Gimme, Gimme Some Loving - This Week's Chicago Ten!

I want to give a shout out to all the hardworking artisans in Chicago but there's only so much room - even in a blog...
So here is the first of what I hope is a weekly thing:

The Chicago Ten

This is a listing of ten items from Chicago artisans (these are all from Etsy) with items that appeal to me. Click on the link below to be taken to the item that has captured my attention!
Even though knitting is my passion, I am in awe of those folks who can draw or bead or do any of those things that create so much beauty.

In no particular order:

Puck55
PetitOlseau's
Ellie'sOO
Crochetgirl
SarahKatherineGreen
CamilleStar
FullenStar
ariyamastudio's
diffractionfiber
deersweetheartstudio

Any major city is going to boast local artisans and if you do a blog, I encourage you to give a shout out to some of the local talent in your area. You show love to both the artist and the folks who might be looking for just the right present for someone or themselves. (Need I say it - Christmas is just around the corner!)

Well, Merry Christmas

Whew! The Christmas Eve service is over and it was very nice. I didn't get to the sound engineer quickly enough to grab the CD last night, so I will try and get it Sunday. Music is always an important part of the services, but even more so at Christmas. We sang a lot. 'O Holy Night' went well. Even my choir director said it was quite lovely! I'm somewhere in the back row. This was from last year's service and I don't think it was Christmas Eve, but it was around that time.

Dinner and the family was fun. This was the HB's year to play Santa and he did a very nice job of it.
And the Christmas gifts were cool: a new necklace and a shawl, gift certificates for dinners, a jar of marmalade (reminded me of my mother-in-law), theatre tickets (from Marilyn), Irish Creme - which I told the HB we should add to coffee because that's the only way I will drink coffee
a John Legend (cute!) CD and five books from the HB:
Cables - Mittens, Hats and Scarves
How to Select Color Palettes for knitting
Knit to be Square
Picture Perfect Knits
Knitted Afghans and Pillows

The habit is enabled for at least another year! We're off to church to help serve lunch. I hope your Christmas Day is blessed and restful and will begin your renewal for the New Year!