Self-styled Retreat

Rose the Gypsy and I put together our own annual autumn retreat this month (we did it last year too).  

We had a number of activities during our week ...

History of Minneapolis walking tour with food.   I learned things about the Guthrie Theater which make me dislike the new building less.  But the old building was better.  One of my favorite local beers was featured at one of the stops too :)

We went to see great art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, including an exhibit of 18th century Instagram paintings :)

 We went on a Knitting Cruise sponsored by Darn Knit {Anyway}

And we went to an author talk and signing at The Workshop.  (Clara Parkes is awesome).

Yarn was acquired.  Rose the Gypsy was introduced to two more LYS: Amazing Threads and Linden Yarn.  

This is the super-special-edition Knit the River skein from the cruise:

Other shopping was done too, including another book of photos from a museum shop.

And shoes.  Quite a few pairs, as a matter of fact, including these special-edition Minneapolis Toms from the Mall of America ...

... as well as suede Toms in a favorite color.  Seriously, I needed teal shoes and Rose the Gypsy had to get Toms because believe it or not, she did not own a pair before.

I also found a new dishtowel.  I have to set a good example for my grandchildren, after all, by keeping a tidy kitchen.

We had special foods galore including (but not limited to) Murray's, Birchwood Cafe, Tavern on Grand and The Oasis.   

Oh, and we knit too.  I'll post about that later.

Art, Architecture and Knitting

I finally went to the newly re-opened Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It's wonderful.  I'm so glad it's open again.

There's a new section up the hill next to the Walker building with some nice views.

It feels like you're out of the city in some spots.

My favorite new sculpture is Black Vessel for a Saint

Not only because it's St. Jerome, but partly because, being he's the patron saint of librarians.

There's a wind chime tree that is lovely.

I also did a walking tour of the Basilica recently.  I don't think I'd ever been in the building before.  It was a fun outing.

They have a mosaic piece with Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe there.

It's not my favorite style of architecture, to be perfectly honest.  That said, the tour was of "behind the scenes" with Preserve Minneapolis and it was very enjoyable.

I also finished the Goldfish Memory shawl relatively recently.  I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

And I ran into a woman on the bus the other day who was knitting.  Some guy was talking with her and said he'd tried knitting but his hands were too big.  She had pretty meaty hands so I thought his argument was very weak.

OH!  And I found a copy of this book at the Walker shop!

Knitting Update

I volunteered for the Knitters' Guild at Shepherd's Harvest over Mothers' Day weekend. I kind of fell of the wagon but not too much ... I purchased $1 mini-skeins of sock yarn in colors that I am short of for the blankie because I never seem to have enough light colors or browns/beiges/yellows:

I also stoped at Sun Valley Fibers to pick up colors I can use for a color work hat and mitts.  I love their yarn and I don't want the leftovers to be wasted.   I also got on the mailing list and am on the waitlist for the January Thaw retreat in Madison.  Hard to believe so many people would want to go to Madison in January but there you go - Midwesterners and knitters are unique types of people:

I picked up Lamb's Pride seconds at a really good price ... this was justified by the fact I have had requests (so far) for four pair of felted slippers.  I find this is the best yarn at the best price for the slippers and who cares about seconds for felted stuff?  (Thanks again, Mary Lou, for teaching me how to make these slippers.  I have no idea how many I have made now but it's a lot).

I've also started the Goldfish Memory shawl using two luxury yarns (Shalimar and Anzula) and a skein of Jitterbug that I will never use for socks because it pools terribly (not just around the ankles).   Since I already have two Color Affections I was looking for another productive use of sock yarns.  I'm on section 5 of 12.

I basically knit a pair of socks whilst in Guatemala and started another pair as soon as I got home, which means I'm on pair #6 for the year ...  I have to branch out.  It's only May.

CatchUp

Girl-child mentioned to me, possibly a bit accusatorially, that I haven't posted in a long time.

So here's an update.


I totally fell off the wagon and bought some linen yarn which I hope will become either a tank or a summer cardigan:

#Resist activities continue.  I asked The Girls to design a stamp with a "pussy bites back" theme.  They came up with a great one.  For the record, Zazzle wouldn't print it.  We purchased them through Shutterfly.

I also went to my first postcard-signing open house.  A knitting buddy has them regularly.  It was fun; made me feel good too.

