Amy Artisan

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Category: Family (page 12 of 16)

Artisan Guesthouse

June 6, 2007 / / 8 Comments

The time has just flown by in the last couple of weeks since my last posting. The last 2 weekends have seen Artisan Home function as a guesthouse with friends & family visiting for a couple of days each.

Butterflies & Lions & Bears – Oh My! – The Memorial Day reservations at the “guesthouse” were for Miss Butterfly & her mom. Their first night in town they stayed with me – Miss Butterfly made a little nest to sleep on the floor since she didn’t bring her sleeping bag with her. On Friday morning when I asked what she wanted for breakfast, the immediate response was “French Toast!” So, with her standing on the helping stool in the kitchen we made a quick breakfast of French Toast with strawberries and bananas.

Our first adventure was to the Peggy Notaebart Nature Museum. They have a great butterfly haven, so of course we had to take Miss Butterfly to visit.

Butterfly Fun

After the museum we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. We arrived right at lunch time as the myriad of “end of the year” field trips were starting to leave. After a quick lunch we walked around the zoo and saw all sorts of fun animals: lions, bears, camels, giraffes, rhinos, flamingos, polar bears, the great apes…

The zoo adventure ended with a ride on the carousel – since Miss Butterfly declared the zebras her favorite animal of the day we had to ride the zebra.

Riding on the Carousel

Other fun times of the weekend included hanging out in Miss Butterfly’s old neighborhood & seeing lots of old friends, including a Memorial Day cookout. On Sunday evening, Miss Butterfly had a sleepover with her best girlfriend in the old neighborhood – so her mom & I were able to enjoy sushi at our favorite, Sai Cafe. What a great way to start the summer!

(more pictures here)

This past weekend my parents were in town for a couple of days as part of a summer road trip that also includes a trip over to Ohio to see family. It was a quick trip but our itinerary was a good mix: a bit of shopping, meals from some favorite Chicago restaurants, just hanging out and a few home improvement activities (a new grill for the deck and curtains hung in my bedroom).

Since last Memorial Day weekend I have spent over 130 nights in hotels while traveling for work. What a nice change of pace to welcome family & friends into my home instead.

In the midst of guesthouse fun, work has been nonstop; however, other fun in recent weeks has included hosting a great book club discussion and seeing a fun flick with a friend – stay tuned for more…

Whiplash

February 17, 2007 / / 12 Comments

What do you think of when you hear the word Whiplash? Your neck? Sometimes you feel like you are being tossed in so many directions that you can barely keep your head on straight. I’m experiencing a bit of that these days.

Whiplash also results from car crashes – especially when you are rear ended. Three weeks ago my sister experienced that firsthand. Thankfully she is alright. As is often the case, her neck is a bit sore these days as she is on the mend. When I learned of her accident I already had a scarf on the needles for her – I immediately thought that I would name the scarf Whiplash – a little something nice to comfort her neck. This was the secret knit that I mentioned in January. Now that it has been received in Georgia I can reveal the project – not only the “boring” shots but also the scarf in action.

Blue Bejeweled

The Details:
Another Bejeweled scarf. This time I used Patons SWS yarn in Natural Blue on size 13 needles. This pattern was just as fun to knit this time and with the bigger yarn & needles it created a completely different scarf.

Bejeweled Rebecca

The scarf looks great with her new peacoat!

This pattern is definitely a favorite of mine now – I can see knitting it with lots of different yarns & having such different results each time.

Snowy Sedum

Work had me in Wisconsin this week so I missed the big snowstorm that came through Chicago. (Although, I had enough of a snowy drive en route to WI on Monday morning.) When I came home last night I was so thankful that my basement neighbor had shoveled the snow in front of my garage so I was able to get in without having to dig in. A batch of brownies were whipped up this morning to say thanks. This afternoon I took a few pictures of some snow scenes in the neighborhood. My favorite picture is of the “leftover” sedum in my neglected flowerbed poking through the snow.

Not much knitting to report – although Blanket of Hope squares are the perfect simple knitting for after these busy work days!

These Hands

December 31, 2006 / / 9 Comments

The stories they could tell throughout the years.

In high school they excelled at typing and shorthand – skills that led her to secretarial work – in a law office, for the California Highway Patrol, in the guidance counselor’s office at Mom’s high school.

During World War II, as a young bride they wrote letters to my grandfather when he was a Navy Seabee in the Pacific.

They learned to knit at a Sear’s class with her neighbor and best friend, Velma.

They knit and crocheted incredible items for everyone in the family.

They tended her backyard garden – strawberries, raspberries, spinach, the huge avocado tree…

In 1997, they taught me to knit.

In 1999, they learned to use email as a way to communicate with family and friends as an alternative to her faithful letter writing.

These days her hands aren’t nearly as busy as they used to be. They can often be found petting the kitties.

These days her hands are rather Fetching, don’t you think?

What do you give a 92 year old Grandma who doesn’t need much these days? Some rather fetching handwarmers to keep warm the hands that have done so much for so many.

This was a last minute knit decision – so much fun! More of these will be knit for me & others in the near future. This pair – Koigu Kersti from the stash. The colors seem vintage to me – a great choice for a great lady!

 

Home & Handknits for the Holidays

December 29, 2006 / / 4 Comments

I hope that each of you had a lovely time celebrating the holidays with those near and dear to you. I was able to enjoy a week at home in the ‘Ville with the family.

