Amy Artisan

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Category: Knit (page 18 of 25)

There’s No Place Like Home

The Wizard of Oz has always been one of my favorite movies. Maybe it has to do with being a Kansas gal. How many of you remember “getting to stay up late” to watch the movie on TV when you were a kid? When I moved to Georgia before 10th grade, many comments were made about “being from Kansas” – to which I would respond that Dorothy did indeed live across the street from me.

When I recently saw this pin “3 Clicks From Home” at Melissa’s Eggman Studios it seemed like a perfect way to celebrate a favorite movie and being a Kansas gal.

On Thursday evening I wished I could have clicked my heels three times to get home. Summer storms impacted flights in and out of Chicago – so I “got to” hang out in the Chattanooga airport for 5 1/2 hours while waiting for my flight home. At least the passengers sitting near me at the gate were in pretty good spirits throughout the wait – each delay update caused a mixture of groans and chuckles. I did some knitting on the sash belt that I have been working on – a 10 year old boy was intrigued by the knitting and another passenger joked that it would be a sweater by the time we finally got to board the plane. After waiting an hour in the line for a taxi at O’Hare I was putting the key in my door at 1AM on Friday – it was 10 1/2 hours from the time I left the project office in Chattanooga till I was home.

Over the last couple of weeks the mail has once again been filled with some fun goodies.

I Won! Recently Amanda Cathleen had a contest for some free alpaca yarn that she was given on her recent vacation. In addition to the yarn she also included some great stitch markers that she made. Thanks for the goodies! I think I know “just” the pattern for this yarn – stay tuned.

Project Spectrum Postcard Swapping continues. Margene was my blue swap pal. Anastasia (in Australia) was my purple swap pal.

My swap pals have been very understanding of some delays in getting postcards out to them. Last Sunday I was busy with papers & flora/fauna pictures – the cards have been dispatched to Pennsylvania, Utah & Australia. In my rush to get them in the mail I didn’t get pictures snapped.

Have you swapped with Trek yet? Her sock bag swap is a great idea! When I saw this bag on her site I knew it was time to swap – this bag contains 2 of my favorite things: sunflowers (see Kansas gal above) and purple. So, I swapped with her for some of my handmade notecards featuring pictures from my Italy & Greece trip.

Jodi (aka Purl Needlemeyer) has developed a fun knitting organization kit – Gettin’ Knit Together – it is filled with all sorts of great things that are being put to use in organizing my stash & supplies.

Sunny Violets Bib – This weekend I finished up this Mason Dixon baby bib. It matches with a yellow onesie that I had picked up several months ago. This one is on it’s way to Baby Lilly in Texas. (For those of you who are making these bibs, when you’re looking for cute buttons make sure that they can be machine washable. Several cute buttons that I initially picked up where hand wash only – not practical for baby bibs.)

Speaking of home…where is yours? I’ve got a Frappr map going (better late than never…) – if you would, please take a minute to put a pin in the map so I can see where you are.

Simple Summer Weekend

After the extreme heat of the last week or so the weather this weekend was just perfect! From midday Friday on I have been able to have the windows open at home and enjoy the summer breezes through the house. While the weekend didn’t contain a lot of “big” things it was full of lots of simple pleasures.

Simple Salad – On Friday I turned the stove on once to boil some chicken breasts & then enjoyed a simple and delicious chicken salad throughout the weekend. (Here’s the “recipe” – 3 parts diced chicken, 1 part golden raisins, 1 part roughly chopped walnuts, mayonaise to moisten, salt & pepper to taste.)

Simple Sweet – Breakfasts & desserts this weekend were easy yummy yogurt parfaits (vanilla yogurt, fresh cherries (pitted) & a bit of granola).

Simple Knit – While I have many projects on the needles right now my weekend knitting was focused on the current baby blanket – one of the baby boys was born last weekend so I need to get this blanket finished quickly.

Simple Sounds – As I’ve mentioned before, Pink Maritini is my favorite band. They recently released a live concert to be broadcast on PBS stations during the pledge drive. While I didn’t see the show on my local station, I was able to purchase the concert on DVD when I became a member of the station. The DVD was waiting for me in my held mail.

