Friday, December 12, 2008

No time

Lately it seems that time is running way faster than it ever has.

Birthdays come faster.... special occasions speed by.... weekends are gone before they are even started.

WTF is with this?

I just want time to run '1 mississippi', '2 mississippi', '3 mississippi' as it's supposed to.

Anyway.... Happy Holidays.... Merry Christmas.... Happy Birthday..... Happy Easter.... oh look, summer's almost here (well, it certainly will be the way time seems to be flying by)

:)

Friday, December 5, 2008

December (for the 2nd time)

I'm so upset. I was 20 minutes into a fantastic post when I lost it. Where the heck did it go, you ask. I know not. I only know that it's been lost.

Sorry, it's late now and I'm no longer in the mood to rewrite all the ramblings that were going through my head almost an hour ago. Hmmmm.... what was I writing about....

The Alan Dart "Yuletide Gnomes" that I've been knitting.... day and night.... to and from work on the ttc.... on my lunch in the food court..... in the early morning after my shower while I sip hot coffee.... (I'm making 3 of them.... they are almost all knitted up, they just need to be assembled and given life [wicked chuckle inserted here would work well] :)

I've also knitted up a set of fingerless gloves for my youngest daughter....and am going to try to work on M's bolero .... but I'm having such a hard time with the mohair I'm using, I'm seriously considering starting afresh with another yarn... something easier to work with.... hmmmmmmmm..... (pondering this....)


Anyway.... work,,,.... not really happy. I don't know why. Could be because I'm just a contract worker and punching the clock.... I hate the time sheets....

Question: working an 8 hour day.... are you entitled to 2 - 15 minute paid breaks or not?

Anyway..... I miss having benefits... both kids were sick and medicine cost a fortune... also, oldest daughter has an eye infection, and I can't even absorb her medical bills because I don't have insurance!

uggg.. happy december.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

pink chicken...

I went to a training session at work on thursday... learned quite a bit on an application that I'll use alot, was given lunch.... mid-way through my chicken I noticed a really red vein... looked closer (under the florescent lights) and noted that the chicken I was eating was quite pink... like raw pink... this was the middle of the chicken.... so I had eaten half of this chicken piece, but didn't actually eat any of the raw pieces........ but I still got terribly sick from it...

barfing all night thursday night from about 3 hours after eating it,... also diarrea.... still went into work friday morning... (i'm on a contract... not paid salary... paid hourly, i have to go in)... was still sick, but was drinking water at work... and running to barf.... I ended up speaking to my boss around lunch time about feeling ill, (he was not in the office) and he told me to go home... so i did. took the bus up the street, got off to barf... took the streetcar home.....

today, i feel better.... i've been cleaning, i've been doing laundry, i've been knitting a gnome..... and i've been resting...

ugggggggg...

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Knitting

I'm hooked! I finished my Evangeline Fingerless Gloves..
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and have started a couple others...
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I'm finished the left, just have to do the right one now - these will be for my youngest daughter for christmas...


and these ones were k2,p2 rib for 4", then a different cable design which I changed for a couple twisted cables...
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although it's hard to see the 2 cables in the image, they are there...

and a moebius (neck warmer with a twist) in the matching yarn...
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I've also been researching a pattern that calls for the design of: twisted cable, p1, nosegay, p1, twisted cable. I'll post some images on my ravelry site later tonight if I end up working on this today.

So much to knit, so little time.... :)

Plus, I want to make 6 of Alan Darts Gnomes. I've already bought the yarns needed, and a bag of dried beans to replace the beans called for in the pattern.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Knitting

I found a beautiful pair of fingerless gloves on Ravelry (Evangeline Fingerless Gloves) and went through my stash (what stash?) and decided that these would be great in a nice soft navy/purple that I have.

And since the ball is huge, I'm thinking there will be more than enough for the pair, no matter what length I end up making them.

By the way, I'm considering making them 3" shorter than elbow length.
Here's where I am now....
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Anyways, I'm going to get a little drink, and start some dinner. :)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

uggg - hit by a car.

