Amy Artisan

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Category: Blogland (page 4 of 5)

Volume II

January 1, 2007 / / 9 Comments

Happy New Year Everyone!

It has been one year since I started blogging here at Amy Artisan. I “discovered” the world of knit blogging in October 2005 – there was an article in The NY Times that talked about Major Knitter – I visited her blog and started clicking on her links to other knit blogs. I was hooked and decided that I wanted “a blog of my own.” Throughout the fall of 2005 I continued to read blogs and started researching the best way for me to blog. In November I claimed my URL.

Looking through this year in the blog here are some of the highlights:

  • The Knitting Olympics were a fun way to join the knit community in working on a personal challenge within a deadline. In 2007 I plan to knit another Capri shawl – looking at the currrent one I see several holes that I really shouldn’t have let remain in the project. I also enjoyed sharing the story of the Needlepoint Olympics that I grew up with – that entry was how I shared my blog with my parents.
  • Lolly’s Project Spectrum has had me looking at colors in a new way – in my knitting, in nature and all around. I look forward to what Project Spectrum 2.0 will hold in 2007.
  • Knitting for Others…In addition to knitting for family, friends & myself I have really enjoyed the opportunity to knit for others (Comforting Jef, Warming Grace, Papa’s Quilt, Comforting Jenn). In the coming year I look forward to more knitting for others.
  • We all remember our childhood books! The post that had the most comments was D.E.A.R. on Beverly Cleary’s birthday. In the coming weeks I’ll be sharing another childhood read memory & asking you to share yours as well.
  • Even though work had me on the road for a good part of the year I knit quite a bit! I think I knit more items this year than in all my previous knitting years combined. While I still haven’t conquered socks yet (a definite goal for 2007), I knit quite a variety of things: several scarves (5), a hat, 2 shawls, a poncho, lots of dishcloths(15+), wrist warmers, first forays into felting (clutch purse & several bowls), baby bibs (3), a lap blanket, a couple of baby blankets, the iPocket and Travel Pocket (small forays into designing), and a small forest of knit Christmas trees(6). The vast majority of these knits have been gifted to others – very few have remained with me.
  • In 2006 I also participated in the knit community - in person. Meeting Debbie Stoller at Arcadia Knitting, visiting several “new to me” yarn shops, Stitches Midwest (& meeting a swap pal), a yarn swap at Arcadia & meeting a couple of local knit bloggers, Bonnie Marie’s trunk show at Arcadia.

I’m normally don’t do a lot of the memes that make the rounds; however, this one was a fun walk through the past year. Here are the first sentences from each month of 2006:

  • January: Welcome to my latest endeavor…the Amy Artisan Blog!
  • February: Baa, baa, black red, white & pink sheep have you any wool?
  • March: (First I will divert your attention from the fact that I haven’t been able to start on my Project Spectrum Red & Pink items by sharing a picture of a stargazer lily that I took last summer when visiting a tulip farm in Holland, MI.)
  • April: As we move into the celebration of all things Orange & Yellow during Project Spectrum: April I thought I would share a mosaic of some orange & yellow Dale Chihuly glass from the exhibit at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in 2004.
  • May: The weekend road trip to Ohio was a lot of fun.
  • June: …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.
  • July: Wishing you a safe & happy July 4th holiday!
  • August: While browsing through The New York Times yesterday one of the top articles I saw was about a favorite Southern California summertime event – the tableau vivant that is Pageant of the Masters.
  • September: Contrary to popular belief, I haven’t quite fallen off the face of the earth.
  • October: As my recent lack of blogging has shown, I’ve been pretty close to “lost in my work” here in Chattanooga since early August.
  • November: When Miss Butterfly lived in Chicago, we had a fall tradition of going to Didier Farms to get pumpkins and apples.
  • December: This was the knit project I took home to GA with me over Thanksgiving.

Looking ahead to this new year I have lots of Artisan things that I’d like to accomplish & I look forward to sharing them with you via this blog. Thanks for reading my insights into my artistic endeavors and other things this past year!!

Weaving In the Ends

December 22, 2006 / / 5 Comments

Just like every knit project has the “final ends” that need to be woven in before the project is complete – this post is a bit of the knit bits that I’ve been meaning to mention & wanted to post about before the holidays get in full swing.

