A Birthday Contemplation

This weekend was a combination of blessings and curses. The first blessing, my lovely mother in law was in town and offered to help us get the house organized. She and Scott did a herculean effort and the house is beginning to look like a house rather than a pile of boxes. The curse was the stomach virus that put me out of commission for the weekend and caused me to cancel my birthday plans for a second year in a row. This beings me to second blessing, a second bathroom. Never before have I been so grateful that we now have a second bathroom, allowing me to pray to the porcelain god in privacy. Sometimes it is the little things in life!

The Hot and the Cold

On the upside, we now have a new fancy thermostat on the downside, our bedroom light and an outlet in the living room have gone out. The last time this happened, Scott got up on the bed and took out the lighting fixture. This was not before trying to locate the breaker to turn off the power. When he took down the fixture, a whole mass of old wires fell out and we both let out expletives that I won't share. After fiddling around with it we gave up for the night and Scott went to put the fixture back until we had daylight. It was at that point that the light turned back on. Looks like we didn't have the right breaker afterwards and the fixture was hot the whole time. Oops.
Tonight when I got home I noticed that the bedroom light was flickering and the memory of that mess of wires came rushing back. In the grand tradition of so many before me, I ignored it while I made dinner and let in the furnace man to install our new thermostat. It was at that point that I noticed the living room lamp had turned itself off. We either had a ghost or there was a larger problem than just the bedroom lamp. As I sit in the semi-darkness, the light has flickered once and then went out. I am afraid that this will have to wait until tomorrow, we have to figure out how to work our new fancy thermostat now as it is a little chilly.

Lack of Motivation

Have you ever had so much to do that you simply couldn't do any of it? It is just easier to sit on the sofa and get sucked into a 4 hour mini series rather than face the boxes that still need to be unpacked, the closet that needs yet another layer of paint, or the mountain of laundry that needs to be washed and folded! Hopefully the imminent arrival of my mother-in-law will give me the kick in the pants that I need.

Enjoying Home Ownership or My Weekends Are No Longer My Own

This weekend Scott and I decided that it was time to tackle one of the projects on our list that was way overdue, painting the hall closet. I am sure that some of you are thinking "How can painting the hall closet be at that top of our to do list? How bad can it possibly be?" Let's just say my nickname for the closet is "the mouth of hell." One of the former owners decided that painting the closet in glossy (shudder) bright red paint would be an excellent idea! This combined with the lack of hanging space made the closet virtually unusable.

After careful consideration we decided to go with Behr Premium Plus Paint and Primer in Swiss Coffee. I know this will sound like a commercial but the paint has done an excellent job of covering the red paint without the extra step of priming the walls. Unfortunately the walls were not in good shape and we took down some of the shelving and non-functional hooks so I spent quite a while patching the plaster. I have to thank my father for teaching my how to spackle dry wall as a child, this practice came in very handy! We were a little concerned that the original paint contained lead and the the sanding would present a health hazard so were were careful to wear face masks.

We still have one more coat to do and we need to get a saw in order to take down the remaining strips of hooks (you don't want to know) but even in its rough state it is a huge improvement!

My Current Obsession

This past spring I discovered the brilliant textile artist Chris Roberts-Antieau. I love the way that she combines traditional textile methods such as quilting and needlepoint with humor and bold designs. It is both a nod to folk art and a sophisticated use of color and texture. I will be visiting her booth at the American Craft Exposition in Evanston on August 28th-30th!

http://www.chrisroberts-antieau.com/000_home.html

The mystery of double knitting and why I am a visual learner…

After scrapping my original idea and yarn for a baby blanket, I picked a pattern that looked simple yet elegant and seemed to require no seaming. I should have known that it was too good to be true! The pattern I picked turned out to have a double-knitted portion in the middle. This is territory that I have never ventured into before. While I have made some inroads in lace, very comfortable with socks, and have completed several sweaters, this technique seems mysterious and magical. It allows you to knit a fabric that is actually two fabrics knitted at the same time. It creates a fabric that is warm, stretchy, and best of all, has no wrong side.
I spent about 2 hours trying to figure it out from books and the internet to no avail. I guess that I will just have to get someone to show me!

Gearing up for Baby Knitting

Several of my friends are expecting later this summer and I am gearing up for all of the baby knitting that I am going to do. I have already completed on Baby Bolero from the book One Skein and I am working on a baby blanket. I ordered the yarn for it last week however I think I am going to return it. I am not really crazy about the color or the boucle texture. I may have to rethink my yarn choices!