Amy Artisan

Family | Travel | Craft | Life | Books

Category: Knit (page 20 of 25)

The Wheels on the Car…the Rows of the Sock…go round & round…

May 4, 2006 / / 4 Comments

The weekend road trip to Ohio was a lot of fun. As we got on the road we did a quick trip down Michigan Ave. (aka the Magnificent Mile) to take in the gorgeous displays of tulips. It was a beautiful day for a road trip – as we covered the Indiana Toll Road I was amazed by all the shades of green we say – grasses, trees – it all was so lush. We made a slight detour through Indiana’s Amish Country & enjoyed a delicious lunch and did a bit of shopping.

Once in Findlay (aka Flag City USA ) we had a very nice time celebrating Clara Pearl’s birthday. She loved the lap blanket – it will be well used when she gets chilled. To celebrate her 70th birthday, the word went out to everyone to send her cards – by Saturday afternoon she had received close to 90. One of my cousins and her family came down from Toledo on Saturday afternoon to celebrate. On our way home from dinner at a local favorite, we stopped by a park to see the final days of the annual Easter story sand sculpture.

Scenes from Ohio

On Sunday we were able to enjoy seeing my cousin’s kids in their church musical. After lunch with them we hit the road & managed to avoid a lot of rain on the drive back to Chicago.

Over the course of the weekend I got a fair amount of knitting done – including having to frog one project on Friday evening (by the time we were back in Chicago I had recovered all that knitting progress and then some).

Last night was the first (of 2) session of my “Knitting Socks on 2 Circulars” class at Arcadia. For this first pair of socks I have decided that I’m not going to use any of the hand dyed yarns that I’ve picked up over the last couple of months – I want to “practice” with other yarn. So I’m working with Cascade Sassy Stripes in the purple/lavender colorway (#769).
Socks on 2 Circulars

There is only one other gal in the class – because we had both done socks before we started right in on our sock yarn instead of practicing the technique on scrap yarn. I now own my first pair(s) of Addi Turbos (#2) & I cast on for a basic sock. The first couple of rows were hard to visualize “where to go” when you reached the end of a half. But after about 3 rows it clicked & I was moving stitches to the cable, turning the sock around & picking up needle ends without a problem.

In the class we will not complete a sock – rather we will learn the basic parts. Next week we will work on the gusset. So during this week I want to get tube & heel flap done so the gusset work could be on a wearable sock. When I got home I worked round & round for about an hour & then put the sock down to work on some other projects that need to be finished within the next 10 days.

Sally Says…Welcome to the first installment of “Sally Says…” – this will be an occasional feature on Amy Artisan where I share fun things that I’ve discovered through my iPod (name Sally by my sister). These may be podcasts or music & I don’t know how frequently they will appear.

In the last couple of weeks I have started exploring podcasts more & have discovered an assortment of fun ones. A couple that I haven’t seen mentioned before:
KnitTunes Music to knit by…each episode is dedicated to a specific stitch or type of project.
CraftLit – Some knitting talk & then chapters of books to knit by – currently it is Pride & Prejudice.

Also in rotation on the iPod are the tunes of Family Groove Company – a great band from here in Chicago. They have just released their second album, Charmer. If you are in Chicago, they are having a release party at The Cubby Bear on Saturday evening – it’s sure to be a great time.

Since this post is a bit of a hodge podge – here is one last random item for today. I’ve never watched American Idol – I saw one episode of the first season & it didn’t pull me in. Well, I’ve been watching this season. Why? Because one of my sister’s students has been a contestant. Yes friends, my sister taught Paris in her Psychology class last fall. So, we’ve been cheering her on. Once the Paris audition aired earlier this year she came back to the high school & wanted to see my sister. Here is a picture of Rebec with Paris.
American Idol
In addition to the class taking some pictures with her they were also treated to an impromptu performance of her audition song. “Knowing” someone on the show has been fun – even though she didn’t win the competition it will be fun to see where she goes from here.

While the knitting pictures are few – the knitting hours in the past week have been many. In the next couple of weeks I will be able to reveal pictures of the projects.