On Saturday evening my good friend Elaine came over – she travels for work as well so we hadn’t seen each other since before the holidays (yikes!). Indeed, we exchanged Christmas (2005) gifts. We went to our favorite Thai restaurant for dinner – because the weather was so nice we sat outside. As dinner progressed a bit of rain moved in but as others fled inside we continued to sit outside and finished dinner with a few raindrops. After dinner we came back to my place to chat & had the Pink Martini DVD as background.

On Saturday I finished reading the Yarn Harlot’s latest book, Knitting Rules. This was a fun read and refresher about knitting basics. When this book was released I looked forward to seeing when she would be coming to Chicago. Unfortunately her tour schedule and my work schedule are in conflict – she will be at My Sisters Knits on Monday evening when I’ll be back in Chattanooga. Chicago Knit Bloggers, I’m looking forward to reading your accounts of her visit.

After church today I braved the crowds to check out the brand new Target that just opened about 4 blocks from my house. This land was once a shopping center that had a Venture, then a K-Mart and then it sat empty & in disrepair for a while. Driving by today you would never know the previous life of the property – this Target covers the entire plot of land with the parking on the ground level & the store above. Of course everyone was checking out the store today – it is a great addition to the neighborhood. The only downside to the visit was because it is brand new there were no “clearance” end caps to check out (or maybe that is a good thing, because my cart always tends to fill up when I see those).

User error (mine) in booking my flights to Chattanooga means that I don’t head south until early, early on Monday morning – instead of being enroute to the airport right now I’m enjoying the sounds of the neighborhood & summertime breeze through the open windows. A few simple summer things!

What simple summer pleasures have you enjoyed recently?

Beyond Dishcloths & a bit of Butterfly time

A lot of my knitting recently has been dishcloth sized because it is relatively small & simple – so perfect for travel. Since I was home this week I was able to work on some larger projects…finished one that has been on the needles, started 2 more, started & finished another.

One (+ One) Skein Felted Clutch/Tote

Felted Clutch

This is a cross between the The clutch you’ll never give up and The Felted Striped Tote from One Skein. I used less than 1 skein of Cascade 220 & 1 skein of Lornas Laces Glory (I think it was Mixed Berries). I knew that I wouldn’t have enough of Glory for the entire bag so I stopped it a couple of rows before the self handles.

This was my first felting project & was a lot of fun – both on the needles & in the finishing. It went through the hot cycle twice in a pillowcase with an old pair of jeans. I didn’t capture any before pictures but the 2nd cycle was definitely needed to get this down to a good size. Once it finishes drying it needs a bit of a fuzzcut before it is ready to go.

I don’t know who will end up with this – while I’m not a pink person there are several pink ladies with birthdays in the coming months.

Hook ‘Em Horns

When I first saw this colorway I knew that it was destined to be a knit for Miss Butterfly – both of her parents are UT alums. I “whipped up” this poncho in just a couple of hours this week (actually twice, I ended up frogging the first one because I didn’t like how it ended). I’ve had the yarn for several months but since Miss Butterfly was in town I thought it would be great to give it to her in person instead of mailing it to her. Here are some shots of her modeling it when she was here for a “Sleepover at M’Amy’s House” (more details down below).

Hook 'Em Horns

Project Details: Based on the Kiddie Capelet. My modifications – for increases I did yarn overs; I used the following needle sizes: 9, 10, 10 1/2, 13, 15, 17; I didn’t do the ruffle at the bottom. Yarn is Hill Country Yarns Instant Gratification Superwash Sock Yarn in Hook ‘Em Horns.

I loved working with this yarn – it was so soft & so easy to work with, I will definitely be using it again! I already have 2 other colorways in my stash & love all of the colorways that they offer.

Wrap it Up!

Heather Wrap

On July 1st I actually cast on for a purple knit project during Project Spectrum purple month. This is the “Superlong Wrap” from Knitting to Go. I’m using some Jaeger Matchmaker in Heather. This isn’t as bulky of a yarn as the pattern calls for but I am wanting a lighter wrap. I don’t know if this wrap will stay with me or be gifted but I’m enjoying working on it. It is a very simple pattern that knits up beautifully.

Cozy Babies

Blue Blankie

I’ve got 2 baby boys to knit blankets for in the coming months. I’ve started on one blanket using “new to me” yarns – Wendy Peter Pan Double Knit in Lupin Blue & Polka Dot. This is a very soft yarn that is turning into a cozy blanket.

