Snowy Saturday

After the mildest MO winter anyone can remember in a long time, we're getting a bit of a late-winter snow storm coming through. Usually we're sick of snow by this point in the season, but this year it's actually kind of fun to get a February storm. It helps that it's hitting on a Saturday when we don't really have anyplace to go, so we can play in the snow & then come in and lounge around with some hot chocolate afterward, without the driving-to-work worries or any of that.

The forecasters said yesterday that we would get 2-4 inches, but we're already at 5" and it's still coming down. So much for accurate weather predictions.

Entrelac

When I picked up a couple of skeins of Noro Taiyo at the knitting retreat a couple of weekends ago, I mentioned to a couple of other knitters that this would be the perfect time to teach myself entrelac, a technique I've been meaning to try but just haven't gotten around to casting on. I was informed that entrelac is pretty complicated and I should probably sign up for a class -- I might not be able to teach myself.

Well.

If you are reading this blog, you probably know me well enough to realize that no one tells me that I can't do something. So this weekend, I printed off a basic pattern & started futzing with it. Behold the results of the self-teaching.

The Elms Retreat

I am freshly returned from a lovely weekend of knitting, knitting, and more knitting! I went to The Studio's annual Winter Retreat at the Elms in Excelsior Springs. The Studio's staff really put on a wonderful weekend... there were lots of interesting classes -- I took a really neat one featuring Vivian Høxbro's mitered squares technique -- as well as great food, a fabulous trunk show from Interweave Knits, some really awesome door prizes, and lots of cool new people to meet, all at a lovely old grand hotel that just oozes ambiance. The best part of the weekend, however, was just hanging out with friends old & new in the beautiful lobby to knit & chat. Here, Laura & I wasted no time getting down to business on Friday night.

One of the best things about the retreat is the market, where the Studio debuts some cool new things for the next season. One of their new vendors is... you guessed it... Dome Hill Yarns! I had many kind compliments about my yarn from quite a few of the attendees.

One of the regular features is a student fashion show on Saturday night... I determinedly finished the languishing Angelina, the lovely bedjacket from White Lies Designs, in time to wear it for the show. It was a hit! It is really very fun to wear with the dramatic collar and deep cuffs.