Monday, February 27, 2006
For something completely different...
We spent a very worthwhile day today with Ellen, of Finally Organized, LLC. Jonathan has been wanting to get our upstairs "office" organized for ages-- and as I am totally useless when it comes to things like this, I decided to call in a professional. For Chanukah, I got him a gift certificate for 5 hours of organization... and today was the big day!
Well... a picture is worth a thousand words, so...
This was the couch area before...
And after!
(Want the couch? It's very comfortable, and it's free to a good home! Let me know...)
This was the bookshelf before...
And after! (Note the 2 bottom shelves are EMPTY!!!)
And the desk before...
And after!
(Hey jw, I think she'd travel to Ohio for the right price)
Very fun. The best part is that all of that stuff ISN'T just moved somewhere else in the house (as it is when *we* try to organize!) Most of it is thrown out-- we threw out 10 or 12 full trash bags of stuff, and have 2 or 3 more to give away. I put some stuff up on freecycle, and the Vietnam Vets are scheduled to pick up on Wednesday. It's NICE.
There's some work still to be done up here-- but this is way beyond a great start. I'm wishing we had the rest of the week off to do more!
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We spent a very worthwhile day today with Ellen, of Finally Organized, LLC. Jonathan has been wanting to get our upstairs "office" organized for ages-- and as I am totally useless when it comes to things like this, I decided to call in a professional. For Chanukah, I got him a gift certificate for 5 hours of organization... and today was the big day!
Well... a picture is worth a thousand words, so...
This was the couch area before...
And after!
(Want the couch? It's very comfortable, and it's free to a good home! Let me know...)
This was the bookshelf before...
And after! (Note the 2 bottom shelves are EMPTY!!!)
And the desk before...
And after!
(Hey jw, I think she'd travel to Ohio for the right price)
Very fun. The best part is that all of that stuff ISN'T just moved somewhere else in the house (as it is when *we* try to organize!) Most of it is thrown out-- we threw out 10 or 12 full trash bags of stuff, and have 2 or 3 more to give away. I put some stuff up on freecycle, and the Vietnam Vets are scheduled to pick up on Wednesday. It's NICE.
There's some work still to be done up here-- but this is way beyond a great start. I'm wishing we had the rest of the week off to do more!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Well, I'm clicking along, despite my first major screw-up.
I got confused on the directions for the neckline steek, and ended up with two useless 8 stitch x 3 row dangles on either side of the neck. However, the result seems to look okay-- the front is lower than the back (this photo might be the back!), and I hardly think the bear will suffer any discomfort from the extra stitches... and I have learned something for next time.
Lessons learned so far:
1. Fair isle is fun, and not nearly as complicated as it looks.
2. If you're using a post-it to keep your place on the chart, make sure the post-it is sticky.
3. Shetland Spindrift makes my face itch, but not enough to discourage me from using it.
4. Change colors mid-steek to avoid having to weave in ends later (BIG lesson)
5. Just because a project is small doesn't mean it's a perfect way to learn something. Clear directions help.
6. Steeks should never dangle in mid-air-- they are always connecting something to something else. In this case, the neck steek was supposed to bridge across behind all the front stitches put on a marker.
7. If you need help from the greater Internet knitting community, give them at least a few hours to answer before you make up your own way of doing something.
It is quite likely I'll be cutting armhole steeks tonight. ACK!!!
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I got confused on the directions for the neckline steek, and ended up with two useless 8 stitch x 3 row dangles on either side of the neck. However, the result seems to look okay-- the front is lower than the back (this photo might be the back!), and I hardly think the bear will suffer any discomfort from the extra stitches... and I have learned something for next time.
Lessons learned so far:
1. Fair isle is fun, and not nearly as complicated as it looks.
2. If you're using a post-it to keep your place on the chart, make sure the post-it is sticky.
3. Shetland Spindrift makes my face itch, but not enough to discourage me from using it.
4. Change colors mid-steek to avoid having to weave in ends later (BIG lesson)
5. Just because a project is small doesn't mean it's a perfect way to learn something. Clear directions help.
6. Steeks should never dangle in mid-air-- they are always connecting something to something else. In this case, the neck steek was supposed to bridge across behind all the front stitches put on a marker.
7. If you need help from the greater Internet knitting community, give them at least a few hours to answer before you make up your own way of doing something.
It is quite likely I'll be cutting armhole steeks tonight. ACK!!!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Too little, too late.
Maybe I should have researched steeks a bit *before* I started this project... because doesn't THIS just make all the sense in the world.
I hope it's not horrible infringement to steal a paragraph. The paragraph above is part of a steek-instructional from Lucy Neatby. (If I link to it twice, is that better?)
It probably is infringement. I'll paraphrase.
Change colors in the middle of the steek and you won't have to weave in all the freaking ends.
Wish I knew THAT at the beginning of this project.
Hey Joel, where are you? Knee-deep in packing boxes?
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Maybe I should have researched steeks a bit *before* I started this project... because doesn't THIS just make all the sense in the world.
One of the coolest assets of a steek is the way it cunningly eliminates thousands of yarn tails when working a project with multiple color changes, most commonly experienced in cardigan, vest or flat fabric form. By changing colors mid-steek, (they may be knotted together to help maintain gauge) when you open the steek and neaten it back, all the knots and yarn tails are exterminated.
I hope it's not horrible infringement to steal a paragraph. The paragraph above is part of a steek-instructional from Lucy Neatby. (If I link to it twice, is that better?)
It probably is infringement. I'll paraphrase.