Fiber Fun…

April 24, 2006 / / 10 Comments

That was the subject line of an email I sent to my friends Jen & Kristy on Friday suggesting a Sunday outing and it pretty much sums up my weekend activities.

I discovered on Friday morning that Debbie Stoller was coming to Arcadia Knitting on Sunday afternoon to sign books & talk about SnB: The Happy Hooker. The afternoon was a lot of fun – we all managed to pick up some yarn – I picked up some yarn for a current secret project as well as some Lorna’s Laces “Glory” that was on sale & also the HH book.

Debbie’s talk about crochet (& a bit of knitting) was very fun & we all enjoyed the modeling & passing around of some of the items from the HH book. Afterwards I had her sign my copy of the first SnB as well as the HH – on our way home I realized that she signed HH to the name of the woman ahead of me, oh well.

When my grandma gave me her stash of knitting needles several years ago she also gave me her crochet hooks – they have just sat unused since then. Over the next couple of months I want to learn some of the crochet basics & then maybe make a few of the items from HH – the one skein scarf looks fun. Of course, any adventures in crochet will be chronicled here.

After the yarn store we all came back to my place for an evening of knitting, dinner from our favorite Thai place & watching Sense & Sensibility. I got both of them started on knitting in the round & we are all now working on our first felted bag projects. Kristy is doing the clutch from One Skein, I’m doing a bag based on the tote from One Skein & Jen is working on a bag based on a couple of felted patterns. I also got started on the secret project with the yarn I picked up in the afternoon.

    Help Please: Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with attaching circular bamboo handles to felted bags? It dawned on me this morning that we might have crossed bag concepts when we were yarn shopping a few months ago…maybe the circulars were when we were thinking non-felted bag & then when we moved to felted bag mode we didn’t ‘drop’ the handles. Any insights will be greatly appreciated!

In other Fiber Fun this weekend…

Yarn Organization – Saturday afternoon included a bit of time working on the stash & getting yarn organized. All partial skeins have now been wound into balls, similar yarns are all grouped together in ziploc bags & I now have a better handle on what I have on hand & what projects I want to make with them.

The Clara Pearl Afghan – Over the weekend I also finished up the lap afghan for my Aunt – this weekend I will give it to her for her 70th birthday.
Clara Pearl's Lap Afghan

The Knit Details: Lion Brand Homespun WATERFALL; about 2 ¼ skeins of yarn; size 17 circular needles; it is 70 stitches wide in celebration of her 70th birthday.

I love the way that the Homespun colorways reveal themselves as you knit and the end result feels so soft and cuddly. However, the actual process of knitting with this yarn has to be one of my least favorite. Why? The kinks & fluffs that develop as you go.
Homespun Kinks & Fluffs
You know what I’m talking about – the yarn bunches up all tight ahead of your needle & as much energy is spent relaxing the yarn before it goes into stitches as is spent on the actual knitting. I had several instances where the yarn got so bunched that when I tried to loosen it the center string just snapped & I had to cut the yarn & restart it. As for the fluffs, the tail ends of the yarn become a pile of fluff & can be hard to sew/weave into your work. Any suggestions for how you handle these ‘issues’ with this yarn?

Monthly Dishcloth KAL – I got a late start on the mid-April Monthly Dishcloth KAL & I have to admit that I don’t know when I will finish it. The pattern is fun; however, in the practical kitchen use category I think it is scoring low.
April Mid-Month KAL
Since I make dishcloths to actually be used (vs. “oh, they are too pretty to use, I’ll just look at it”) and have a lot of other projects to be working on in the coming weeks I won’t be rushing to get this off the needles. The yarn loops that form the “bow ties” seem like they are in a prime position to get snagged or cut when in the water actually washing dishes & especially utensils.

Socks – While at Arcadia yesterday I signed up for a 2 session sock class “Sock on Two Circular Needles” in early May. I took a sock class there (um, 3 years ago) & never finished the 2nd sock – since being in knit blogland I’ve loved seeing all the socks being made, have picked up some pretty sock yarn & decided that this year I would get going with socks again. For this class I’m to bring my favorite sock pattern – I think right now a simple sock pattern is in order. To my sock knitting friends – what pattern would you suggest as a good “reintroduction” to socks? This class comes at a great time for me – there is a possibility of work related travel in the coming weeks & months – socks seem to be a great travel project.

