Teaser

Yesterday was Grandma's Marathon up here in Duluth, and for the first time I was able to go down and watch all the festivities- right up to cheering a native Minnesotan to win Grandma's for the first time since '82 and the first American since '95! It was abuzz with people, energy, and of course lots of tired runners (I would personally pass out at mile 3.4 if I ever tried to run something like that). I was able to be right at the finish line to watch the first place winner cross the line for the Men's and Women's marathon and the Wheelchair Marathon. Duluth pulled out all the stops- and Lake Superior decided to give us the first day above 60 degrees this summer- with sun! This morning is just as beautiful, prompting a cup of coffee as I clean up around the apartment and work on some projects with all the windows wide open.
All my projects right now are actually for other people. The Dale has come out of the corner, and I've started to do a row or two every single night before I head to bed. It's pretty thrilling that the progress is finally starting to show. I'll post a picture when it actually begins to look like I've made progress. In the meantime, I have plenty to work on besides that. I've finished knitting the outside of chalk bag, and it's making me a little nervous because of how big it is. I'm starting to second guess my calculations for how big it's going to be. I don't want to turn it into a chalk pot, but I don't want it to be shrunk too small, either. Tyler wanted it to be on the bigger side because his complaint was that his other chalk bags were too small for his hands, so maybe I'll just make it and hope for the best.
It still looks big to me... gulp...I only want to show a little bit of my other project- some Mosey Legwarmers for my dancer friend Jenelle, because I'm not sure if she reads this or not, and I want them to stay a surprise as to what they look like. I'm on the endless ribbing on the second legwarmers, and I'm looking forward to finishing them up this week some time- probably next weekend during my three-day stint at VE, especially if it's as nice out then as it is right now. The size of the needles and yarn is making it go by faster than I thought, and I'm trying to squeeze it in during breaks or bus rides, and it's growing slowly but surely. I have to say I'll probably be happy to get this one finished. It took a little over a skein to do the first one legwarmer, and since I only bought two skeins with high hopes I would only need that many, I'll have to make one more trip to Yarn Harbor to probably finish this project once and for all.
With all this gift project knitting, I decided that it was time to put something in the que for myself as my next project. Feel free to enjoy the yarn I picked for the project- buttery Malabrigo Lace Baby Merino, in a creamy white:Soft and thin, I plan on knitting the Whisper Cardigan from the spring '09 issue of Interweave Knits. It only requires 2 skeins of the lace, knitting up on size 7 needles- making this my least expensive sweater yet (cost-wise, the Dale to the Whisper Cardigan is like comparing a NYC Penthouse to my apartment). If it turns out as well as I hope, I may have to make more than one. The best part is that I got Cheryl addicted to the pattern as well, especially after she and I checked it out on Ravelry on my last trip to the shop. We've been planning on doing the Vivienne pattern as a KAL once we both finish our Dales, but she was right over at the luxery yarns with me, picking some yarn out and oogling the pattern. I'm pretty excited to start this project, but I won't until I'm done with the legwarmers- they're on my size 7's!!
Working later tonight, but with a whole day off tomorrow I've got plenty to do. Time to go enjoy some coffee and planning at my sewing table and feel the lovely breeze off Superior.
It's finally summer...