So, I'm on my way to work on Friday morning. I'm sitting on the streetcar, listening to my mp3 player. Glance at my watch, it's 8:04 am. Stand up to get off the streetcar at University. Decide to walk down to Adelaide as I'm almost half an hour early. Get to the back doors. Glance back at the cars, and notice one quite a ways away. The doors open and I step down. I take one step off the streetcar and BAM!

A car crashes into me! I go flying onto the hood (but without my feet leaving the ground), and realizing that the car is still going, I pivot my body off the hood and back towards the streetcar.

The car stops and the lady is just looking at us (about 6-8 people had gotten off).

I'm shaking, and my leg is throbbing where it connected with the bumper, and my arm is throbbing where it connected with the hood. I'm looking at the lady behind the wheel, thinking 'you are such a stupid $@%&*', didn't you see the streetcar??

I step away from the streetcar and the car and walk to the sidewalk... shaking.... others are asking me if I'm ok... I'm really not sure.... I'm shaking... I'm not crying, but my eyes are watery..... I lean against a newspaper box and it's not sturdy to hold my weight, so I move over and lean against a larger yellow newspaper box. I'm leaning on it, shaking, and the ttc driver is there asking me if I'm ok. Asking me if he should call an ambulance.

I look at him and tell him I have to go to work, I can't go to the hospital. Then I see the look on his face, and I add that I don't think I'm badly hurt. There is one man and one lady that got off the streetcar and are still standing with me, watching over me. The driver that hit me gets out of her car and comes towards me and starts apoliguising to me. I look away. The watery eyes are threatening to overflow... I'm shaking... The ttc driver tells me he's called the police and the ttc inspector. And asks me if I can wait around for a few minutes. He asks me if I want to come and sit in the streetcar. I'm shaking so badly that I don't know if I can walk, so instead I tell him that I'd prefer to stand and stay where I am for a few minutes.

Anyway, since there was an accident, the streetcar is not allowed to move until the inspector can come and make sure that the driver was stopped correctly at the stop, so suddenly there was a lineup of 3 streetcars there.... people sitting on the streetcar, patiently waiting to for it to go again... finally the driver tells them it won't be going anywhere for a while as there was an accident.

People off the street complaining about the streetcar not going anywhere. One girl asked me if I knew what happened. I said 'yeah, someone got hit by a car stepping off the streetcar'.... she was like, 'wow, did you see it?'.... I just smiled and turned my head away.

The lady who hit me is from a small town in quebec. She didn't know she was supposed to stop when a streetcar stops and so had sped up to get around it. When the police came, I was asked what happened, and after telling them, the ttc inspector drove me to work. I think the lady was charged with reckless driving and failure to stop for a ttc vehicle.

I went into work and apoliguised for being 15 minutes late. (I'm a contract worker, so I'm punching a timeclock, if not, I probably would have gone to the hospital). I'm replacing a girl who's going on maternity leave - her last day is this upcoming friday. So I vaguely told her that a car hit me when I stepped off the streetcar, but I downplayed that I was hurt.

Why do I always do that? Even when I called my husband and told him what happened, I downplayed it so it wouldn't worry him.

Anyways, my arm is killing me. I've been icing it and taking advil. The lower forearm is all bruised, but it's my upper arm that hurts the most. It's not broken, but damn, it hurts. And my neck hurts and my lower back. Uggg... I must have pulled something when I pivoted off the car.

ANYWAYs, it could have been much, much worse... so I'm thankful that I'm ok.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

EA

When my company closed back in March, I had looked for a new job. Not hard, but I did look. Then once May came around, I decided to stop looking because I decided I wanted the summer off.

This past summer was absolutely fantastic! Relaxing at the pool with the kids. Took the kids to the Ex. Played at the park. Lazy days, and lazy nights! Ahhhh summer....

but alas, summer is over and school is in.

That means that I've been looking and interviewing (once again)for a job.

Well, last week I went on an interview for a very good company. It's a one year contract, as an Executive Assistant to 2 VPs. I was called into my 2nd interview yesterday and met with the VPs.

