Cattywampus

Hey look - it's an FO!

Very Blurry Picture - sorry, it's the only one we got straight on.

28thirty - full length.  This is a weird one, but I like it.  The waist shaping ended up centered 3" below my natural waist...I'm not really sure why, but it looks fine anyway - tho I have to admit it is bothering me just to know it's in the wrong place.

I did put button holes all the way down this...but I have no intention of putting buttons on it.  I really like it like this.  In total, it took 4 skeins of cascade 220 in some sort of heathered blue.  Here's a random shot - 

I might reblock it to widen the body out & bring the waist up closer to my natural waist...but it might just wait until the next time I wash it.   

The sleeves are quite loose and baggy, but it just makes it feel nice & comfy.  This is definitely wearable.  I know I veered significantly from the original pattern...but I'm happy with my version.

Dh's new scarf - in the Habitforming scarf pattern from the Garter Belt - sort of.  One side is k1p1 and the other side is supposed to be p1, s1 wyif - but I don't like to purl so much, so I changed it to k1, s1 wyib - theoretically it should be the same stitch.

 

The real color is somewhere in between these two photos.

I also fell in love with some yarn from Briar Rose, bfl dk weight in a lovely cranberry & reds - I was surfing while avoiding unpacking and I just HAD to have it.  I also ordered some custom dyed yarn to make a scarf - I can't wait to see that!

and she even included a little stitchmarker- Chris is such a sweetheart!

Sock washing day.  Sorry it's so dark, I just thought the shadows were cool & I couldn't get anymore light in the picture  and still keep the shadows.

As for life - it's good, dh is home, the blinds came (but aren't up yet), a trip to ikea and major improvements have been made as far as tv stands and bookshelves, the mound of unpacked boxes is getting smaller, I cooked in the kitchen for the first time today - baked ziti, yum! - and I start my new job tomorrow.

I declare SNOW DAY!

I woke up this morning to this lovely sight

I'm sure there are many of you who are tired of this, but this is only the second snow I've seen all year, so it's still a novelty.  I have worked my a$$ off this week, and I declare SNOW DAY.  I am going to sit on my couch and knit.  Okay, there's ONE box I want to do, but that's it.  One box and then nothing but knitting and my ipod and bad daytime tv and movies.  YAY!

Look - the kitchen/dining room - I know technically it's an eat-in kitchen, but somehow it just doesn't seem like the right word.

YAY for having a funcitonal kitchen!   

Even better?  I just talked to my hubby who has been out of town all week - his company has the WORST timing ever - and before I even told him of my intentions I mentioned that it was snowing, and he said 'Good, hopefully that will encourage you to stay inside and knit all day'.  How much does he rock??   The man thinks it's a GOOD idea for me to stay inside and knit all day.  I just love him so much, he's the best.

Now, I'm going to go unpack that box and get it over with and then the snow day officially commences.  There will be knitting progress to show tonight! 

The thing about kneehighs

Is that I never, ever intend to wear them with skirts, I just like to wear them under my pants on a cold day.  I didn't have much use for this in NC, but now that I'm wandering around in 25 degree weather, it's much appreciated.

The other thing about kneehighs is that they truly need some elastic thread around the top to stay up.  Luckily I bought some recently - heaven only knows where it is, but it's definitely in a box...I'll find it eventually.

Today I went & got my DL switched over.  Normally I wouldn't be in such a rush, but I wanted to make sure I got it taken care of in plenty of time to vote in November.  It was frightenly easy to do, I was only there about 45 minutes at the most. 

Then I took the subway down to my new job just to get the entrances & exits figured out, I hate to feel frantic on my first day.  After that I went to my old LYS - Rosie's, to pick up a size 3 addi lace needle - can I just say how VERY exciting it is to be able to go somewhere and actually purchase a needle like that locally? I need one and BAM I have it - same day!  SO COOL.  - and these just jumped into my basket...I had been wanting to knit a pair of sport weight flip top mittens and I wanted raspberry and black...and there it is.  I probably won't knit them until next year, but when I want to, they're ready to go!  It's Sea Wool - which...now that I look at that link, I'm a bit annoyed that the woman at the store told me it was sport weight and I believed her.  In my defense, I was starving and not thinking clearly.  Oh well.  I'll be able to work it out whatever gauge it actually is.

I have been wearing my BIH mittens  and loving them, but it totally sucks to have to take the mittens completely off to do things in a store or get the keys out or whatever, so next year definitely the flip tops.

Anyway - they have all this lace yarn in there, and it's gorgeous, just gorgeous, and I have to say it's a darn good thing I was only in my worsted weight, garter stitch scarf stage when I was living 1/2 a block from there, otherwise it would have been a bad, bad, bad thing.

