Amy Artisan

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Category: Road Warrior (page 7 of 8)

Third Time’s a Charm

February 9, 2007 / / 9 Comments

As I mentioned in my last post, I had hoped to start February with a blue finished object; however, the hotel knitting last week just wasn’t happening. On Monday I cast on…knit round & round, cabled, knit round & round and then discovered a problem with the first cable – so I ripped it all out. On Tuesday I tried again…cast on, knit round & round, cable, knit round & round and then discovered a problem – so I ripped it all out, again. Fast forward to last Friday evening – I cast on, knit round & round, cabled, etc. and by the end of the evening Blue Fetching #1 was complete. I did discover one “issue” with it but it was something I could incorporate into the pair. Saturday morning I cast on for #2 and later in the evening was finished. Ever since I finished Grandma’s pair I was wanting to make a pair for me and with the deep freeze that has descended it was a the right time to make this pair. They came in handy (oops, no pun intended) this week with all of the drive time to/from WI they were the perfect thing to keep my hands warm. (And they are on my hands now as I type this entry.)

Fetching

The Details:
Fetching in Dream in Color in Blue Lagoon. This is a “new to me” yarn and I love how the color subtleties knit up. My extra “design feature” the palms of both mitts don’t have the third cable.

Calorimetry

Next on the needles is Calorimetry from Knitty. I knit it up on Sunday but encountered sizing issues and had to rip it all out – so will finish up version 2 this weekend. I had hoped to complete it this week as my hotel knitting; however, for the second week in a row I had knitting error problems with Monday night knitting. I think going forward I shouldn’t plan to accomplish any real knitting on Mondays when I travel – I’m just too tired at the end of that day.

Shells on the scarf

This weekend is my final crochet class. Last weekend I added the shell border to the edge and will learn to make flowers on Saturday. Now I’m ready for warmer weather so I can wear my new spring scarf.

As I finish up these projects I’m wondering what I’ll cast on for next. So much yarn, so many possibilities! Stay tuned…

Sunshine Salad

January 21, 2007 / / 9 Comments

Oh the cold, gray days of winter…no sunshine in sight! So, on a cold, gray, snowy Sunday I whipped up a Sunshine Salad in the kitchen.

Sunshine Salad

I came across this citrus salad recipe and used it as my starting point. I used a ruby red grapefruit, navel orange and blood orange. For the dressing, I mixed half clover honey and half blueberry honey with the citrus juices. In addition to the cardomom (one of my favorite spices) I also added a dash of ground cloves. This is a simple salad that tastes great – I’ll be making it again.

In addition to finishing my Bejeweled scarf earlier this month I’ve managed to finish quite a few other things.

Current Finished Objects

First up, a stack of dishcloths (and this stack doesn’t even include all of them so far this month). Most of these are my standard “grandma’s favorite.” I also completed the January Monthly Dishcloth KAL – a snowflake. I must admit, knitting a dishcloth in cream (or white) seems odd to me – I knit dishcloths to be used & this seems like it will always be stained or always have to be bleached.

Next up, a secret knit that can’t be revealed quite yet. How’s that for a teaser?

Next, I dug deep into the WIPs and pulled out my striped felted tote. The bottom of the bag has been seamed up, all of the connections have been dealt with – it’s ready for felting fun in the washer and then some handles.

Why have I been knitting so much this month? Work has me traveling during the week again – this time driving to the Northwoods of Wisconsin. On my drive up last week, I managed a detour to the Herrschners Retail Store – the reason for stopping was to buy a Wool Winder to go with my new swift. I left with a bag filled with yarn and no winder – didn’t even think of it when I was in the store. I was able to stop at the store on the way home & pick one up. It has already been put to good use.

First Crochet Attempts

Last spring, I picked up SnB: The Happy Hooker when Debbie Stoller came to Arcadia Knitting. I wanted to pick up some of the crochet basics last year; however, that didn’t happen. On Saturday morning I had my first Crochet Basics class at Arcadia – when the class is done I will have completed a scarf & learned several basic stitches. Saturday was the single and double crochet – homework was to practice those stitches and we’ll begin the scarf next week. I have done some practice with the intended scarf yarn; however, most of my crochet practice has been with leftover dishcloth yarn – not only am I practicing my new skills I’ll also have a few “wonky” dishcloths for my sink. One thing I have noticed with the crochet is that my right hand and arm gets sore – which is something I haven’t noticed with knitting.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your stories about your Friday Night Knitting Clubs. Isn’t it great that we are each able to find our own groups – whether in person or through our online connections? Now that the book has been released the author has appearances throughout North America – check out the schedule and see if she is coming to your town. Unfortunately she isn’t scheduled to visit Chicago yet; however, if you do go to an event I’d love to hear about it.

