Tag Archives: inciardi mini prints

Christmas 2025 New York City

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Sunday, December 28, 2025

The year is winding down and we are home after a wonderful Christmas with my kids and our granddaughter in New York City. We agreed to simplify the holiday this year and participated in a secret Santa gift swap (we each were assigned a person to buy for) which took all the pressure of shopping and threw it out the window. We are all so grateful to have a roof over our heads, jobs that allow us to live in our homes and have food on our tables and that we can spend time together. Time together is the best gift ever.

We spent one night with my college roommate in Westport, CT and headed into the city the following day after we had a bit of an adventure. I have started collecting little art prints from Inciardi print machines and had seen one in Cos Cob, CT which was on our way to NYC. We stopped at the Greenwich Historical Society and I collected some new cards there!

When we got into the car, I checked and there was one other spot, the Greenwich Botanical Center, that had a machine and it was only a few minutes away so we went there next. We got a few more cards!

We had a fun breakfast at a diner in Greenwich before heading in to the City. We stayed in our “suite” at my son’s house that he shares with this girlfriend and their two doggos. We had our lumpy old boy with us, too, so he didn’t have to spend Christmas in a kennel. It was a wonderful few days AND we went to Grand Central for the Holiday event where they had more Inciardi machines and we got some more cards. I had to wait in a line for 30+ minutes to get some. Who knew I was so trendy?! LOL

We also had a Santa’s Workshop morning with Sylvie, our granddaughter on Christmas Eve where she made ornaments for all of her family. I had made the ornaments and cut them out and she decorated them. We sealed them and put a string on them. She was so proud to hand them out on Christmas morning! She also helped string popcorn and cranberries for the tree and made “24-hour Salad” with Auntie Kyla. We played games, fed her lunch and then she went home for a nap. It was a huge success and I hope we can do it every year as she grows up. She’s getting so big and she’s such a hoot to be around. Three is a wonderful age!

It has become a tradition to hit the Costco in Harlem for Christmas dinner supplies (and a bunch of other stuff) and we did that, too. After my son came home from work on Tuesday (Christmas Eve Eve). This year we were “smart” going later. The crowds were very small compared to last year and we were able to actually SEE the store and go through at our leisure. We also went to a gorgeous butcher shop for the Christmas ham. My son wanted to cook a fresh ham (none of us had ever done it) and they’re not easy to find, I guess. The butcher shop was a step back in time and the ham was delicious after being brined over night and then baked. Yum!

This kind of shop is why living in New York City is wonderful. Next door was a sausage sandwich shop walk-up window. Of course the boys got a sandwich. NYC food is one of the things we both miss in Maine. We live in a rural part of the state and there’s nothing like this here. We had a wonderful lunch at Margon, a cuban restaurant, and at Lovely’s, a burger place (great onion rings!) in Hell’s Kitchen. Both of these restaurants are where my son goes for lunch from work – he’s in the theater business, currently replacing all the original wiring in the Barymore Theater. Our bellies were so full but, YUM!

I haven’t been doing a lot of knitting but I have managed to finish my Stockholm Slipover and it’s currently blocking in my atelier. I am so happy with it! I made it with stashed yarn and it didn’t use up all three hanks of fingering weight yarn. I still have one hank left (and some alpaca lace “mohair”). I am going to come up with an idea to use it up. I am! I can hardly wait for it to dry before I wear it. Suffice it to say, it will happen this week. The color of the photo isn’t perfect, it’s more of a plummy color but it’s close. The fabric is so soft and I love the tonal quality of both yarns. It will be boxy on me and that’s ok, too. I’m excited. AND it only two three weeks to finish. It’s amazing how fast a garment can go if you don’t have to visit sleeve island. (IYKYK)

Stockholm Slipover by Petite Knits

I’ve also been working on a new Musselburgh hat in some stashed yarn and some new mohair! I bought the pink yarn at Knitty City in Manahattan last winter when I found out my daughter had been diagnosed (very early, thank goodness and she has been through her treatments and is healthy today) with breast cancer. I was going to make her a F*^k Cancer hat. It didn’t happen. So, I bought some Berroco Aerial peachy-pink mohair and have made a Musselburgh for myself, I hope. I am almost to where I want to add a new color and I have to find one that will go with a pink brim. It’s an interesting challenge and one I hope I’m up for!

Now that Christmas is over I can bring my husband’s Christmas socks out from hiding. I didn’t finish them this year and I haven’t made much progress, frankly. I have to be able to sit and focus on the pattern of these socks. I’m well into the heel of the first sock and, well, that’s where I stalled. Even with the simpler holiday gifting, I had a last minute rush to fill my middle daughter’s stocking because we didn’t talk about it. Stockings are a big deal in our family and she doesn’t have a partner right now to fill hers. On Christmas Eve Kyla and I snuck out of our dinner party and into her apartment to “steal” her stocking and get it filled for Christmas. It’s what we do!

I was really sad to leave, of course, there’s never enough time with my kids. On our last night in the City it snowed and that was a special treat. The City is so beautiful coated in a new layer of snow! And so quiet! We have had a wonderful trip, a glorious holiday and we are glad to be home before the ice storm that is supposed to come tonight. Our wonderful neighbor ran his snowblower down our driveway and cleared it up for us to come home to – what a lovely surprise!

