urbs in horto

Chicago's motto is urbs in horto, "city in a garden." Sometimes the garden seems hard to find amidst the bustle and busy streets, other times you can't miss it.

I took a tour of the Lurie Garden yesterday. The autumnal air was cool and crisp, and the perennial plants were looking decided fall-ish. You can see Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion in the background, along with the Smurfitt-Stone building, Two Prudential Plaza, and the Aon Center. An unmistakably Chicago backdrop to a lovely garden.

 A mix of native and non-native plants, a quiet spot in the midst of the city.

I have to remember these peaceful city moments when I long for nature and want to get out of dodge. We drove seventy-five minutes to meet friends at a pumpkin patch last weekend, and while it was lovely, it was essentially in a suburban subdivision.

Erik enjoyed the pumpkins, the baby goats, and testing out his new hiking backpack, and we all munched on apple cider donuts and luxuriated in the beautiful, warm day. Despite the pumpkins and autumnal trappings, it didn't much feel like fall -- it felt like summer's last hurrah.

savoring these summer days

walks at Winnemac Park, where reclamation of the natural prairie is underway:

 

splashes in the backyard:

 

crafting -- a sweet knit baby doll for Erik's friend's first birthday:

pattern: knit baby doll pattern set, by Amy Gaines

yarn: knit picks comfy worsted, in honeydew, peony, ivory, and creme brulee

needles: US 4 Brittany straights
my Ravelry project page

notes:

This knit baby doll was fun and fairly quick to knit! I followed the directions (aside from making the body a couple rows longer) and knit it flat. I saw some versions knit in the round on Ravelry, but I think the seams give it a little more structure. The finishing work was a little fiddly, but it really wasn't too bad. Embroidering the face was the hardest part. I'd definitely make this pattern again -- I found it much less painful than many other knit toy patterns. Perhaps because I wasn't monkeying around with DPNs?

The yarn was leftover from some crochet projects, including yet another diagonal box-stitch baby afghan that I recently finished!

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summer eats:

crockpot North Carolina pulled pork

smitten kitchen's zucchini bread (recommended by Tinks and Frogs Rue)

easiest fridge dill pickles (also from smitten kitchen)

spicy squash refrigerator pickles

movin' on up

Much has been going on behind the scenes chez Caffeinated Yarn. First of all, we're moving! Again!  Egads... change makes me anxious, and the process of moving is terrible, but there are some upsides.

Such as the back garden, a peaceful oasis in the middle of Chicago. Plus we're just moving half a mile east, near the heart of Lincoln Square, a charming German neighborhood. We started packing boxes of books this past weekend, fueled by thoughts of the floor-to-ceiling built-in bookcases in our new living room and master bedroom. :-) Not all bad, indeed.

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Hot off the hook:

Oh yes, at long last I'm done crocheting the rustic Noro giant granny! All the ends have been carefully tucked to the wrong side, ready for me to weave them in before blocking this bad boy. It's a fantastic feeling to have it almost complete, as I started it back in February of 2010. Full details forthcoming after it's blocked.

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a Monday miscellany

- interesting article on Trader Joe's

- tutorial on using paint to transform a ho-hum office organizer into something beautiful
- tutorial on crocheting a cute, vintage-inspired rag rug (I did some googling after spotting this gorgeous crocheted rag rug)

winter in the city

Scenes from a wintry walk:

an unexpected pop of color.

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city streets frosted with snow

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A new knitting project on the needles (so many babies on the way this year!):

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Tasty orange and dark chocolate buttermilk scones fresh from the oven:

summer flies

Indeed it does.

Pattern: Summer Flies, by Holly Griffin-Weidner and Donna Griffin

Yarn: OrangeFlower merino/bamboo sock, raspberry, ~3/4 skein (330 yds.)

Needles: Clover US 6 bamboo circs

my ravelry project page

notes:
The pattern was a delight to knit, and it involved enough elements that I never got bored with it.  The knotted openwork section required concentration. The picot bind-off was new to me and took a while to do, but the end result is fluttery and lovely.

I really like the butterfly details:

I think Beatrix Potter would approve. It looked awfully small as I was knitting it, and I had to fight the urge to embiggen it.  Good choice, as it blocked out to the perfect size. Plus I had plenty of yarn for a change.

