New Mexico July 2015

August 12, 2015 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 3 Comments

A few weeks ago the dude and I took a trip to visit my Grandma down in the ‘land of enchantment’ – New Mexico! I have such fond memories of New Mexico (tons and tons of summers there as a child) and it felt so good going back with a clear and sound mind to experience all the things I know as a child I took for granted. I would move down there in a heartbeat too.

It was so great to get to spend time with my Grandma – she is like her own sweatshop with the amount of quilts she produces! But, she is such an inspiring and strong woman. She beat terminal ovarian cancer and now has 15 years in remission! She has blossomed in her own community, even after the death of my grandfather 10 years ago. Plus I LOVE being able to talk to her about crafts, life, and living a happy sober life (this lady has never even been to a bar!).

Since she lives very close to Carlsbad Caverns, the dude had never been to the caves and well… that’s what you do when you visit Artesia, NM! 😉

Here’s some pictures of our cave exploration.

this crazed handsome lunatic is about to go spelunking!

the entrance – can you imagine ‘discovering’ this and thinking ‘gee i guess i’ll head on down!’ CRAZY.

that crazed spelunker is actually pretty handsome. 😉

some kind of a lochness monster in the cave made of minerals.

me and this giant creepy rock skeleton finger.

The Great Pumpkin Carving

October 22, 2014October 22, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ Leave a comment

2014 Pumpkin Carving Round 1:

Bree – Voldemort/Reaper
The Dude – Monster Trick or Treater (Winner – of course)

Honorable Mention: Boris the Spider

GHOSTFACEKNITTER

October 20, 2014October 20, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 1 Comment

With fall here and the holidays right around the corner, let me make your custom items/gifts! Pretty much anything you see knit/sewn/crochet I can make for you! My pricing is very affordable and I work hard to get you exactly what you dreamed!

I have done custom embroidery orders, scarf/cowl, baby bibs, kleenex coozies, crochet people/objects, dresses, skirts, blouses! Don’t forget about the pets either – I can make any costume idea or fun accessory for them too!

one of khalessi's dragons — one of khalessi’s dragons

embroidered tea-towel for my Grandma's birthday. — embroidered tea-towel for my Grandma’s birthday.

1000 BLEEPING Cycling Miles

September 3, 2014September 3, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ Leave a comment

It’s no surprise that I LOVE my bike. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m in a relationship with my bike. I commute to work everyday on it, choose to ride long distances because it’s just so fun, and prefer to take a ride on my bike rather than use the car. From Memorial Day to Labor Day I managed to hit 1000 miles, despite one nasty crash (sprained the membrane between my ulna and radius), a car wreck, and three flats. Here are some funny/nice/awesome moments of my first summer cycling in Chicago.

BICYCLE RIIIIIIIGHTS.

Me and Yoshi right after reaching 1000 miles on 8/29/2014.

That time I wore this white Nike top and there was a surprise downpour on the way home….. AWKWARD.

Giant Bike Packs. Gotta be prepared I guess.

One Year exactly. 8.26.2013 vs 8.26.2014. HUZZAH.

On the ride air pumps. This was the first of 3 flats I encountered – all within the same week too!

Gorgeous view from my long University of Chicago Campus rides – total distance that day 35 miles.

Work is nice enough to have an indoor bike rack. Yoshi never has to brave the elements without me.

The aftermath of Yoshi vs. Car. Twisted handlebars… thank goodness no other damage was done.

Sorry for my butt… about a week after my first crash. It took two months for that bruise to totally disappear.

On the road with Yoshi and Leopold. If only that squirrelly little pug would sit in a basket… sigh.

Here’s to many more 1ks on Yoshi!

Huzzah!
xxxx
GFK

get it in gear

September 3, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 2 Comments

wow. Well I guess with labor day this weekend, the summer is officially over. I, for one, had the best summer of my life. I learned so much about myself, conquered some really big personal mind-blocks, and did a bunch of cool shit. Plus I let go entirely of the control I felt I had on my life and in doing so was surprised to find what I’d hoped and dreamed for all along.

I’m a fan of lists so I guess I’ll just do a little list of the things I experienced this wonderful wonderful summer.

