Highlights of 2009, Part 1

I haven't posted in ages, I realize. 2009 has been a crazy year. I thought I'd at least end it by posting some about my favorite parts of this year.

Last January we took a road trip up to a border town in Minnesota called Grand Portage...for no really great reason. Loosely because Chuck's studio project was the design of a border crossing station there, but really it was just for fun. It was cold, but so pretty and we got to be in nature and snowshoe.

Architectural two things happened. One, I started volunteering at Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House in Hyde Park. It's been a great way to stay motivated since architecture as an industry has been very slow in the recession. I initially didn't think I was suited to giving tours, but I have since come to really enjoy it. I also get to help out with restoration projects like gardening & cleaning windows, special events and their Lego architects program for kids. Secondly, though it's not quite as personal, I have to mention the opening of the Modern Wing of the Art Institute by Renzo Piano. It's a very lovely and photogenic space, with the highlight being, as in many of Pianos museums, that the gallery spaces enjoy natural lighting without damage to the art on display. Plus there's a really nice Architecture collection there with sketches and models of everyone from "form follows function" Louis Sullivan to the local, woman-owned Studio Gang Architects.

I've done a lot of knitting this year, I found that my skill and speed has improved quite a bit since I started. There are still techniques I struggle with and have yet to learn (part of what makes knitting exciting.) I recently found out that color work (vs. lace and cabling) is not one of my strong suits. Two of my favorite projects completed this year are show above. The Frontier Jacket was relatively simple, a seamless knit with an interested method for attaching the sleeves, from Knitscene Winter 2007 by Wendy Bernard. It produced what I think will be a useful final product, and I originally bought the yarn for $10 at a craft supply event in Wicker Park. The second project shown is a pair of stockings that were irresistible to knit up, but took a very long time to complete, I'm still amazed I did. They are the Rapunzel Stockings from Knit.1 Winter 2008 by Ysolda Teague. There are several other project I was pretty happy with this year, some of which you can see in my flickr set highlighting my favorite photos from 2009.

Tomorrow I promise to post again, finishing off some of the highlights from my 2009 before they year is over. I'll post about the concerts, shows, cooking and sewing accomplishments. And perhaps I'll even try to make a few resolutions. (erm...like perhaps blogging more often? we will see.)