Bejeweled KAL

After you are finished with your holiday knitting, how about starting off 2007 with a little bit of lace? Lolly is hosting a Bejeweled KAL for Shobhana’s lovely little scarf pattern. Go purchase the pattern by the end of the year & she will donate her profits towards the shipping costs associated with the Dulaan knitting project.

I have several yarns in the stash that would look lovely with this pattern & I will be casting on for the scarf after the holidays.

ISE – Victoria in Canada knit me a lovely scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. This is a lovely, dense scarf knit in one of my favorite color combinations – chocolate & turquoise. Thanks Victoria for a great scarf that will be used in the winter months ahead.

ChicKnits Patterns – Bonnie Marie is launching a hard copy version of her lovely knit patterns. On Dec. 10th, Arcadia Knitting hosted a trunk show to celebrate the launch. Most of her knits were on display and she also led a seminar on how to get the right measurements. While I’m not yet ready to tackle one of her beautiful sweater patterns, I did pick up the felted bucket hat pattern and a black tweed yarn to knit it up in the new year.


Comforting Jenn – A belated picture of the square I knit for Cathy’s Comforting Jenn blanket. A dusty sage & dusty mauve superwash held together & knit into a “Grandma’s favorite” square.

One Skein – I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I was working on some felted bowls from the One Skein book. The first batch were knit with Lamb’s Pride Bulky or 2 strands of Cascade 220 on size 15 needles. I think they need felted a bit more.

The second batch were knit with the wonderful private label yarn from Sit’n Knit over in New Buffalo. These were knit on size 10.5 needles. I love how they turned out & will definitely be making more of them with this yarn.

It was fun to look around the house to find assorted bowls to shape these against – I have some ideas for the next batch.

A Last Minute Knit – Because I didn’t have enough to do to get ready for the holidays…I’ve decided on a last minute knit gift. Thankfully it’s a fast knit and I’m loving it! I’ll reveal more after it has been gifted.

‘Tis the Season – Finally – a bit of holiday fun. If you haven’t done so already, go check out Purl’s Radio WKNP – the 12 days of Knit-Mas – yarn inspired versions of your favorite holiday songs.

Routine Things

November 16, 2006 / / 15 Comments

I find it interesting how quickly we can slip into routines. Initially some “new thing” may seem odd and then before you know it, it is “your” routine and any change to it causes you to pause.

While work travel might seem like a big distruption to routine, in reality a new set of routines emerged for me while on the road…a Sunday evening flight to Chattanooga…Tatum, the shuttle driver, waiting at the airport to take us to the hotel…the barista at Starbuck’s starting to make my drink every morning as soon as I walked into the store…the 2 block walk from the hotel to the office…These routines helped to bring some normalcy to the “un routine” when work was extremely busy.

Now that I’m back home routines are shifting and some old routines are once again new…making coffee each morning with the french press & listening to NPR on the kitchen radio while getting ready…the daily commute on the bus & el (including darting across 4 lanes of traffic on Western Ave. from the bus stop on the way home each evening)…etc…

A routine that is never routine is having a birthday. With the travel of the last couple of months, mine seemed to sneak up on me last week. The first Saturday of this month was a delightful afternoon tea at The Peninsula Chicago with my friend Elaine – her birthday is in late October so every year we try to celebrate our birthdays together with something fun. On my birthday, I met Jen & Kristy at Bin 36 after work and we each enjoyed a wine flight and splitting an appetizer. Jen’s husband, Greg, picked us up and then we all enjoyed a yummy dinner at Francesca’s Bryn Mawr. The day was also filled with emails, e-cards, instant messages, cards, and calls wishing me well. All in all, a lovely celebration!

A long standing routine has been my bookclub, The G.I.R.L.S. When I moved to Chicago in the fall of 1999 this was one of the first things that I joined – my friend Maya invited me to “her group” and the first book I read with them was “A Widow for a Year” by John Irving. Last week I was able to participate in a gathering for the first time since May – it also marked 7 years since my first meeting. We were a smaller group than some months; however, that didn’t diminish the good conversation. Our book was “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell – as is always the case, we talked about the book for a bit and that conversation spurred many other conversation topics.

