Run down run down run down

A run down of some knitting projects I've completed in the past few weeks and haven't posted about.

1. Spiral Socks, for Chuck's birthday.


2. Soybean Socks, part of the Vegan Knit Along on ravelry


3. The cowl I mentioned in a previous post, though it is really more of a prototype since I made it with lots of scraps of yarn.

Good Job for about a week

Okay, so I did a really good job posting here on my blog for about a week. And then I suppose I got much more interested in this tumblr thing. I can post any old thing I find on the internet without feeling like I really need to get into and be original, so it's sort of like a scrapbook of interests of mine. So if things are slow here on the blog, you will more than likely still see some activity over on the tumblr page, which is here:

http://emmakat.tumblr.com/

And Even if I start posting here again for a spurt, I'm sure with the tests I'm still working on taking, that there will be lulls. But tumblr is somewhere between twitter and blogging...I should be able to post to it here and there.

I finished off my mittens last night, and now ideas are forming about what to knit next. Here are a few:

• Floating Spirals Hat (which I already started, but will probably have to frog a bit since I think I did a row of the Cables wrong.)
• Helical Stripe Socks For Chuck's Birthday, coming up soon!
• Knit Cuff Bracelets I might sell in my etsy shop.
• A Cowl idea I started playing with and also would plan to put in my shop.

Or...any of several other projects I've started but then became unmotivated to finish. (you can see them on my ravelry profile, I try to be honest and post most of what I mess with.) None of which I find particularly motivating right now.

Most likely I am leaning toward the socks for Chuck, since he does have that birthday, but also more selfishly because after watching a video from knitting daily on knitting stripes, I thought the barber pole style was pretty cool, and I purchased two colors of sock yarn for socks for Chuck a while ago, and have since been trying to figure out what to do with them. So this would be a nice gift, a cute F.O. and a way to play around with a new technique. So...I'm off to find the yarn. And I guess I might check to see that Chuck likes the idea of striped socks...

My Review of Today's Snow

Initially I saw a report that there would be 6-12 inches of snow by friday and I kind of freaked out. (You may have noticed on my twitter) We've lived here through one winter season and somehow survived. I was not sure I was ready for more of it.

But went out to the post office downtown anyway (my favorite spot, surrounded by Mies Buildings, punctuated with the bright red of the Alexander Calder sculpture...it always looks photogenic.) I was very pleased that it was a nice lovely fat snowfall, and extra thrilled about how it was sticking to the Calder. I disregarded the weather, slipped around a bunch on the slippery plaza, and took a bunch of pictures.

I'm not crazy about snow. When we lived in Seattle I explained to my parents that we would go snowshoeing, which was like visiting snow when you felt like it rather than having to deal with it in your daily city life. But, after all, I grew up in the Midwest so I suppose that means I'll always be able to manage. But take note snow, I prefer the type of snowfall we had today! (More pics of the Calder in the snow here)

A Few Cute Things I Received this Year

Hey, I was just thinking about looking up the shop of the person, fricdementol who made this cute knitterly sachet that my aunt got me for Christmas when I spotted her on etsy's front page this afternoon. Also, I thought it was cute how well the sachet coordinated with the very cool stamp set my other aunt got me from Felt Cafe.

I've already enjoyed these gifts both quite a bit. The sachet getting use in my drawer (smells lovely every time!) and the cute bag it came in is the right size for my kindle to slip into, although I think I'll use it as sock project knitting bag. And my aunts can expect some cutely stamped thank you note cards in the near future!

Sullivan Center

This is the Sullivan Center, better known as the Carson Pirie Scott building by Louis Sullivan. Of course this photo, being from all the way back in 2000, doesn't quite do it Justice. It is one of my favorite buildings here in Chicago but unfortunately since we moved here in 2008 it's pretty much been covered by scaffolding. Which is good, in a general sense, since it means it was having some work done so it can continue to be used even after the original company moved out. But it also meant that I felt a little sad every time I passed it and could not see Sullivan's amazing detailing at the main entrance.

Now that it is free I will have to stop by and get some much better pictures of it. Pictures that weren't taken as quickly as possible as we tried to see everything we could on our first ever visit to Chicago. We had driven up from our hometown, Columbus, OH. And I suppose we were still both architecture undergrads at the time. It was a long time ago, and certainly looks it from the photos of us, which I probably won't be posting any time soon.

Cat Calendars, Bird Calendars for the New Year

There's no shortage of cute calendars on etsy, and since 2010 is still fairly brand new, it's not unreasonable to still be shopping for all kinds of desk calendars, planners, wall hangings, etc. Above are a few I found today, with more to browse on a kaboodle list i made this afternoon. This images above are linked and clickable, so you can go to the shops.

Also, I started a tumblr page today, not for any particular reason, so if you're also on that site, I'd love to have new followers and people to follow!

Amy Poehler, tour guide

I highly recommend the above issue of Bust Magazine, mainly for the interview with Amy Poehler. I've been enjoying her show, Parks & Recreation, via hulu since episode one. But the reason it's on my mind today is because I did a few tours at the Robie House today and it brought the interview to mind. When asked what her non-acting dream job would be she said she'd like to be a tour guide. "I could have a little bit of an audience and be an expert and talk about this thing I'm really passionate about and work from, like, noon to four." Well that's pretty much what I did today!

I also really liked her description of her son's personality being like a french new wave film. Anyway, this issues has been out for a little while already, but I think it's still on news stands!

PS I embedded the issue as a widget via Bust. you should be able to view it full screen and zoom in, but probably not quite enough to read a whole article unless you're particularly ambitious. Still, it's fun to play with!

Spurious Resolution

I may or may not have thought to myself on new years eve that It might be a cool idea to knit all 15 of the sock patterns in Cookie A.'s Sock Innovation within a year. I admit to nothing. It might happen, it might not. It doesn't seem likely, but her patterns are always motivating so, well see.

The finished object above is another Cookie A., Monkey from Knitty, Winter 2006. They are thoroughly satisfying, love the color, texture and I expect the yarn (cascade fixation) will be durable. I even managed to knit and read my new kindle at the same time. What could be better?

Lovely Library Clutches

I caught these on Etsy's front page the other day. They are from the shop Hard Sugar Designs based out of Baltimore, MD. Aren't they cute? They are all vegan, made with cotton yarn and salvaged lumber for the handles. I have in the back of my head that I'd really like to start using some of my knitting skills toward putting some items in my etsy shop some time in 2010...I only hope that when I do so it looks at least half as elegant as these pieces.

Happy New Year!