Easter, Etc…

April 19, 2006 / / 13 Comments

Easter Weekend!

I spent the weekend in Dallas with close friends who moved from Chicago last fall. They have 2 adorable daughters that will be known in this blog as “Miss Butterfly” (my adorable 34 mo. old goddaughter) & her little sister, “Miss Mouse.” The weekend was a lovely blend of “on the go activities” & just hanging out at home – the perfect anecdote to a stressful week at work.

Dallas Arboretum
On Friday “the girls” ventured to the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy the beautiful flowers & take some pictures of the little girls. It was a lovely day to enjoy a picnic on the main lawn after taking pictures of the girls. (Notice the handknit, an Amy Artisan blanket, that the girls are sitting on.)

Girls in the Garden
We were not the only ones with photo plans for the day – many families were there taking pictures & we saw at least 12 brides having portraits done & 2 girls taking quinceanera portraits – Miss Butterfly called each of them Cinderella. There was a piano player by the main lawn so Miss Butterfly had a fun time dancing & twirling to the music. As Miss Butterfly & I wandered around while Miss Mouse was being fed we managed to get a good self portrait of the two of us. (see below)

M'Amy & Butterfly

On Saturday after Miss Mouse’s morning nap the girls headed to McKinney for a bit of shopping and lunch. With two girls in strollers we didn’t wander through too many shops; however, we enjoyed a yummy lunch at Spoon’s Cafe. We anticipate future visits to McKinney to visit more of the cute shops.

Easter Girls

Sunday was a whirlwind day: Early service & pancake breakfast at church; opening Easter baskets; taking the requisite Easter pictures (above); Easter dinner with family & friends in Lewisville – 16 adults & 4 kids made for a fun afternoon. Even in the 90+ degree weather the Easter Egg hunt was a lot of fun – the adults had fun hiding the eggs & then watching the oldest 3 hunt for them. One dozen confetti eggs also added to the fun. As we left all the girls/ladies were given lovely spring mini-bouquets that included roses from the hostess’ garden – I managed to get the bouquet home to Chicago without any damage. The flight home was a bit delayed – but that did nothing to lessen the fun weekend in the Big D.

In addition to these snapshot moments from the weekend there were so many other fun times with Miss Butterfly & Miss Mouse – the countless smiles from them both, storytimes, playtimes & just the joy that is both of them. And of course, catching up with Maya & Matt – including lovely dinners on the patio while enjoy yummy grill creations (tuna one night & pizza the next). While I don’t have another trip booked yet I can’t wait until the next time I see them all!

Etc…

Thanks to everyone for your leaving your Ramona (& Beverly Cleary) memories on my last blog entry. On Sunday’s flight back to Chicago a little girl (about 8 years ago) in the row behind me was reading Ralph S. Mouse the entire time. I just had to smile at seeing BC in action.

I’ve mentioned previously that I enjoy knitting for others – baby blankets have been the most frequently gifted item in recent years. Last Thursday I had another “joy of knitting” experience in the form of a voice mail & phone conversation from my vice president at work. His daughter was the recipient of the grape & mint “Baby Maggie” blanket. Unknowingly I had made her blanket in her nursery colors so the blanket has been used from the start. Now that Maggie is starting to squirm more in the crib they had decided that this blanket is the perfect one to use because the “holes” in the knit mean that she can’t suffocate in it. Mike & his wife have decided that this is a “perfect” baby blanket & I should open a side business to make & sell them. I had to chuckle at the “side business” – Mike said there was no way he would let go of me at my day job but he would help me market the side business. Of course I was flattered by the compliment but I told Mike what I’ve mentioned to others before – I enjoy knitting for others for the sheer pleasure of doing it & I wonder if it (or any of my other artistic endeavors) became a job would I still find the same joy in it? (And even with the occasional stressful weeks, I really do enjoy my day job.) What are your thoughts on knitting, crafting, art for pleasure vs. making those same activities your source of livelihood?

