I haven't posted in a while, but it seems like only yesterday! I don't know where summer has gone. Already the trees are turning red and orange. I am still working on finishing up my computer room. I don't have much left to do so hopefully soon. I finished up my sweater and want to cast on the next NOW even though I have plenty of WIPs on the needles ... I think I'm gonna cast it on anyway, LOL!
The next one is chunky yarn and in the round so it should go quickly! I also started my bat shawl and am hoping to have that done for Halloween - since that's the only time I would wear it ... I'm not a shawl person.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
FO: V-Neck Cardigan
I finished this last night. Even though I was moving stuff from one building to another at work today I wore it anyway, LOL!! I took it off and wore a lab coat when I thought it might get dirty.
#20 V-Neck Cardigan by Deborah Newton from Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2004
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Lilac Mist
Size 7 and 6 Knit Picks needles
Cast On: 6/15/09
Finish: 9/21/09
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Finishing projects
On Monday with the help of my MIL I finished the floor! What an interesting project. At least I learned some things ... how to better do things ... how to NOT do things, LOL! It went pretty well considering I have never done any home improvements prior to this room and certainly have never installed a floor.
This room was the bane of my existence for the past two months. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse I would find another problem that would need fixing.
Here's what it looked like when we bought the house.
I started by sanding the walls to make them flat and uniform. There were thick layers of drippy, bumpy paint and joint compound/plaster all over them. The molding was half painted too. The drywall tape on the ceiling was bubbling and peeling off.
Once all the sanding and patching was done (3-4 weeks later ... maybe even more) I did 2-3 coats of primer, including ceiling and doors. I bought trim for the doors and found that the old trim around the closet was much wider and now I had to use joint compound to flatten out the 1" area surrounding the entire door to make it flush with the wall so that the new trim would sit right and look good.
Then I was finally able to paint color on the walls. I did at least 2 coats of paint, may have even been three by the time I was done, LOL! I was using a flat base, so I really had to make sure all the walls were flat and not bumpy or pitted.
Now that this room is almost complete I can finally get back to my knitting projects! I have the second sleeve left of my cardigan and one sock for the pair I was making for a co-worker - it was so hot I couldn't knit with wool for a couple of weeks it was sticking to my fingers. I am going to make a pair of socks for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry and start my bat shawl that I want complete for Halloween.
This room was the bane of my existence for the past two months. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse I would find another problem that would need fixing.
Here's what it looked like when we bought the house.
I started by sanding the walls to make them flat and uniform. There were thick layers of drippy, bumpy paint and joint compound/plaster all over them. The molding was half painted too. The drywall tape on the ceiling was bubbling and peeling off.
Once all the sanding and patching was done (3-4 weeks later ... maybe even more) I did 2-3 coats of primer, including ceiling and doors. I bought trim for the doors and found that the old trim around the closet was much wider and now I had to use joint compound to flatten out the 1" area surrounding the entire door to make it flush with the wall so that the new trim would sit right and look good.
Then I was finally able to paint color on the walls. I did at least 2 coats of paint, may have even been three by the time I was done, LOL! I was using a flat base, so I really had to make sure all the walls were flat and not bumpy or pitted.
Now that this room is almost complete I can finally get back to my knitting projects! I have the second sleeve left of my cardigan and one sock for the pair I was making for a co-worker - it was so hot I couldn't knit with wool for a couple of weeks it was sticking to my fingers. I am going to make a pair of socks for the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry and start my bat shawl that I want complete for Halloween.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Getting the floor done
Saturday was spent cleaning up the floor to prepare for putting down the tongue and groove laminate. There was this old carpet pad underneath the carpet in this room that had literally disintigrated into dust! It was so nasty to clean up. The rest of the day was spent finishing a sleeve on my sweater and watching season 1 of Dr. Who.
Sunday I was able to start actually laying the floor down. I started by quickly placing the boards generally where they would go and as I went I made any measurements and cuts that I had to.
Then I started putting it together, the beginning went very rough. They kept coming apart at the other end from where I was banging them in, it was a real pain. Once I got about 1/4 done, it started to go smoother, but still annoying. I was determined to get at least 1/2 done before stopping for the day.
Sunday I was able to start actually laying the floor down. I started by quickly placing the boards generally where they would go and as I went I made any measurements and cuts that I had to.
Then I started putting it together, the beginning went very rough. They kept coming apart at the other end from where I was banging them in, it was a real pain. Once I got about 1/4 done, it started to go smoother, but still annoying. I was determined to get at least 1/2 done before stopping for the day.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Hot, hot, hot!
Its incredibly hot here in New England, considering it didn't even feel like summer until very recently and then it was 95 degrees all of a sudden ... don't like that, at least give us something to get used to!
I haven't posted in a month, so lets see if I can recall what's been going on!
I finished painting my craft room the other weekend. Last Friday I went to Home Depot and got the baseboards and trim paint. Now I have to rip up the carpet and scrape the foam off the floor, its this black foam that is glued to the floor and disintigrating, so it should be an interesting job! Then I can install the floor and door molding and baseboards.
We got a pond for the yard. Its about 3-4 feet across. The frogs love it ... and sometimes birds like to eat the frogs, yuck! The squirell also thinks its his personal drinking fountain.
We occasionally see deer in the yard, but the other day one came really close to the house. Unfortunately the screen in the window interfered with the photo. Would've been a really nice one!
I am on the first sleeve of my cardigan. I got the back, and two fronts done so far. Its coming out nicely, really quick too for a sweater. Will post photos once its done. This was the back up to the lace, then its stockinette from there.
I haven't posted in a month, so lets see if I can recall what's been going on!
