Installing the bathtub, take 2

here we go again...

The rumour du jour is that the tile setters will be back next Tuesday to do the tub and the front entryway, so I think that’s progress.  The deck this time doesn’t look like someone’s grade 8 woodshop project, and it’s even level.  Yay.   It’s amazing what can be accomplished when you ply the carpenter with apple scones.

If the floor re-grouters get here this morning, we should be back in the bedroom on Saturday.  Also Yay.

FFF is done.

Farnsworth's Fibonacci Facecloth

I suspect that, while not in the recipient’s league, I am a bit of a  geek myself.   I can’t tell you how clever I feel about this project.  Now I need to look for other number sequences that could be used for another project.  This used almost all of a ball of Bernat’s Cot’n Corn yarn, which is pleasant enough to knit with, if a bit splitty.  It’s not mercerized, but neither is it kinky, so it’s soft enough for a facecloth, but still shows the stich definition.  (How technical is that?  It’s a flippin’ YO K2tog.  Big woop.)

Now that that’s done, I’m going to try a very small sweater for another friend.  (We’re talking inches here, and not very many of them.)  There’s another story that goes along with that, but it will have to wait.

I am wearing my new earrings today.   I am unable to take my picture in my new finery, as my camera seems to add extra chins and saggy neck skin just as a joke, and that’s one bit of humour I’m glad to keep to myself.

Off to cast on for the next project, and maybe listen to CastOn.  I’m only about 9 months behind, but I’m ready for a dose of the audio warm butterscotch that is Brenda Dayne’s voice.    Later!

Two steps forward, two steps back

Not where it was yesterday...

Where it was yesterday

So much for progress.  At least there seems to be some sort of urgency with today’s proceedings.  The plumber is coming back at noon to reconnect the plumbing, so that must mean that something constructive will be happening  before then.

In an effort to feel like I have some sort of control over the situation, I dove into the garage yesterday and built:

Drawers- all that's needed is a place to put them

Not much, I know, but I needed to do something to make it feel like we’re not all sitting around with our thumbs up our asses pulling ahead.

I could knit, but my elbow hurts.   Ice and Ibuprofin, that’s where it’s at.

September 1st and all is not well…

I spoke too soon.  The progress in the bathroom yesterday was all for naught.  Turns out that while the tub was level, the tub deck itself is not.  The tilers can’t get the tile under the tub lip on the far side of the deck.   After much hand-wringing, here’s where we’re at.

The taps must be disconnected (call the plumber), the tub has to be taken out, and the deck has to be dismantled and rebuilt, this time checking for level.

To paraphrase Mike Holmes, why the hell wasn’t it done right the first time?  I am starting to lose my good humour and sense of adventure.   Demolition and reconstruction is going to set back the tilers, which will set back the re-grouting-of-the-floor-ers, which will set back the painter doing her touchups, which will set back the tiling of the front entryway…But what can I do?  If I have a hissy fit, I risk having the contractors drop me to the bottom of the list.  So, I will just bite my tongue and hope that there is some sort of cloud of organization and good workmanship out there looking for a place to land.

We’re doing this on purpose, we’re doing this on purpose, we’re doing this on purpose…

August 31st and all’s well….

Well.   There’s another month gone.  It took a lot longer than I thought, but I am officially tired of strange men in my house.  (and boy, have there been some strange ones.)  This is not to say that there are no more strange men hanging around looking all scruffy and such, just that I am tired of them.  The novelty has worn off.  I want the dumpster off my driveway, I want the carpet underlay off my new hardwood floor, and I want the painters’ drop cloths off my stairs.  I want Wallace to have a day when he doesn’t get all het up by the comings and goings…

We can almost imagine the day when we can move back into our bedroom.   A little tiling, a little painting, a little cleanup, and we should be good to go sometime this weekend.  The very thought makes me giddy.  And there is action today…

Look! A real live tile guy! In my bathroom!

In the midst of all this fun and frivolity, I have actually been knitting.  Some people knit as a way to calm themselves but if my surroundings are chaotic, my brain gets fuzzy, and I am not able to sit down and concentrate on anything complicated.  So I present:

Washcloths.   I used Bernat Cot’n Corn, which was nice to handle.   There was enough left over from each of the three balls to do this one:

Hey look!   Judy can knit with more than one colour at a time!  Who knew?