In addition to the yellow flower pics from the Dallas Arboretum, I have Project Spectrum blooms in my front yard now. Here is one of my daffodils.
1st Daffodil

More knitting content in coming days & weeks. I continue to make progress on the lap blanket for my Aunt (must finish by next weekend), I need to start start on some other projects that won’t be discussed while in process, the felted tote needs to be picked up again & oh there are so many other projects that I want to tackle! Let’s not even talk about all the scrapbooking that I need to do!

Sunny Sunday!

April 9, 2006 / / 12 Comments

After a chilly Saturday today is a spectacular spring day! The sun is bright, bulb flowers are in bloom, neighbors are mowing the grass & the birds are singing loudly. As I finish up this post the ice cream truck has just come down the street on his first run of the year.
Spring at home!
In my front yard the crocus are blooming. At my back door, Doris the dove is a proud mama to 2 baby doves.

Colore Rosso e Colore Rosa
First up today, a belated Red & Pink Project Spectrum entry. These are the postcards from my March postcard swap. I was paired with Karla who is living in Rome with her family for a year. (How fun!) Her postcard shows her red & pink interpretation of Rome.
March Project Spectrum Postcard Swap

This image is even more appropriate for me because of my trip to Italy & Greece last year. When we toured Vatican City we were able to go into the Sistine Chapel – it is truly amazing to look up at the ceiling & all the details of the mural. You are not allowed to take pictures while in there; however that didn’t prevent some from blatently framing a shot & using the flash – ouch! I have seen an amazing “no flash” picture of the center of the ceiling where a random snap at the ceiling yielded a great shot.

My postcard included a detail of my double ruffle pink hibiscus from on my deck last summer.

Introducing iPocket
I have finished up the cozy/case for my iPod. I have dubbed this “iPocket” & it is loosely based on the Techno Cozy from the first SnB. iPocket is larger than the iPod & is meant to house my iPod & the headphones & be easily found in my purse or other bag.
iPocket
The Knit Details: Cascade 220 (7814, 7803, 8886, 7919, 7827) on size 8 needles. Knit as a rectangle with decreases to form the envelope flap. Sides seamed together. One large snap to keep it closed. Yellow button is decorative only.

Simple Knits – Springtime Gifts
The April Monthly Dishcloth KAL was a watering can pattern. I had previously seen the pattern when I discovered the double heart pattern & planned some springtime dishcloths to match some spring towels. Some of these will be gifted around Easter with some fun spring themed towels.
Water Can Dishcloths
The Knit Details: The Watering Can can be found at Melissa’s Knit Dishcloth Page. All on size 8 needles. Sugar’n Cream yarns (Daisy Ombre, Playtime, Cool Breeze Ombre, Yellow). This pattern definitely shows up better using a solid yarn; however, the variegated yarns are very springy & match some towels. Since each of these includes orange or yellow they are part of my Project Spectrum craftiness for April.

Warming Grace (& Simone, too)!
Warming Grace
One of the things that I have enjoyed about being a part of this knit blog community is the way that everyone comes together when a need is identified. After the blue square for Christine’s Comforting Jef project I have been busy with pink squares for Cynthia’s Warming Grace project. Cynthia is creating 2 blankets of 5×5 pink squares for her neice, Grace, & Grace’s best friend (Simone) who are both battling cancer. These will be on their way to Canada this week.
Pink Squares for Grace & Simone!

The Knit Details: Frog Tree 100% Alpaca Wool, Sport Weight, Pink (#208), Melissa’s Knit Valentine Dishcloth pattern (removed 4 stitches from each side & 4 rows from each end), knit on size 3 needles (Hero brand, from my Grandma’s collection of needles).