Then I walked to Monk's and had lunch at the bar & walked home.  (side note:  while I was there a couple came in, sat at the bar, proclaimed they'd never been there before and asked for menus & the 'reknowned belgian beer'.  a short time later - 5 minutes maybe - the man calls the waitress over, says his wife is allergic to beer and b/c all the food uses beer in it somehow (which it doesn't) they would have to leave.  Now, whatever, to each his own, take care of your allergies and whatnot - but what exactly did they expect at a beer bar??)  I probably walked about 2 miles just in the course of the day already.  I just love that.  It's so invigorating.  At least at 25 degrees it is.  I'm sure I'll have other words for it in July when it's 97 and 99% humidity, but we'll talk about that then.

I started gust last night, that's why I needed the addi lace needle, I was using an Inox b/c my other addi size 3 was in another project, and now that I realize the inox is just not going to work, my addi lace is buried deep in a box somewhere, so, there it is...

In Fearless Fibers Cashmere, from a few feet away it just looks like a dark blue, but close up you can see these small color changes - it's just beautiful.

And now I'm doing this:

with a side of this:

and I haven't unpacked a THING today.  I got the parking garage card and my DL and did the dry run to work and carried the cardboard out to be recycled but I haven't unpacked a thing.  and I think it might stay that way.

Tomorrow I have a custom closet person coming in to give us quotes - I'm not sure how scared I should be...

Progress

Something I learned watching daytime tv:  there is a drug that solves the problem of weightloss!  Taking this new drug is ALL you need to do to lose weight.  Did you know that?  See - you really do learn something new every day.  Now I can stop wasting my time trying to exercise and eat healthy.  And still, even better, 72% of every pound you lose will be body fat.  72%.  Um...yeah.  The rest would be...?  Okay.  I'll stop.

Other things I learned today:

The paper you wrap dishes in gets bigger instead of smaller after you unwrap the dishes and it refuses to be smushed down to a reasonable size to be thrown away. 

It takes WAY longer to unpack than it seems like it should.

It is hard to sleep when there is a halogen light bright enough to read by shining in your window.

Custom cut blinds take 5-7 business days to arrive.  This is a long time to sleep in a room as bright as daylight.

Even after all of those trips to goodwill, we STILL have too much stuff.
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People, I forsee a knitting from the stash marathon for me.  I have 4 18 gallon bins of yarn.  When I had a guest room to store them in I most certainly didn't think that was too much.  I enjoy having the selection to choose from when I want to start a project.  But...now those bins will be sitting out in the den if I don't knit it down and/or find some decorative way to display it.  I'd like to get it down to two bins.  Zero stash is laughable for me, so I'll try to at least be reasonable.   

Pixie has TV to watch.

Oh & BONUS.  I found the coffee grinder.  This morning I had coffee beans and a coffee maker, but no grinder.  It was very sad. 

Yesterday the kitchen looked like this:

Today, it looks like this: (doorway in the first picture is where I'm standing to take this picture)

MUCH BETTER.  My goal is to have the table cleared off & have the remaining 3 kitchen/dining room boxes unpacked by the end of the day tomorrow.  And also tomorrow is the master bedroom & that means cl0thes & closets! 

The den still looks like this:

That won't change for a while, it's not at all a priority compared to the other rooms.

Still no knitting to show off, but I have been working on a pair of stockinette socks in the evenings...just what the doctor ordered.

ETA

Jocelyn commented about putting up sheets and I thought 'that's a good idea, but I can't do that until dh gets home later this week', and then I thought 'this is silly, if I weren't married I would be climing up on the ladder and doing it myself...I'm in love, not incapable!' and I did it.  So now, it's done.  Won't be as good as the black out blinds that will arrive next week, but it will definitely be better than it looking like daylight in the middle of the night!  And just for the record, the tops of those windows are approx 10 feet off the ground - a bit crazy, isn't it??

Thanks Jocelyn, for making me think twice and realize I didn't need to wait for my man to get home to take care of it!

A list of 15 things in no particular order

1.  Custom blinds for giant windows are very expensive.  I really just had no idea.

2.  Small dogs fall down curvy wooden steps.  It's quite scary for all involved when this happens.  Rectangular carpet pieces from the big box store attached firmly to said steps do wonders for traction.  The dogs now catapault down the steps at rates that continue to make me nervous and they refuse to stop for cute pictures.

3.  Old buildings have very drafty windows.  Funny string looking caulk like stuff (purchased at wonderful local hardware store) does wonders for this particular problem.

4.  We are on the Philly bus tour.  I find this more amusing than I can properly explain.

5.  The corner pizza joint is both good and cheap.

6.  Nodding Head has a damn good Chocolate Stout, continues to have amazing fries with bourbon mayonaise, and the Polenta Puttanesca was really, really good.