And the last one, which is a prototype and will be tweaked for a Christmas gift for a math-wizard friend with whom I reconnected in Ottawa in May.   I humbly present (drumroll please) the Farnsworth Fibonacci Facecloth.

This is knit with 1.1 balls of Mission Falls 1824 cotton.  It’s probably a little too thick (aran weight) for the purpose, although the slightly kinky texture is not unpleasant to knit with.

Whilst amusing myself in Vernon a couple of weeks ago while Mike spent time on the links, I found myself in the General Store in the village of Falkland, which is about half an hour north of Vernon in through some of the prettiest mountain country I have ever seen.  Of course I have no pictures, as I was driving, and accompanied by my MIL, who really didn’t get the whole “drive to Falkland” thing, and stopping to take a picture for the blog would have just made her head explode.  Well, maybe not as much as the fact that I was willing to drive there because the wife of the store owner decided that what was needed was a selection of yarn and needlecraft stuff.   I bought some hemp:

Maybe a string bag?  Not sure, but it’s stiff as a board, and I foresee that casting on will be a bugger.

I found a skein of Handpainted Wild Silk,  Ocean colourway. It just refused to stay in skein form, so I wound it using what I could find,

and before we left for the trip home, it was halfway to becoming:

A nice little scarf- going into the Tickle Trunk for someone who will appreciate it.  I haven’t washed or blocked it- any opinions out there as to whether I should?  It’s quite nice and squooshy the way it is, but I suspect that if it was washed and blocked it might open up and show off the feather-and-fan pattern even better.

Oh, and I finally put the buttons on this:

If you were listening carefully last weekend, you may have heard a lot of noise from the frog pond.  This

morphed into this:

It was just too tight, and blocking was not going to save it.  I still want to knit the shawl, but will try again using needles at least one or two sizes bigger.  That goes into the “someday” pile with no regrets; part of my new “make a decision” madate.

We took a quick trip to Prince Albert last weekend to deliver a television to my nephew and to take Auntie Peggy out for lunch.  We always fit in some errands with her after lunch (what with her being ninety five and not doing a whole lot of driving any more), and ended up at one of the dollar stores.  Now, I suspect that there are beads, and then there are beads, but I bought 4 vials of #6 beads for $12.00.  I’ve wanted to try knitting with beads for a while, and now I can.  I strung them on this ball of Arequipa, (sorry about the fuzziness- maybe if you put on your glasses?)

all 752 (give or take) of them.  That’s just one vial.   Now all I have to do is decide what to knit.  Not socks (even though it is technically sock yarn),  maybe a little bag or a scarf.  Maybe this?

My Christmas knitting plans are gelling, but remain secret (except for the washcloth- I think I’m safe to present it here.).   As long as I can remember to take pictures to display after the fact, I’ll share later.

One last thing.  I may have entered a piece of knitting in the exhibition, and I may have been pleasantly surprised with the result.

I’m tickled pink.

And away we go!

When the going gets tough, the wimpy take vacations.   We had planned a road trip for mid-August, thinking that the renovation would be done.  Well, there’s still a wee bit to do, but we’re going anyways.   Since Andy is coming along for the ride, and we didn’t think it was fair to bring in the dogsitter when the house is a construction zone, the pooches are coming along with us.   My father-in-law likes to say that no-one ever thanks you for bringing your dog, so we don’t expect loud expressions of enthusiasm when we get there, but that’s just the way it is.  Attie and Wallace were at the salon yesterday, and I trimmed their nails last night, and I will brush their teeth so they have fresh minty breath.   I did draw the line at little rubber toenail caps, but I may reconsider once we’re out in the Okanagan.  At least there can be no complaints about their hygeine, although noise might be an issue.   They both look quite respectable; if my camera battery wasn’t dead and the charger who-knows-where, I would show you a picture.

I have been knitting washcloths.  I envision a little silver tray at the end of my bathtub with fluffy cotton facecloths folded neatly on it.  There is a candelabra (since the electrician nixed the chandelier), music, and bubbles.   The drywaller guy is standing there ready to refill my glass of wine…Oops, there goes reality intruding in my imaginary world again.   Anyways, the facecloths are quick and I get to try out different stitches.  Sort of like a swatch, but functional.  (and more fun, since in this case the swatch is the desired end result in and of itself.)   They’ll be good road knitting for the next few weeks.

