Lace is always lovely, no matter what

She's done! Presenting.....the Luscious Lace Scarf.



Found this patt by knitting pixie on ravelry, which uses a 2 ply cashmere/silk blend, and in the same yardage (400 yds) as my CashSilk Lace. The bonuses were that it used a needle I already own (3.75 mm) and every other row is a rest row...always welcome!

The pattern is easily memorised. This pleases me.

I'm hoping the lace design is not lost in all this gorgeous watery colour.



I know it's an Olympic colourway, but when I look at this, I think of glaciers, snowflakes, and Lake Louise. And without trying too much harder, I also see blue skies, lush foliage and tropical waters.



I was chomping at the bit to make this scarf after a lot of deliberation about which pattern to choose, so excited was I to get my hands started on knitted lace. In my hurry to cast on, I forgot to think about the edging on this scarf. There are no garter edges, just a beautiful wavy-ness that gives way to rolling in on itself on the long sides. After working about six inches into the scarf, I thought about it, but decided I was having too much fun so I just kept on knitting!



It's ever so soft, feathery, light, and was quite satisfying to knit. Took care of my lace needs for now!

Now....how about some cables?

Canada Red

Handmaiden Fine Yarns hand-dyed some Casbah in a special colour for Urban Yarns: Canada Red. I scooped it as soon as I read the blog post, and felt very cheery and heartened when I saw it, the colour is so rich! I love how it looked in the skein....kind of felt I needed two so I could keep one looking so pristine. How many favourite yarns can a girl have? My first time knitting with Casbah (merino, cashmere, nylon), one skein (355 yards) worked up perfectly (on 4 mm needles) in the form of Traveling Woman, free pattern on ravelry.



This lace scarf/shoulder shawl is very similar to the beloved Ishbel, with stockinette in the first section for speed and warmth, then lace for all-over prettiness. The edging lace pattern is dainty, and blocks out with slighter points than Ishbel. I noticed the points became even less so after I wore it for the day, but I think the resulting shape is a nice change from the more defined triangular shawl. Shawl size after blocking has a wing span of 57 inches, and is 13 inches deep. I had a teeny tiny little ball left over.



I'm into it. Love these Olympic-themed colourways, keep them coming!

Speaking of which, onward to Luscious Lace, still in progress....

Renovation 2009 - "After"

Prettier.



More functional.



Better use of space.



New ideas.



Improved storage.



In every way.



Kitchen reno. Check.

Thanks Doug!

Sixteen Projects to a New Kitchen

Yes, well, might we say I needed something to take the edge off all the drywall dust, the busyness of the house with the workers coming and going, and of course, all the decision making. Besides the wine, I mean.

Staying with my plan of easy mindless knitting while my energy could be directed to the BIG project, I cranked out mostly hats and mittens. I won't bore you with the details of each one, but I did put them together in a wee slide show so you can view them at once. It's all on ravelry!

Here they are, the results of my favourite coping mechanism (but we all know it's so much more than that) in 6.5 weeks from demolition day, to the day we were fully operational. Yep, when I wasn't driving around in Richmond picking stuff out, I was knitting.

Renovation 2009 - "Before"

When we bought our house in 1999, we knew we would renovate our kitchen one day. It looked a bit old-fashioned, but was certainly functional enough for what we needed with toddlers at the time.

Those toddlers have grown to be a tween and a teenager! Our kitchen, like us, has aged. Time for change (I'm talking about the kitchen).



Most of you have heard the story about the oven breaking down on Christmas Day, and had been "adjusted" to work for us until we were ready to renovate.

The stove elements, well, two of them were hit and miss most of the time.



The dishwasher, the one where we're never supposed to see the repairman? Yeah, twice. Both times, the circuit board.



The frig was still going, though a bit on the small side for us on party days.

Cupboards, floors, backsplash, lights, and paint needed "updating."



Enter: Doug, our longtime contractor.

And so it begins

Happy New Year!

Our kitchen renovation kept me pretty busy during the fall (pictures to come), but I successfully "knit through it" to keep myself from daily frazzle. I kept my projects on the simple side (pictures to come), but now that the kitchen's done....I'm so ready for lace.

Quick trip out to Urban Yarns before starting my shift, and a little skein of CashSilk Lace from Sweet Georgia sung out to me. I took it to work and kept it by my computer so we could share a little bonding time before meeting the ball winder.

A limited edition colourway: wetcoast winter.



A scarf is born. Bliss.