The Changing Leaves

October 24, 2006 / / 8 Comments

One of the things I love about fall is the changing of the leaves. Shades of bright green start to fade, then brillant shades of red, orange, and yellow appear and then the leaves are just a pile on the ground. The memories of the previous spring and summer fade and you await the new growth in the coming spring.

Flying into Chicago on Saturday morning the forest preserves were patchworks of yellow, orange and red. Here at home, many of the trees have lost most of their leaves – this morning the street sweeper came down the street to clear out the big piles of dry leaves.

Down in Chattanooga the leaves aren’t quite as far along in their season change. The first weekend of October when I did a lot of mountain driving the mountains were covered in green with just a few spots of autumnal colors. This week as I drove through the mountains for the last time this year the patchwork quilt was vastly changed – not nearly as much green and a lot more reds and oranges.

As the leaves are changing this season, it is also a season of change for me as well.

So long Scenic City…for Now

Last week was my final week on the project down in Chattanooga. The 8-10 week assignment in May ended up lasting 23 weeks. It had been 4 years since I had a travel assignment for work and it was a bit of a rough start. In August my role in the project changed from wearing one hat to wearing lots of hats. As I’ve mentioned (and the lack of blogging since August indicates) my world became pretty crazy and work was close to all that was happening with me. In September the system went live, I worked an insane number of hours and in the midst of it also marked 10 years in consulting. In addition to learning a new software with this project I also learned a lot about me and how I work. I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite projects.

I look back on the last several months and while the “who practices some trade” side of Artisan was definitely the driving factor in my activities there are also some fun memories. One plus of the travel assignment was that I got to see my family much more than I normally do – at least one weekend a month I was down in the ‘Ville instead of coming back to Chicago. Another plus was forming some new friendships that will continue beyond the duration of the project.

When I first learned that I would be traveling I had grand plans for all the knitting that would happen – well, not nearly everything was accomplished & most of the knits were simple in nature. (Click to see the set) As I mentioned in my previous post, I did make it to a local yarn store once. Now that I’m back home, here are the yarn souvenirs that I picked up. I don’t know what projects these will become – the colors definitely remind me of a lot of the scenery that I saw around the Scenic City.

Hello Home…

Now that the Chattanooga project has wrapped up it is good to be back home. My next project will keep me in Chicago so I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine that doesn’t involve living out of a suitcase. I will be working downtown so I will have “El” commute time – it may involve knitting or maybe catching up on the stack of books that I have been wanting to read.

In the coming weeks and months I think that the “handicraft” side of Artisan will be done more frequently. The “Knit List” seems never ending with all the projects I want to complete – many are on the needles already – a lot of the projects I showed earlier this summer are still “in progress.” Scrapbooking has been pretty nonexistent this year – but I’m already looking ahead to the winter retreat weekend in January & all that I can accomplish then. And cooking…well after eating out 3 meals a day for 23 weeks I’m definitely ready to spend time in the kitchen. In fact, a friend is coming for dinner tomorrow & I’m looking forward to making a big pot of soup.

I’m enjoying a bit of downtime before the next project begins. Stay tuned for more blogging. I’m also looking forward to heading to Dallas this weekend to spend some quality time with Miss Butterfly & Miss Doodlebug!

Never Lost*

October 10, 2006 / / 9 Comments

* That’s the name of the navigation system found in some rental cars. And indeed, it came to the rescue.

As my recent lack of blogging has shown, I’ve been pretty close to “lost in my work” here in Chattanooga since early August. I’ve been away from Chicago for almost a month – supporting the live application here has meant working crazy hours – including weekends. In the midst of all the work I’ve enjoyed a few ‘adventures’ that have helped to keep me from becoming too lost in the work.

