Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas.

Maybe New Year

I know that's a strange name for a post, but it would seem that the fates have conspired against us. The kitchen will not be complete for Xmas and probably not for New Year's either. The refrigerator space is too small which means that some of the cabinets will need to be disassembled and spacers added. Aside from the refrig sitting in the middle of the floor and the missing microwave most of the kitchen is completed. The convection oven is in so that will ease some of the workload on the main oven.

I've already begun prep since I'll be the main cook for the day. Mom's having her knee scoped on the 19th so that leaves me as the sole chef. It's funny but last Xmas I was in the same situation because she had injured her knee.

The Log Cabin socks are 50% complete. I'm making a men's size 14 and these puppies are nice and warm. Other than the extreme amount of shedding that is occurring this yarn is very nice to knit.


One foot done with a fish mouth toe. I don't know if these are long enough so just to be on the safe side I haven't grafted the toe.


This isn't a great pic but it shows the depth of the cables and the pattern better than any of the other photos.


This pic shows the true color of the yarn. The pattern is excellent and little brother should love these manly socks.

There are a few more things to cast on. One more bolero, a pair of slippers and maybe a shawl.

RIP (Room in Progress)

Since Saturday, I've been busy getting the sewing/knitting/crafting room in order. At this moment it is set up for machine knitting. This room is my personal workspace. Not a family room, a room for me to use to enjoy my hobbies.

It feels great to finally be able to set up not just one but 2 machines and not have to worry about taking them down because they are in the way. One is my original Brother KH970 and the other is a Brother KH270 that I finally got to bring home.


The remaining machines are in the closet. Ideally I wish I had room to set them all up, well at least all of the electronic ones. Now that there's sufficient space the plan is to become just as or more proficient than I am at hand knitting.

I was obviously very delusional when I thought that I'd be able to bring all the yarn out of storage to the house. I've managed to bring about 1/5 of it into this room. I haven't begun to think about bringing any of the machine knitting cones. There were a lot of cones that came with the KnitKing V and 270 that I'd forgotten about, so that's what I'll be using for the moment.

The cabinets were purchased from an estate last summer. I've been waiting for them to arrive and had forgotten how large they are. There's plenty of storage space in the cabinets on the bottom. I'm using them to store the accessories for the machine knitting and the coned yarn amd I'm putting as much handknitting yarn as I can cram into the little cubies on top.




There's still a lot of work to be done getting everything organized and weeding out stuff. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy this spot and slow down the work pace a little. The Cascade Pastaza finally come today and there are some Log Cabin socks looming on the horizon.

Whole lotta moving going on

Thanksgiving was very nice. I've so much to be thankful for. Everyone was together. All the nephews and nieces were in town and some first cousins met for the first time. We didn't have it our house, but had a lovely gathering at middle brother's.

I've made good progress on Rosedale. The yarn is the Silver Thaw re-cycled from the Promise of Spring cardigan that didn't work out quite right. This is a very pleasant knit. It's stockinette with a bit of intarsia to make it interesting. Nothing complicated, just nice and easy.


I started on sweaters for Cubs for Kids. It's a TKGA supported charity and the current charity knitting project for the Palmetto Purlers knitting guild. This is the first of the batch.


Shedir from the Knitty breast cancer special edition is on the needles. I have'nt worked on it in over a week.



We're still in the process of moving things. The kitchen was not completed for Thanksgiving. The countertop isn't finished, the floor hasn't been done and we're waiting on appliances to be delivered. We will be ready by Xmas and it's going to be great. This weekend I'll begin setting up the craft room!!!

Craftsmanship

This morning the final coat was put on the floors. Our floors were 41 years old and had never been re-finished. For years they were lovingly waxed and buffed, a task which gradually ended as we grew up and left the house. As time passed, mistreatment took it's toll and the appearance grew worse and worse. It was so bad that even the re-finishers wondered what the floors would like once they started. Sadly, they didn't hold out much hope. On Thursday they found out.


Underneath the years of abuse the red oak was still beautiful. (The paint was a little extra added by the painters who weren't as careful since they knew the floors were going to be re-done.) The entire house is almost complete with the exception of the kitchen, which won't be ready by Thanksgiving, and we can begin moving back in on Monday evening.

Watching the transformation of the house has only intensified my appreciation of those who practice the arts of craftsmanship. What has been even more rewarding and inspiring is the number of young men who have stayed in or come in to assist their fathers in continuing these businesses. Having lived in the midst of and watched the changes on a daily basis, including several weekends, has been inspiring.

Bolero #2 is finished. The background for this shot is the sanded and re-finished floor. The aged floors have a warmth of color not present in the floors of the addtion and I couldn't resist getting this shtp once the floors were dry. This bolero is also for one of my nieces. As I added the ribbing, I couldn't help but smile at the combination of colors. This is my favorite so far and absolutely perfect for a spitfire of a 9-year old. That makes 2 out of 3 boleros ready for Xmas.




I forgot to mention that I'm continuing the "Heels & Toes" experiment. I'm using the "easy toe" from SKS and PGR's short-row heel in the Champlain Sunset socks. This is the first short-row heel I've knitted for myself. The first sock is almost complete and this heel fits perfectly. That may change after wearing but at this moment this is the best fitting heel I've worn. These socks won't have any patterning as I couldn't see disrupting the coloring. They look fantastic in plain stockinette.

Things aren't looking too promising as I'm still deciding on Xmas knitting. I've reached a little stumbling block with all that's going on at work and home. Hopefully this is just a little temporary blip and I can get a few things done before time runs out on me. If all else fails, there's always IOU's.

Transformations

For several days I've watched as our house is transformed from the 60's to the 70's. Even with modern furnishings there are aspects of a house that date it. For the first time in over a decade our house is bathed in color. I feel like I've opened a box of Crayola crayons and poured them into each room. Every room in the house was painted white or off-white during the time I was no longer living at home which was about 20 years ago. They remained that way until this past weekend with the exception of my room which I painted purple a few years back.

When everything is finished the only remaining visible remaints will be the tiles on the bathroom walls and the floor in the 1/2 bath. It's like living in a new house all over again. We've been told that everything will be finished by Thanksgiving (I seriously doubt that). Other plans have been made and more than likely we will spend that weekend moving back in.

I've finished the second Molly bolero. Rosedale is knitting up in some nice muted tones and probably won't have the same effect as the one in Knitty, but I'm pleased. Soon I'll start the Noni Evening Bag with Purple Camellias, except mine won't be purple and another Noro Kureyon Fair Isle type felted bag. I'm also waiting on some Cascade Pastaza to arrive for the Log Cabin Socks in Handknit Holidays. A Xmas present of course, this one for brother the youngest to wear around the house.

XRX has a new lace knitting book out "Victorian Lace Today" by Jane Sowerby. It is a beautiful coffee table style book. I'm hoping that it isn't as error ridden as a significant number of their other publications have been since I purchased it this weekend. More details to come as I will soon be casting on a project out of this one.

2 down, ? to go

Swallowtail #2 is blocked and ready to go. It's funny but I had the same problem on row 3 of the first Lily of the Valley chart as before. For some bizarre reason it takes me at least 3 tries to get it right and then it's smooth sailing.






Specs:

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, Interweave Knits Fall '06
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr in Ebony (50% wool, 50% silk)
Needles: 4 US Clover Bamboo circular
Size: 49' x 22'
Started: October 3, 2006 Finished: November 4, 2006