Today, the HR dept called me and asked if I was interested in the position. I told them I was, and they offered it to me! :) :) :)

So, I start on Monday. It's a good salary, with 3 weeks vacation, but NO benefits (which sucks).

OMG, I better get knitting, I have a project to finish!

Grapevine Cardigan....

Well, I've been sporadically working on my cardigan.

I've been getting bored with this.... so I thought, "what can I do to put some spice back into this project?"

And the answer was simple enough, start a different area of the project....
so I'm working on the sleeves now.... hehehe

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Sunday, September 21, 2008

Internet access

I have a home network that has been up and running fine except that it is 'unsecured'.

I use a T42 laptop, my youngest daughter uses a T40 laptop, and my husband & son share the PC.

When I set up our home network, I did not make it 'secure' as I couldn't figure it out (it kept resetting the router, thus logging me out, and then I would be unable to access the internet unless I 'undid' the changes I had made.

Anyway, after seeing internet hijackers (my neighbours) sucking up my internet service, I decided to 'secure' my internet anyway I could.

It ended up that I had to enlist the help of Trendnet. They have a 24/7 tech support line. So, at 12:10 this afternoon, Juno helped me make my network secure. The laptop that I used (T42) is the only one that can access the internet though the wireless connection though!!!! The other two can only connect when wired to the router. Even though one has a wireless card and the other had a wireless USB thingy.

So, I've been trying to call back all afternoon. I've been on hold for up to 40 minutes, then got an incompetent support person, who ended up advising me that she'd have to call me back after she spoke with someone regarding how to help me with my issue after having me on hold for another 20 minutes.

Anyway, I told her it was ok, and that I'd just call back. So, I called back an hour later, and got HER again. lol.... Anyway, I told her that if she couldn't help me, that I'd just call back and hope someone else picked up.

So, anyways I'm now talking to some guy. I'm trying to explain what's going on.... hopefully he knows how to help me though cause I'm getting p*ssed off! Really all I care about is getting the other two computers up and running wirelessly!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Finally!

My fridge was finally delivered on Friday afternoon. The two guys who came were super nice, and even took my old fridge away for me (for $20).

So, about an hour after tehy leave, I plug in my new fridge, and it's making this weird clunking noise. After speaking to my husband about it, we think it might just be from being jossled (sp) and leave it hoping it'll get better.

After dinner, I notice it's getting worse, so I pull the fridge out and take the little plastic cover off the bottom at the back where the compresser and the fans systems are. Guess what? The 'nut' is missing on the fan blade and it's making this scraping/clunking noise.

So, I go searching for a 'nut' to screw onto the bolt where the fan is. Find a couple and come back and fixed my fridge myself! :)

Now I'm wondering.... how did the nut come off? Was it done purposely by the first guys who came to deliver on wednesday and who ended up leaving with my fridge, or was it just a fluke that the nut was missing from such an important piece of the fridge? Seriously, in testing, this would NEVER have been overlooked.

I guess I'll never know.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Rude People

I hate rude people. I hate having to deal with them. I hate having to pretend to be nice, so I don't set them off even more.

We were supposed to get our new fridge delivered today. It's 28" wide. Our stairway clearance is 29.5"

This rude delivery man walks into my house (we had taken the front door off, but left the inside door on and closed) and tells me 'too narrow, you'll have to remove chair-rails'. I look at him and say, 'sorry?' He measures and says, 'maybe ok'

So, he comes upstairs, and says 'this too small' (meaning a post we have at the top of the stairs) I ask him 'are you sure? because I just sawed off an inch of it and there's 29" clearance now'
He says, 'too small' and stalks down the stairs. I called after him that I would saw another 1" off it, and that it would only take me 2 minutes. So, I'm doing that and he's bringing my fridge off the delivery truck across the street. By the time he gets to my door, I'm done. He comes up to the door and measures again, and tells me 'door frame too small'

WTF!?!?!?

So, at this time (4 minutes after they arrived) he's complaining to me that they are on a schedule and he can't wait around. I tell him 'I have an electic screwdriver, I only have to take 6 screws out of the door frame (it's a molding that was put in for wind protection), it'll take one minute and he starts cursing under his breath!

