Saturday, April 19, 2008

Socks and Scarves from a Sunny Sunday

One of the things I love about Colorado is how much sunshine the state gets, about 300 or so days a year, and today is no exception. It's been a gorgeous all weekend inside and out, the temperature just perfect and the sky clear. I see some gardening in my future with the weather being as lovely as it is.

Moving on to the crafts...

Despite the lack of recent photographic evidence, there has been some serious knitting going on in my house (and at the local yarn store and the nearby Applebee's and coffeeshops, so on and so forth). The two projects I'm really devoting a lot of time to are my first pair of socks and a scarf for my mom.


While in Boulder a couple weekends ago, my cousin purchased a gorgeous skein of Cascade 220 Heathers for me in a medium shade of purple so I could make something for my mom. After much inquiry, I've cast on twenty stitches for a seed stitch scarf, similiar to the one I made for myself last year from the Cascade 220 Quatro. So far the scarf is coming along nicely and I've knit about three or four inches. I'm hoping to have it done for her by her fifty-first birthday in July.


My first pair of socks, also done from Cascade 220 are coming along nicely. Another inch of boring stockinette in the round and I'll be able to start on the heel. If you want to see a picture of the sock, look at what Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is holding in my picture with her!


Mom and I went to a friend's house Sunday to do some cardmaking. I've enver been much of a cardmaker in the past, but I can see the appeal. I managed to make some pretty nifty cards before my cramps and achy back dictated that we go home. I'm looking forward to making more cards in the future. Hopefully this will give me a chance to use up all my scraps of colored and patterned paper.


Other than some crafting and plenty of lounging over the weekend, on Sunday night I conquered my filing cabinet and started organizing all my past schoolwork and every other piece of paper I've found in my room. There is a huge bin in the middle of my floor just filled with paper to be recycled. After I get my room in shape, I really need to work on the perfect organization system for all my craft stuff. Soon I'll have to figure out what little of my craft stuff I'll be able to take with me to college in August.

Speaking of college!! I have my UNC Orientation on June 11 and 12, and the Estes Park Wool Market starts on the 12th and goes through the 15th. There's a youth hostel in Estes Park I can stay at for $30 a night!! I'm looking forward to taking this trip all by myself and do some fun sightseeing and maybe even throw in some self-discovery? So far my summer is really shaping up to be something exciting.

Happy belated Earth Day!

Coffee and cashmere,
Lulu

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Blogging Websites

I've been thinking...

I'm seriously debating if I want to move my blog to typepad or wordpress. I like Blogger quite a bit and it's been nice for now, but I'm getting kind of antsy about wanting to personalize my blog more. Plus I've been reading on Ravelry about how commenting on Blogger can be a huge pain... I like getting comments and I'd really like for my readers to be able to easily comment.

Any feedback? Comments are greatly appreciated...

Monday, April 14, 2008

And a Picture to Prove It!


YarnHarlot, originally uploaded by craftylulu.

Told you I met her! And sweet Stephanie is even holding MY sock!

I wish I looked better in this picture, but alas... The shirt I'm wearing says "WILL KNIT FOR COFFEE" and I painted it sometime last year. I aslo sewed the "coffee" tote bag I'm carrying.

So cool right?

Did I mention how nice she is in person? and funny!

coffee and cashmere,
Lulu

Sunday, April 6, 2008

A Yarn about the Harlot

No pictures on this post because I'm not at home yet--still up in the Denver area at my cousin's house on the laptop.

OMG I MET THE YARN HARLOT! SHE WAS AMAZING!

Okay, I need to stop yelling before I give myself an asthma attack, but seriously, I had such a blast Friday night at the Tattered Cover.

She remembered commenting my blog; how cool is that? I thought I was going to die when I started talking to her. Stephanie is truly an amazing woman with a gift, and I can't wait to see her again. I read her new book cover to cover at 1 a.m. Friday night and loved it.

I also made some new friends while waiting for the book signing. A group of lovely ladies from Colorado Springs took me in as their own and made the night that much better. I also bought my first skein of Koigu yarn at the LYS by the Tattered Cover.

I should be heading home to Pueblo tonight or tomorrow morning so expect pictures in the next few days. I'm still flying high about all that has happened this weekend.

