Travels

Apologies for the absence. I had the good fortune to take an extended work trip to 2 places that I have been on my wish list - China and Japan.

Shanghai was my first destination and although I spent most of my time in meeting rooms, I got to experience local food and culture and this amazing skyline:





Over the weekend I was able to visit the Yu Garden area in Shanghai, which is an interesting mix of older architecture and commerce.  I enjoyed wandering around this area and seeing some craftsmen at work.





The next destination was Tokyo, and I was able to see the Meiji Jingu Shrine, the Imperial Palace, Harajuku, and one craft area in a local department store (bonus!)







I was on a high after this trip, feeling extremely lucky to have had a taste of these great cities, and I hope to return to both places in the future.

Long flights also means I have a little craft update too with lots of plane knitting time! Shortly before the trip I had received a recommended post in my facebook feed for a new-to-me designer: Janina Kallio. I really liked the airy shawl designs, and selected one of these for the trip - Rosewater shawl. I had the perfect yarn for it too - some handspun that I had found on Etsy a few years ago, in a gorgeous purple. The beginning garter stitch section was good simple knitting for a travel project.





Have you had a fun summer?

I hope that you are all well.
Best wishes,
Sam xxx

Handspun socks

I hope that you are well and enjoying summer. I've been absent due to work and family travels. It's been a great few weeks. Of course travel time means lots of craft time, which has resulted in a pair of handspun socks.

A few weeks back I picked up this wonderful yarn from BockStark knits on Etsy. I am really fond of handspun and these colours are very soothing.

There is no pattern for these - just a plain old vanilla sock.  I thought that best with all the interest from the yarn.

These kept me company on our travels to, and within, the UK. Plane knitting, train knitting etc... We had such a great time with family in the UK, and were able to get out and about - walking the Roman walls in Chester, visiting historic buildings, checking out Wimbledon, walks along the beach front...





One crafty highlight from the trip: There is a factory that prints Liberty fabric not too far from where my family live. Adjacent to the factory is a factory shop!!! My sister took to me the factory store one weekend, and I picked up a few bags of Liberty scraps as well as some pre-cut bundles. We had such a great time, and came home with fabulous loot, that I was able to tempt my Mum to take me back there the following week. It would be dangerous if this was on my doorstep!





Back in Colorado now, and hiding indoors from this crazy heat.
Stay cool friends.
Love,
Sam
xxx

Happy Valentine's Day!

There have been a number of activities at Naomi's school this last week, most notably 'Tie Dye Tuesday'.  I decided that this would be a fun opportunity for Naomi and I to work on a craft project together.  I found this great tutorial for creating tie dye with Turmeric:  Natural Tie Dye Pillow from High on DIY.  We had everything we needed at home already so it was perfect! And the color that the turmeric creates is fabulous and sings that Spring is on the way!



This project was simple enough for a little one to work on (except the boiling part of course - that was my domain). She was delighted with the end result, and shared this as her 'Good thing' at school that day. By the way, I love that her school reinforces the idea of looking for the good in each day by encouraging the kiddos to share their 'good things' with the class.

A good thing for me: I took Friday off work to go to the zoo with my family. It seems people and animals alike had the same idea - it was a perfect day to be outdoors! We got to see some lion cubs, the bears, mountain sheep, etc. etc. and feed the lorikeets.  I loved seeing the bears, but feeding the lorikeets was the highlight of the day for Naomi and I.



Other good things - I splurged on some more yarn. This is 'high twist sock' from Pigeonroof Studios. I've yet to figure out what to make with this as there are only 240 yards. I could see possibly pairing with some other yarn in my stash and use this as a border on a shawl. Or maybe use on its own to make a hat. What are your thoughts?



But for now, and in honor of the day, I will spend a little time on this Valentine's cross stitch from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery:



Wishing you a wonderful Valentine's day!
Love
Sam
xxx

All You Knit is Love

Isn't that a true and lovely sentiment since our hand crafted goods are ultimately works of love.

All You Knit is Love is also the name of a yarn store in the Barri Gotic area of Barcelona, Spain. I had the good fortune to visit this shop last week while travelling for work. It is nestled in a labyrinth of old cobbled streets, interesting buildings, unique shops and is a stone's throw from the Picasso Museum.  Knowing my free time would be limited I had done my research ahead of time and was able to spend my last evening on this trip hunting out gifts for my family and seeking out this store. I was not disappointed.

The first thing that captured my attention is the creative window display of a snowman made from skeins of yarn. Looking up you notice that the signage for the store is a play on the mosaics for which Gaudi, and Barcelona, is known. Inside is a rustic charm with a wide variety of yarns and notions, some of the brands I recognized - Koigu, Malabrigo etc - and there were others which were new to me (and naturally needed to come home with a small sampling). The gentleman in the store was very happy to let me snap pictures, browse, ooh and aah to my heart's content, while my gracious non-knitter work colleague sat cozily in one of their arm chairs and relaxed. At checkout there were additional details that made this such a gem -- the business card for the store doubles as a needle gauge, and the fabric labels that were added to my linen yarn included a handy tape measure print.







