Sunday Smapshot

Sunday Snapshot

The Great Minnesota Get Together 2014

The wrap up of summer is always a busy time as the fall kicks into full gear. It's been a little complicated for me by the fact that my apartment was broken into two weeks ago. No one was home, and other than my computer, cash and my boyfriends play station being taken no damage was done. Which in the scheam of things, is not the worst. Unfortunately nothing on my computer was backed up which means 10 years of documents, music and photos were lost. Somewhere someone is really confused why this lady had so many pictures of yarn. I had updated most of my projects on Ravelry but there are some chunks of projects I'm missing.

Luckily I had the State Fair to cheer me up! I talked about coming back home for the Minnesota State Fair when I was still living in Chicago and it's so nice to now be a hop and skip away. In fact this year I was able to fit in two visits.

First things first, I got our maps and daily deals all organized. The coupon booklet I had already picked up prior to the start of the fair. (I'm like a blue haired lady with my coupon books, I'm always consulting it and you better believe if I owned a fanny pack I would of carried it there.)

The first day we went early before I had to work, so we hit the animal barns before they started to smell with the later heat of the day. Here we're observing a calve competition. The judges comments were one of the most interesting parts of the day for me and I could have probably stayed there for hours if we didn't have other things to hit.

We made sure to stop by and visit the largest boar in the state.

We also got to see a milking demonstration and see Princess Kay of the Milky Way in person.

Each year all of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contestants have their images carved in butter.

The food is really a highlight every year for me. Look at how happy I am to be eating this corn dog!

That's because it's not just ANY corn dog. It's the one and only, genuine Pronto Pup.

We also had a great fry bread taco

Some delicious grilled corn

and classic Sweet Martha's Cookies. I was just going to get a cone of cookies but boyfriend in his endless wisdom said "let's just get the bucket"

The one thing I didn't get to try was the Mini Donut beer by Lift Bridge Brewery. I was really sad that they were sold out because I only heard amazing things about it. Hopefully they'll have it next year.

One of the other really fun things about the State Fair is all of the other things they have on display. I forgot to stop by the seed art displays this year but we did look at the cured meats (boyfriend approves)

and the knitting in the arts and crafts building of course.

They still haven't updated their mannequins into this decade though.

We also took the Sky Ride. Which is where you get into a small pod and travel over the fair grounds.

The view is amazing, here you can see the giant slide in yellow and green.

We had a great time this year! Thanks for the oinks State Fair. I'm looking forward to next year already. 

Happy Labor Day!

Happy Labor Day! Here's a pile of piglets from the Minnesota State Fair. 

Sunday Snapshot

Happy Fourth of July

Sunday Snapshot

Shepard's Harvest

Last month I headed out to our local fiber festival, Shepard's Harvest. A quick drive from the cities it's wonderful to get out of the city and see wares from all around the Midwest.

 

 

 There's quite a few animal barns where farmers can bring their animals to be judged as well as sheered. I enjoyed seeing the Llamas. I love how inquisitive they look with their long necks and they way they cock their heads at you, it seems like they always have a question on their minds.

These lambs were only a few months old and ADORABLE.

 

It was a little difficult to not try and take one of these little buddies home! Although I think the challenges of urban lamb raising are a little beyond my capabilities currently.

I did pick up a few skeins of Quince and Co which I have been wanting to try for awhile now. The blue and pink skein are hopefully going to become a hat and the pale blue to the left is already in the process of becoming a baby sweater.

I also got a few raw fibers as I'm going to try my hand at spinning soon. More on those goodies soon.

Moving on up

Things have been full of radio silence around these parts because I've had some crazy things going on in my life. Mostly: Packing up all my earthly possessions and moving them.

My boyfriend and I moved into an apartment at the beginning of April. It has been super super exciting and fun, but also really stressful and lots of work. (as many exciting and fun things in life are)

We decided to paint the ENTIRE apartment before we moved in, which was easy because we didn't have a set time to be out of our old places (parents are pretty chill that way) BUT it also meant that there was tons of work up front before we even got to the "loading everything you own stuffed into boxes into a car, over and over" part.

baby's got a brand new blue bathroom.

Before we moved we spent a lot of time holding paint swatches up in home depot trying to decide what would be less annoying on a wall. It's the kind of thing I totally live for, but it's also fairly worrisome, because let's face it. Even if we hated it, we knew we wouldn't be repainting it.

Such is the case with our above bedroom color. I was going for a "soft mint" but instead ended up with some kind of pastel green. Other then feeling like I live in a baby nursery, it's kind of starting to grow on me.

Luckily, the more I start to unpack - the more it starts to feel like home. Realistically with my schedule, it's going to take me a least a few more weeks (months?) to unpack and get everything set up exactly how we want, but patience is a good virtue for me to practice. I'm looking forward to sharing more pictures as soon as I don't find myself living stacked among boxes. 

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers (and grandmothers) out there. 

Sunday Snapshot

Sunday Snapshot

Wedding Gift FO: Quilted Placemats

Last summer I was lucky enough to attend my friend Tara and (her now) husband Mike's wedding in Chicago.

As a fellow crafter I knew Tara would appreciate a handmade gift and I wanted to make something they could both use. Following this tutorial I made them a set of patchwork place mats.

Now I got a sewing machine a few years ago but this is the first larger project I've completed on it myself. I grew up watching my mother sew but I still feel like an absolute beginner in so many ways.

I also am not that precise in my crafting, when I make a mistake while knitting I'll only knit back and re-do it if it's absolutely necessary. When you're measuring and cutting fabric precision is a much better friend than a "whatever it works" attitude.

I'm happy to say these came out wonderfully. I love that they look homemade but still functional and usable. The tutorial was really easy to follow and I would recommend it for anyone who's looking for a place to start sewing. 

I love how great the front fabrics look together (yellow and gray, you get me every time) but I decided to back them in different colors and patterns, which gives them a fun reversible flair. 

The best part about all of this although it's taken me a LONG time to write about these here, I actually mailed them to the lucky couple two months after the wedding. I know traditionally you have a year to give gifts after a wedding, but with my track record of time keeping I think the earlier the better. 

I've been going crazy pinning sewing patterns these days and as it stops being one billion degrees below zero here in Minnesota I'm hoping to dive into some more sewing projects. 

Vogue Knitting Live 2013

Ok, It didn't take me a year, but man, it sure did take awhile. 

Without further ado. Vogue Knitting Live 2013! 

This year for VKL I wasn't just heading over as a local, I was actually traveling all the way from Minneapolis. It was a great excuse to go and visit some of my friends but let me tell you, I got some strange looks when I told people I was going to Chicago for a knitting convention.

Allyson put together a wonderful craft swap I got to pop into when I was in town. Who could resist that cheese spread?!

I also feel like these tea sandwiches really speak to how adult this whole affair felt. Tea sandwiches! How adult! 

I was lucky enough to stay with my friend Laura, who also comes along with one of my favorite four legged friends, Droopy. 

It wouldn't be a trip to Chicago for me without at least one stop for late night taco's. I've got plenty of favorites but these are just from a small Mexican place around the corner from my old apartment. 

The whole city seemed to be in the yarn mood. This was some street art from the northside. 

In hindsight I didn't take a lot of photos at the actual convention, although the lecture I took on Icelandic knitting from Ragga was awesome! I AM glad that one of the photos I DID take was of the American Girl doll clothing exhibit, because come one guys - American Girl Dolls. 

With that! I had a great time and I'm only a little embarrassed by how long this took me to get up. Here's to next year (hopefully)! 

Sunday Snapshot

Sunday Snapshot