Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Helllloo my friends... hope your weekend is relaxing and joyful. I have been doing a bit of crochet, actually I've been able to complete several rows of my stripey afghan that I started last week, which is awesome, but what I really want to share with you is my experience at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

I was lucky enough to be chosen as a chaperone for my Kelsey's band field trip. I am not sophisticated enough to be a regular attendee at the symphony. In all actuality I would feel terribly out of place if I went there not with a group, but I was good with leading a bunch of kids! It was a long 2 hour trip into the city... on a yellow school bus, of which, I'm pretty sure there isn't an ounce of suspension on it.

We live in the suburbs, not totally farm like, but nothing like city living. It was entirely way to busy for my liking. Or maybe I am just getting older. Hmmmm. Below is the entrance to the orchestra hall. And the scads of people!

But the performance was awesome! Because it was close to Halloween, the production had a spooky theme. The orchestra members were dressed as zombies, and the music was from the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

The Maestro was great. The sounds were amazing. All-in-all is was an excellent experience. I would even have to say the it was worth the 4 hours it took for us to get there and back!

Happy Halloween,
xx Nicky

I Love Technology

Technologically speaking, some days are better than others. And today is a good day. As I sit here in the Phillips Library of Aurora University, wishing that I was partaking in a crafty endeavor, I can at least blog about it on my laptop. Not only can I write about it, but I can read about it too. I am collecting quite a list of favorite blogs, and you can browse them too if you like.

I only have 7 weeks left at AU until I graduate. I can almost taste it! Then off to grad school to become a librarian. By the summer of 2014 I will have a job that I have been wishing for for a long time... but really, who's counting?

But for now, we are reading James Joyce - A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man for class. I'm not really getting into it, but then again I'm only on page 21?!? 39 pages to go before class... must read! Can you see that I get easily distracted?? And I procrastinate? Must read.

Enjoy your day,

xx Nicky

Many Works In Progress (WIP)

The Moods of Crochet!

Hello there ladies... It's such a lovely day here in the Midwest. 75 degrees they tell me on the news, and it's the end of October... how lucky can we get??

If you have been following me on my journey of finishing the Granny, here is an update...

It is getting bigger... slowly, but surely! And in my last post I mentioned that I was a little bored with it, tired of all those color changes, so ... I have decided, perhaps it was a revelation, that there is crochet for the many moods I have!?! The Granny is for when I'm firmly planted in my comfy chair, with lots of room to spread out. That way I won't get frustrated when I realize I haven't brought the right color with me when on the move, or when I'm having trouble finding my scissors because I forgot to put them in the bag. (I recently bought a spare pair just for these situations!) The Granny, I have decided, is a stationary project!

The next project is totally mobile. It's a one color wonder, and I can carry it with me everywhere! The picture doesn't give it the justice it deserves, as the colors are lovely. It is a very conservative blend of wheat, cream and grey. It is from Lion Brand Home Spun yarn, and the color is called Shaker. This particular brand of yarn is so soft and cuddly... I love it! I began this blankey a while ago, and you can see my first post about it here. It, too, has come a long way. But you have to be in the right mood to be a crochet machine, never changing colors or stitches... but there is a time and a place for it, and love it when I travel.

Since I can never have enough projects going at the same time, I have started a stripy sort of a thing last week. It hasn't made the scarf-like stage yet, but it's a fun one to make. There is very little planning involved. I decide what comes next when I reach the end of a row. Super simple and great when watching TV with the family.Now this one has the potential for living in both worlds - with the ease of mobility, as it doesn't have as many color changes, so it will travel well, and the interest of different colors and stitches, which I hope will hold my interest.

Now there is no excuse for not working on something! Except when I run out of time :)
Happy crocheting,
Nicky

Eye of the Storm

Flowers make me happy!

Hello my Yarnish friends... as some of you may know, and I'm sure many of you do not, that I am a student of literature by day, and am a wife of one and mother of two by night. This is my last semester at Aurora University, a small, private institution with about 4000 students in attendance. I have titled this post as the "Eye of the Storm" because it is midterms this week... and for some unknown reason I am terribly calm! Normally I freak out because of all the exams to take and papers to write... but today, not so much. The semester is half over, only eight weeks to go and I am feeling quite relaxed in this middle moment. In December, I will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. I'm not quite sure what that will get me, other than having read some really good books :)

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Having some extra time, I have turned once again to The Granny 2.0, and I have realized that all the color changes are driving me crazy. It is NOT relaxing for me, at the moment, always changing colors. Just as I get all cozy in my chair I have to change a color. Its like work. I want to snuggle down and crochet long, luscious rows that have some substance to them. So... I have decided to put it down for a bit and start yet another blanket. Laugh if you want, but this is WIP #3. I took great inspiration from Jules at Little Woollie... Below is HER blanket...

Isn't it just lovely!!!! I think so. Her Ta-dah post can be found here. It is just wonderful. Instead of trying to be so neat and orderly, I am just going to crochet by the seat of my pants. Without rules, I am going to wing it. Which ever stitch strikes my fancy, I will stitch it, and with what ever color moves me at that moment... with in reason. I will post my beginnings of my new blanket, which has not even reached the scarf-like stage yet, tomorrow when it is light out.

Night night
xoxo,
Nicky

PS. Thanks Jules... where ever you are :)

Fall Camping

Fall Camping with a Halloween Theme

Last weekend we took our little family on a mini vacation and went camping in Caledonia, Wisconsin. It's about 2 hours north of us in Yorkville. It was super cute for the kids, as it was a Halloween themed weekend. They got to dress up in their spooky or silly, we chose silly, Halloween costumes and Trick-or-Treat the other campers. As crazy as it sounds, the campers... ourselves included... decorated their campsites! It was a good time had by all.

I planed to get a lot done on my never-ending granny afghan... but omg! is camping a lot of work! I had visions of sitting in a camping chair with my yarn bag next to me as I merrily hooked row after row... not so much. Actually, I didn't even get one square done. But I did get a rough draft of a paper written for school... priorities.

We're back home and I'm getting back in the groove. I find that if I'm going to fit any crochet in it is has to be in the morning after the kiddles get off to school. That's when I find an hour or two of quiet time all to my self!

Have a good couple days :)
Nicky

The First of Many Tuesday Tallies

Tuesday Tally

First, and foremost, I want to thank all the ladies out there, you know who you are :), who offered such warm welcomes when I jumped into their "One a Day" crochet group. It was so fun to get comments from real live people from all over. Who knew that yarnish could bring so many people together??

You can visit the One a Day creator here... Gingerbread Girl. I love the list every Tuesday. It makes it way easy to check on the progress of other magic fingers. After I complete this post I'm going to add myself to the list. Yay.

This was my first week attempting to complete one granny square a day. Attempting should give you hint as to what is about to come next... I didn't make it. I think I'm going to subscribe to the One a Day ish mentality that one fellow crocheter came up with... and when I find her again, I will thank her for coining that phrase!

I did manage to get 3 squares done... and some various parts. As you can tell from the picture above, it just about covers Bean's feet when she's lounging on the couch! How can I not let her lounge with it, just look at all the snuggle emotion...
xoxo,
Nicky