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urban oasis

When we moved into our new place, the deck off the back door looked like a trash heap, littered with an old mop, a bottle of bleach, an electric juicer (still in its box), dead plants, etc. I had high hopes for the space, though Paul thought it was a lost cause.

Voila!

It doesn't receive a ton of light, but enough for my plants.

There isn't a ton of room back there, but it's spacious enough for this bistro set (where I've been drinking my morning coffee), plus we have the cute Restoration Hardware chair and a grill, as well (not pictured).

Getting used to the lack of outdoor living space was one of the hardest parts about adjusting to Chicago for me.  Seven years later, I've made myself a little green place outside, and it's delightful!  Our neighbors couldn't believe the transformation, and described its former state as a wasteland. In fact, they were inspired to clean up their area, too, and plant a windowbox. Not too shabby for what's essentially a gussied-up fire escape.

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kitty-cat weirdness

Capricha in one of her trademark poses:

She loves to stand on top of Winnie the Pooh and slowly knead him with her front paws while she goes into an ecstatic trance.  We call it "giving Pooh the business." What an odd girl!

good things

• casting on for a new project

Gaenor, by Corinna Ferguson, knit with Orange Flower's merino / silk fingering weight yarn.  The colorway is "leafy," which just happens to be one of my favorite words. The yarn is absolutely wonderful.  Karin has a great sense of color, and the merino / silk is slippery and smooth.  I'm using size 7 needles; size 5 or 6 might be better, but not so much better that I would frog and start over.

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• taking the Kitchen Aid out for its second test run

Buttermilk Pie Bars, from the Baking Bites blog.  Holy cow, these are amazing. They're like cheesecake, but better in that they're not too heavy.  Usually when recipes call for freshly grated nutmeg, I'm too lazy to bother.  This time I'm glad I did!  I also added a bit of lemon zest. They're light and cool and absolutely delightful.  The only thing that could possibly improve them?  A handful of black raspberries sprinkled over the top. 

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• my new desktop wallpaper

The Doctor plus a kitten?!? Be still my heart.  More Dr. Who desktop wallpaper available here, courtesy of the BBC.

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•  a new outpost of First Slice Pie Café just opened right across the street

Hurray, iced lattes and delicious salads all summer long for me!  First Slice is an awesome nonprofit organization; proceeds go to feed the homeless in Chicago.  Seriously, it's so new that they haven't even finished planting the flowerpots out front yet.

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•  my Jeep's sporting a new touch of class

Yep, a 1' tall Bucky Badger magnet.  Makes me smile every time.

something old, something new...

something old

I dug Liesl out of the dark corner where she had been hibernating, and knit the sleeves last week! What's left to do now is reinforce the neckline with single crochet, which actually has me a bit nervous. I may rip out the body's hem and add the last 2/3 ball of yarn after I finish the crochet reinforcement. A little extra length might be nice, but we'll see... just finishing this up may prove miraculous enough! It has been on the needles for something like 2 years. The yarn is Debbie Bliss' Alpaca Silk Aran, which makes me a bit itchy and sneezy (sigh), but it's so pretty that I will make it work (a la Tim Gunn).

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something new

I had fallen off the wagon a bit with the 10 Shawls in 2010 challenge. There's nothing like a KAL to make me want to head off in a completely different direction! Those minor rebellions...

Anyway, I'm working on a new shawlette pattern, Verdaia, and I'm just loving it.
The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss Sock in the (sadly discontinued) Pumpkin colorway. The pattern is intuitive, and the charts are very clear. I didn't love the cast-on method, I will admit. I'm doing 3 repeats of Chart 2 rather than 2. This time I actually have plenty of extra yarn, so there's no chance of running out! The pattern requires some pretty serious blocking, so in the end it should look much less ribbed and smooshed.

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something both new and blue

We're moving next month, and I'm ever so excited! We're bidding adieu to Lakeview after five great years and heading to Ravenswood Manor, a charming neighborhood along the North Branch of the Chicago River. It's close to Lincoln Square, the most "Wisconsin" part of Chicago, complete with German bars, Gene's Sausage Shop, the Old Town School of Folk Music, coffeeshops, all sorts of good things.

