Firstly, here's wishing Rusty a very happy {mind-blowing number} birthday!!

He's getting a massage this afternoon and Lobster Bisque this evening and a few other prezzies, too!

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Also, we had a great Christmas except for the part where I ended up taking Maddy to the ER! SHE'S FINE!! She came home from visiting friends in Milwaukee in the early afternoon on Christmas Eve and went for a run -- so she was feeling pretty good at that point! We had a nice dinner, started a game of Monopoly, and watched a Harry Potter movie and she felt more and more lethargic as the evening progressed. She went to bed before the movie was even over and, well, if you know Maddy+Harry Potter... it's just not right. She had some other symptoms on Christmas Day, but was able to hang in there with us all, though declined to join us for our traditional Christmas Day movie (Mary Queen of Scots). My phone vibrated as we were walking to the car and she said that she'd felt lightheaded when she got up and fainted/fell/face-planted on the living room floor, resulting in a big gash on her lower lip (inside and out). Long story short, she got two stitches in her lower lip and was sent home with orders for ice, rest, and hydration. Hopefully, she'll be able to eat something soon. Poor thing -- she's leaving for The Land Down Under in 5 days!

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Joining Kat & the Unravelers for one last time in 2018! And there's a lot to talk about.

KNITTING:

I finished a pair of mitts and a pair of socks for Christmas presents!

• Ravelry Project Page: Appleseed Mitts for Kate
• Pattern: Appleseed Mitts by Thea Colman
• Yarn: Hand-dyed DK Superwash
• Needles:  US 5 & 7 DPNs
• Start to Finish:  November 18 - December 21, 2018

• Ravelry Project Page: Worsted Socks for Maddy 
• Pattern: Basic Sock (Worsted mod) by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas
• Yarn: Make.Do Realized Worsted
• Needles:  US 5 DPNs
• Start to Finish:  December 5 - December 21, 2018

Not finished for Christmas: Ironworks Beret for Kate, and a pair of socks for Ali.

Ali requested the socks and I'd intended to give them to her, then decided that I really wanted to knit Maddy some socks and it sure would be easier to give them to her before she left for Australia! Both Kate & Al got yarn wrapped up with an "intention" gift card, and those projects will be next up...

After I knit a few more Gnomes! This is the first, there's a second underway... along with a third and fourth!! Numbers 3 & 4 are styled after the Travelocity gnome, and for Maddy & Viv, so I need to finish them ASAP. I want to knit them for everyone!!

I'll do a complete wrap-up/review of my 2018 knitting in the next few days.

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READING:

The book currently on my nightstand is Fashion Climbing: A Memoir with Photographs by Bill Cunningham.

I'm still listening to Tom Hanks read Uncommon Type: Some Stories. I still seem to be in a "quiet period," but I've been listening a few days each week lately.

I'll also do a reading wrap in the next week. In a nutshell? I seem to be reading less.

There's been a lot happening over here, but this...

I was waiting for take-away when Ali sent the Snapchat above, and I couldn't help but laugh... out loud. Tossing & turning a bit that night, this video popped into my head during one of the turns and I couldn't help but giggle... out loud! Not loud enough to wake up Rusty, but OMG.

MERRY PISSMAS, EVERYBODY!!

Unsolicited, and a couple of weeks ago already, Facebook presented me with "Your Year on Facebook," and Spotify sent my "2018 in Music" facts... triggering an avalanche of The Best of All The Things, including...

The Top Nine from my personal Instagram:

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Obviously, we had a new baby in the family! In something of a take-over, Malina is the subject of more than half of my photos. Rounded out with some good health news, turning 60, a cool Alabama Chanin-ish shirt made without sewing a single stitch (not that I mind the sewing), designating my sister's vintage Vogue/Rowan sweater as my Rhinebeck Sweater... oh, and there's Ginny! There is a LOT missing from this little collage...

I also ran the Top Nine from Make.Do:

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It's still a pretty small-scale operation, but I've amped it up a bit over the last couple of months... so I even had more than nine photos to choose from!

I also read Carole's Three On Thursday post last week wherein she lamented the onslaught of this type of thing because there is plenty of 2018 left! Yeah, I thought, you're right, but pshaaw... I'm so busy I can barely get a post up right now, much less make it a good one, and that's not likely to change by the end of the year...

