pairs of Fetching mitts that I've made, these are by far the softest and the most comfortable. They will probably be the warmest as well. I forgot to bind off using smaller needles, but the picot edge turned out just right!


I do hope Maddy will like them! I wrapped them up with some gummy bears for her Valentine gift and put it with Bird's gift--the Greek hat and gummy bears--on the bed so they'll see them when they get in from College Park. This is assuming, of course, that they are seeing straight after being in College Park. Things tend to get a little crazy over there!

Greg was waiting on the bed all evening for me! He is the only cat I know that, as the saying goes, "sleeps like a dog!" He doesn't wake up! He sleeps like a teenager!

I'm excited to be taking an entrelac class tomorrow! I hope I'll like it! I hear people either love doing it or they hate it, so we will see! I'm also excited to participate in Secret Pal 10 so I'll have to get my questionaire up tomorrow as well! Time for some shut-eye!