I have been reading the Harlot’s blog as the Sock Summit gets underway- it sounds like it will be a great time, and that sigh of relief you hear is my Visa realizing that we are not going to be at the Summit or the Marketplace.  Rats.  I know at least a couple of my readers are going, so I expect to see some posting apres-Summit so the rest of us mortals can enjoy some vicarious fun.

We are taking off after Mike and Andy are done work, so I must away and pack.  After loading a dog kennel and 4- count ‘em, 4- sets of golf clubs in the car***, I don’t know where the personal luggage will go.  I may just wear the same thing for the next few weeks and pretend I am camping.  I won’t make any new friends, but I will be able to pack light.

***There are three humans on this trip, and one of them (me) doesn’t golf, so 4 sets would seem excessive.  We are actually dropping off 2 sets with Geoff and Courtney in Calgary.  Remind me sometime to tell you about the last time Mike tried to guilt me into golfing.

Found!

So I don’t know what brilliant person thought that hanging my needle bag on the doorknob of the closet where the stash lives and then putting the ironing board in front of the closet door (yes, I do own an ironing board and I’m not afraid to use it.  Why do you ask?) was a good idea, but there you go.   What was lost is found, another project has been cast on, and new bathroom vanities are being installed even as we speak.

Looking forward to a weekend at L &R’s cabin, so we’ll chat next week.

Ta Ta for now!

A little sad.

While it’s not the end of the world, I am a little bit sad.  I cannot find my knitting needles.  I have the ones in the current stealth project, but not my interchangeable sets, not my dpn’s, and not my Addi turbos.  I have narrowed the location down to somewhere in the office, which is currently housing office furniture and files, spare bedroom furniture and accessories, light fixtures and ceiling fans, my stash (which is calling me and that’s how I realized I couldn’t find the needles), furniture from the master bedroom and several boxes of bathroom Stuff.  I know they’re in there; I just don’t have the space to unpack the whole room.  (Also, everything will never fit back in if I pull out just one little piece.)

I am tired of the stealth project, but I suppose this is the gods’ way of telling me to just knit the damned thing and be done with it.  Sigh.

Archaeology, or how to tell when your house was built

When I was growing up, I always loved stories about houses that had surprises hidden in them.   The Rockingdown Mystery (Enid Blyton), The Goneaway Lake stories (Elizabeth Enright), and yes, even Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion (Julie Campbell).  (The latter may have been my favourite, because (spoiler alert) of the large sum of money found in a mattress at the end of the book.)  Well, this house of ours is not above revealing a few secrets.  Upon ripping apart the walls in the master bathroom to accommodate my new bathtub (did I mention before that I’m getting a new bathtub?), we found this:

A quick online search revealed that the fiasco that was “New Coke” which in turn necessitated bringing back Coke Classic (our archaealogical find above) happened in July 1985.  (I remember it like it was yesterday.)  The “New Coke” was renamed as Coke, with a little sticker on the bottle (see photo) differentiating  the classic formula.  (Ahhh, using the same bottles for both.  How thrifty!) A quick cross-check of our house blueprints shows a date of 1987.   We can verify the age of our house as 22 years, plus or minus a few months.  Carbon dating has nothing on our methods, nor could CSI have done a better job of interpreting the clues.

The bottle is worth about 10 cents at the recyclers, so even though there are no cigarette butts in it (unlike what we found under the original carpet.  Gag.) it is of no monetary value.   It is not a Waterford Chandelier, or an abandoned playroom, or a mattress stuffed with money, but it is our own little surprise.  I wonder if I should put anything in the walls?  A time capsule of sorts?  All of my money?  What would you put in a wall?  (If anything.   Some people have much more important things to do with their creative energy.  I know, I know.  I could knit something.  Luckily, most of my knitting is respectable enough to see the light of day, and anything that isn’t gets frogged.  If it’s awful, I wouldn’t want to be remembered for it anyhow.)

Oh, I almost forgot.

Someone is blithely ignoring the whole concept of the “Blogging without Obligation” button on my sidebar.   I consider it to be my “get out of jail free” card, but apparently certain persons think I need a gentle nudge.  So, Colleen and Geoff, I bring you….the Update.