Italian Reading
Italy Reads
In addition to finishing up all these knit project this weekend I also managed to finish up my most recent fiction read: The Almond Picker by Simonetta Agnello Hornby. This was a great read about a Sicilian house servant. The story begins with her death & over the next couple of days & months the details of her life begin to unfold through gossip and flashbacks. I had never heard of this book prior to my last visit to Costco – it was another excellent Costco find. The trip to Costco that yielded this book also included the purchase of The Silver Spoon cookbook – the classic volume of Italian cuisine. This is a huge book that is a delight to look through & contains thousands of recipes & lots of great pictures. Dinner tonight will come from these reads: Chicken in Almond Sauce & Asparagus with Orange.

Looking Ahead…
Last weekend’s road trip to Michigan got us looking ahead to summer & on Monday we booked our annual girls weekend in Michigan for mid-June. I can’t wait to go back to Harbor Country! This month I joined the Vacation Knitting Swap & look forward to creating a vacation knit for a fellow knit blogger. Also, now that I have the Oneskein book I have joined the One Skein Knit-Along. Links to both are on my Joining In the Fun! page.

In Project Spectrum news, I didn’t have a chance to do the Orange & Yellow hunt around the house this weekend – pictures to come in coming weeks!

What a day for a road trip…

April 3, 2006 / / 11 Comments

…no foolin’ – Saturday was just the day for a fun adventure for 2 sets of Kansas sisters!

My sister, Rebec, flew in from Atlanta on Saturday morning to spend a few days of her spring break (one of the “perks” of being a teacher) up here with me.

Once she arrived we stopped by Dunkin’ Donuts to pick up iced coffees all around & then picked up Jen & Kristy for a day of fun on the road. It was a bit of a gray day but that didn’t deter our fun.
Note: Because of the gray weather we didn’t take any pictures of our stops, these pictures are from previous (sunny) visits.

We headed over to Harbor Country, MI – just about 90 minutes away from Chicago. This area is a favorite summer weekend escape for us but also is just the right distance for an easy day away from the city.

Michigan Scenes

First stop was Round Barn Winery – a great local winery that we discovered last summer. We tried their just released Apricot Demi Sec (yum!) as well as some of our favorites & picked up some bottles to bring back with us. Courtney at the tasting room is a great help with understanding what you’re tasting & recommending things to try.

Next stop was a Ben Franklin Store that looked frozen in time (although it has new inventory). Among the assorted purchases was Sugar ‘n Cream yarn. Then we were off to the Red Arrow Roadhouse for a late lunch.

After lunch we finally arrived at the charming Sit & Knit – A Yarn Cafe. The woman working (Barbara?) remembered me from a previous visit. Lots of fun was had – 3 of 4 of us are knitters (& the 4th enjoyed receiving knitted goodies). On the sale porch I found some lovely Frog Tree Pima/Silk in black, terra cotta & a wedgewood blue (2 each) – this was truly a stash buy because I don’t know what it will become but I loved the color combination. I also picked up 5 skeins of Cascade 220 in some brights for my iPod cover & assorted other “techy” bags. And I “finally” got my copy of Oneskein by Leigh Radford. As my Cascade was wound into yarn cakes we all enjoyed our complimentary lattes while looking through pattern books & dreaming of new projects. We agreed that this summer we will have to “Sit and Knit” at the store when we are back over there for the weekend. (Because we stayed at the yarn store for ‘so long’ we weren’t able to get to the local scrapbook store on this trip.)

As we left Michigan we stopped in Michigan City, IN & cruised through Meijer – between the 4 of us we found a wide assortment of goodies – including board games, crafting tables, easter egg decorations, summer flip flops, sidewalk chalk & other craftiness. After arranging all of our purchases into the trunk of the car we went through the Culver’s drive-thru to pick up frozen custard for the drive home.

We were all tired by the time we were back in the city but agreed that it had been a fun way to kick off spring & we look forward to our summer weekend escape!

Here are some of the highlights of the “haul” from this weekend – quite a bit of Project Spectrum in the mix!
Road Trip Mosaic

The yarn store purchases have already been put into use – my iPod cozy is knit & waiting for blocking & then stitching up the sides. I’ve also cast on for the “Felted Tote” from Oneskein. Stay tuned for finished object reveals in the coming days & weeks.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Archives

Meta

Pages

© 2024 Amy Artisan

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