And then:

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*It did change!! I'm calling it Top 10!  ;)

New enamel pins of my yarn ball logo finally arrived and I was pretty excited about them, and so were about 35 other people - haha (it doesn't take much at this stage)! Anyway, they are so cool... a substantial but not enormous 1.25" in diameter, jewelry-grade cloisonné, with six colors of enamel and black nickel plating, and they're in the shop! Blog readers can use the code FREESHIP to get free shipping now through the end of the year -- on pins or anything!

Thank you for all your comments, encouragement, and support, and just for continuing to pop by and read!

I can hardly believe Sharon has been gone 8 years.

I love you, Sharon! I miss you every single day. xoxo

Oh, friends, it has been A WEEK! I hit a wall last night, and that's having skipped out on two holiday get-togethers this week (basically opting for in-house/family get-togethers, instead). Today was my day off and I slept (more or less) until 9:30 am!

On Tuesday, the girls all gathered at my house in the afternoon for a Cookie Day!

I made sure to snap some photos of bakers/helpers before they all ran off. Does Malina seem a bit interested in the vino??? Maddy is used to being outnumbered by gingers, but it's not usually 4 to 1!!

Viv loves to cook and is darn good at putting together an appetizer tray, too. She and Maddy have not only been doing lots of cooking, but lots of clean up, too, so we're a little spoiled at the moment.

Last night was Ali's holiday party for KC&T and I watched the big kids. After a bit of a melt-down over underwear... in which Junah had two little accidents (waiting too long!) and I didn't have anymore undies, and he didn't want to wear any of mine nor Rusty's nor go commando (tho he did at least finally try) (and had I had sweatpants instead of overalls)... and finally agreed to be wrapped in a towel while I ran a "quick cycle" in the washer... they decorated some cookies. Whew!

Maddy & Viv have departed for MN, where they'll be visiting friends and also delivering Maddy's Subaru to its new owner!

I spent the day starting to get things under control around here after a few weeks of inattention, and am looking forward to/needing this weekend to really get things in shape!

I hope you have a great weekend!

One - Football

Maddy & I had the pleasure of taking her girlfriend Viv to her first NFL game at Lambeau Field on Sunday. If she never goes to another, she's done alright! I told her that anyone she meets who's into American football will be impressed that she's been there!

• The game began with an F-16 fly-over by the "Tulsa Vipers" (a.k.a., the 125th Fighter Squadron) from the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
• We bundled up because it was COLD! We also had what they call "outdoor club seats," which come with plenty of warm indoor space and we definitely took advantage.
• We braved the cold and went up to the scoreboard for an overview -- and watched the Packers score a defensive touchdown from up there!
• The half-time show was a parachute jump by "The Wings of Blue" U.S. Air Force Parachute Team from Colorado Springs -- the last jumper was Santa Claus and he landed right in the end zone (though the mark was at the 20-yard line and there was a collective gasp when it looked like momentum might cause him to run into the wall)!

Two - Knitting

That's a sock -- shocking, I know! I can't remember the last time I knit socks, and I wouldn't have even considered it except that one of my favorite people in the whole wide world requested a pair, and Mary told me how much she loves knitting worsted socks and about her favorite pattern and modifications and before you knew it, I was dying worsted-weight yarn and getting excited about knitting socks!! Haha. And they are fast -- even with three or four tries before a successful tubular cast-on! I'm already ready to kitchener the toe... but think I'm going to frog it back to the start of toe shaping tonight and add a couple of rows.

I didn't even finish talking about the weekend before last -- Sunday, anyway -- in which I took this:

...(plus a few more pieces) to THIS:

It took a lot longer than I'd hoped (I had a LOT more things on my to-do list) (still do), but it's done and I love it!

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Last weekend started on Thursday evening with the first Christmas party of the season with the gang from work, and continued with a company-paid day off on Friday! I needed it, too, since I didn't have a regular day off last week. I did exciting things like get my oil changed & a tire repaired, picked up & dropped off packages at the coffee shop & visited with Ali for a while, went to the grocery store and Target. Woohoo! Those are all things that needed to be done, though, and I basically got paid to do them.

Rusty & I drove over to Two Rivers on Saturday for a meeting/gathering of the local chapter of Wisconsin Visual Artists. They met at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum, and had organized an optional printing workshop... for which we both opted in!

One of my first real jobs was as a typesetter, though I didn't even know that's what I was doing at the time, and it was the very dawn of computer typesetting, so I never actually worked with block letters/art and real leading before. I just flipped switches to get the amount of leading I wanted between lines of type, and actually typed on a keyboard (mostly) instead of plucking individual letters from a type drawer. Either way, what was being produced was not the end-game... it was all destined for the printer! And though I never printed a darn thing in my life, I was in that environment for many years... and, coincidentally, Rusty owned a print shop at one time (long before I met him), and my brother also worked in various print shops for many years.

