Chicago

Chicago was fantastic. As I'm sure you all imagined it would be. Three days traveling with two friends and one mission: yarn. Doesn't get any better than this.

First stop: Knitwerks on Wabash just south of the Loop where we stayed. We scrambled there as soon as we checked into our hotel on Saturday evening just before closing. It was the perfect choice for setting the stage for the weekend: sock yarns galore, a huge selection of Lorna's Laces (a Chicago original), plus all of the other names that we love and drool over including Lantern Moon accessories. Love Knitwerks.

In addition to the wonderfully charming owner (whose name I forgot...), we also met Nikki, a fellow knitting blogger. Check out her blog!

[Loot: Trekking Natura in wool and bamboo, sock yarn for Dan. Yummy colors. Can't wait to knit him another pair.]

Next stop: Out. Food. Beer. More food. Wine. Tira misu. The three of us felt positively giddy to have so much freedom. We were still in bed and asleep by midnight, but we definitely packed it in. (We didn't see "Wicked" but couldn't resist soaking up some green light anyway.)

Sunday: Yarn-O-Rama. We started off with the Knitting Workshop in Lincoln Park and while both Apschminky and I found some very yummy yarns there, we agreed that it wasn't our favorite shop. Still, it was a worthwhile visit and we got to wander through Lincoln Park a bit. Very fun.

[Loot: Knit One, Crochet Too recycled cotton yarn in "Earth" color for a Jackson hooded sweater. The yarn is reclaimed cotton from the textile and apparel industry. How could I resist?]

Next stop: Nina on West Division in Wicker Park. Well, actually we went to Pizza Metro just down the street first since we were all hungry and what a stop that was. Perfect Chicago pizza at a counter on paper plates, made-to-order. Nice guy from South America behind the counter...happy afternoon.

Back to Nina. With full tummies and still dreaming of yarns, this place seemed like a fantasy-land. A huge set of paper-mache knitting needles hangs in the window with its 5' paper scarf dangling off. Yarns are artfully displayed throughout the store. The letters --K--N--I--T-- adorn the walls. The most precious, beautiful and expertly knit samples are displayed everywhere to let you know that yes, you can knit something beautiful with this yarn too. A group of knitters sits in the front on a cool red couch taking a lace knitting class. Nina was a dream.

(That's Sam in the photo. She works for Lorna's Lace in the hand-dying department. Wow. Too cool. She's also a Gryffindor.)

[Loot: My wonderful and seriously overly-generous friends decided to buy a skein of yarn for me since 1.) I was on a streak of buying yarns for other people and they thought I needed to get my priorities straight and 2.) I made our reservations and got our trip going. Like I told them, seriously unnecessary. I chose some Manos del Uruguay in the most incredible colorway ever. I picked it up when I walked in the store and couldn't put it down. That says something.]

In between all of these stops and while traveling on the train, I started knitting an entrelac square. I've always admired entrelac so I packed some KnitPicks Andean Silk and my Interweave Knits with Eunny's instructions and cast-on. It was much, much easier than I thought it would be and I do believe I'm hooked. Stay tuned for entrelac socks...

(Oh, and my second Koigu sock is 6 rounds from completion. Wahoo!)

Dinner Sunday was at the Schoolyard Tavern in Lincoln Park which was cool for me because it was the location of my brother's groom's dinner back in '03. Nice to be back. Especially since they're known for their skillet chocolate-chip cookie. Oh my. Go to Chicago just for this cookie, seriously.

Monday morning started off with a trip to Lou Mitchell's famous breakfast diner that's been around (and hasn't changed much) since 1923. They give you donut holes while you wait, prunes start off your meal (for a bit of fiber, you know...), the baked skillet omelettes are amazing and it's topped off with complimentary soft-serve to cleanse your palette. I don't know where the Milk Duds fit in, but apparently they've always handed these out. At Lou Mitchell's, you don't ask why, you just eat.

We headed over to the Bean in Millennium Park on Monday morning. The Bean is so cool. There. I think that's all I can say about it. It's huge, it's shiny and you can see all of Chicago in it. It's so cool.






















After walking along the lakefront (gorgeous day), we made our way to our final yarn store destination: Loopy Yarns on State Street. Now THIS is a sock yarn collection. Almost any sock yarn that you'd ever want is here with the exception of Koigu (which they're about to carry) and Cherry Tree Hill (which I can get here). Heaven.

[Loot: Fleece Artist 50g hand-painted sliver for spinning (see? getting hooked on spinning already...) and a "yarn rescue mission:" two skeins of Suss that were in the 70% off basket. Suss doesn't belong in the 70% off basket. It's not my style but it will make a fantastic feathery, lacy scarf on big needles. For $7, wouldn't you have rescued it?]

This is the collective loot pile. Mine are intermingled here. Can you spot my feathery Suss? My Manos is sort of middle-top and my fleece for spinning is the pink braid on the left. Jackson's recycled cotton is in the lower-right corner and Dan's bamboo sock yarn is at 6:00.


We saw a couple of cool things on our way back on Monday morning including the owl-gargoyle reading atop the Library and a building that looked like a ribbed scarf (do you think that we were getting a bit high on the yarn fumes?).

We headed home on the train Monday night and stumbled back into our regular lives, refreshed from the girl time and ready to take on our 1-year olds again. Jackson seemed very, very happy to see me this morning and I felt the same. Dan too.

Speaking of my boys, I had instructions to "click this" on the computer when I got home late last night. I leave you with the movie that Dan made of their adventurous weekend together.