WIP: Ribs and lace tank

I'm 1.5 balls of yarn into the ribs and lace tank from the spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. I love the color of the yarn, Knitpicks Shine Sport in Hydrangea.

WIP: toe-up jaywalker sock

I've just begun a pair of toe-up jaywalker socks. I'm really loving the yarn, Trekking XXL, which was birthday present from my little sister.

Completed project: Skull and crossbones mini tote

Done! It's a bit smaller than I'd hoped, but its large enough to hold the essentials - keys, planner and wallet. Putting it in the washer for a few more rounds did not de-fuzz it as I had hoped, but it did shrink it a whole lot more. I ended up using the beard trimmer on my husband's razor to make it look less fuzzy. I think my next project with this yarn will be a felted bowl, and then perhaps a larger tote.



Just to put it in scale, the tote is not as tall as a paperback book:

Chicago

This weekend we went to Chicago, one of my favorite cities, to visit family. We took the Metra into the city and had a really fabulous time. We had lunch at the Taste of Chicago and spent some time at the Adler Planetarium. We had wanted to go to the Shedd Aquarium but the line to get in had to be a quarter mile long. The Planetarium was an excellent second choice. We briefly stopped at Loopy Yarns where I picked up a bamboo and cotton blend sock yarn and a big ball of hemp yarn, which I already have projects in mind for. Then we walked around downtown for a bit and happened upon Millennium Park, home of the world's largest shiny metal bean:



We stopped at the Berghoff for dinner on our way back to the train station. It was one of Chicago's oldest restaurants and obtained the city's first liquor license after prohibition ended. It's now the home of 17/west, a restaurant run by a daughter of the previous owners. The Berghoff is mentioned in at least one of Max Allan Collin's (my favorite author) books about the fictional detective Nate Heller and I've wanted to visit it ever since reading about it. The interior is very cool; lots of great old woodwork, chandeliers and murals. It was not a disappointment.

Completed project: Anastasia socks

They're done!





The differences in striping and pooling bothered me at first, but it's starting to grow on me now. The socks fit, they're comfortable and I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. The only thing I'd do differently next time is choose a different bind off - the picot bind off is pretty but it flares out a bit too much at the top.