I got my resist pin but am disappointed by how many people think it's a cute kitty pin.  I may have to get the tattoo, if nothing else to let people know that I'm serious.

I hosted a slumber party recently with The Girls and the grandkids.  Soon there will be another with just the kids.

We always have fun either way.  OK, maybe a little more fun when The Girls are away because we are a little lax when Nana is the only adult >:)

I was recently in Atlanta for work.  It went well.  Tonight I'm hoping to make it to D.C. so I can have lunch with Boy-child tomorrow.  I used to go and return in one day but they don't have the 7am departure any more...

Whilst in Atlanta I went to the High Museum.  They had this buggy textile piece which I liked a lot.

Also in art, we have a fabulous Guillermo del Toro exhibit at MIA right now.  I highly recommend it.

Poe is there, and Lovecraft too.

I discovered the Goldfish Memory shawl and have added it to my list of projects I want to knit.  Right now I'm favoring this color combo.

I finished the first of a pair of Phalangees but I'm not sure if I'll make the second one.  I'm afraid it's kind of big (I have very small wrists) and a sproingy yarn would have been better for the pattern.  This is one of my knitting goals for the year: matching up yarns to patterns.  Alas, good matches are still sometimes elusive.

I do like the pattern; it's very clever.  

Orange is the New Black

Tomorrow we will see the presidency transfer from a black man to an orange man. While I don't feel the need to learn to be happy, I do feel the need to be mindful.  It won't be the end of the world.  We will survive it, and our democracy will survive.

Or so we hope.

Here are a few random things about the transition.  Most of them make me smile.

At least someone in Scotland still has a sense of humor.  Easy for them.  Let's hope we can keep things in perspective and keep laughing.  I always did love The Twilight Zone.  Maybe this Trump presidency won't be so bad?

There is a lot of fodder out there for the press corps, whether they are allowed access to the White House or not.  Let's hope they do their job.

Fibre Space in Alexandria, Virginia is one of my favorite yarn shops anywhere.  Turns out they are the ones handling the donated hats.  I have already heard from a person who will be wearing one of my hats.  Perhaps I will hear from more.  I think it's perfect - a shop where I tend to drop a lot of money is supporting a cause I also support.

My fellow Minnesotan, Garrison Keillor, is looking for a new religion.  Been there, done that.  I never did find a religion that didn't leave me feeling disappointed and/or disillusioned.  Don't know what else to say about that.

Speaking of Minnesota, the shops here are running out of pink yarn.  Minnesotans are, if nothing else, predictable.

And one of our senators from Minnesota has been spicing up the news about the confirmation hearings - particularly with deVos and Perry.   Really.  And people didn't take him seriously when he transitioned from comedy to politics.

I think I'm ok with the fact that I'm not marching on Saturday.  I would not like it, I only like the idea of it.  I don't like crowds.  I don't like being outside all day.  Instead, I will be getting my volunteer orientation at Planned Parenthood, which I think will have more impact in the long run.

Stay strong.  Resist.

Knitting Update

I knit a lot of pink hats - mostly for the pussyhat project, although I threw in this one too, which I had on hand:

Mostly I knit regular hats because the leftover pink yarn I had on hand was silk (Ella Rae) and alpaca (Blue Sky Melange).

Which would not have worked well with the pussyhat pattern.

They're all on Ravelry if you're wondering about patterns.

Many were knit on the cruise, which turned out to be very therapeutic.

I received a yarn donation for this one.

And I also picked up a couple of pink yarns at Needlework Unlimited before they closed.

So I used the "official" pattern for one.

I also knit grandson a pair of slippers.  He wants to have slippers like all the grown-ups.

And I knit this random cowl as part of my attempt at putting my stash to good use.

This hat was made with the leftover yarn from the Bella mittens I made for Girl-child.

And I got a last-minute request for a (not pussyhat) pink hat for Boy-child's girlfriend, so this was made.

And when all the other hats were done I finished a Koolhaas for me - started before the cruise.

Hats are so satisfying.  I used some new patterns and made a couple using old favorites.  Most were for a good cause. Now I'm on to my 2017 knitting goals, which means I'm back to the blankie, making more socks and looking to start the first of a good looking lineup of projects.

Happy knitting!