My husband walks around the corner at this point and starts being rude back to this guy.

Suffice it to say, he took my fridge back to the truck and drove off, mumbling that he's not supposed to wait around. (I agree, but it was his fault! There was clearance on the door, he wanted more!!! I was trying to do what he wanted me to do)

Anyway, I called the Brick and lodged a complaint against him.
Seriously, I could understand if the clearance was only 28" for a 28" fridge, but there is 29.5" clearance (1 1/2" more than the item) for him. There was no reason for his behaviour/attitude upon walking into my home.

Rant over.

They're sending someone different tomorrow to bring me my fridge.

Monday, September 15, 2008

New Fridge

Was online looking for a new fridge all evening (yesterday), and all morning (today).
Found one that was the right size (28" wide MAX or it'd never fit up my narrow staircase). Called The Brick to be sure it was in stock. Went there. It wasn't in stock. So, haggled with the guy who told me it was in stock and got a great discount on another fridge (a better one). They'll deliver it tomorrow.

:)

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Sunday, September 14, 2008

I'm so mad!

I went out to the kitchen a couple hours ago to get a snack, and there was a huge puddle under the fridge.

WTF?!?!?

I open the freezer, and everything is mush! The freezer is thawing and dripping and there was over $200 worth of stuff in there, and everything is mush! Grab a garbage bag and toss everything!

Go through the fridge, things don't seem as cold as they should be. But not too bad, yet. So we put some stuff in our FIL's fridge. He asked us if we wanted to put our freezer stuff in his as well, but I told him everything thawed out. And if you refreeze it, you're just asking to get sick.

So, tomorrow we have to go and buy a new fridge. And then we have to go grocery shopping to replace all that was lost today.

I'm so mad.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I got my hair done!

The day before Chinese new Year (last year - so over a year and a half ago), I went and had my hair 'Japanese Straightened'. I loved it! Take a shower, jump out, comb it and your done. No fussing with blow dryers, or curlers, or straightners, or nothing! But my hair has grown quite a bit, and was crying out to me to "do it again".

Suffice it to say, today i spent the day in a little Chinese Hair Salon, getting my hair straightened again by a very nice lady. It's quite a long process (My appt started at 10 am and I left the salon at 2:45 pm).
They start by putting a processing solution on your hair, and combing your hair straight. Then you get to sit there for an hour to an hour and a half with your hair combed straight, full of solution with plastic wrap wrapped around your head.
Then they wash that out, blow dry your hair, and using a straighening iron, they straighten your hair.
The lady who did my hair was quite busy, so asked me if I could wait a few minutes before the next part...
So I sat there, reading and knitting.
Then she trimmed and styled my hair.
Then she put another solution on my head, and again I sat there for an hour.
Then she washed that out and again blow dried my hair using a round brush while drying it to smooth it.

I'm not allowed to wash or wet my hair for 4 days (uggggg....) and no pony tails or clips or scrunchies for a couple weeks! (ugggg.....)

But, it looks fantastic!!!! (at least i think so!)
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

It's Here!!

My 'Irrestible Gifts to Knit' by Alan Dart is here!!!

OMG, that was super fast! I thought for sure it'd be weeks and weeks before I got it.
Now I have 4 more things to add to my knitting adgenda (Easter Eggs - mama hen and 2 chicks / Lorelei mermaid / barnacle bill the pirate / harry hedgehog)

lol

I can't wait until my 7 SK magazines come in that I bought off ebay. They'll probably take a month though... :(

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Alan Dart and Simply Knitting

Call me crazy, but I'm in a collection mood for knitting toy patterns. And the creations I collecting are "Alan Dart"

I purchased his book "Irrestible Knits to Gift" and a one year subscription to "Simply Knitting" from the UK in GBP (double the amount of the Canadian dollar). But I said to my husband, I really want them.... and he said, 'so, buy them!'... hehehe... god I love that guy! hehehe
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I've also been on ebay. And purchased a lot of 4 back issues of SK magazines from one seller, and a lot of 7 back issues of SK magazines from another seller! hehehe! (again, there from the UK, but considering the price is $17.99 plus tax EACH here in the world's biggest bookstore, I made a great deal!!! It works out to be about $8.80 per magazine (including the shipping!) hehehe
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But, I'm going to stop now... I promise! Cross my heart!

ok, gotta go, and check ebay for some back issues.... see you later!
(just joking, I think) lol!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Main Floor Reno's are DONE!