7.  In these times of chaos, I take great comfort in having my hand knits to wear.  These are absolutely my favorite socks I've made so far.  Thanks to my secret pal Perri for this yarn!  (her blog escapes me at the moment, sorry 'bout that, but I know she's out there!)

8.  Our stuff is arrivng tomorrow.  YAY!

9.  No matter how much one thinks one might knit in times like these, it's just an unrealistic goal.  Also, it's virtually impossible to get in a knitting position on an air mattress.

10.  Air mattresses are only good if you have a pump that works.

11.  Pretty wood floors absolutely SUCK at being mattresses.

12.  (this was so long ago that I almost forgot) If one lives in a place that it never snows, it will first ice and then snow when one desperately needs to travel.  It was beautiful, but the first 5 miles took me 30 minutes.  Curvy NC back roads in those conditions (b/c they don't clear them, they just wait for it to melt) were a white knuckled start to my trip up Thursday morning.

13.  That was the only stressful part of the trip.

14.  I'm very tired and I can think of nothing else of interest to say.

15.  Good night.

Almost there

So, tomorrow is the day.  The day I get in my car and drive away from this lovely house in NC and the friends I made, and the life I know here. 

I have been running around like a crazy person for about 5 days now and I have to tell you, it's wearing on my nerves.  We are a bit...ah...short tempered around here lately.  But, for future reference, it is actually possible to go through a 10x15 storage unit and either donate or repack the entire thing, pack up an 1800 sq foot house, donating as you go along, and sort through the stuff under and above said 1800 sq foot house in various places of storage in 7 days.

Since we are downsizing to move into the city, we are trying to keep that which we need and very little more.  There are exceptions, like this:

We inherited this, and I'm certainly not going to donate or sell it!

and this:

I just can't get rid of it.  No matter how much sense I know it would make to just sell the sucker on ebay...I just can't.

I'm disappointed with NC today.  I was hoping maybe it would be a beautifully sunny day that would make me think twice about this, but no, it is 35 and rainy, what crappy weather.  It makes me totally ready to say "I'm SO outta here!"

I delivered Elijah yesterday, he was received quite well.  Here are his pics

TLC Cotton plus, just barely one skein.  Mods:  I used two circs for the whole thing & just put markers to delineate the separate dpns she uses for the directions.  For his ears, I picked up ten stitches & then kfb to make twenty & separated them the next round instead of picking up two rows of ten stitches.  Also on his ears I did a three needle bind off b/c I simply didn't have time to graft them, if I make him again I will graft them.

All in all it was a fun knit and if you follow the directions, pretty easy, if fiddly.  I love the way it came out, though I have to admit by Monday I was knitting and muttering "I couldn't just make a HAT  like a normal person?  I have to make a freaking elephant??"  But I'm glad I did.

   

Thank you all for good thoughts for our move!  Happy Valentine's Day and the next time you hear from me it will be from the new place - I need to go run around frantically to finish packing!!

This is how I feel

And if the implication is that I feel all snuggled up in my favorite sweater...that's just wrong - really, I simply feel dog tired.  Worn out.  Hung out to dry.  Put through the ringer.  Or as a good friend says - like I been rode hard and put away wet.  I SO thought that was a dirty saying when I first heard it, I was pleased to learn that it wasn't and I could say it in (understanding) polite company.  Though quite honestly, I"d MUCH rather say it about other people, it's not so fun to realize that I am at that state of patheticness.  And see, now I"m making words up. 

I hurt all over.  My brain hurts.  My body hurts.  My back specifically hurts.   The people at Goodwill recognize us when we pull up at this point.  It's good.  It's all good...but OMG.  We have taken 4 carloads and one partially full 12' truck this weekend.  Holy Crap.  Who knew we kept this much stuff hidden in this house!  And the scary thing is - and you'll just have to take my word for it - we  are not cluttery people who keep things, really!  So what the heck is it all and where did it come from?  Realistically about half is from dh's mom's house that was in the storage unit, but the other half...the other half is ours, and it's not NEW stuff, it's stuff we brought when we moved in together.  It's AMAZING how much stuff people in general keep just because there is room to keep it!

I have no idea how she got into the sweater like this, but isn't it just the cutest?

And this is what our house looks like.  Every room is some variation of this.

 

I look at this picture and all I think is "crap, I STILL have to take the pictures down!!"

Totally random:  the moving company recommends that you throw away all your perfume before you move b/c it's prone to breakage.  seriously?  I should throw away this and the like?  I REALLY don't think so.   I might as well throw away the crystal too...it's also prone to breaking. 

This packing is making me crazy

Does anybody get that?  Pretzels, thirsty?  Bueller?  Bueller?

Well, like I said - crazy.