Two weekends ago my rental car was equipped with “Never Lost” – when I picked up the car on Friday afternoon my initial reaction was to the effect of “hmm..don’t need that.” Fast forward to Saturday afternoon when I left the office at 3:00 – it was a beautiful day, I had a couple of hours free before meeting up with friends for dinner – what to do? After picking up an Italian soda at a cute little cafe, I got in the car and headed across the river. I remembered that there was a yarn shop “over there” but didn’t know where & didn’t want to go back to the hotel to get online and look for it. Enter “Never Lost.” I pulled into a parking lot, turned the system on & searched for nearby specialty shops. About the 5th shop listed was “Genuine Purl” – so the car talked me to the location. I walked into a charming store overflowing with all sorts of beautiful yarns. Given the near exhausted state that I was in, in a word I was overwhelmed! I circled through the rooms & picked up all sorts of beautiful things. Even though I had projects back in the hotel room I wanted to pick up a simple project to start on that afternoon – after quite a bit of back & forth I picked up a fun variegated yarn for a simple ribbed scarf. As yarn souvenirs I picked up a lovely green Malabrigo yarn and also some Claudia’s Hand Painted Yarns in a colorway that reminds of some Scenic City scenery – the river and the mountains. (No pictures yet)

I left the yarn store with a smile on my face and a bag full of pretty yarn. I still had some time left to my afternoon – so I parked at the river front park, found a park bench, turned on my iPod & cast on for the scarf. An hour of good tunes, being outside, watching the boats on the river & the back & forth of the ribbed scarf were just what I needed.

I still wasn’t ready to head back to the hotel so I got in the car and did some mountain driving – up and down Lookout Mountain. I had been along that route once before and the vintage signs for Rock City really did help ensure I was “Never Lost” while on the curvy mountain roads. The autumn sun through the tree leaves (some of which were just starting to change colors) made for beautiful scenery.

This serendipity Saturday was capped off with dinner with new friends. We went to a new Thai restaurant that is owned by a couple of people that work at my client site. Royal Thai is a great place – if it were closer to downtown I would be there a lot more frequently.

That Sunday my parents were in town while heading back to GA from a weekend getaway. We explored the town, had a great brunch at Lookout Mountain Cafe and did a lot of driving through the mountains – it was another beautiful day & we all enjoyed the sun, the trees, the start of fall leaves.

This past weekend I didn’t have to be in the office so I headed down to the ‘Ville to hang out with the family. No big plans – just lots of little things – sleeping in till 8AM, my kitty snuggling under the covers with me, Mom’s home cooking, a bit of shopping, watching a classic musical (Oklahoma) and all of us humming songs the rest of the weekend. On Sunday evening I had dinner with a college roommate on the northside of Atlanta before coming back up to Chattanooga – it was great to catch up with Kelly & reconnect with a dear friend. The simple pleasures of this weekend were a “homegrown” version of Never Lost that pulled me back from the depths of work overload.

Still very little to report on the knitting front. To my swaps pals, I haven’t been lost – just a bit off the “normal” path.

My time in Chattanooga is probably wrapping up soon – I look forward to being back home, back on the blog and back involved with the parts of my life that have recently been put on hold while being “lost in work.”

Up for air…

September 18, 2006 / / 14 Comments

Contrary to popular belief, I haven’t quite fallen off the face of the earth. To say that the last month has been busy would be a mild understatement. I don’t use this space to talk about work – suffice to say that the project in Chattanooga has consumed most of my time recently. Four months ago today I arrived on the project – today was the big milestone – “go live” with the new application. That doesn’t mean that my work is slowing down any – in fact, it will be just as busy as the last month. All that to say…I’ve missed writing out here, keeping up to date with blog friends and doing a lot of the things that find their way onto the pages of Amy Artisan.

This will be a brief post…sleep is definitely calling my name this evening.

First, thanks to everyone for your sweet birthday comments for my Grandma. We have printed out the comments for her – she is so tickled that all my friends would leave wishes for her. When I was home Labor Day weekend I did the simple dishcloth knitting as a de-stresser. One evening while we were all in the great room Grandma looked at me knitting and commented “I’m so glad you learned how to knit.” I am too!

There is very little to report on the knitting front recently – the long hours working have meant little time to knit while on the road. Also, not so much reading has been happening either.

A highlight of the last month was the return of Pink Martini to Chicago! It was a great SOLD OUT concert at the House of Blues. As we were waiting to go inside & everying was queueing up in line you could see the same expression on each face…wow, I can’t believe this many people in Chicago like/know Pink Martini. The set was a different order than I’ve heard before and a lot of the arrangements were just a bit different than previous concerts. It was a lovely evening which started with a fun dinner at Bin 36 – one of my favorite Chicago restaurants.

To those of you who’ve sent emails asking if everything was alright – thank you. To my sister, now you don’t have to leave nasty comments asking for a new post. : )

I have several posts bouncing around in my head – hopefully I will be able to put e-pen to e-paper soon and return to the “normal” Amy Artisan entries that I enjoy creating.

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