I finished painting my craft room the other weekend. Last Friday I went to Home Depot and got the baseboards and trim paint. Now I have to rip up the carpet and scrape the foam off the floor, its this black foam that is glued to the floor and disintigrating, so it should be an interesting job! Then I can install the floor and door molding and baseboards.
We got a pond for the yard. Its about 3-4 feet across. The frogs love it ... and sometimes birds like to eat the frogs, yuck! The squirell also thinks its his personal drinking fountain.
We occasionally see deer in the yard, but the other day one came really close to the house. Unfortunately the screen in the window interfered with the photo. Would've been a really nice one!
I am on the first sleeve of my cardigan. I got the back, and two fronts done so far. Its coming out nicely, really quick too for a sweater. Will post photos once its done. This was the back up to the lace, then its stockinette from there.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Huh??
I was working on two different sock patterns recently. One is a made up as I go for a co-worker in worsted weight, so its going fairly quick when I actually sit and knit on it.
The other is the Prince of the Wood Elves from the Unique Sheep Lord of the stRings Club. I found on the PotWE sock I didn't decrease back to the initial number of stitches once I finished the gusset decreases. Since I have already ripped this out once before because I didn't like how it was going and my gauge was off for the number of stitches I had, I started again with more stitches ... then found that I didn't decrease properly, uurrgghhh!! So exasperated I tossed (a little violently) that one aside for now.
I started again with the one for the co-worker because I want them done so they are off my list, especially since there is a recipient waiting for them. Last night I picked it up after it had been sitting for a while and found yet again, I didn't decrease properly, I have 6 more stitches on the foot than the leg. However, considering the size should be 10" circumference for mid foot and only half of the foot is done in ribbing, whereas the entire leg is ribbing, I think I am going to go with it because I think they'll fit better this way (I would hate for them to be too small). I'll make the mate to match.
Why I made this mistake on two completely different socks is driving me nuts! Maybe its the little furry monster that chases my fingers and yarn and tries to bite the cable on my needles that is distracting me from counting properly, hahahaha!! I call him Riley the Demented.
Speaking of furry little knitting stalling creatures, I am still trying to finish up my craft/computer/sanctuary room. I was almost done with the walls when I noticed that the molding I got for the closet door was much thinner than the old molding and I had to repair all the drywall around the closet door to make it a nice smooth surface to paint, so that stalled that project for the bit. I think I will be able to paint next weekend now that I've plastered and sanded most of it. Still have a bit to go, but my forearms are starting to get really sore from all the sanding. So I will take it slow and shoot for next weekend. I also found a few more holes and dings to fix once I put the first coat on the other three walls, so I plastered them as well. Once the walls are done, then the floor needs to be installed. Once that's down I can install the door molding and baseboards (which will need to be painted first and I have to purchase the baseboards), then paint the window trim. Once that's done I will have the ceiling molding to do, but I think I can move everything in before that and save that for last.
I am getting frustrated that this is not done yet and I don't have the ample space and sanctuary I expected when we moved here. However, I am pretty sure I only started this is June and considering the state the room was in from the previous owners - just really sloppy work, its not all that bad for time.
The other is the Prince of the Wood Elves from the Unique Sheep Lord of the stRings Club. I found on the PotWE sock I didn't decrease back to the initial number of stitches once I finished the gusset decreases. Since I have already ripped this out once before because I didn't like how it was going and my gauge was off for the number of stitches I had, I started again with more stitches ... then found that I didn't decrease properly, uurrgghhh!! So exasperated I tossed (a little violently) that one aside for now.
I started again with the one for the co-worker because I want them done so they are off my list, especially since there is a recipient waiting for them. Last night I picked it up after it had been sitting for a while and found yet again, I didn't decrease properly, I have 6 more stitches on the foot than the leg. However, considering the size should be 10" circumference for mid foot and only half of the foot is done in ribbing, whereas the entire leg is ribbing, I think I am going to go with it because I think they'll fit better this way (I would hate for them to be too small). I'll make the mate to match.
Why I made this mistake on two completely different socks is driving me nuts! Maybe its the little furry monster that chases my fingers and yarn and tries to bite the cable on my needles that is distracting me from counting properly, hahahaha!! I call him Riley the Demented.
Speaking of furry little knitting stalling creatures, I am still trying to finish up my craft/computer/sanctuary room. I was almost done with the walls when I noticed that the molding I got for the closet door was much thinner than the old molding and I had to repair all the drywall around the closet door to make it a nice smooth surface to paint, so that stalled that project for the bit. I think I will be able to paint next weekend now that I've plastered and sanded most of it. Still have a bit to go, but my forearms are starting to get really sore from all the sanding. So I will take it slow and shoot for next weekend. I also found a few more holes and dings to fix once I put the first coat on the other three walls, so I plastered them as well. Once the walls are done, then the floor needs to be installed. Once that's down I can install the door molding and baseboards (which will need to be painted first and I have to purchase the baseboards), then paint the window trim. Once that's done I will have the ceiling molding to do, but I think I can move everything in before that and save that for last.
I am getting frustrated that this is not done yet and I don't have the ample space and sanctuary I expected when we moved here. However, I am pretty sure I only started this is June and considering the state the room was in from the previous owners - just really sloppy work, its not all that bad for time.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Floral Eye Candy
The other day we noticed after two days of sun the hybiscus tree was full of buds. After some more rain and a little more sun the blooms oepened!
They turned from the bud to this in less than a day. As you can clearly see ... yes it rained again!
This is the Bee Balm that we have in the garden on the side of the house, recently all those buds opened up. It has quite an interesting flower.
They turned from the bud to this in less than a day. As you can clearly see ... yes it rained again!
This is the Bee Balm that we have in the garden on the side of the house, recently all those buds opened up. It has quite an interesting flower.
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