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Category: Family (page 7 of 16)

Miles & Miles…

November 17, 2008 / / 7 Comments

It seems like life has been rushing by at a million miles an hour for the last several weeks. Blog silence hasn’t been because of having nothing to blog about – just the opposite. It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.

As always seems to be the case, October was full of fun with family & friends – Picture Perfect was just the start. When Maya was in town for a quick weekend, we enjoyed a fun evening of dinner & conversation with our friend Elaine – the sunset city views from her deck were amazing.

Later in the month, Artisan Mom & Dad came for a long weekend – they stopped in Michigan City on a Thursday. Friday morning, I took the South Shore train over there & we spent the day in Harbor Country & visiting some of my favorite places over there. The train ride over there was a wonderful transition from the hectic work week – the tree colors were brilliant & I felt like I was indeed in the midst of a vintage postcard.

At the end of the month, it was time to head to Dallas for Halloween with Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug. Of course, it was a delightful time! There was trick-or-treating…

…and plenty of playtime indoors & in the yard…

The girls are getting so big & it was so fun to see their imaginations at work. One afternoon we played “The 3 Little Pigs & the Big Bad Wolf” in the front yard for over an hour.

Through all of this, the knitting needles have been busy. While I didn’t finish my Cubby Bear socks in October, I have less than half of the 2nd sock until I’m finished – I figure it will be airplane knitting next week as I head home for Thanksgiving. It’s “that time of the year” where a lot of the knitting can’t be revealed yet. While in Dallas, Maya modeled one of my recent gift knits – a lace capelet for her birthday. Again, the “yarn name” got me – this beautiful green is called Maya. The yarn & the pattern came together perfectly – although I did have to reknit the capelet a second time because my cast on was too tight the first time.

With all of the “on the go” time recently, it seems only appropriate that this past work week ended with my trusty car turning from 99,999 miles to 100,000 miles.

I think there are enough pictures in today’s post, I won’t bother to insert the picture of the snow dusted back deck that greated me when I got home from work this evening. Needless to say, with the return of the cold weather the hats, scarves & other hand knits are in full rotation these days…

Still Picture Perfect

October 19, 2008 / / 7 Comments

 

The first weekend of this month, it was once again time to leave the city & journey to the Indiana Dunes for a weekend of scrappin’ & more. Within a week or so of returning from the weekend last year, we coordinated calendars among the group and picked our fall 2008 weekend. When I started a new purse calendar in January, this was one of the first entries in it.

 

On Friday morning, after picking up coffee & loading up the car Jen & I headed out of town, across the Skyway bridge and into Michigan City to begin our weekend away. After a quick spin through Meijer’s we grabbed a quick lunch at Culvers (yum – pumpkin shakes!) & actually met up with most of the other gals there at the counter. At noon we were unlocking the doors to the cottage & immediately unloading our cars and setting up our individual work spaces. While I have lots of recent pictures to yet get into albums, my goal for the weekend was stepping back in time to do an album of my senior year of high school. Several years ago, while home in the Ville I found a “high school specific” album at a local scrapbook store so I picked it up & put it away for “one day.” It didn’t take me long to get my table set up & start walking through my senior year in pictures, letters, programs, dried flowers & more.

On Saturday afternoon, I took a break from scrappin’ and headed up the Red Arrow Highway to my favorite winery – since I was so close & didn’t know if I’d make it back over there before the holidays I wanted to pick up some wine from Round Barn. One of the gals came along with me & we had a lovely time enjoying the scenery & tasting several delicious options. Heading back down the highway, we stopped at a roadside fruit stand & I picked up a basket of apples for applesauce & more.

As sunset approached on Saturday, several of us walked down to the beach. We had picked up some bubbly at Round Barn & planned a sunset toast. It was a beautiful day to see the sunset from the beach. In fact, the weather was so clear that you could actually see the Chicago skyline across the lake from us.

Saturday Sunset

By the time my car was repacked with our gear on Sunday afternoon, I had finished about 80% of my album and also had enjoyed some knitting & reading moments. We each had different “goals” for the weekend and as the weekend ended, we all agreed that they had been met. As is tradition, we have already reserved our weekend for next fall’s retreat!

A Sweet Sister & Souvenirs

September 23, 2008 / / 7 Comments

In recent years, when I travel I look for souvenir yarn. (Never mind the fact that I was in a bit of a knitting lull during the Italy/Greece trip in 2005 so I didn’t pick up yarn on that trip.) I have mentioned before that my sister always seems to end up with souvenir yarn from our “sisters weekend at the beach” annual trips.

At the end of July, Rebecca had an opportunity to go to Peru for 8 days. When she first told me she was going, my initial comment was “stuff your suitcase with as much yarn as you can find” – she rolled her eyes at me. As we talked about the fiberwork that Peru is known for, she commented that she wouldn’t bring me back a traditional hat – I argued that the handiwork in them was something to be admired & I would indeed like one. When I was home earlier this month, Rebecca presented me with my Peru souvenirs. I could say, “My sister went to Peru & all I got was this handknit alpaca.” But I would be wrong – oh, so wrong!