Also, may Dylan Reid rest in peace. Dude, you died too young. All the students and staff at DHPH an CCA will miss you dearly.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

There's Fiber in Them Thar Bloodlines

One of the highlights of my trip to Chicago was getting to visit the Swedish Museum in the neighboorhood called Andersonville. The museum gave a wonderful display of history explaining how and why different Swedes chose to leave the mother country and immigrate to the United States and how Swedish-Americans lived their lives once arriving here. Being of Swedish descent, it was very interesting for me to walk through the museum with my mother, whose own grandfather came to the States from Gothenburg, Sweden in 1911.



About halfway through the second-floor exhibit, we looked upon a display of the average living room from the early 1900s. In the corner sat a spinning wheel, the second one we had seen in the museum that day. "I knew it!" I told my mom excitedly. "Fiber is in my blood. I must learn how to spin now!" Of course, being the shutterbug that she is, my mom insisted I pose for a picture.


The third floor of the museum was just as amazing. It was totally devoted for children ages two-twelve to understand the lives of Swedish-Americans from many, many years ago. I had so much fun running around pretending to be five years old again. I dressed up like a little Swedish girl and pretended to say goodbye to my homeland before departing for the land of oppurtunity called America.


I had just way too much fun with it all, and I'm looking forward to taking my children to the same museum someday. If anybody ever visits the Chicago area, I highly recommend a trip to the Swedish Museum.

In other news, I'm going to see the one and only Yarn Harlot on Friday at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch. I am so terribly excited about this. What should I wear? Something knit of course... Hmmm... Don't expect a post about my Yarn Harlot booksigning until at least Sunday night though because I am also planning on staying in the Denver area for the rest of the weekend to visit some more family. My little cousin Riley is turning 10 on Saturday, plus her grandmother, my cousin Meredith, and I are planning on visiting some yarn stores in possibly Boulder or Ft. Collins that same day. Tons of pictures of those things to come.

I'm hoping I can keep up this reguarly blogging thing. I really do enjoy it, and I hope to expand my reader base someday in the future. I think today will be a good day. =)

Coffee and cashmere,
Lulu

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

7 Reasons Why Knitting is Better than Magic: The Gathering

While most of my guy friends are totally into a card game called Magic: The Gathering and the like, I am a knitter. They sit in the cafeteria at the college for hours at a time dueling against one another, playing one-on-one and two-on-two and so on and so forth until they can play no more. I sit and watch for a little while, eventually pulling out some knitting or crocheting or a book about fiber arts because I firmly believe that knitting is better than Magic.

1. To play Magic, one must collect lots of cards and this costs lots of money over the long run. You can find yarn for cheap if you look in the right places, and there is a skein for every budget from Red Heart from Wal-Mart to the gorgeous Lobster Pot cashmere purchased online.

2. With the exception of card houses, you can make plenty of different things from yarn.

3. Yarn doesn't give you papercuts like a Magic card would.

4. Alpaca yarn is way softer than any Magic card.

5. You can knit all by yourself but you need at least one other person to play Magic.

6. Knitting can be as easy or as complex as you want it to be. Magic is pretty much always complicated.

7. You don't have to know how to read to knit (without a pattern) but reading is a required skill for playing Magic.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Chicago Yarny Goodness

And now, some promised pictures... Okay, not all of them because between me and my mom, we took over 350+ pictures; but I do have some highlights from one of the yarn stores we visited!

Loopy Yarns, located on South State Street, was the better of the two yarn stores we visited in the Windy City. I instantly felt welcomed despite by newbie-ness. A former store manager who is now an independent knitwear designer offered to take a couple pictures of me and my mom. Notice the handknit scarf my mother is wearing--that lovely Cascade 220 creation is mine! Even my mother was impressed by the amazing collection of different varieties of yarn. I almost had trouble deciding what would go home with me back to Colorado when I saw the back wall...

Look at all the beautiful Manos del Uraguay! Dear Loopy Yarns even had the silk blend of this gorgeous kettle-dyed yarn. I bought two skiens of the silk blend, which is the stuff to the left in the picture. The purply-magenta skein was for my friend Erin and the deep teal skein was all for me. I aslo got another wool/silk blend yarn from the sale bin at the store at 60% off in addition to some absolutely gorgeous worsted-weight wool that is dyed right there in Chicago (picture of that to come). I ended up giving up over $40 to the yarn store but I was able to go home with some great treats.

And that is that for now. I must take my poor car into the dealer to see why in the world my check engine light came on. As always, more pictures later. Maybe I'll even update twice in one day!!

And as a teaser for my next entry... I bought my first full sized skien of CASHMERE at the other yarn store we visited. Also, fiber arts are in my blood and I have photographs to prove it. More on that later.

Coffee and cashmere,
Lulu