Our new living room:
I'm busy contemplating paint colors for other rooms, though we're keeping the light blue in the living room, of course, because blue is the best color. ;-)

my heart belongs to the snows of Buffalo and Chicago, and all the dirty cities along the way

Eric Johnson and the Fruit Bats returned to Chicago for a show at Lincoln Hall (Schubas' slick new larger venue) last night. I'm just enamored of this band -- this is my 3rd time seeing them this year! Johnson's also in the Shins (which don't get me wrong, I quite like), but the folk-rock-melodic pop vibe from Fruit Bats is just amazing.

Here's the band playing "Tegucigalpa," a song Johnson wrote when he was homesick for Chicago:



for more, see here and here

Their best show I've seen took place at Schubas in March 2009, and you can download the whole thing at archive.org. Enjoy!

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It really was quite the weekend, as we also hit the Chicago Beer Society's Day of the Living Ales yesterday.

crammed into the loading dock of Goose Island Wrigleyville

44 types of cask-conditioned ale! In my book, the big winner was Surly Darkness, a complex Russian Imperial Stout, a bit reminiscent of 3 Floyds Dark Lord, but maybe even better. And where's Surly Brewing Co. located? Minnesota, of course. ;-)

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Cocoa Swap 3 just drew to a close! Elizabeth sent me the loveliest parcel:
Such soft and cheerful red merino yarn, along with delicious cocoa from a local coffeeshop, chocolate covered hazelnuts, among other goodies. She knit this cute little creature for me out of her own hand-dyed yarn! What a nice treat at this time of year. Kate sent me a book and some awesome glittery Dream in Color Starry yarn, too:
Many thanks to both!

renegade

and we're not talking about Lorenzo Lamas...
There's still one more day if you haven't been yet! My favorites this year...

- Sofia Masri handmade porcelain jewelry
- Oliba organic soap
- Kitchen Sink Dyeworks yarn
- Nate Duval's prints -- I picked up these two:
Very nice! I only wish I had seen this one at Renegade, too. J'aime le café.

We went to the Wicker Park location of Jerry's for lunch, and it was fabulous -- a dizzying array of delicious vegetarian sandwich combinations. So many veggies and cheeses, YUM!

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I'm missing out on Wisconsin Sheep & Wool this year, as my budget just can't take two big crafty events in one weekend. This is especially sad since I drank our last Spotted Cow (available only in WI) as I typed this post. Stitches Midwest is this weekend, too, but I'm not one for convention centers.

Despite the gorgeous weather, fall is most definitely in the air here. Some trees along Lakeshore Drive are changing color, I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season this morning, and I cast on for a new sweater:
Francis Revisited (rav), à la Sarah. I just couldn't resist, and the Eco Wool has been hibernating in my stash for a couple of years already. Plus the designer is both a Midwesterner and a grad student, in the humanities, no less. It's good to support our genus. :-)

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Speaking of designs, here's a teaser of a baby sweater design I'm working on. I need to do some tweaking and knit up a second version, so it may be a couple weeks before I release it.

Dear Chicago knitters,

One of my favorite designers is visiting Chicago over the next week -- Ysolda Teague. Check out her blog and her ravelry page.

Ishbel the First

Everything Ysolda designs is super cute, and she's doing a great job of saturating the pattern market via self-publishing, Knitty, Twist Collective, etc. I've knit her Ishbel shawl (twice!) and her Liesl cardi (*well, I'm almost done -- just need to finish the sleeves*).

Ishbel the Second

Loopy Yarns - 47 W. Polk Street, Chicago
- She'll be at Loopy this Saturday (June 6th from 12 to 4) for a day of
knitting, signing books and sharing sample garments, toys and
accessories knit from her pattern collections.

I'm very bummed that I can't make it, as I'll be in Milwaukee for a
wedding. I will, however, be wearing an Ishbel shawl at the wedding!

Nana's Knitting Shop - 5144 W 95th St., Oak Lawn
- Ysolda will be at Nana's on the south side next Tuesday (June 9th at
6:30 p.m.).

Hopefully she'll add another date or two! If so, I'll keep you posted.

xoxo
Jodi