Change colors in the middle of the steek and you won't have to weave in all the freaking ends.
Wish I knew THAT at the beginning of this project.
Hey Joel, where are you? Knee-deep in packing boxes?
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Much knitting. Much knitting.
Gary's socks are done. I took pictures & sent them off yesterday. Now I can obsess over whether he'll realize that hand-knit socks are the ultimate expression of gratitude from this knitter, or whether he'll just think I'm a freak.
Only time will tell.
Then, inspired by Kirsti, I picked up Threadybear again.
I really like this knitting. Unfortunately, knitting with this wool makes my face itch. It's worth it, though, I think. I have about 15 rows to go to get to the top of the sweater... I'm starting to panic about cutting the steeks. I have done absolutely no steek-related research, so I can't even imagine taking a scissor to this, let alone think about where I will pick up the stitches, and what will happen to the stitches that I cut. Hopefully by the weekend, I will be ready to give it a shot.
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Gary's socks are done. I took pictures & sent them off yesterday. Now I can obsess over whether he'll realize that hand-knit socks are the ultimate expression of gratitude from this knitter, or whether he'll just think I'm a freak.
Only time will tell.
Then, inspired by Kirsti, I picked up Threadybear again.
I really like this knitting. Unfortunately, knitting with this wool makes my face itch. It's worth it, though, I think. I have about 15 rows to go to get to the top of the sweater... I'm starting to panic about cutting the steeks. I have done absolutely no steek-related research, so I can't even imagine taking a scissor to this, let alone think about where I will pick up the stitches, and what will happen to the stitches that I cut. Hopefully by the weekend, I will be ready to give it a shot.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
We got back from San Diego last night-- a wonderful wonderful trip!
We did all of the requisite tourist-with-children activities. We went to the Wild Animal Park. This was a pretty cool place, with herds of African animals roaming about. Sam was not impressed-- the animals were too far away to register as "animals" in his mind. We were there for about 3 hours when he asked when we were going to San Diego to see the animals.
He liked the San Diego Zoo a bit more-- especially the pandas. He did seem a bit disappointed that the "Melmans" and the "Martys" were just sitting around eating, and not talking.
Legoland was his ULTIMATE favorite... he LOVED it there. The Lego stuff was pretty cool, and the whole place (although ridiculously expensive) was a lot of fun-- especially since he just met the 34" height requirement to go on all the rides! I have never seen my boy cry nearly as hard as he did when we had to leave-- he was just sobbing.
We also checked out the sea lions on the beach at La Jolla, got to see my friend Lori and her husband Joost, thoroughly enjoyed our meeting, and stayed two nights at the famous Hotel Del Coronado.
It was a big of a culture shock, leaving this on Saturday morning (yes, shadow-watchers, you are right... this was not a morning picture-- but you get the idea-- sun, nice weather, beach etc)...
And waking up to this on Sunday...
Right now, we're hoping that Sam's daycare is open tomorrow-- all of the public schools in the area are closed, so it's not looking so good, but Sam will be SO disappointed if he can't go-- he's been desperately missing his friends all week! We will also be freaking out a bit, because we need to get back to work to start catching up!
And in knitting news, the socks are not finished... but I do continue to make progress. After taking the photo, I knitted the heel flap & heel... gusset tomorrow, and they should be finished soon.
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We did all of the requisite tourist-with-children activities. We went to the Wild Animal Park. This was a pretty cool place, with herds of African animals roaming about. Sam was not impressed-- the animals were too far away to register as "animals" in his mind. We were there for about 3 hours when he asked when we were going to San Diego to see the animals.
He liked the San Diego Zoo a bit more-- especially the pandas. He did seem a bit disappointed that the "Melmans" and the "Martys" were just sitting around eating, and not talking.
Legoland was his ULTIMATE favorite... he LOVED it there. The Lego stuff was pretty cool, and the whole place (although ridiculously expensive) was a lot of fun-- especially since he just met the 34" height requirement to go on all the rides! I have never seen my boy cry nearly as hard as he did when we had to leave-- he was just sobbing.
We also checked out the sea lions on the beach at La Jolla, got to see my friend Lori and her husband Joost, thoroughly enjoyed our meeting, and stayed two nights at the famous Hotel Del Coronado.
It was a big of a culture shock, leaving this on Saturday morning (yes, shadow-watchers, you are right... this was not a morning picture-- but you get the idea-- sun, nice weather, beach etc)...
And waking up to this on Sunday...
Right now, we're hoping that Sam's daycare is open tomorrow-- all of the public schools in the area are closed, so it's not looking so good, but Sam will be SO disappointed if he can't go-- he's been desperately missing his friends all week! We will also be freaking out a bit, because we need to get back to work to start catching up!
And in knitting news, the socks are not finished... but I do continue to make progress. After taking the photo, I knitted the heel flap & heel... gusset tomorrow, and they should be finished soon.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Happy Groundhog Day... and happy birthday to Pam!
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Happy Groundhog Day... and happy birthday to Pam!
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Happy Groundhog Day... and happy birthday to Pam!
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Hee hee. I love that movie!
|
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Happy Groundhog Day... and happy birthday to Pam!
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Happy Groundhog Day... and happy birthday to Pam!
I've been working a lot, trying to get enough done to be able to leave for a week without freaking out.
When I have a moment, I knit a few rounds on the socks.
I'm thinking they are not going to be done by next Friday-- but you never know.
Any good yarn stores I need to know about in San Diego?
* * *
Hee hee. I love that movie!
