Amy Artisan

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Month: June 2006 (page 2 of 2)

Sisters Weekend “at the beach”

This weekend was the ‘follow-up’ weekend for the “4 Kansas Sisters” over at Harbor Country in Michigan. On Thursday evening my sister flew into Chicago from Atlanta at about the same time I got in from Chattanooga. On Friday morning we packed up the car, grabbed some iced coffee & picked up the other sisters then were off for a weekend “at the beach.”

The weekend weather was not your normal beach vacation weather but that didn’t stop us from having a great time – even though we didn’t dip our toes into Lake Michigan. We did some of our favorite activities in the area & also some new things that are now on our “must do” list for the area.

Friday was filled with wineries & shopping. Our first stop was our favorite, Round Barn Winery, and we sampled some new wines & picked up some favorites. As we were getting ready to leave, our gal “Courtney” who had helped us out on previous visits came in from working outside & said hello. We then checked out a “new to us” winery, Lemon Creek Winery – another fun find, a family business that has been farming that land for 150 years.

Saturday started off rainy & it became obvious that we wouldn’t be spending time on the beach on this trip – so our participation in World Wide Knit in Public day wouldn’t be happening around sand. However, we still managed to knit in public with our afternoon at the yarn shop. After a lovely lunch of crepes and quiche at Pierre Anne Crepierre we went to Sit N’ Knit with the goal of “achieving” the store name for the afternoon. The couches in the main room were occupied when we first got there so we claimed the wicker sofa & chairs on the enclosed front patio. My sister doesn’t knit so she curled up with A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber for the duration. Jen & Kristy were working on their felted bags. I went for simple knitting to destress from the work week – dishcloths & a new scarf in Knit One, Crochet Too Tartlette yarn. As always, we enjoyed yummy lattes made by the gals at the shop. Later in the afternoon we moved into the main room to knit. If this shop truly was my LOCAL yarn store I have a feeling I’d be there every week to knit.

There was a bit of stash acquisition this weekend – I managed to not bring home everything that I “oohed & ahhed over”. A few balls of Sugar’n Cream in assorted colors for dishcloths. A cotton blend in white & shades of turquoise, lime & brown – this summery yarn will become some sort of scarf for me & my sister (when I asked her to pick out yarn for herself she wanted me to make her one just like what I had picked out). I don’t remember the name of the yarn – it had just arrived at the shop. I also picked up some yarn for my next “knitting for others” project – The Think Pink Challenge (1000 pink scarves for women diagnosed with breast cancer). I selected a rosy pink wool & a chocolate wool accent to make several scarves (pattern TBD).

Other highlights of the weekend included…a return stay at a charming inn near the beach…antique shopping (include several fun acquisitions among the group)…a wonderful Turkish dinner at Cafe Gulistan…stopping in at the Abigail Heche jewelry shop – we love her stuff & would love to own more of it…a bit of outlet sale shopping in Michigan City…driving along Lake Shore Dr. in Long Beach & Michigan City at sunset & enjoying the amazing views of the lake & dunes…a new home decor store, Pomegranate Home, that had the cutest water bottles/business cards for you to take with you on you way out the door…stopping by the local scrapbook store for some fun papers & cutouts for card making…and just spending time “away from it all”…Â

Even though the pictures from the weekend are few the memories are many & we look forward to next year’s getaway. While it is always fun to “go far away” for a vacation this weekend trip was the perfect reminder that you don’t have to go far to escape from it all!

Butterfly Wishes!

Dear Miss Butterfly,

It is hard to believe that 3 years ago today you made your debut & stole our hearts! From the first time I held you in the hospital when you were just 8 hours old I was smitten. How blessed I have been to have you in my life. Even though we don’t live as close to each other anymore I hope you know that you will always be my special butterfly!

Love always my dear!

M’Amy

M'Amy & Miss Butterfly

Blue Crayons from nature’s crayon box

Ah Capri!

As a kid, the blue crayons in a Crayola box of 64 meant blue skies and blue waters in my drawings. One year ago this week was the start of the fabulous summer vacation to Italy  & Greece. As I look through the hundreds of pictures that we took in 8 days I am amazed at how much blue pops out of the pictures – skies and waters. As a Project Spectrum blue digital collage I’ve pulled together some of the bluest pictures from our trip. The blues in these pictures are the perfect backdrop for the great sites we saw – natural and manmade.

Blue Italy & Greece

A few details about the pictures…

The picture at the top of this post is my favorite one from the trip – I Faraglioni off the coast of Capri. Since I returned from the trip it has almost continually been the wallpaper on my work laptop – with several different clients I’ve had to project presentations from my laptop in meetings & the picture never fails to start a conversation.

Other scenes from the trip: the Pope’s apartment & St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City; looking across the Forum from the Coliseum in Rome; Lots of Capri – including waiting to go in the Blue Grotto; Sorrento; Pompeii ruins; views coming into Greece via ferry; along the coast of Greece; ancient Delphi; the Acropolis & original Olympic Stadium in Athens…

Back home for a bit…

…46 hours to be exact – that’s the elapsed time between when the cab dropped me off on Friday evening & when the cab will pick me up on Sunday evening to head back to the airport.

When I got home on Friday I was pleasantly surprised to see that my Knitters Tea Swap package was waiting at my front door (instead of held with the rest of my mail). I quickly opened up the box & was thrilled with the goodies.

 – 2 beautiful balls of Louisa Harding Kimona Angora that contain so many of my favorite colors – A box of Dutch Stroopwafel cookies – I’ll have to do the traditional “way to eat” & warm one over a cup of hot tea. – 3 boxes of Revolution Tea: Decaf Honeybush Caramel; Sweet Ginger Peach & White Pear. This is one of my favorite brands of tea so it was a perfect selection. I had seen the Pear online but hadn’t had a chance to pick up a box yet.

Thanks to Nancy in Arizona for a lovely box!

Travel Pocket

Now that Carrie has received her Knitting Vacation Swap box I can post the picture & details about the knit project I made for her. A travel pocket (or envelope clutch) – to hold a journal, pen, postcards, stamps, maps, travel brochures and any other paper while on the journey.

Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull in Pink (4504), Red (3718) & Orange (3507) all held together

Pattern: My own design. I knit half of a “Grandma’s Favorite” dishcloth for the flap before switching to a stockinette rectangle. After steam blocking, the side seams were zig-zagged on the sewing machine & then overstitched in yarn. The button is a vintage one from Mom’s button tin.

Also included in the swap package a set of custom “Vacation Swap” stitch markers from Katie’s Pink Sheep shop. I’ve enjoyed all the cute sheep that Katie has made & when I emailed her about a custom order for this swap she said “no problem” & went to work. Unfortunately the sheep were intercepted somewhere in the mail. Katie quickly made a replacement set of sheep & mailed them to my parent’s house so they could be included in the package. Thanks Katie for helping me out!

Dishcloth 414

– aka another Ballband…So named for the hotel room I was in this week where 90% of the knitting was done – notice the lovely ottoman pose

Sugar’n Cream yarn – Violet Veil Ombre & Hot Purple

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