If you had asked me 5 weeks ago what my Holiday Handknits would be this year I would have said “1 gift.” By the time that Christmas rolled around, it turned out that I had many more handknits to gift.

As I mentioned earlier, I knit several Christmas trees while at home for Thanksgiving. I also finished up a 6th tree that was gifted to family friends on Christmas Eve. In addition to my own “mantel forest” that I’d like to knit before next Christmas, I’ve had several other requests from Mom & Dad for trees to gift next year. Stay tuned.

In addition to the trees, here are the other handknits that I gifted this year.

First up, the “secret knit” that I worked on starting in August. Earlier this year, when my Dad & I were in the yarn aisle at JoAnn ETC he jokingly gave me a not so subtle hint about wanting a knit scarf. Now he has an Artisan scarf. I bought this yarn at Stitches Midwest – Brooks Farm Limited Edition Sock Yarn. The pattern is the “broken rib” pattern from the Knitting to Go deck (& sent to me by Judy for the Vacation Knitting Swap earlier this year) on size 9 needles. This was the perfect project for my plane commuting to/from Chattanooga. The colors of this yarn are gorgeous – blues, greens, browns – it goes great with many of Dad’s coats and jackets.

Dad's Scarf

Next up, the first installment of the “Artisan Dishcloth of the Month” club for Mom and Rebecca. Each month in 2007 they will get a new dishcloth from me. These are “grandma’s favorite” in the Sugar’n Cream Mistletoe colorway. The second dishcloth was knit (start to finish) at the Chicago airport last Thursday when the flight was delayed because of rain and fog.

Christmas Dishcloths

The “last minute” knit that I alluded to earlier was indeed a pair of Fetching gloves for my Grandma. (Stay tuned for a longer post on them…)

Additionally, a couple of my felted bowls were gifted.

On the receiving end of gift giving, I received 2 great items that will help with Artisan Knitting in the coming year: a swift and the One Skein Wonders book. Thanks Grandma!

Christmas at home with the family was a lot of fun. Our traditional Christmas Eve movie was on the 23rd this year – Night at the Museum was delightful. After church, on Christmas Eve family friends came over for a yummy dinner, gift exchange & a “newer” tradition of watching The Vicar of Dibley Christmas Lunch episode. Later in the evening we watched It’s A Wonderful Life as we always do on Christmas Eve evening. Christmas Day was lovely – when we first get up we open our Christmas stockings (which are all needlepoints from Artisan Dad) and then enjoy breakfast before opening the gifts under the tree. After delicious homemade cinnamon rolls and peppermint coffee the gift opening began. We don’t open the gifts as a free for all – rather, Dad hands out the gifts & only one of us opens a gift at a time. I think the gift givers are as excited to see the reactions to gifts as the gift receivers are to open the gifts.

The day after Christmas was a day trip up to Chattanooga to visit friends from my 6 month project there earlier this year.

While at home I also taught one of Rebecca’s friends how to knit. A couple of hours one morning and Sheila was well on her way to making a “grandma’s favorite” dishcloth. Sheila is the 3rd person that I have taught to knit – as I was teaching her I was very aware of “what” I was doing with each step of the dishcloth. Sheila is so crafty so she picked this up rather quickly.

As 2006 winds down and 2007 begins I’m looking forward to a couple of days of reading, knitting and cooking – some of my favorite things that seemed to be in short supply for a lot of this year.

A Cup of Christmas Tea

December 18, 2006 / / 10 Comments

Christmas Tea

With all of my business travel this year I have been fairly disconnected from my girlfriends here in Chicago. On Sunday afternoon I was able to catch up with a lot of them – over a cup of Christmas tea.

As I’ve mentioned before, I find the act of afternoon tea to be a lovely “timeout” from the rest of life and this was no exception. Until this weekend, most of December had been filled with work – including trips to the client site in WI. But once this past week wrapped up I had passed a large milestone on the current project and could turn my attention to things Christmas-y.

First up, a holiday tea. Among the many things that my Mom taught me was the art of simple hospitality and entertaining. As I was pulling everything together I thought of the many times I was in the kitchen helping Mom get ready for gatherings at home. Given my recent schedule, I knew the menu would contain more store bought goodies than I would normally include. However, I did find time this weekend to make several treats – all were simple recipes.

On the menu: Sugared Cranberries; Peppermint Truffles; Mom’s Sausage & Cheese Biscuits; Cran-Pumpkin Mini-Muffins; Ham & Turkey Roll-ups; Cucumber Sandwiches; Amish Friendship Bread (Thanks for bringing it Michele!); Mini-Quiches, Pastries & Cookies from Costco; An assortment of yummy teas.

As everyone arrived and introductions were made for those who didn’t know each other we were gathered around “the spread” in the dining room. Once everyone had loaded up their plates and customized their tea to their liking we moved to the living room where we enjoyed several hours of chatting with each other surrounded by the light of the Christmas tree, the nativity mantel and other Christmas decorations. It was so much fun to see friends who didn’t know each other before yesterday find commonalities and have fun conversation.

As we wrapped up the afternoon we all agreed that this was a great timeout from the hustle and bustle that can consume the holiday season. For me, it was a wonderful chance to reconnect with dear friends who make Chicago “home” for me.

Next up, getting the Christmas cards in the mail, a few packages to ship to their destinations and pulling together everything to head home to the ‘Ville for Christmas later this week.

As you are in the midst of your own holiday preparations I hope you are able to find the time to take a “timeout” and connect with the people near and dear to you.

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