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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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