Amy Artisan

Family | Travel | Craft | Life | Books

Month: May 2006 (page 1 of 2)

S is for…

No…this isn’t an early entry in the ABC-along; rather, when thinking of what to include in this post several “S” words bubbled to the top. So, here they are.

Summer Splash

– aka Mason Dixon Ballband Dishcloth #1

Ballband Dishcloth #1

I’ve “finally” finished my first cloth from this fun book! I have to admit, I had a couple of false starts with the pattern (code for user error) but this was a fun knit to do. In fact, over the weekend I picked up 2 more color combos at Michael’s so I would have something to work on in the hotel this week. (Poor late night packing last Sunday meant I didn’t have room for much yarn in the suitcase.) Sugar’n Cream Yarn: Summer Splash & Hot Blue

Swaps

Before I knew that work would have me traveling this summer I signed up for several swaps. The great thing about being a part of a crafty/artistic family is that I was able to finish up my swap packages this weekend without being near all of my supplies. Monday afternoon I assembled the packages that needed to be sent to complete my participation in some assorted blog fun. I left Mom with a stack of packages to be mailed (thanks Mom!):

…My Knitting Vacation Swap package is en route to California. Once this package has arrived at it’s intended location I will post a picture of the knitting project that was included.

…The Knitters Tea Swap package I pulled together is en route to the Northeast.

Gift Tag Swap

…Tags for the Gift Tag Swap. Dacia is hosting a gift tag swap where you make 10 gift tags & receive an assortment of 10 gift tags from the other participants. On Sunday evening I whipped up a batch of gift tags using paper from Mom, my sister’s scrapbooking tools and some stickers I picked up at the local scrapbook store. I only wish I had made more for me to use.

Papa's Quilt

…My green square for Papa’s Quilt is on it’s way. Another softie using the Bernat Cotton Tots in mint green and the “grandma’s favorite” pattern.

In addition to sending out swap packages I also received my first swap package over the weekend. Because the Vacation Knitting Swap was not a secret Judy asked where I wanted my package sent when she saw my travel schedule & sent my swap to my parents’ house. What a fun package to open!

Vacation Swap Package

The first thing I saw was a lovely Booga Bag in great summer colors. I have seen this project on many blogs & thought it would be a fun one to have. It will definitely be used!; Next was a great water bottle: feeling unraveled…knit!; The cutest little knitting basket magnet; A fun notepad with sheep; A pattern for a broken rib scarf – I have yarn in mind for this project; 2 balls of Katia Papiro yarn – a cotton & linen blend that is perfect for summer.

Shawl

As I mentioned in my last post, my big secret knitting project in the last month was the shawl I made for Mom’s birthday. The sun-filled breakfast room at home was a great place to capture the colors of the shawl.

Monet Shawl 

Details: Morehouse Farm Merino – Monet Variegated Merino Lace in the colorway Houses of Parliament; Pattern: Morehouse Capri Shawl; Customization: The open triangle in the center has 17 rows – Mom’s birthday is May 17th. This was another delightful knit from Morehouse – I really enjoy working with this yarn. This colorway was so neat to see unfold, there are so many different colors in it.

Summertime

Other signs of summer over the Memorial Day weekend…A bit of shopping that included sandals & also a great summer fragrance that reminds me of the perfume I bought on Capri last summer…Lazy afternoon naps – every afternoon my cat, Maggie, had the right idea. This is her spot on the wicker love seat in the breakfast room. The look on her face says that life doesn’t get much better than this.

Sunny Maggie

Iced coffee – I taught my sister how to make the yummy iced Nescafe (Cafe Fria, Frappe, Freddo…) that we enjoyed frequently in Italy & Greece last summer. These are well enjoyed on hot summer days & sipping them in the states reminds us the trip…Watching the National Memorial Day Concert on PBS. One of these days we will be in the audience on the mall in Washington!

Not in Kansas Anymore…

(Or Dateline Chattanooga #2)

To say that the last couple of days have been a whirlwind of travel would be a bit of an understatement.

Flying back from Chattanooga last Wed. was not without ‘excitement’ - spring weather in Chicago meant that our flight was delayed 3+ hours. And the Chattanooga airport does not have much to distract you with if you are delayed. Towards the end we were able to use a broomstick to change the channel on one of the gate TVs & watch a bit of Alias before we finally got on the plane. While the delay was not fun, the flight to Chicago was a beautiful view – the clouds below us were so full of texture & details and the sunset above the clouds was a gorgeous mix of pinks, reds, oranges & almost purple – I wish I had taken a picture.

After a whirlwind of errands & book club on Thursday I was on an early flight to Kansas City on Friday morning. My parents drove up from Atlanta & we met up at the airport. We used to live in Overland Park, KS in the 80s so this was a bit of a “going home” weekend for us. We were in town to celebrate the wedding of a dear family friend (a sweet girl who I used to babysit a long time ago). Friday’s lunch was an excellent meal of famous KC BBQ.