Two co-workers are expecting babies in August & September so I think I will try the Mason Dixon bib pattern as a quick knit gift for them.

Baby Knit

This is the start of an MDK bib that will go to another new baby with a matching onesie – I think it will be a “go to” gift to knit as needed.

Butterfly time

Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug and their parents were visiting Chicago this week so I had fun spending time with them. On July 4th we went to the annual BBQ in their old neighborhood. It was a beautiful day for a picnic & we all had a great time.

July 4th Fun

I took Thursday as a vacation day & had fun with the girls. We met for lunch at our favorite Pita Inn. After lunch Maya & Miss Doodlebug left for naptime & Miss Butterfly came with me for an afternoon of play and a sleepover.

Our afternoon was spent at the Kohl Children’s Museum up in Glenview. What a great museum! We had so much fun with all the exhibits – we stayed there for over 3 hours. Here are some of the highlights of the afternoon.

Museum Fun

As we were walking to the car Miss Butterfly said “I had such a fun time with you today.” I would definitely agree! After the museum we planned to go for our favorite Bubble Tea as a special treat. Within about 2 minutes in the car Miss Butterfly was on her way to a power nap so we went for the new smoothie from the Dunkin Donuts drive thru instead.

Sleepy Butterfly

Our evening consisted of watching our favorite DVD, Mary Poppins, and reading Babar the King. Since she couldn’t bring her sleeping bag on the plane we made a little nest of pillows, blankets & stuffed animals for her.

Butterfly Knitting

This morning before it was time to leave Miss Butterfly found my knitting basket & the baby blanket that is on the needles. She wanted “to knit” so she sat on my lap & put her hands on the needles as I knit a row. Then she did some “knitting” on her own & said she was knitting a blanket for her new baby cousin. Her Grosi is a great knitter so maybe one day she will be clicking the sticks “for real.”

Knitting and time with the girls…just a couple more ingredients for a lovely week!

Fun from the Mailbox

While back in town this weekend…at the top of the errand list on Friday was picking up the 2 weeks of held mail. In addition to the regular “boring” mail, magazines and catalogs I was pleased to see this stash of mail held several fun goodies!

 

I had mentioned earlier that I was participating in Dacia Ray’s Gift Tag Swap and this week I received my portion of the swap. More detailed pictures about each tag & artist are found on this Flickr set.

 

Several months ago I came across Tanya’s blog & the fun postcards that she makes. With the latest postcards she also included a fun & colorful ball of yarn that was unexpected. Thanks Tanya! I’m not sure what I will make with the yarn but I think it may end up being for a kid in my life because the colors remind me of children’s crayons.

 

Purl Needlemeyer is another “new in 2006” blogger that I read – I think she was my first “Let’s swap blog links” buddy. She has a fun “Getting Knit Together” kit and is continually expanding her goodies. A couple of weeks ago she offered up some fun “hand knit” labels for commenters. These are very fun – I don’t know which projects they will be attached to but I will enjoy using them.

Kirsten recently went to Croatia to help ready the Logos Hope ship for ministry with Operation Mobilization. She sent along this postcard from the team that she was with. Prior to her trip there was a bit of knit blogger fundraising that I stumbled across & I was glad to help – we have several friends involved with OM so it was great to support another great part of their ministry.

 

The final fun thing in the mail – my tickets to the Pink Martini show on Sept. 8th at the Chicago House of Blues.

 

Belatedly posted…my Project Spectrum green postcard arrived from Amanda Cathleen several weeks ago & I didn’t have a chance to snap it. The sheep were a very appropriate part of May since Amanda Cathleen was one of the multitudes that enjoyed Maryland Sheep and Wool.

Other mailbox fun this weekend…seeing The Lake House with a friend.  In the age of emails it was fun to see a story that evolved through letters in a mailbox. While the media reviews have been mixed to negative I thoroughly enjoyed this movie & was glad that I went to see it in the theater instead of waiting for the DVD.

 

I did just a bit of knitting during the movie – the yarn that I picked up earlier this month during our lake weekend. I am making the Soft Weave (Linen Weave) Belt from the Knitting to Go set – although it will be a sash instead of a belt. This is a fast knit & is such a small project that is will be my travel project for this week.