OMG, I can't believe that the reno's are completely done (on our main floor)!

The flooring guys came in last Saturday. They had originally advised that it would take about 3 days to do our floors, but when they removed the baseboards, the walls broke also, and instead of stopping when the first baseboard was removed (to tell us what had happened), they just continued... so all the bottom of the livingroom had to be re-drywalled and sanded and fixed which took an extra day and they charged us extra for it also!!!

SO, anyway, I painted the livingroom. What a pain in the you know what! I put plastic down, then taped the baseboards, then put newspaper attached to the tape, as the paint I bought it quite 'splattery', and didn't want to get in on the new floors or the new baseboards. :)

Anyway, the livingroom and extension are done! Now I just need to start putting stuff back in those rooms. Oh, and I need to assemble some new furniture we bought!

Here's some images...
BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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Monday, August 25, 2008

Almost Finished!

With everything.......

my Two Toe Up socks are almost done!
my floors are almost installed!
my stairs are almost refinished and restained

my life is completely upside down, and nothing is in it's place!

But, things are coming to completion... thank goodness!

and, the kids are back in school one week from tomorrow, so I'll have some space and time to get the house back in order!

Images? you ask!


hehehe...

ok.... enough torture...



socks first....
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and the floors...
used to look like this:
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uggggg.... (I've lived with them for over 10 years)



Photobucket the sunroom floor had to be ripped up again, as it was not level, nor was it level with the livingroom.
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the existing flooring had to be ripped up as the flooring underneath was squeeky, and we're also doing new baseboards!

again, it's not done.... but this is a preview....
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OMG, I'm so excited! I honestly cannot wait until everything is finished, and I can get in the livingroom and lounging room and decorate them!



EDITED to add:
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the floors are dusty, they've been swept, but since they are just being done, haven't yet been washed! OMG, I"m soooooooooooooooooooooooo happy so far! :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Two Toe Up socks on One Circular Needle

so, as per my last post, I mentioned that I had started a new project.

Knitted socks!

yep! socks!

I found a tutorial, and am following it for my first attempt.... but not only am I attempting socks, I'm trying out the Magic Loop method as well....

I know.... I know.... I'm crazy, and sometimes I go overboard. But what can I say? That's the way I was taught to be! :)

So, here's the tutorial I'm following...
http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/2mlsocks_start.htm

And here's my progress thus far...
(remember, I started this project last night)

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the cast on using a 'figure 8' cast on method


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OMG, they look like toes!!! :)


and, at this point, I do admit that they look pretty funny... but here is where I'm at right now...
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hehehe!

Renovations

It's not like I don't have enough projects on the go right now...

Craftwise I'm working on a cardigan, a doily, and am in the process of writing out the instructions for the GAAA (I just received my pattern book in the mail), AND I ordered the Alan Dart Irrestible Gifts to Knit book so I could get a couple toy projects on the go!

Plus, we've been doing a MAJOR home renovations project this summer.

It actually started last summer with a bathroom renovation - we had the bathroom gutted to it's skeleton and redone.

This spring started with a reno in my son's bedroom - painted his room and refinished an old wooden bed frame for him, refinished an old white dresser, refinished an old shelf, and bought him a new expedit shelf and a drum kit!

Then I painted 3 floors of hallways! Three differnt colors - white baseboards, trim and ceilings, light earth tone above the chair-rail and dark earth tone below the chair-rail. The entranceway was actually the hardest because the ceiling is 20 foot ceiling and I only had a six foot ladder! hehehe. Also, the repairing of all the walls prior to the painting was a chore as well, to be honest.

