Christkindlmarket, Chicago 2013

Chicago is a beautiful place around Christmas. It's COLD, but beautiful and bustling with holiday cheer.

My husband and I took a day trip sans kids to Chicago to celebrate my birthday early and to do a little Christmas shopping in the city.

At first, after leaving the train station, we were dissapointed that everything along the way to Macy's was closed on a Sunday (even Starbucks!), so we figured that our only highlight of the trip would be Macy's itself. However, as we walked to State St., we stubled upon the 2013 Chicago Christkindlmarket! We browsed through the little German shops and got mugs of hot mulled wined! It was blistery cold at times with the wind... but it was great! It gently snowed the entire time, which made it all the more special to shop and sip on our drinks. I would love to visit a German village during Christmas time! We later went to Macy's then the Art Institute and had to come back to get more hot mulled wine, potato pancakes, and wiener schnitzel.

Now, I knew it would be a cold day, so I planned ahead with wooly clothing made of natural fibers to stay insulated against the bitter, BITTER wind and snow:

-thermal wear pants underneath jeans
-my Gypsy Socks made of wool
-cashmere sweater (I scored this at a thrift shop a couple years back!)
-leather gloves with woolen lining
-my green LT Cap made of merino wool
-my Morning Glory Shawl made of alpaca wool
-and of course my Columbia jacket

And guess what. As bitter-cold and snowy as it was, I managed to stay warm the entire day. Success. That's why it pays to knit with real fibers (or at least a blend-type). Not that I'm a huge yarn-snob...I use my fair share of synthetics as much as the next person, but you wouldn't get that sort of warmth with pure acyclic.

I convinced my husband to layer up as best as he could as well. He's wearing a ribbed hat that I made him years ago. I don't think I posted about it. And now that I'm thinking of it, I made the same version in pink for myself and didn't post about that.

Anyhow, these are all camera photos, so please excuse the blurriness. Below is a ribbed sock that I'm scrambling to finish as quickly as I can so that I can knit it's mate in time for Christmas. It's my own dying in the colorway "Hawkeye" for my MIL who's also a Hawkeye fan. The striping looks so much better in person. I will be very sad to part with the sock when it's done. The blend is merino wool and part silk, so it's very soft and fluffy. The 2x2 ribbing gives it a lot of spring as well.

How's your holiday knits coming along?
Just walking through that sort of cold makes me want to knit sweaters and mittens and finish up my WIP's that have been sitting in my baskets for too many years!