The trip included a couple of other highlights: Upon arriving in Barcelona and settling into the hotel, I wanted to check out my surroundings and stretch my legs. I headed towards Las Ramblas and wandered to a fabulous market with its colorful displays of fresh fruits and vegetables, dried fruits and nuts, chillis, seafood... A true delight for the senses with the bright colours, the smells of fresh fruits, and the bustle of people happily picking up their groceries.


The other highlight was a team building event hosted by BCNKitchen where we enjoyed spending time with our colleagues from around the globe while we were instructed, prepped and then ate this incredibly delicious dinner of a variety of tapas.  I've seen a place locally that hosts similar listen-learn-prep-eat activities and will be checking this out for sure - it was enormously enjoyable.




It was a great trip, but its also good to be back home with my lovely family.

Hoping you've had a wonderful weekend,
Sam xxx

A little of this and that

The crafty gifts continued to come in last weekend - check out this adorable sheepy yarn bowl that my step kids gave me for my birthday. It is adorable, and so are they :) We'd spent last weekend together in San Antonio, Texas, at a family wedding. It was a really fun weekend and good to have that time together.

With some of my big work projects going live this last week I've been able to pick up the knitting needles again. First I pulled this hexagon blanket out of the WIP pile. According to my ravelry notes, I started this one back in 2009. Yikes! Its amazing to me that it has been 'in progress' for that amount of time (where 'in progress' primarily means sat on a shelf and awaiting some attention!) I'd also finished the first pink pop sock, and now onto the next... about to turn the heel and then on the home stretch. Really pleased with these. Look how lusciously soft this yarn looks all knit up. Yesterday I was also playing around with some liberty fabric squares. I am thinking of making these into a cushion cover. Loving the pinks and purples. And last but not least, I received this thank you card in the mail for the Bertie's Blanket sock yarn blanket. Thank you again for all your help with these hospice blankets. The recipient was Porter Hospice in Littleton, Colorado.

Hope you are enjoying a lovely long weekend. Mine started with a day trip down to Colorado Springs, visiting Garden of the Gods and taking a ride up Pike's Peak on the Cog Railroad. For the rest of the weekend I am taking it easy and I'm thinking that also means craft time :)

Wishing you a great weekend,
Sam xxx

Summer hols

We just returned from our summer hols - visiting family and friends back in the UK.  It was so good to be back.  And Naomi, well, she had the best time ever:  "I love England, Mama".

My family live in a coastal town in the north of England, not too far from the Lake district.  It was nice to be back by the sea, and also spend time in the beautiful countryside.  The highlight of this trip was a hike to where my Dad's ashes were scattered.  My Mum, sister and I all took the walk up there.  It was beautiful, with a funny story thrown in - my mum had lent me some hiking shoes that she'd had stored in her closet.  We'd barely started the hike when both soles fell off the walking boots!  :))  Well, did we laugh!  Thankfully my sister had a spare pair of sneakers with her, otherwise I would have been making the hike in my ballet flats!  I know Dad would have rolled his eyes and had a good laugh at that one.  




We also took a trip down to London to visit friends there.  My little trooper did amazingly well walking her little feet off, and navigating the underground with me.  We got to visit some of the major sites including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster... before spending a fun afternoon in St James park with friends.



I also visited Liberty London. Oh my!  I could have spent the entire day here.  Naomi of course had other ideas.  But the store is oh so lovely and well worth the visit.   (I made it up to Naomi with a trip to Hamleys which was just down the street - so we both got to visit magical stores filled to the brim with things we love :)






No trip is complete without some crafting.  On this trip I was working on some 'tiger feet' socks, and a Halloween cross stitch from the gals at the frosted pumpkin.





I hope you have had the chance to do something fun this summer, and spend time with loved ones.
Sam x

Quilt Retreat

I recently attended a quilt retreat with the lovely ladies from the Denver Modern Quilt Guild.  It was a fabulous weekend that gave me the opportunity to work on the Stained quilt.


This quilt started as a quilt swap with the ladies from the quilt guild. We used the Stained quilt as the inspiration for the blocks, and the fabric I provided came from the Sarah Jane at Play range. I've since added fabrics from the same designer's Wee Wander line.



I'd received a good number of squares from the swap but still needed a good bunch more to make it large enough for Naomi's new big girl bed. Over the retreat I was able to remedy that and the quilt top is almost complete now... just needs a border to bring it to the desired size.
I am really excited to have this one near completion and looking forward to sharing a finished project soon.


I hope you have had a lovely weekend,
Sam x