Chicago Friday

So the first store that we hit was on Polk btwn State and Wabash - a very short jaunt from our hotel (Essex 8th/Mich).

LOOPY YARN

What an awesome place. Very nice assortment of yarns and books. I started by purchasing this book. Now, no I don't have any babies or any grandchildren in the wings, but I love to make baby stuff. Its usually a quick knit and I've learned about sweater construction on a little scale since I'm not much of a sweater person myself.

I also purchased this ball of mohair with sparkles (sorry its blurry). The shaw was an easy 40 stitch cast on -- knit all -- on 17's. But the scarf/shawl came out so light and airy with little bits of glitz. Saw it done in blue jean and silver -- very pretty. This is for mom for Christmas (that's the plan at least).

And even though I don't need any more sock yarn currently.... Fleece Artist with pattern. No immediate completion plans, stash enhancement.

The people at Loopy Yarn were wonderful!!! - very helpful, welcoming.... just too kind.

Definitely a place I will hit again and that I recommend if you're visiting!

Chicago Outbound

Our jaunt to the Windy City was wonderful!!! I have to take pics of purchases --- (stay tuned) but haven't unpacked much yet.

Took a new project with me to start on the train. As we pulled out of Dearborn Station, I cast on for "Flow" . Harlot had done this last summer and after obtaining pattern (special order off internet) and than finding yarn I could afford 1000 yds of (thank you bust-line....Seduce was not in my budget) I set off. Worked on the 7 hr ride (we were delayed) and had a good 5 inch mojo going.

Friday night I took the project out, transferred it to circular needles to check width and such and realized that when I completed this there would be 10 inches more material around my middle. Now I realize that the pattern said this straight off. However, I did not read that far and it didn't become clear until I laid the knitting out (got gauge and all) and realized HOW MUCH extra fabric that was. That's a lot. And if you are conscious about the "few extra pounds" that one carries -- an extra 10 inches can make one feel more than "quite a few pounds" heavier.

So I ripped it out. The whole thing.

So much for 7 hrs of knitting time.

Leaving on a train....

Did I mention that my friend Diane and I are going on a yarn crawl?

Well we are headed to Chicago tomorrow, by train.

6 hours of uninterrupted knitting there.

Two days of shopping and knitting.

10 yarn shops down Michigan Avenue (near as we can figure) and 4 outlying. We're going to keep going as long as the cash holds out.

A nice dinner or two and ...

than another 6 hours back.

Bliss!

:) K

YIPEEEEEE

I GOT THE NEW JOB!!!

OB FT midnights

(Insert Happy Dance here)

:) K

Quilt #3

This is the third quilt top that I finished during our fest --

Fabric is about 4 years in the stash --- My last year of nursing school (05) - I went on my first (and only so far) "shop hop". I had purchased this with the intention of appliqueing a tea set onto solid fabric and than surrounding that with squares.

Didn't happen.

So, I unearthed this, cut strips of differing sizes (cream with flowers) and same sized black and joined. I'm going to bind with pink I think -- also from the stash.

5.5 less yards :)

K

More photos...

This quilt (actually finished when Joy was here) was my biggest "get rid of stuff".

The "nine patch" blocks were a collection made from scraps through the past few years that were sitting in the laundry room. The butterflies were cut with the intention of making a "butterfly" quilt at some point and I unearthed them while cleaning (moving things around) the workroom. The beige was intended to be a "flip-flop" quilt... which I will never get to.

So I combined the three. This cut down the stash/intended projects/started projects by THREE, which was such a good feeling. The quilt even came out looking quite nice for something just pulled together.

:) K

So, I finally have pictures.... (#1)

This is a kit that I purchased about 3 yrs ago. The 24 square blocks are stacked and than cut, shuffled, sewed together and cut again *repeat*.

I had cut and sewn the squares probably a year ago (at least) and there they languished. After Christmas I decided to get it together so I could send it back with Joy for quilting.

1 down.... (I'm not even willing to count the number yet) ___ to go

Karrie

P.S. It is AMAZING what an above 30 degree day will do to one's soul. It is "Springlike" in very loose terms, but who cares :)