Hardwood on the main:  Mostly done.  Note to self:  When floor guy shows up, try to avoid eye contact and under no circumstances start a conversation.  Another note to self:  Tell this guy absolutely no personal information.  He is a Gossip, and anything he hears is fair game to be repeated.  (Ask me how I know.  It has to do with another installer and his reasons for getting a divorce, including bedroom details.  Ugh.)   Also, try to find out how long he’ll be in the house, and arrange to run an errand during that time.  He does great work and the floor is Dy-No-Mite, but he can’t get down to work unless he’s all alone.

Framers:  Have closed off the former office upstairs to the hall, and put the opening into the master bedroom.  Big Ikea-wardrobe-building party coming up, to which I will invite all my unsuspecting friends.  Tee hee.

Plumbers:  have roughed in my bathtub.  I’m almost to the point where I can’t be held responsible if they come in to work and I’m standing at the door in my housecoat, loufa and bubble bath in hand.

Tile guy:  Supposed to be here at 9:30 this morning to do the kitchen backsplash.  It is now noon.  He is not here.  I am not surprised.  Ooops, now he is here.

Things to look forward to (other than the bathtub. Did I mention I’m getting a new bathtub?):  drywall dust from the upstairs.  Another payment to the contractor.  Another Visa payment.  (Can you believe it?  They want me to use my card, yet they insist that I pay off the bill.  Sheesh.)  More loud noises sure to drive Wallace to distraction.

The tile guy wants to set up shop in the kitchen, so I am going to post this (such as it is) and vacate the premises, then write something more elaborate (maybe with pictures and everything!) later on.

Most  of all, I look forward to having my house back.

Emerging from the recent dustcloud…

…and actually doing a little knitting!  While the renovation is showing a little sign of progress (and here I quote Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada-”By all means, move at a glacial pace.”) we have had to change our “hope it’s done by” date.  I don’t think that any renovation is ever right on schedule; there are too many moving parts over which no one person has control.   We have to vacate for a few days later this week while the hardwood gets finished, so the dogs will be off to summer camp at Auntie Kathy’s while Mike and I decamp to some hotel or other.

Our hardwood floor should be sanded and stained by Wednesday evening, then sealed by Friday.  We** follow that with 2 days of wall painting and reinstallation of our real light fixtures (not that I don’t LOVE bare bulbs hanging down or anything).  Then I heard a rumour that we should be able to move back in on the main floor!  This is exciting because that means that my new bathtub is within reach.

**This is, of course, the Royal We.   My job is to stay out of the way of the professionals.

Knitting-wise, here’s where I’m at:

Leaves on Leaves- get it?

Light as a ...Leaf?

I gained about 10 inches in blocking this:  I finished just over 60 inches, so it’s juuuuust long enough to wrap.  I do wish I had had the full third ball of Douceur et Soie, as I would be even happier with 70 inches, but it is what it is.  The pattern is a variation on a Knitty pattern, and in spite of the relative simplicity of the instructions, I am distactable enough to need silence in which to knit it.  Hence the long time frame.  Silence seems to be in short supply.   I am psyched up to do another bit of lace, but this time I will be using something without the mohair; I’m going for a less fuzzy piece.  There will probably not be pictures of it, as it is stealth knitting for a very dear friend.

As an antidote to the lace knitting, I present:

in progress for a baby yet-to-be-determined

This is Sirdar’s Crofter DK, using EZ’s ubiquitous Baby Surprise pattern.  Just for fun (and because the colours would indicate that this will end up with a female-type baby), I am using a yarn-over increase to give it a little laciness.  (Is that a word?)  This is the same yarn as my Crofter Socks, and it is working up beautifully in garter stitch.  Now, anyone who is reading who may happen to have attended the Stitches Conference is probably thinking what a great opportunity this would be for me to practice Lever Knitting a la Yarn Harlot, but alas, I seem to have misplaced my enthusiasm.  That and I think I would prefer to pursue that on a garter stitch scarf (if at all).  I am not unhappy with the way I knit, so I may just bumble along my way.   As long as I try to knit with people who knit a little slower than me, I will feel like I am a speedster and be content with that.

And I was wondering why we can’t get anything done around here on Sundays…

Poised for action

Onwards!