I try to stay away from gender-specific stuff, but...

My cousin Sara is having a girl and I previously had bought a metric ton of pink baby yarn at the Needlework Unlimited outlet, so there you have it.


Also, sometimes frilly, ruffly things are just cute. There, I said it. Grandpa Ryan will make sure she plays with trucks.

Clearly the sweater is unfinished, but I'm giving it short sleeves with eyelets and a tiny ruffle at the cuff. Sara was one of the cutest kids ever, so I'm betting the baby is going to be super snuggly in this sweater.

Artsy-fartsy in Atlanta

It's about time I did this. What have I been doing? Clearly not blogging. But here we go.

My and Becky just spent a week in Georgia visiting her first-grade teacher, Louise, and husband, Josh. For better or worse, they've remained family friends all this time. We used to drive to Omaha for visits, but they moved to the Atlanta area last year. It was Becky's third trip, but my first.

The World of Coke is pretty awesome. Here is a photo tour of some of the more crafty aspects:

These are in the lobby, but there are more elsewhere to total maybe 20, and they all seem to represent a different culture. And it is true; Coke has infiltrated every corner of the globe.


This is my favorite piece of art from the gallery area, by Comer Jennings. Something about colored glass is scrumtrulescent.


TINY scooter made of Coke cans. It was about four inches long.


More Coke can art.


And yet more.

Now we move to the Georgia Aquarium, where the gift shop houses these fun beaded creatures:


Puffer! If I'd been thinking, I would have noticed where these treasures are made. But I didn't, so we'll assume that some church group right there in Atlanta did them.

At the home of our generous hosts:

Egret! Strangely enough, this sculpture was made in MN but purchased in Omaha and now resides in Kennesaw, GA. Apparently, Gertens carries them and I think I need one for my own yard.


This is where we relaxed for TV watching, magazine reading, and knitting. I'm proud to say that I started and finished a project during our week's stay; a bib whose owner is TBD.


And this is the LYS where Louise works. The Whole Nine Yarns. We spent an afternoon there knitting and walking the area. Best place to eat in GA: Pure Taqueria. Just down the road and winning for most intriguing name: The Right Wing Tavern. I also marveled at the greenery, since we have none in MN right now. Oh, no. We have several feet of snow and roads with alternating patches of ice and potholes and no one knows where to park and if I have to wear long underwear much longer I'm going to implode!

Also, Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh, AND I'm entering a giveaway for this "Nelephant" by Danger Kitty Designs. Enter for yourself here!

LYS: Needlework Unlimited

I decided to make it a tradition to knit myself a sweater every year, this year being the first (so we'll see how the "tradition" thing goes). Here's the sweater, pattern by Loumms, that I'll be making:


I decided to go to Needlework Unlimited to find yarn. I'd only been there once before and I had forgotten how totally awesome it is. Huge selection of yarn, plus purse handles, needles, and - what all the best shops have - leather pads for mittens and slippers.


This small pic isn't the half of it. I spent, oh, 30 or 40 minutes just wandering around touching everything and reading labels and then circling the store in such a manner three or four more times. Finally, I asked an employee her opinion on subbing yarn and settled on Cascade 220 - very reasonably priced and tons of colors. Of course, I choose a boring cream color.

Whatever. The point is that NU is awesome and today I found out they have an outlet. Both locations are across town, but I'll probably save up my projects and make the trek anyways. And during the summer it's a really nice drive through the city via our fabulous creek/parkway/lakes system.



I hope it's fortuitous that the designer's body looks to be the twin of mine and my first foray into sweater-making is successful.