So this experience was both very familiar and very new!

We each had our own little sign press & galley with various tools, some ink & a supply of paper, and a good selection of type and art from which we could choose. I never actually thought about what I'd actually make/print, so I went seasonal first and went from there... here are a few examples of my work:

OMG. It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I can't stop thinking about it, so I guess that means that a full-day (at least) workshop is in my future! Time was limited, so I really didn't spend much of it away from my own press, but I did take a peek at Rusty's project:

Well, he is an artist!

Edited to add: Rusty showing off one of his prints on the Hamilton Wood Type IG feed!

There was inspiration everywhere:

...including in the bathroom:

There was an amazing exhibit of Jim Sherraden's work at the museum...

Including these paper quilts. He's apparently been a visiting artist at Hamilton. I didn't know, until I googled just now, that he's famous! Way cool.

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

Homeward bound.

We got a pretty early start... because it's a long drive (7+/- hours) and we had another art stop in Chicago. A bridge was closed, so we were detoured north out of St. Louis... advantage being a new view! (Bissinger's, by the way, is a chocolatier. Mmm.)

The weather was being rather dramatic right off the bat.

Our first stop in Chicago, though, was for food!

La Barca is a Mexican Restaurant/Taqueria/Food Mart that was featured on the Chicago espisode of Marcus Samuelsson's PBS Food series No Passport Required. This was actually Kate's idea!

And it was a very good idea! The tacos were delicious... I had asada and pollo. And chips & salsa. And a beer.

Next stop:

A visit with Aviv Benn at Devening Projects+Editions.

I met Aviv last year at her MFA Show in Chicago... a trip that I must not have blogged about! Kate's July 2017 youngspace interview with Aviv Benn. 

We also popped in to see Volker Saul's work and I kept being drawn to this one... with thoughts turning to sewing and Alabama Chanin.

The weather turned to crap (-pier) on the way home from Chicago. I thought I had the worst of it in southern Wisconsin, but then Kate took the wheel around Fond du Lac and it became crappiest -- wet slushy snow, not made any better by stupid drivers (of big trucks).

We ditched the freeway on the last leg home. At least downtown Appleton looked sort of pretty. We followed a snowplow for the last stretch. Needless to say, it was great to arrive home!

We had a leisurely start on Friday morning, then head out for a bite to eat before our museum stops. A friend of Kate's had suggested Cafe Osage at Bowood, so that's where we went. What a wonderful place! Very open and light, with huge windows... We both remarked that it was my mother's kind of place -- she'd have loved it -- and noted that 90% of the clientele reminded us of her, too! Nana-types!

We had to have a beverage with breakfast/more like brunch, so it might as well be something fun! I chose "Cherub's Cup" (north shore #6 gin, st. germain liqueur, adami prosecco, strawberry simple syrup) and Kate had "Rosey Bee" (barr hill raw honey infused gin, rose liqueur, rose geranium, lemon). We shared a plate of Roasted Cauliflower (pickled grapes, tahini, breadcrumb)  because how could we not?? Kate had Poached Eggs with Lox and I had the Artichoke Omelet. It was all so good!!

Kate overheard a woman at the next table giving the waitress what-for about a few things, including that the music was overpowering. Feedback is great and everyone has their opinion, but the music was NOT overpowering and everything was wonderful -- and I felt bad for our waitress. When she brought our check, I made it a point to tell her that everything was perfect -- the drinks, the food, the service, and the music! She laughed and it was as if I could see the earlier unwarranted criticism falling from her shoulders. It made my day, and I hope it made hers a little better, too.

Anyway, the Bowood Garden/Home/Gift shop that Cafe Osage is a part of was so fun, and there was a special Holiday Shop open in a building across the street, too. So we did a little poking around and shopping.

Then it was off to the main event. Ruth Asawa: Life's Work at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. I think the Pulitzer is one of my favorite places ever. The exhibit is breathtaking and, without apology, I'm going to post a ton of photos because it's all just so fascinating and mesmerizing... each individual piece, each part of each piece, the pieces as they hang together and relate to each other, apart and layered, the spaces, the shadows... It's ethereal and indescribable and... just so beautiful.

Fascinating.

Still fascinating.

And still fascinating.

I just couldn't get enough.

I want to live there.