Indeed, I have an adorable handknit alpaca ornament. (And a cute little nativity to add to my growing collection.)

And…I have a traditional hat that is just beautiful! I’m just amazed at all of the colors in this hat & the detailed patterns. Rebecca came to appreciate the beauty of these & bought one for herself as well. Next time I’m home we’ll have to get a sisters pic in the hats! I’m sure there will be winter days in the future where this hat will keep me very warm.

And…I have 2 skeins of super soft alpaca in pale gray & lavender. I’m thinking some sort of stranded colorwork with these. But for now, they are wonderful to just hold – about the softest yarn I have in the stash!

Given the limited luggage space that Rebecca had, these would indeed be great souvenirs from her trip. But no, she went way above & beyond in the souvenir yarn category. In Cusco, she (& her travel buddies) ventured to the only yarn shop in town.

After appreciating all of the colors & all of the yarns from Michell & Co., she selected 2 cones of yarn to bring home for me. These are each 1 kg cones of pure baby alpaca – I think they might be DK weight (or maybe fingering, I haven’t done the math on yardage & haven’t found quite an exact match on Ravelry). One cone is a beautiful turquoise with just a hint of green; the other is a natural, undyed chocolate brown.

I don’t yet know what these yarns will become – I am thinking sweaters may be in their future. It may be a while before I cast on with these yarns – I want to find ‘the perfect’ projects for them. In the meantime, they will have a prominent place in my crafting supply bookcase.

And whenever I look at them I will be reminded of what a great little sister I have been blessed with!

Thanks Rebecca!

Sisters…

August 9, 2008 / / 6 Comments

Sisters

 

…Sisters,
There were never such devoted sisters
all kinds of weather
we stick together
the same in the rain or sun
two different faces
but in tight places
we think and we act as one

 Happy Birthday to my one & only sister, REBECCA!

Wishing you all the best today & throughout the coming year. Good luck with your 10th year of teaching (wow!) & I can’t wait to see the pictures from your recent trip to Peru! Love ya lots!

“FELT” Like Fun!

July 23, 2008 / / 5 Comments

 Jen & Kristy each purchased some “soap in a coat” at the fair on Saturday & we all quickly decided that we wanted to get the materials & give it a try ourselves. As I showed in the last post, among my spoils from Saturday were some lovely soaps and some colored wool batts for this project.

Last night, Jen hosted Kristy & I for an evening of crafting. After a simple summer meal of a delicious pasta salad (thanks Jen!) it was time to clear the table and get to crafting. First on our list was trying out the felted soap bars. I had printed out some instructions, we set up the dining room table with towels, piles of wool, assorted soaps & bowls of hot water. Before long, each of us was sudsy & had fun getting the wool to felt to the soap. We didn’t have a felting board, I used a spare hand towel to help with rubbing the wool into the soap. Within short order, we each had a plateful of assorted soaps to take home. As we were cleaning up the table, I noticed that the turquoise wool had bled onto the towels. As the soap dried, the turquoise one bled onto the paper towel it was drying on. So, I’m pretty sure that wool won’t be on the soap for much longer. We give this craft “3 pruned thumbs up” & plan to do it again. Hmm…I have all sorts of ideas brewing…

After we had our fill of felted soap, we turned our attention to another favorite of ours – knitting. Jen continued to make progress on a scarf. I was working on a new pair of socks (am way behind on blogging about summer sock progress…) Kristy has two projects going – a shawl with some of Diann’s curly mohair from last year’s fair & a felted bag. As Kristy worked on her projects, she had a notebook out to capture tips & tricks from me so that she can continue on the projects after her move at the end of the month.

In addition to fun with fiber, this crafting evening also had a different task on the agenda – helping Kristy update her resume as she prepares to move back to Kansas for the next chapter in her life. It seems like it was just yesterday (or maybe last month) that Jen asked me to help her little sister (via email) with her resume as she was preparing to graduate from college & move to Chicago for a job in 2004. Once Kristy moved to town, hanging out with Jen quickly evolved to hanging out with Jen & Kristy. Before long, Kristy had me teach her how to knit – her first project, a baby blanket based on the Grandma’s favorite pattern. Since then, Kristy has been a fiber pal – always up for my latest fiber outing…be it a yarn store, a festival, just sitting & knitting or anything else. Since my sister & I live so far apart, Kristy was a local little sister – we added Rebecca into the mix when she would visit & the “4 Kansas Sisters” could always count on a good time – be it tea at the Peninsula, scrapbooking retreats or trips over to Harbor Country.

Before long, it was time to pack up our crafting and call it a night. It seems like our lives have all been pretty busy lately – we used to get together & craft regularly – I’m glad that we were able to get in one last crafty time before Kristy’s departure.

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