What I did on my summer vacation, part II

Monday:  The Art Institute of Chicago, the new Modern Wing.  The collection is perfect.  Pictures without flash are allowed. 

Picture of niece knitting:

Etherniece has waited a year for the second knitting lesson.  She holds the needles herself.  She forms her own stitches.  We reconvene several days later.  She wants me to fix the snaggles in her knitting.  I hear my teaching coming from her six year old lips:  "All knitters make mistakes.  Even experienced knitters make mistakes." 

She looked at my ball of Smooshy Pansy Go Lightly, and asked how much it cost.  I told her about $25.  She looked thoughtful.  "How many of those balls do you have?"  I laughed.  "More than you can count."  She guessed a thousand.  "I don't know, Etherniece, maybe more than that."  Her second guess was a thousand billion.  I realized I have no idea how many of those balls I have at home, so we compromised on a number that gave her some practice in counting upwards.  How does one so young already understand the concept of stash?

The pink swatch, bottom part, is hers.  (I fixed the snaggles on the top 2 rows so that she could keep going.)  The blue swatch is all hers.  I am humbled by how fast the young brain learns.  The pink yarn is donated from Auntie's stash.  The blue yarn is from a LYS.  I took her in the store, wondering if I was giving her a gateway drug.  ("The first time is free, honey.")  I wanted her to be invested in the yarn choice.  She had a choice of Encore or Mission Falls wool.  She chose wool.  And the blue was without input from me.  Really.

She looked at the yarn on the counter,  as I trotted out $7 plus change.  Then she looked up at the woman at the cash register, and asked, "Do you make money here?" 

You just have to laugh.  I told her that might not be a polite question to ask people. 

We ate:

EtherMere took us to Spiaggia Cafe, and to the restaurant in the Modern Wing at the Art Institute, and the Pierrot Cafe.

We relaxed:

We laughed until our tummies hurt:

EtherMere took us to LookingGlass Theatre's production of The Arabian Nights.  The play starts with two drummers who commandingly gather your attention, force you to the edge of your seat, and keep you there for the rest of the play.  We know what happens to Scherezade.  That matters not a whit as the stories within stories took us to other times, other lives, into other hearts.  Go, if you can.

I knit with the swiftness of many hands:

Since I am working on many projects, none were finished.  (I forgot to mention that minutes after I wrote the Kitchen Sink post, I cast on for the Swallowtail shawl.)  The yarn (SeaPearl, from BriarRose Fibers, Rhinebeck 2008) is fingering merino/tencel.  It holds shape well, and drapes beautifully.  That means the WIP looks less like a lace snarl than usual.

The last photo cracked me up.  The Art Institute has an exhibit that featured architectural drawings by famous people.  The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum concept sketch (1990) was created by a man who had to have been a closet lace knitter:

Who?  Frank Gehry, of course.

Comments

[Anne]

Sounds like an awesomely fun vacation! And another knitting convert? Even better. :)

[Paula]

LOL. I think I see some nupps in there.

[Teyani]

Love that Etherniece has developed such a fabulous habit already. Plus her patience in waiting a year = future as a fabulous knitter.

Swallowtail is a blast. Beware the nupps (and send up a smoke signal if you'd like any input ;-)

[margene]

Cool post! You have shared a talent that will live with your niece all her life.
There's a secret to nupps. Just ask.

[Lynn]

You are just a treasure.

[susan]

At least etherniece is satisfied with commercially spun yarn. When I allowed la fille to choose any yarn she wanted from my stash, she went straight to the handspun.

[Ruth]

I hope to get to the Art Institute when we're in Chicago next month. It's so close to Loopy Yarns. The children are lobbying for the Field and the Aquarium, though.

[Carrie]

When considering whether to teach my son to spin (not yet) I was warned to be aware that he would quickly and easily outpace my learning and abilities.
LOVE that last picture.

[Manise]

I love the supporting photos/ subjects you saw for your post! Brilliant. Etherniece will be a great knitter in no time. :-) You have done well Etherauntie in infecting her!

[gayle]

Absolutely love the photos. Still smiling.
Swallowtail is a lot of fun - enjoy! I've made two - I figured out a cheat on the nupps that worked for me, before I saw the video on how to do them properly. I'll have to try the real way on my next nupps. (The results are identical - I'm just curious which way is ultimately easier.)

[Judy]

perfect vacation. love the illustrations. did you see the movie on Gehry?? do!

[Pat]

What a great post!!
Etherniece is very lucky to have such a wonderful auntie!

[vanessa]

wonderful :-)

[Diane]

Great illustrations to go with your vacation post. Makes me miss Chicago even more.

[Cheryl S.]

How funny - just this morning we drove by the Brain Institute in Las Vegas (under construction), which is by Frank Gehry:
http://www.lasvegasartmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibitions_archive/gehry/

[Lori]

Oh but Etherknitter, the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University has an extensive collection of famous architects 'napkin' or 'trash' sketches. (I think it's a requirement that all guest lecturers have to provide one.)

Believe me they almost all look like scribbles. Freehand sketching is apparently not something that is taught in the architecture curriculum any longer.

And I'm class of '88.

[Chris]

Happily giggled my way through your vacation posts! Sounds like your vacation did what it should. Good for you!