Knitting in the North

I go ahead and start something completely different. Crazy, I know, but I was looking at my knitting projects to come, and decided to start on this, for an upcoming birthday gift. I'm not in a big panic yet to get it done, but I know how fast those deadlines can come up. I do plan on taking it on our camping holiday next week, so I'm sure I'll make a lot of progress while we're away. I'm using Patons Shetland Chunky, in a grey/dark rose ragg. Here's my progress so far:

It's a super fast knit, and made even nicer with bulky yarn that feels pretty good in my hands, and an attractive, but still easy lace pattern. I think my friend will really love it - I thought of her as soon as I saw this yarn. One of my absolute favorite things about knitting is making gifts for people I love.

I have cast on for Sizzle, but am still on the seed stitch border. I'm using KnitPicks Shine Sport, because I had it in my stash. I swatched on both US size 5 and 6, and got gauge with the size 6. Obviously, I had to cast on with size 5, just to make things difficult for myself.