1. Rode 1000 + miles on my bike – yep from memorial day to labor day. I hit the 1k. SO RAD.

2. Learned to brew my own Kombucha, make my own Kale chips, and can my own shelf stable foods.

3. Celebrated 1 year sober.

4. Joined Title Boxing.

5. Ran the majority of days during lunch – with awe inspiring views.

6. Let go of bad self-esteem and closed the door on relationships that make me feel badly.

7. Opened an Etsy Store! Weeeee!

8. Got tattooed.

9. Did the Whole30 Challenge with Lois.

10. Embarked on a new adventure with lots of motorcycles, antiques, and laughs.

It was a damn good summer. Now that it's over I need to focus and get it in gear for a productive and great Fall. That means, tightening up the budget, dedicating myself to 3 days of boxing a week, focusing at work and hustling for a promotion hopefully, and giving GFK + the etsy store my undivided attention.

lesssss dooooo this.

xxx
GFK

Cupcake Blouse

June 12, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 3 Comments

I made an adorable little Blouse over the weekend and just had to share!

I found the Pattern here on BURDASTYLE. I’m a huge fan of this site because the patterns are very current, reasonably priced, and you can just print them and assemble at home. Plus they are in you account forever so if you misplace one small piece you can always re-print.

Anyways this Pattern is Short Sleeve V Neck Blouse 05/2014 #131B

I really like it – after wearing it on Monday I just need to move the snap button closure a wee bit and then finish the snap buttons down the front. Also I chose not to add the cuffs because I’m lazy.

XXX
GFK

Productive Chicago Weekend

April 13, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ Leave a comment

Gosh you would think I was sitting on top of some hot-burning fire this weekend because I got a lot done. (Does that even make sense? I feel like that was my attempt at some Depression era ‘talk’) I had to go to my local USPS office to find a missing package with some very special cargo in it. Thankfully, my post office is actually super close to my house and the people who work there are actually pleasant… I know right?

that's a whole summer's worth of HK sun protection. — that’s a whole summer’s worth of HK sun protection.

I also took another practice exam for the GMAT and did an astounding 60 points better in just two weeks! I’m very pleased with this progress and know it is just an affirmation that the studying I am doing is really paying off in a big way. After my CAT, I went ahead and ventured into my craft room for some wonderful sewing projects! I just used a basic bias skirt pattern from McCall’s similar to THIS ONE. I did however use french seams and wish I had known about those sooner – I LOVE their finish.

I also tried to make a little tepee for the cats, but they were no feeling it. I think I need to make it bigger, they just didn’t seem to think it was very cool. Cats… they love the ‘sack’ of cloth I made for them a few weeks ago, but don’t understand this has potential for the best photoshoot ever!

In pursuit of the cheapskates lifestyle, I decided to price compare Wal-Mart to Aldi on a few items that I consume a LOT of. Basically, I wanted to find an alternative egg/meat source aside from Aldi. Wal-Mart does have organic Eggland’s Best Eggs for $4.98 and a very very limited non-antibiotic/steroid chicken selection. Aldi rotates organic selections based on consumer buying patterns with a ‘features’ program so two weeks ago when they had the Organic Grassfed beef I was so happy but should have bought more to freeze and use later. Anyways, I’m thinking more about the antibiotics thing because my GMAT prep test actually had an article about how the EU has banned antibiotic use, but the USA hasn’t and well….. here we go. Also in my Wal-Mart escapade today I found some awesome products that made me proud to say ‘EASTHHHER IN AMMMERICCHHHAA.’

vanilla creme peep - limited edition. limited lifespan - CHOMP. — vanilla creme peep – limited edition. limited lifespan – CHOMP.

Sunday, I colored my hair, and while that was processing made that fox skirt up above! Then I went to finish my Dunwich Horror with Mister Josh Howard at Pioneer Tattoo. I love it.

There was also a Katy Puggy siting… I keep tweeting the real Katy Perry – maybe one day she’ll see.

Le sigh Monday….

xxx
GFK

ABRACADABRA!! HELIOPATH KAL REVEAL!

April 12, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 2 Comments

ALACAZAM! We have reached the end of the Heliopath Knit-Along road. Can you believe it? I have to say I am way impressed with everyone’s epic knitter-wizard skills. Seriously, talk about some effing talented crafters – I have never been so motivated and inspired by a group of knitters in my life!

So I’ll briefly breakdown my ‘finish’ of the Heliopath and then we can talk about the good stuff – THE PRIZES.