This lovely children's book, Ruth Asawa: A Sculpting Life, was waiting when we got home and I can't wait to read it to the kiddos!

We caught our breath and walked next door to the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Sanford Biggers, Shepherd, 2016; glitter, tar, acrylic, spray paint, assorted textiles, antique quilts

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled panel, 1980; oilstick, graphite pencil, latex on board

It was a bit early for dinner, but not enough time to go back to the house, so we went to Sophie's Artist Lounge & Cocktail Club, located at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation.

And we had some more delightful drinks! This was a combo of gin, thyme liqueur, basil simple syrup, and cava -- it was the thyme & basil components + plus the sparkling wine that I found irresistible! Cheers!!

For dinner, we went to the brand new Grand Tavern by David Burke in the Angad Arts Hotel, and that was another incredible meal! We shared some emotional lobster dumplings, and then Kate had black linguine with clam sauce and I had branzino (with artichoke hummus, black olive, vegetable vinaigrette). Two Nana-types at the neighboring table (a mother & daughter, actually) had couch potatoes and clothesline bacon, and offered a piece of the bacon to us (they were big pieces and super-thick). The bacon is actually served on a little "clothesline," held with clothespins, and caramelized with a little torch right at the table. Yeah. It was crazy (and good -- it can be crazy if it's good)!! Oh, and we had some flame action at our table with an old-school baked alaska for dessert.

Then it was across the street to the Fabulous Fox and the Hip Hop Nutcracker... and you know the rest of that story!

Bonny referred to my "whirlwind art trips with Kate" the other day and I loved it! I've decided that it's a thing... currently, an Instagram hashtag! #whirlwindarttripwithkate 

It fits like a glove. This is a photo & caption that Kate posted on Facebook the other day and I immediately made it my profile pic:

Visiting the Ruth Asawa Life’s Work show at Pulitzer and feeling all the
Black Mountain College love and lore rushing back... such a stunning show,
and there’s my mom because she’s such a super spontaneous fast-paced art trip copilot
and it was her idea to run to STL for this show in the first place.

Haha. Kate's not always the instigator! I don't remember how I first learned about this show, but from that moment I was plotting a trip to see it. And there you see me and a big part of the exhibit... there will be more on that later. First things first.

We planned our departure for Wednesday after work, and it turns out that it was the same day that Maddy returned from her vintage gig at an Oregon winery! Kate's day was shorter than mine, so those two had a nice catch-up over lunch and hung out for a while. I was able to kiss & hug & hit the high notes while I finished packing, and then Kate and I hit the road at right about 5pm. We stayed overnight outside of Chicago and got a reasonably early start on Thursday.

When I wasn't dropping DPNs, stitch markers, or stitches, I was even able to get some knitting done on the way! (I think I'll finally finish that mitt tonight.)

Our first stop was for lunch! We were actually headed someplace else when Salt + Smoke Barbeque caught our eye. We were not disappointed with that choice!!

Then it was on to the St. Louis Art Museum to see the Kehinde Wiley show. Oh Em Gee...

I'm going to post only this photo here and I love it because it shows the scale of his work. They are wild... in the best possible way. You can scroll through the rest here:

There was much more to see, of course.

This amazing covered bowl & plate set caught my eye. Does anyone else see balls of yarn in that design???

We checked in at our Airbnb -- a beautiful carriage house that I kept imagining with my own furniture and thinking about where I'd put my yarn. Those are the best... the ones that I want to move into! This was my 22nd stay at an Airbnb, and I guess you could say I'm a fan! (Join Airbnb through this link and you'll receive a $40 credit toward your first trip, and I'll get a $20 credit, too.)

The house was close enough that we walked over to check out Brewery Lights at Anheuser-Busch! What a fun event!! Admission is free and includes a beer (or beverage of choice).

Does it look like we had fun?? Haha. Completely out of character, we opted for not one but TWO souvenir photos... one with the LOVE BEER sign and one with the CLYDESDALE (because CLYDESDALE)!

On the way back, we stopped off at a fabulous restaurant called Frazer's and had a wonderful meal. The food was superb and the service was top-notch.

I'm thinking this is a Corgi? Christmas decoration?? Am I missing something?

Then we walked home and fell into bed, ready for Friday (our only full day in St. Louis)!

Ha. So, I've updated the text a bit and replaced and/or added photos to my last two posts, which were originally made from my phone.

I have a lot to share... Kehinde Wiley, Ruth Asawa, and much, much more!! It was a fun trip (except for the last hour driving in slushy snow).

I'll be back!