Cuz Mittens Because

I have an awesome cousin. One of his children likes purple and these mittens are for her.

They are based on Beth Brown Reinsel's Morning Glory mittens which was a kit offered by the now defunct Dye Dreams. The yarn in the kit is really lovely, and very nice to knit with - I wish I had more of this yarn!

I didn't think the Morning glory suited my cousin's daughter. I love stripes, and I thought the cuff was adorable and so this is what came of these mittens. They are not twined, just stranded since I couldn't remember how to twine knit and I was trying to get these done quickly. Well, we all know I am not the fastest knitter anyhow, so at least they were finished this winter.

Tuesday January 17th

The Windy City Knitting Guild will be having a presentation on the use of knitting and felting in the Waldorf curriculum by a knitting/felting teacher from the Chicago Waldorf School on Tuesday, January 17th.

I think it will be very interesting and I am really looking forward to learning more!

The Windy City Knitting Guild meets at the Sulzer Regional Library, 4455 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 

The meeting officially starts at 6:45pm, but we usually wait until 7:00pm so that everyone has time to settle in , get a plateful of snacks, and say hi to your friends!

I hope to see you there!

Exchange

Before Christmas, as always, I made gingerbread.

Some of my cookie cutters, collected and inherited over the years.

Ready to go in the oven!

Lastly, decorated with white royal icing.

The decorating is something I started doing about 15 years ago. When I was a kid these were always plain.

An old high school classmate saw a photo I posted on a certain social networking site, and mentioned that they looked good. So I sent him some. A couple of weeks later...

R.'s Nonna's pizelle. She would have been proud.

Look what I got in the mail! YUM! A long distance cookie exchange.

New Year's Day at The Fold

I was invited by the A. and L. to joinm them in their annual New Year's Day excursion out to The Fold sale in Marengo, IL. Nope, not in Chicago, and not even the suburbs. It's way out there and worth every single second that it takes to get there. The place is incredible!

The driveway was full of cars. We parked on the road.

Main entrance, seems pretty low key - looks can be deceiving!

Sale yarn and books in the garage. No, I didn't take photos inside - there was NO ROOM! It was jam packed with yarn, books, and shoppers.

Just inside the door of the shop, to the right of the door.

Straight ahead, showing part of the line.

To the left from the door.

Heading into dangerous territory here, Socks that Rock on the right. Madeline Tosh and more Socks that Rock on the left

Socks that Rock. Droooool.

More sock yarn, and needles and books.

More sock yarn and some mohair.

Part of the line to check out. I couldn't get the whole line in.

Just one shelf of some roving. That's JUST ONE of the MANY shelves of roving!

This stuff, oooooohhhhhh, it was like putting your hand in what you would imagine a cloud could feel like. Hey! I see my cowboy boot there at the top!

Toni, the amazing owner of The Fold.

More roving.

Someone's great sweater, I loved it! Nope, not handknit, it was storebought.

Some nice handmade soaps.

Food! A nice buffet, and refreshments. Toni opened up her home for shoppers to snack and hang out.

Just so you know, this is NOT the entire shop. It was crazy in there! I could barely make it back toward the worsted weight. This is just a sample of what The Fold has, and actually what makes the place so incredible is Toni. She was so warm and welcoming, and I think she knew every single person that walked in her door. This place is well worth a visit, but you've got to take your time there, there is just so much to see!

Oh, what did I buy? Um, well, some Socks that Rock called my name, and I was perfectly happy with just that until someone introduced me to some Madeline Tosh. 

I mean look at that place, I showed considerable restraint you know!

Okay, photos later. Maybe.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Miscellaneous Catch Up

A lot has happened, alot is still happening, and it will continue to happen. 

Here are some photos of miscellaneous events, etc.

I have had this red J. Crew sweater for ages, but the sleeves were too long and too bulky to just roll up. It's been on my list to undo and reknit down for ages.

Here it is in progress. It is now done, but I have no photos of the finished piece. Oh, well. Yay, it is much more wearable now.

Circus boy and I went to see Circus in the Parks by Midnight Circus. Look at their beautiful new tent!

Even more awesome inside the tent!

I saw Don Quixote by the Joffrey Ballet. I love the Joffrey, and they dance at the Auditorium Theater, my favorite theater.

My circus friends at MSA & Circus Arts forced me to try the aerial silks. It was HARD!

Circus boy makes it look so easy!

In position for the big drop finale...

...and there he goes!

more updates later

Well...

I have some secret knitting that is nearly completed, and I made a pie for Thanksgiving. 

I can show you the pie, fresh out of the oven. It fell a bit when it cooled.

I made turkey stock and then some Swiss chard and lentil soup. 

It was tasty. It is from the book Twelve Months of Monastery Soups.

I know, I know, but look, at least I posted something.