Chicago Style!

Such an amazing city! Eliza toured me around, and we checked out the amazing Art Institute of Chicago, which was having a well-timed Apostles of Beauty exhibit on the arts and crafts movement in design. Frank Lloyd Wright was a part of this movement, and he did quite a bit of design in Chicago and the surrounding areas- in that photo mosaic there are is a photo of a house that he built. Many slices of pizza were had, and loads of baked goodies were consumed. So much food! And I got to crash Eliza’s great book group. The book in question? Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.Also fascinating was her father in law’s woodworking studio- he’s an amazing furniture designer, and his pieces were so incredible, I forgot to take photos (this happens to me more often than I’d like to admit). But check out all the gorgeousness here.

And of course, when knitters get together, it’s all about the knitting, isn’t it?

Knit 1 in Chicago is sadly closing down, but they are having a really amazing giveaway- purchase one of their patterns, and you will be entered to win one of 60 $500 prize packs! This is how Karen (the owner) is clearing out her inventory, which is such a creative idea. When we visited, we were able to try on some of the samples of the patterns, and picked our favourites:

Eliza’s choice, above

my choice, below

That caplet just had to be mine, so I bought the pattern on the spot. I’m so in love, I’ve already cast on:

Cascade Magnum in 9408, a lovely heathered reddish brown

Trisha was the one that alerted me to this bittersweet giveaway, and we had a great sit down to talk about all the things we love about patterns, yarn, and the perfect LYS.

Pictures from Knit 1, with Trisha and Karen (shop owner and designer)

Check out all the gorgeous patterns here. You have until February 14th to purchase a pattern and enter the draw for the prize packs (it’s not restricted just to the US- so no matter where you live and knit, you can win!). Good luck everyone- I’d love to win one of those $500 prize packs!

We also checked out Nina and Loopy Yarns, and I found myself stocking up on some Malabrigo laceweight from both:

‘Olive’ colourway on the left, and ‘Paris Night’ colourway on the right

And Eliza generously gave me a skein of her handspun:

All said, it was a wonderful weekend getaway. Thanks to all the wonderful Chicago people I met while I was there, you made my trip memorable!! And an extra thank you to Eliza and her husband, for being wonderful hosts.