I love this hat.  Heather helped me pick out this hat years ago.  I used to wear hats, in the city, which I remember now.  When it rains people are a bit crazy with the umbrellas and it tends to become like a game of chicken when there are too many people with umbrellas in a small area & I went for hats except in Very Hard Rain. 

What's better than something that makes a rainy day seem fun?

Here is the Brooks Farm Four Play for dh's scarf.  It's just lovely.  It's a much darker blue than in the picture, I would say at it's darkest point it's more of a navy/royal blend and then it lightens up to a colonial blue.  Dh picked out this pattern, I think that will work out just fine.  It should drape nicely b/c this yarn is 50% silk, so even though the pattern is dense it shouldn't make it too stiff.

So this is next up AFTER Elijah, the socks dh doesn't know I'm knitting for vday (can you say delayed xmas socks??), and the lace scarf for the realtor.  But really, I have PLENTY of free time these days, so it should be NO PROBLEM to get this all done by next week.

THIS PACKING IS MAKING ME CRAZY!

Duke is all better today, btw, thank you all for your concern.  His leg is still a bit swollen and he's limping just a little bit, but much less, hopefully he'll be back to his normal self tomorrow.

High Maintenance Dog

This poor little dog

had to get a Lyme Disease booster yesterday.  He got home and promptly vomited and then spent the rest of the day like this.  Blearily barking from the couch when his sister barked and then promptly falling back asleep.  I don't think he got out of the electric blanket that I had wrapped him in for about 2 hours.  (I know, he's spoiled, but it was so obvious he felt bad and the blanket stopped his shivering, who wouldn't do it?)

Today he was favoring his leg and I was thinking it was sore like when you get a flu shot, and then I saw this golf ball sized thing where his little ankle should be:

That made for a frantic phone call to the vet & a quick run down there for a temp check and lookover.  He is fine, apparently it's just fluid from swelling from the shot.  She gave him a pain killer/anti-inflamatory and I can now tell that he feels much better and he isn't favoring it as much, though it's still fairly swollen.

I don't now if you can see it, but his right leg just looks really fat now, which is better than looking like he had swallowed a golf ball and it had ended up in his leg in a bizarre, cartoon like fashion.

He has always been high maintenance.  And I had to make him rice for dinner b/c he has doggie IBS and the meds are hard on the stomach.  Spoiled.  Rotten.

In other news - look at this!

 

Empty!  and this:

Full!  Slowly but surely, I'm getting there!

And Elijah has 3/4 limbs, it appears that I will probably be able to get him done in time.  Oh - and the yarn came for DH's replacement scarf, but it was too dark for a good pic, it's such a lovely color of blue.  I'll take pics tomorrow in good light.

Weirdness of inbetween

So, all of a sudden (so it seems) I am unemployed.  Wow.

Today was my last day of work and dh is out of town (pout) so here I am, home on my last day of work, feeling distinctly melancholy about everything and very much in limbo and there's nobody to sit down and have a drink with and talk about how exciting things are and so on.

But, of course, that's one of the reasons we are leaving, isn't it?

They threw me a lovely party at work yesterday with amazing food - that group of people sure can cook!  My friends gave me a very pretty & delicate necklace, they are so very sweet.  I will miss them, definitely.

The condo was inspected this morning, our Amazing Real Estate Agent (tm) stood in for us and there are a few problems, but it appears that they are easily remedied - whether by us or the current owner remains to be seen. 

I have a few errands to run over the next few days, but for the most part I will be packing, packing, packing.  My schedule is in fast foward b/c I will be leaving on Valentine's Day to drive up for the closing, so all of a sudden, those two weeks I had to pack & get the oil changed and so on and so forth has turned into one week and it's all for the better b/c I will have almost a whole week in our new place before I start work, but WHEW do I have a lot to do!!

Look - knitting!

9.5 inches of Jemima (converted to knit in the round) this is what happens when one very stressed out woman is stuck in an airport for 6+ hours in one weekend.

Don't expect to see it again for a while though, I have to finish 28thirty still (working on sleeves!), make dh a new scarf to replace the one he lost, and I've decided to make our Amazing Real Estate Agent (tm) a scarf, I think Gust in a laceweight cashmere from Fearless Fibers that I bought for myself but this woman has gone WAY above and beyond and deserves it.  Oh, and I mustn't forget Elijah for my friend who I will see on Tuesday, so he needs to be done by then.

Did I hear somebody mention packing?

right.  Really...since I'm home a bit early, I should start packing...but there are three more days this week to do that, and you know what?  I don't want to.  I'm worn out, realllllly worn out, and I am going to take a few hours, sit my butt down in my knitting chair, cuddle with my little dogs, listen to an audio book and knit.  Knit because it the best way I can think of to reclaim a little bit of my sanity, because it is so unbelievably calming, because I love to, and most importantly because, dammit, I want to.  (so there)