Grand Central Station

My house has become a zoo.

We officially went on the market on Monday, and since then we've had people knocking on the door and calling constantly to come see it. At least one of the buyers is very interested, and our Realtor thinks we'll start getting offers by tomorrow. I'm just sitting back, amazed at the response. Especially since the house is listing for far more than we thought we'd get - and our Realtor says the listing price is low and will most likely go up in a bidding war!

The icing on the cake? Dan's company wants to keep him on as a full time contractor, telecommuting and flying out one day a week to work with customers and do hands-on stuff. So no worries about finding a job there in the immediate future, and we'll have money coming in from day one there.

Everything is really coming together to make this happen. It's like we were supposed to move . Now all that's left is finding a house in Portland that we love, which will hopefully happen when I fly out next weekend. Wish us luck all around!

Babies and knitting

Finally, a wee bit of knitting content. Saw my sister today and she passed on this picture. I made the sweater and hat a little over a year ago for the soon-to-be daughter of a dear friend of hers. Have to admit, it was kind of fun making something really frufru girly and pink, and the set served the purpose of keeping me somewhat sedentary for the week following a much needed breast reduction surgery. Well, the wee lil girl is finally big enough for everything to fit, and look how adorable she is! Looks like the spitting image of her mama. It's just bizarre to see something I made in such a gorgeous picture, but it makes me smile to know that the gift was well loved :-).

Another baby knit, this one started three days ago and worked on in between painting and scurrying around finishing up the house. Oops - realized I had a baby shower to go to a wee bit too late. Grabbed some CottonTots, cast on for a simple raglan sweater with seed stitch edging, and flew through it. I made it in the round, coming up with shaping as I went, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Not bad for knitting on the fly.

In other news, my house went on the market today. Gulp.

Remodel update

Look - tile! Real, honest to goodness tile that we laid with our own bare hands, all by ourselves. This was a first for both of us, and we sure learned a lot in the process. I'm really happy with how the floor came out in the end, especially considering what it looked like before. Actually, I wish I had a picture of what it looked like when we moved in. The whole thing was painted in beige high gloss (the precise color of masking tape, I later found out when we painted), with a rusty stage light lamp above the sink, no hardware on the cabinets, no cabinet above the toilet, and that lovely beige shag rug wall to wall. It was a beigebeigebeige monstrosity. Now it's sunny, light, and inviting. Pretty darn proud of that.

While we had the adhesive and grout mixed up, we added a line of tile to the backsplash under the edge of the kitchen counter as well. You can't tell in the picture, but this strip runs all across the length of the kitchen. Thought a bit of tile would dress things up a little and help tie the countertop to the appliances and the floor. Definitely helps, and it was fun to do after the huge effort on the bathroom floor.

I just finished painting the inside of our closet, something that sounds like no big deal until you realize that it's the size of a bedroom! Seriously, you could easily fit a bed in there and have plenty of space to walk around, aside from the roof sloping down so low at the end. The closet has gone from (did you guess?) beige to a much cleaner looking white. Ah, the power of paint.

Haven't been doing any knitting or crafting at all, partially because there's so much to do as we get the house ready to sell, partially because the weather has been changing and my hands ache a lot. We should have the house on the market next week, which will give a little break from painting and fixing and packing, and hopefully I can finish up my Sockapaloooza socks and my Perfect Sweater then.

I leave for Portland on the 28th to go look for a house and hopefully put in an offer. Can't believe this is all happening so quickly. We'll be in Portland soon!

Must be the Sharpie fumes

So we're clearing out all the boxes, papers, and general stuff other than furniture. Piles and piles of random paperwork have been purged from the bookcase and computer area, awaiting their proper place in the filing cabinet. Why aren't they in there already?

(clears throat, looks down)

I suck at filing. It's not really Dan's strong point, either. If anyone ever has a notion that I'm some kind of super homemaker, please get that idea out of your head. I hate cleaning and am pretty lousy at keeping paperwork in any kind of order. There, I said it.

This doesn't mean I have given up all hope. As I went through the drifts of old medical records and paid bills, I realized that this move is a great time to start over and get it all together. I'm attacking the filing cabinet with folders, tabs, and an honest to goodness home filing system.

I'm having a blast doing this.

Must be the fumes.

I've come out of the closet

Literally! All the boxes are now downstairs in the garage and the closet is essentially clear. Dan is going to take the sewing machine and serger down once I've finished a couple last minute sewing jobs (baby carriers and a doggy coat for friends). Next comes the second hardest task this week: clearing out the computer area with it's wall of books and piles of CDs, paperwork, and both computers. Should be quite a bit easier, though - most things just need to be boxed up directly with no sorting of any kind really needed, unlike my huge project pile. I did manage to get rid of many bags of clothes, cloth, and miscellaneous drek while cleaning and this will only make moving that much simpler. All boxes are numbered and labeled, and I've started an Excel spreadsheet with descriptions and where each box should go in the new house (which we are still hunting for). I'm all about the organization, at least outside of a previously messy closet.