Then we had a company come in and they did a bunch of stuff to the outside of the house: We had the roofs fixed, the chimney fixed, the shingles replaced, new eavestroughs, soffits & siding put in.

They were supposed to put plywood and then siding around 2 walls of the sunroom (on the outside west & east walls), but we realized the sunroom walls were water damaged, and it wouldn't be safe to attach anything with any weight to them. So, after much discussion, we had them gut our sunroom to it's skeleton and re-frame it.

We then had electricians come in and wire the sunroom and remove the old existing wiring from it.

Then the fun began! My husband and I did all the insulation, and then the BIL came over to help put in the plank flooring over the joists. He also helped put up the drywall on the ceiling and the walls. We then hired a friend of ours to tape and mud the drywall. (Two weeks of white drywall dust flying around the house was unbelievably brutal! No matter how much I cleaned, it was everywhere! Even though we had the sunroom doors closed when the sanding was going on.)

So, the room was coming together nicely. I primed the entire thing, then did 2 coats of paint on the ceiling, and two coats of paint on the walls!

Then the custom windows were installed (they are awning type, they swing outward from the bottom - solid glass, 3 panes, thermal!) So, the room is just waiting on the floor to be finished.... (I have a couple guys here right now measuring and working on an estimate!)

As hubby and I were doing all this stuff to make our home a better place to live, we decided to fix the kitchen as well (it's been in bad shape for a couple years now). We took the cupboard doors off and hubby sanded them down for me. I brought them outside onto the deck, and painted them. Black!

We then broke one of the walls down to the straping! (It had gotten a plaster fix a couple years ago, but looked all buckled and terrible!) We put a new piece of drywall in. I then taped & mudded & sanded it!!! Yep, I did it! I then primed the entire kitchen, and repainted it. I'm now priming the kitchen floor (over the old rust colored flowery laminate that is peeling and faded and gross), and am going to be painting that black as well! Oh, and I also had a new ceiling fan installed! Black!

Whew... suffice it to say, I'm tired. But I've starting a new project last night.....

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Sunroom windows!

The windows are in! The windows are in!
Can you tell that I'm very happy and excited that we finally have windows in our sunroom?

hehehe

And the electrical is done!!! They came in yesterday morning to finish setting up the plugs and they installed the ceiling fixture. I had to really be careful of the one I bought because the ceiling is quite low!

So, anyways..... yesterday I finished the 2nd coat of paint on the walls (it's called Medieval Manuscript, and is from the same family of the paint that I had used for my hallways). I will let that completely dry for 3-4 days before taping to fix up the ceiling (the painters tape pulled bits of paint off the ceiling that I had done perfectly, because I taped it too soon after painting (only waited 36 hours) ugg...

So, I still have to touch up the ceiling, and then there is one set in area that I still have to do in white as well (it's a window between rooms).

We still have to do the floors and the baseboards.

Then the sunroom is FINISHED!!!

I also purchased a couple of cute chairs, we'll set up my large expedit shelf, and a desk, and then it'll be a beautiful little lounging room, right off the livingroom!

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BTW, we used Beverley Hills Home Improvements for the custom windows & installation and they were absolutely fantastic, from start to finish! Kudos to BH!

Saturday, August 9, 2008

In pain....

My neck is killing me!!! All that craning while priming and then painting the ceiling is murder! But the sunroom is coming along!!!
and I went and bought the paint for the walls today, also!! So, will probably be doing that tomorrow.



and the kitchen has also been primed!
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Not quite sure what I've gotten myself into, what with all this painting, I'm so tired.....

I think I'm going to work on some knitting tonight, and have a Mike's Hard Lemonade!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

My Reno's

...are coming along nicely!

Today, I spent the day priming the sunroom... uggg! What a chore that is.... the drywall just sucks up paint like nothing.... I'd say it probably took me 3 hours to paint the ceiling, and the 4 walls.

But anyway....
ta da.........
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now, I just need to add a colored paint to the walls, and then we're doing carpeting and we're still waiting for our windows to be custom made and installed (hopefully sometime in the next 3 weeks!!!) then our sunroom will be complete......