Friday evening was the wedding celebration. The ceremony was a beautiful, contemporary, elegant event filled with joy & the reception was a fun party!

Megan & Larry

Congratulations Megan & Larry!!

The rest of the weekend was spent with the family of the bride (some of our dearest friends ever), other friends from when we used to live there and a fair bit of driving around & seeing how everything has changed since we moved away.

I got home last night just in time to finish packing my “work” suitcase & catch about 4 hours of sleep before flying to Atlanta this morning, picking up a rental car & heading into the office. To say I’m tired would be an understatement – I don’t know if I’ll be awake for the Alias finale tonight, but I’ll definitely watch it with my Dad when I’m home this weekend.Â

One other highlight of the weekend was knitting related – I gave my Mom her birthday present (some of the secret knitting that has been alluded to in past posts) – a Morehouse Merino lace shawl in one of the Monet colorways. I realized last night that I don’t have any pictures to share. Never fear, I’m spending the weekend with the family down in GA so next week I can share pictures of my latest project with you all.

And with that…good night!

Dateline Chattanooga

Coming to you courtesy of the wireless connection here at the hotel…

The weekend was a hubub of activity in preparation for being on the road. This week I’m in Chattanooga, I’ll be back in Chicago for one day, then off to Kansas City for the weekend for a wedding, then back down South for 2 weeks. whew! I’m tired just thinking about it.

First thing Saturday morning I went out to the backyard & cut all my remaining tulips so that I could enjoy them inside for the weekend. All of these blooms were closed when I picked them – it was fun to see them open throughout the weekend. Â

My quarterly crop club was already scheduled to meet at my house on Saturday morning so we had a fun time working on our albums.

While running errands on Saturday I picked up several crafty items that will be used in the coming weeks. First up, Mason-Dixon Knitting and some Sugar’n Cream cotton to make the Ballband Dishcloth(s). While at Homegoods (you never know what you’ll find) I happened upon Alterknits at a great price as well as a Stitch-It Kit from Sublime Stitching that was also at a nice price. On the reading front I picked up Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter and had to make sure I wasn’t laughing out loud while reading on the puddle jumper flight last night – most likely I’ll be finished with the book before the turning out the lights tonight.

Even though I’m only down here for 3 evenings (really only 2 because it was 11 by the time I checked in last night) I have a couple of small projects in the suitcase. One quick project is a green square for the Papa’s Quilt project being coordinated by Jamie. If you have a moment, go check out this latest “knitters in action” opportunity.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!!

Happy Mother’s Day Grandma!!

All that I am or hope to be I owe to my mother.” – Abraham Lincoln

Sock it to me…sorta…

This week I had my 2nd (of 2) Socks on 2 Circulars class at Arcadia. I haven’t finished the sock & actually won’t finish it to actual size. Why? Because this skein of Sassy Stripes is defective. Saturday morning while waiting at the car dealership I was knitting round & round. Then I came to this:

Sock Progress

That’s right…one strip of the yarn didn’t get dyed. I decided that would be a good point to start the heel flap so that I would get to the heel turn in class. When I went into the shop on Sunday they gave me a replacement skein. I am going to finish this sock for practice & then it will be sent back to the yarn distributor. So far I’m enjoying this technique for socks & look forward to casting on with some of the lovely handpainted yarns I’ve picked up this year.

I haven’t done a Project Spectrum Green scavenger hunt around the house yet – there will be plenty of items to capture for this – green is one of my favorite colors. Until then, here is a bit of green from the past weekend.

Derby Day

An official Kentucky Derby class from a friend’s annual party. It was a fun afternoon of traditional Derbiness – including a true southern spread of goodies & 2 minutes of us all cheering on the horses we selected in the pool. Yeah Barbaro!

During our summer weekend in Michigan last year I picked up some tulip bulbs in Holland. I planted them in my backyard flowerbed last fall & hoped for the best – the upstairs dog has a penchant for digging up stuff in there & the tulips were no exception. Thankfully, a few bulbs managed to survive & I have been enjoying the blooms over the last 10 days. Here are the beautiful blooms.

Tulips in my yard!

In the mail this week was a Happy God-Mother’s Day package from Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug (thanks to Mom for the rename idea for the little one). Inside, a Miss Butterfly original that is on my fridge, a paper “ripper” for making fun edges while scrapbooking & a great knit project tote.

Happy Godmother's Day!

The timing of this gift is great – starting next week I will be a road warrior for 8-10 weeks & so will need to be transporting projects – I think this will fit nicely in my suitcase & I will be sure to have plenty of craftiness with me. I will be in Chattanooga on an assignment – on the weekends when I don’t fly back to Chicago I’ll drive down to Atlanta to spend time with the family. Are any of you in Chattanooga? If so, drop me a line & maybe we can meet-up while I’m down there.

« Older posts

© 2024 Amy Artisan

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