For the armholes, I had to keep trying my vest on – I know we still had to block, but I typically get nervous leaving the entire ‘fit’ up to blocking. I ended up knitting past the recommended 6″3/4 mark to almost 8″ and then did the three needle cast off for each side. Now instead of using DPNs and knitting the ribbing I chose to go totally out of order here and block now. Why did I do this? Well, for starters I was convinced this thing was not going to fit right. I know blocking can be a miracle-worker, but I spend the last two weeks in a wee-bit of a panic about if I had just spent ~$85 and over a month on something that will fit one of my petite friends not me. I even dropped an extra stitch under the arm because I was FREAKING OUT. Seriously, I kept stretching it (even considering the pattern ‘give’ measurements) and just getting more and more and more worried. Especially once I had opened up almost every stitch it was very worrisome and I ended up making the last minute decision to open up and extra stitch under the arm. Anyways, I digress… blocking before ribbing. Why else did I want to do this? Well I honestly wanted to crochet every finish on and i wanted it to not be ‘too tight’ or ‘too loose’ when it was all said and done. Plus, let’s be honest I can never just follow the damn pattern 100%. There I said it. So here it is.

So for the PRIZES! There is so much and we plan on picking the winners over the next few days as we make sure to tally and include everyone who participated. I will be sending messages out to the ones on Ravelry and Instagram who participated to confirm their entry. There is so much to win!

Black Market Wool!

ewe<3ewe yarn!

JustRunKnit! 4 Skeins!!! Enough for another Heliopath!

Pattern by ewe<3ewe yarn!

Pattern by the lovely Emma Welford!

So we will pick the winners and announce on Tuesday April 15th!

ABRACADABRA MY STITCHES!

XXX
GFK

Denver April 2014

April 11, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 2 Comments

Home Sweet Home. Well sweet old home. I flew into Denver for a quick visit Friday through Monday and boy was it fun! I got to see my family, go for a wonderful hike, eat some delicious food, finish my fantasy sleeve, hung with my badass super babe crew, visited Allegro Coffee headquarters, and attended a Game of Thrones premiere party! I will do a separate post on the Allegro visit and the Game of Thrones party in the next few days. Let’s roll the footage!

first stop! The Curve for some effing good green chili.

Alisha Rice finished my sleeve! Guess it's time to work on something else! — Alisha Rice finished my sleeve! Guess it’s time to work on something else!

my homie TWINKIELOVE24/7 painted this super super adorable portrait of me and my ugly tribe. xoxoxo — my homie TWINKIELOVE 24/7 painted this super super adorable portrait of me and my ugly tribe. xoxoxo

CHECK OUT HER WORK HERE 🙂

the artist known at twinkielove24/7 and I hiked dinosaur ridge in morrison. — the artist known as twinkielove24/7 and I hiked dinosaur ridge in morrison.

but worth it. gorgeous view of red rocks/the hogback. le sigh i miss mountains.

i made this amigurume dragon for out GoT party hostess Alisha Rice.

the Allegro Cafe - super amazing there. — the Allegro Cafe – super amazing there.

Lois Came for a Visit

March 25, 2014 ~ ghostfaceknitter ~ 3 Comments

Lois – my mom (and my nickname for her) came to visit over the weekend. I was so glad to just hang out, run errands, and eat super tasty food with her. Honestly, I forget that I’m here alone, because of social media and phones. But, I LOVED having her here even if it was for a few short days.

We both started watching Chicago P.D. and got addicted.

Don’t worry I don’t have my mom come all this way just to watch TV! We were working on our Heliopath KALs!

Then, I have been on the market for some vintage Pyrex – but I’m still too cheapskate to pay the retail prices for it now. I mean, all the sellers know it’s popular at the moment so for a set of 4 nesting bowls it’s common to see $100 price tag attached. I’m more into the designed square refrigerator ones so it’ll take time to ease in to that hobby. BUT. We went to this great Vintage/Retro Kitchen store in Chicago called Jazze Junque and it was way cool. She had loads of vintage Pyrex, $500 cookie jars, plates, mugs, kitchen sets, glasses – I was in heaven.

We ate amazing Polish food at Staropolska in my neighborhood too. I tried to practice my Polish, but I’m too shy and got way too nervous. But the waitress was really nice, even after I made an ass out of myself trying.

placek z cukini z piersia z kury, papryka, cebula, cukinia, kozi ser (zucchini pancakes with chicken, peppers, goat cheese)

kiełbasa z kapusta (sausage and cabbage)

We also got tattoos. I got this ‘Dunwich Horror’ inspired monster man and done by Josh Howard at Pioneer Tattoo in Chicago.

I made this little tissue ‘coozie’ for Josh Howard also since he is an elderly_lady.

Overall great weekend. Back to reality.

XXX
GFK