A newer routine (since 2003) is scrapbooking – I host a quarterly “crop club” for friends to get together and spend a morning working on albums and catching up on life. This past Saturday was the last one for this year and it was great fun to have everyone back at my house for the morning (In Sept. a friend graciously hosted us at her place because of my travel) Since it was a chilly autumn morning it was the perfect weather to make some yummy fall goodies – a pot of spiced cider simmering on the stove, warm applesauce and a pumpkin cranberry coffeecake (using one of my favorite shortcuts, the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread mix).

As I’ve mentioned, knitting is once again (finally) part of my routine. This weekend I finished up several felted bowls from Oneskein. These are a quick knit and it was fun figuring out which bowls to shape them against. I anticipate making a few as gifts and as I get my office/craft room/guest room organized I plan to make a couple for in there. (pictures to come) I continued to work on some of the projects that have been on my needles for a while (including socks!) and tried to start some new ones.

Knitting to comfort others is a routine that I enjoy. In the coming week I’ll be knitting a square for a new comfort blanket. Cathy is pulling together a blanket to comfort her friend Jenn who is in need of some comfort these days.

As I also get back into the routine of blogging, I have a couple of Knitbloglandia items that I’ve been meaning to post – so now seems like a good time to do it!

Soctoberfest

I joined Lolly’s sock celebration for October and then didn’t knit a stitch on a sock – although a sock project traveled with me the entire month. Insert your favorite quotation about good intentions…

So belatedly, here is my sock history. It is a short history.

In February 2003 I took my first sock class at Arcadia Knitting. Over the course of the class I finished the first sock. Pretty soon thereafter I began the second sock. And well, recently I discovered the bag with the sock and yarn – as you can see not much progress has been made on the second sock. In May of this year I took a “Socks on 2 Circular Needles” class at Arcadia. As I blogged about earlier, the first skein of yarn was a bit defective so I didn’t get the sock finished. When I learned that I would be traveling for work this summer I thought that socks would be a great travel project. Yeah, well that didn’t happen. The work travel is done and no socks were knit; however, I have picked up quite the sock yarn stash over this year. At Stitches Midwest in August I picked up Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles and have started on another pair of socks using this method. With all the sock yarn that I now have I am definitely ready to knit socks. I have several projects to finish before the holidays; however, I hope that the coming months will be an extension of Socktoberfest for me.

Swap-o-rama

In August I signed up for several swaps – not “putting it together” that the mailing deadlines were in the middle of the work insanity. I’m thankful that my spoilees have been patient as I’ve been slower getting their packages together.

  • KnitFlix: This concept was a lot of fun – movies & knitting! Earlier this year I even had a post about movie knitting. My swap pal was Amy in MN. She put together a great box of goodies. The movie is Babette’s Feast – I’ve never seen it but had it in my Netflix queue. Lots of popcorn for snacking. And the yarns! A beautiful purple silk from Alchemy yarns. A Dusty Olive Malabrigo with a great button & the pattern for the Gelato felted bag. Thanks Amy!
  • Knitter’s Tea Swap 2: Round 1 in May/June was so much fun so I’m back for more. I was spoiled by Barb in Canada. With the cooler days, these yummy teas will be enjoyed soon – Also some yummy honey sticks to sweeten the teapot. One of my favorites for tea snacking – shortbread! A berry candle the smells of fall. And a pale blue Paton’s Divine yarn. Thanks Barb!
  • Dishcloth Shuffle: As I’ve mentioned in numerous posts, dishcloths are a relaxing “go-to” knit for me – so this exchange seemed like a great one to join. I was spoiled by Alisa in Australia. Alisa knit 5 different dishcloths in beautiful colors and patterns. She also included some bright cottons for my own dishcloth knitting, some fun Australia themed stickers, an iron-on to embroider, a dainty hankerchief (how did she know I have a collection?) and a cute notepad from her recent vacation to Thailand. Thanks Alisa!

My packages have been dispatched to Minnesota, Nebraska, Western Canada & Eastern Canada. whew!

There’s No Place Like Home

July 30, 2006 / / 11 Comments

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.

Fun from the Mailbox

June 25, 2006 / / 12 Comments

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.

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