SnB Gatherings - October

Well, for part of October... We have finished objects!

First, our youngest and favorite knitter, Miss Sophie, has her first project completed. Cast on, knitted and bound off all on her own!




Great work, Sophie!


Claire finished her beautiful sweater from Diego's fleece:






Lynn B. finished her felted fedora:






And newest to our group, Patty, had a roll brim hat:






Christina's scarf was finished:




And Theresa's hat and bag were completed:

Chicago Yarn Crawl 2008 Part 2

Why are these women not smiling?




They're not knitting....




Once we finished up at Portillo's, it was time to hit My Sister's Knits - where Carole greeted us:






And Cody and Goldie (who received lots of doggy love):






Once again, we commenced with serious shopping:












From there, we went on to Katie's family home, where Jim and Mary hosted us for a cook out:




We were quite relaxed, it was so quiet and the weather was phenomenal:






We all loved the pumpkin that lit up later:






It was late in the evening after some fire poking, a bit of imbibing of wonderful apfelkorn, and fantastic desserts. So off Jeanne drove us to the hotel, to get ready for...


SUNDAY
A few of us were up early enough that we had a light breakfast at the hotel buffet. A few hours later, we packed up our goodies and loaded up the van:




We were taking bets on who was going to ride on the roof to make room for the luggage and purchases. Luckily we all fit:






Then it was off to Omega Restaurant for brunch/lunch before heading off to Knitche. (We were also able to visit the shop owned by Katie's aunt before Knitche opened.) We were so dazed by yarn fumes by the third day, Katie and I didn't take photos. Here's your obligatory Knitche photo:




The good news is that Malabrigo was scored for Linda!


Next door, Katie took us to the bead shop, Bead Heaven. Several of us ended up with beads for future projects.




After that shop, it was time to take our weary selves off to Trader Joe's for a few supplies and then we headed home.


THANK YOU
To Jeanne, our wonder chauffeur, who never once lost her cool in Chicago traffic and construction, as well as scoring us the van in the first place.

To Katie, for being our lovely Sherpa and getting us through the tolls with no hassles.

To Claire, for the kick-ass cool yarn crawl buttons.

To Jo, for hosting us on Friday at the Sit and Knit, and providing us dinner and chocolate treats. And another opportunity to purchase fiber.

To Jim and Mary, for the opportunity to relax in lovely surroundings and hosting dinner for us on Saturday.

To the shop owners for receiving us with good humor and no notice we were descending.

And finally, to the SnB members that went on the trip. Your company made it even more fun to go yarn hunting.

Chicago Yarn Crawl 2008 Part 1

FRIDAY
Jeanne picked us all up and away we went:




Of course, we stopped at the Oasis in Dekalb on the way to Chicago:




And traveled on to Wool and Company. We were so overcome by yarn fumes, Katie and I forgot to get photos of this lovely boutique knit shop in Geneva! This will have to suffice:




We checked into the hotel:







And while some of us rested, some of us went to the mall across the street. Then we had a Sit and Knit hosted by Jo that evening, along with dinner. Back to the hotel to get some rest for....


SATURDAY
We met up for breakfast at the hotel (a nice buffet for breakfast) and headed out for Loopy Yarns. It's now located at Dearborn Station:






Meg greeted us (and may have felt slightly overwhelmed by us):




Then the serious shopping began (Friday was just a warm up):
























Then, it was off to lunch at Portillo's:




To be continued...