In other knitting news this weekend I got started on my first pink scarf for The Think Pink Challenge, made some progress on my first felted bag, picked up the Knitting to Go kit & matched several of the project cards to yarn in my stash and finished up a couple of dishcloths to put into my “hostess gift” box to have on hand.

Hanging Out with the Folks…

Instead of heading to the airport to fly back to Chicago on Friday I picked up a rental car (a slick new Azera which the family has dubbed Hank) merged south onto I-75, set the cruise control & headed down to the ‘Ville to hang out with Mom & Dad. It was a fun weekend – filled with playin’ in the dirt, grillin, chillin’ & knittin’.

Playin’ in the dirt…

Saturday was a gardening day for Amy Artisan & Dad Artisan. I definitely inherited my green thumb from him and since I didn’t do my deck plantings or flowerbed this summer since I’m traveling it was fun to ‘play in the dirt’ for a bit & help get everything planted at home.

The first thing we did was plant the zinnias in the front flowerbed. (Zinnias are an Artisan Family favorite flower.) As Dad lifted up the turtle statue to move it out of the flowerbed he discovered a Mama Skink had nested & was watching over 6-8 eggs. So, the turtle statue will stay where it is & Mama Skink now has a lovely flowered & mulched home for her babies.

Skinks Home

We also planted up several color pots for the front entry to the house as well as the back deck. I think my favorite planting was the red & white coleus in the red pot – look closely & you’ll see a familiar “As Seen on TV” item – that’s right, the coleus are in the “Pasta Pot” from several years ago. The pot had outlived it’s usefulness in the kitchen & was such a pretty color that we thought it would be fun to plant into it – the red coleus leaves are a perfect match for it. Next year I vote for basil in the pasta pot – how fun would it be to grow “pasta herbs” in the pasta pot?

Pasta Pot Coleus

The other color pots indeed contain a lot of different colors: zinnias, coleus, petunias and more!

Flower Pot Color

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Grillin’…

Dad & I cleaned up the grill & made use of it for dinner on Saturday & Sunday. Saturday got the grill going for the season with turkey mignon, Vidailia onion slices and yellow squash slices. Sunday was yummy marinated steak. The meals were rounded off with super sweet canteloupe and Mom’s homemade strawberry pie. Having Mom’s home cooking is always great but I appreciated it even more this weekend since I’m eating out ALL the time while on the road.

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Chillin’…

A couple of fun movies that we watched over the weekend: Nanny McPhee & Glory Road. Both were fun flicks & good entertainment!

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Knittin’…

On Saturday afternoon Dad & I went to Hobby Lobby & spent the vast majority of time in the yarn section. There were several ‘new to me’ baby yarns that look like they would be so soft & cuddly for baby blankets – I have to make 2 baby boy blankets this summer so I think I will try some of these yarns instead of reaching for my “standard” Bernat Cotton Tots.

While browsing through the yarn at Hobby Lobby on Saturday I found a good selection of my favorite Sugar’n Cream for dishcloths – including several colors that I haven’t seen in store before. So, even though I had some SnC yarn in the suitcase for hotel knitting I picked up 5 balls of summertime colors. Saturday evening I got started on 1 “Grandma’s favorite” & kept on going all Sunday afternoon & evening. I’ll be finishing up the 5th dishcloth later this evening. Since suitcase space is a premium 4 dishcloths stayed in Georgia for my mom & sister to enjoy.

Summer Flavor Dishcloths
(L to R: Cherry Swirl, Swimming Pool, Key Lime Pie, Creamsicle)
These colors just seem to capture the vibrant fun of summertime!

Also…a bit of hotel knitting…Last week was fairly busy in the evenings here in Chattnooga – the annual Riverbend Festival was in full swing so our project team checked out the events on a couple evenings. I still managed to get 2 small knit projects completed: a simple dishcloth & a scarf.
Hotel Knitting

Project Spectrum: Blue Hydrangeas

As I was taking pictures of our flower plantings last night & Dad was watering the plants he asked if I needed any more blue pictures for this month and suggested that I take some pictures of the hydrangeas along the side of the house. So this Project Spectrum digital collage is from Amy Artisan & Dad Artisan.

Blue Hydrangeas

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All in all it was a great weekend – it was a treat to hang out with my Dad on Father’s Day!

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