Also, we decided to fix the kitchen wall... it was buckling, and I had done a patch on it about 3 years ago, but since we're in RENO mode, we decided to break the wall down and add drywall....
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and where we are now....
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Tomorrow, I'm going to put plastic around the fridge and cupboards and start sanding down the drywall mud.... it's going to make such a bloody mess.... but what can you do?

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Grapevine Cardigan.... again

Ok, I've been busy with other stuff.

I finished my egeblad, I just need to block it out. When I do that, I'll post an image....

I also finished a spiralen. Again, I need to block it out, and then I'll post a pic.


I've been very lazy regarding my grapevine, so I've picked it back up and have done a couple rows tonight.
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This is where I am on it so far.... I've got 5 more inches, then start the armhole shaping! :)

Monday, July 21, 2008

Another Hedgehog

Well, I think I mentioned that my eldest daughter came over for my youngest daughters birthday, and confiscated the knitted toys I had just done. Since the hedgehogs had already been taken by my son, I thought it only fair to redo them.

So, here is the baby hedgehog (#2).
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Tomorrow, I'm hoping it'll be hot and sunny and I'll be spending the afternoon at the pool with my 2 younger kids. I'll work on mama hedgehog then. :)

My baby is now 9

Yesterday was my baby's birthday. She turned 9. I can't believe she's 9 already!
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(She's doing 'air guitar' to DragonForce 'Through the Fire and the Flames' song)


The weather was terrible, though. Rainy on and off all day long, it ruined our swimming pool plans. And her friend, who was supposed to come over for a sleepover, didn't come because she wasn't feeling well.

But my Mother came over, and I helped her to do a dpn cast on for one of the lace beauties on the kunststrik site. She's doing a small one - the Spiralen. She's on row 10 already!
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And my eldest daughter came over after work. Saw the hedgehogs and the bumblebee I knitted and confiscated them to the deepest darkest reaches of her purse (hehehe).
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So, I told my son (who had originally claimed the hedgehogs), that I would re do them for him, since he was so sweet as to give them up to his older sister. :)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Jean Greenhowe Knitted Toys

I joined another Knit-Along on KnittingHelp for July knit toys.
So, I chose to do Mama & Baby Hedgehogs.

Here they are!
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Friday, July 11, 2008

Egeblad

I've joined a KnitAlong on knittinghelp.com for 'Egeblad and other stunning lace beauties'!!!!

Pattern is here..

http://www.yarnover.net/patterns/doilies/kunststrik/egeblad.html

It is an absolutely beautiful pattern with a swirling flower in the center and concentric, slightly offset radiating leaves. I'm knitting this one with Cotton Fleece in Peridot on size 4.5 needles.

Well, like I mentioned, I've just begun it.

Here it is on dpn's at about row 9...
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and on circulars up to the 27th row...
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Edited to add: up to row 35
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Edited to add: up to row 56
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Will continue to post as I progress.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Growing Up sweater fix (pt 2)

Ok, so I put in a lifeline (a circular needle) on the last knit row before the k1p1 ribbing started.
Then I snipped the yarn and tried to frog it. DUH, why won't it frog? Is it because I'm ripping (trying to anyways) backwards? Every stitch turns into a knot at the top of the stitch!

So, it took me almost 2 hours, but I 'frogged' it using my crotchet hook and pulling each stitch. uggg.
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So, the waist is going to get 2-6 new rows of knit, then 8 rows of k1,p1 ribbing.
I have the same yarn, just hoping the sweater isn't to faded and the new isn't toooooo noticable.

Wish me luck, I'm doing this all in one piece now!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Growing Up sweater fix

Ok, I'm going to do this. (I really hope I don't ruin it!)

I found some of the original wool and got my circular needles ready... all I need to do is to start frogging it. (previous post asked suggestions for putting some new life into this sweater - the waist ribbing is to be redone!)


These are the before pictures....


The front of the sweater:
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The back of the sweater:
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One sleeve:
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The other sleeve:
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and I'll post 'after' pics as I 'ruin' it...