Snow! … And to all a good night!

Gone knitting.

FOs and WIPs and Some Travel, too!

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Yesterday, September 29, 2025

We got home from Denver Sunday night and we were fried! We had no delays or challenges but it was a 16 hour travel day … and I don’t sleep well when I have to travel early in the morning. I really didn’t sleep well the whole time we were there but it was so worth the trip. We went out so I could meet our new grandson, Mac Thomas who is a month old. He is adorable, perfect in every way and his parents are doing a great job keeping it all together. We are really excited to have another grand baby and will be traveling to Denver more often so that Mac will know us.

I cast on in the Portland, ME airport for a hat that I just happened to find on social media. The Coby Baby Hat is adorable lace and bobbles in a tiny size and I just happened to have a hank of baby alpaca in a worsted weight which was exactly what was called for. I forgot to change to the US 8 needles after the ribbing but it wasn’t a big deal and the hat came out really well. I left it in Denver because it may be the first Yaya-made hat that fits the kiddo.

While in Denver we had an excellent adventure to see if we could find some Inciardi Mini Print machines. There are two in the Denver area. One was a bust and has very limited hours but the second was a total hit and a wonderful place with helpful, friendly staff! We visited Leven and found the machine where I bought six prints. (one was a duplicate but it was one of my favorites and is going to a special friend who told me about the prints.)

Each of the prints is a little work of art by an artist named Ana Inciardi who is from Brooklyn, NY but based in Portland, ME! Her prints are all over the country and my friend Carol has been collecting them in Maine. After finding the machine at Leven, I think we’re on the band wagon! They’re so much fun!!! Leven was also a boon for baked goods we bought some cheese and a baguette for our supper and some drinks and they kindly gave us a couple of cookies and a brownie … the brownie (we got a print of a brownie there) was phenomenal. A fun visit all around … and I spoke with two of their customers who asked about the machine and bought some prints, too. The prints are $1 each (four quarters go into the vending machine) so they’re accessible for everyone. I won’t be buying six from every machine I find! Ha! Ha!

We also went to this food hall in Denver where we found a yarn shop. I enjoyed visiting the shop and found some fun gifts for my co-workers and some Cascade merino (that we don’t carry at my LYS) that we picked out to make a pair of pants and a sweater for baby Mac. The store was well-organized, clean with plenty of space to maneuver around. They had some lovely books and just a little bit of local yarn. A big wooden table at the center front of the store looked like a wonderful place to gather for a little knitting time or a class. I hope they’re very successful. The food hall idea seems brilliant to me. Lots of little restaurants, like food court sized shops in a mall, with all sorts of different international and regional foods. We stopped at the bar for a daytime beverage so the new parents could feel like real people, too. Fun!

I got all of the knitting done for the Sorento Cardigan that I’m making for a client. I knitted both sleeves at once so that they’d be the same and finished them on the plane on the way back home. I’ve pressed the pieces gently and tomorrow I’ll sew them together in the morning when my mind, eyes and body are feeling fresh. I’ll only have the neck to finish and then add buttons and fully block before sending it off to its new home. The color is so cheerful and I hope she’s tickled with the sweater.

The pieces will go together much better since they’re lightly pressed. I can hardly wait to get this to Louisiana and see what my client thinks! It’s exciting when a garment comes out well.

Last project I took along with me is the September socks for my SISC (self-imposed sock club). The SISC hasn’t been a big success at work but it’s kicked my butt into gear … and this is the 3rd pair of socks that I will have made OUT OF MY STASH! I have a ton of sock yarn and often only one skein of any color … I used to buy one skein when I went somewhere, no more. A project quantity or nothing at all. Anyway, the Murmuration Socks are a lace pattern and I’ve reall enjoyed them. The second sock’s heel is turned and the gusset is decreased. I’m going to try to finish the foot tonight … not sure I can get it done but it’ll be done tomorrow for sure. I love this yarn so much for knitting socks (or anything, honestly!)

Murmuration Socks by Summer Lee in CoopKnits Sock Yeah!

We are off again on Sunday for a couple of weeks babysitting for our granddaughter. Her mom is in rehearsal for a play off Broadway that she goes into on October 10 for a month. Heathers is the name of the show, I hear it’s a “darker” Mean Girls and was very popular in the younger generation of the 90s. She’s excited to have some fun work and we’re excited to be able to help and at the end of it we’ll attend her 3rd birthday party! How quickly time flies.

Next on the needles, I have to finish my daughter’s fingerless mitts. I finally remembered to have her try them on at the beach. I have one mitt (mostly) finished and just one more to go. I’ll also be casting on the Poet pullover by Sari Nordlund in Julie Asselin Nurtured Fine that I bought a Knit City Montreal a couple of years ago. I hope this sweater pattern works for me in this yarn. I have to finish Noah the horse by Christmastime. Other than that, I’m not sure I’ll be knitting for Christmas other than the grandkiddos. Duh.

Gone knitting!