In other news, we have a contest winner! Thanks to this handy random number generator, Tammie of Knitammie wins a copy of Wrap Style or hand made soap if she prefers. Thanks to everyone for all the comments and suggestions - I think it will all really help. For anyone who missed it, B'Gina shared this in the comments:

"The shop is The Twisted Ewe in Port Townsend, Washington. My friends, Suzanne and Brien, bought it from it's creator, a nice lady name Jennifer who raises sheep and spins her own yarn! They will still be selling her custom yarns, so that's going to be great.

I'm making note of everyone's wish lists and will pass them along to Suzanne. Kathy also gave me several good idea, like a knitting night, which I'm happy to say has been going on for a while, already. We're going to be selling online, too, and hope to have a fairly sizable range of things available there.

We'll be having custom designed patterns (my job), and, if the legalities work out, we'll have a "library" of old knitting books that customers can copy patterns from, free of charge. That's got possible copyright ramifications, so we're not absolutely sure if we'll be able to do it, though.

I'm going to start a blog for the store, which will not just be a sales tool. I'll be blogging about the perils of trying to create patterns and about other arty things I do for the shop. Suzanne and Brien will be blogging about what it's like getting into the retail yarn biz (if I have to get them in a hammerlock to get them there, I will ;+), and we'd love knitters and needleworkers from all over to join in.

We always want to know what we're doing right, or wrong, and what we may be omitting that we could do. We may at some point start a bulletin board, if it looks like the blog is engendering enough discussion to warrant it, so please keep us in mind.

I'm building the site and have to get busy on that. The URL will be: http://www.thetwistedewe.com. I'll let Kathy know when it's up.
Also, if anyone wants to be personally notified (or has any other comments or suggestions), please email me: bginab at gmail dot com.

Thanks for all your comments. We're just doing inventory this weekend to see where we are as the shop changes hands. So, it will take us a while to make any changes, and, who knows, the shop may already have most of what you want. That would be nice. ;+)"
B'gina

I'm off to fill up boxes again. Ahhhhh....by this time next week we'll have brand new, soft soft carpet instead of the stained "plush" there right now. It'll take about a week to finish up retouching the paint everywhere and get the final cleaning and tidying done, and then the house will go on the market. I'll most likely fly out to Portland a couple of weeks later to do some house searching, and then after that, moving. It's all really coming together quickly now. We'll be in Oregon very soon!

May the Force be with me

Full disclosure here. The disturbing images below are of my closet...A.K.A. the craft and computer area or Where Things Go To Die. Here lies my beautiful Pfaff sewing machine that I love dearly. The poor thing is almost buried by the project pile next to it, and my lovely serger hasn't seen the light of day in quite a long time.
Here you can see my yarn stash - the two blue topped Tupperware-ish containers in the front there. Oh, sure, I have a few skeins in the beige canvas knitting bag right behind them, and there are several live projects downstairs by the couch, but that's it. The rest of the boxes are all fabric and patterns and batting and foam. Oh, and our suitcases live by the foam for some odd reason as well - have to fix that. Everything on the right is Dan's computer graveyard (oh, wait, he calls those boxes "parts"...though nothing in them has been used since I can remember. I don't disabuse him of this notion but I do reserve the right to mock privately).

We're getting new carpet next Saturday. All boxes, piles, everything but the furniture must be moved out by then.

I'm going in.

Wish me luck.

Spring has sprung

Happy Spring, everyone! I know the Equinox was actually yesterday, but it was blustery and stormy here and didn't feel like Spring at all. Today was crisp, clear and beautiful. Lean in close and see if you can smell these beauties!

What would you like in a yarn/needlework store? Contest!

No, I'm not opening a store, but I do know of some folks who are and they would love feedback. They would love to know what people would like to see that might be a little out of the ordinary, and what yarns they particularly like. The store will be located in Port Townsend, Washington, and is going to be called The Twisted Ewe. My pal B'Gina is going to be setting up a blog giving more information and background and updates very soon, so stay tuned!

So here's how you can help out a fellow yarn and needlework addict (and help make an already wonderful sounding store even better). Share your favorite yarns and any yarn or needlework items that are a little different but you wish you could find somewhere. Next Sunday, March 26th, I'll select a random commenter (I love random number generators!) and the winner will receive a copy of Wrap Style (or some hand crafted soap, if you already have a copy) as well as the satisfaction that comes from helping another knitter and needleworker out.

Quick cat update and recipe

Tabby is doing much better now. By the next morning she was back to her old self, scarfing down cat food with abandon and curling up and purring against my leg. It's amazing to see how quickly animals heal, isn't it?

I made this fruit dip for Arden's St. Patrick's Day party at preschool (I brought green fruit - apples and grapes - and dip) and it was a huge hit. It tastes just like cheesecake and is incredibly easy to make up. If you made it with a little less cream, it would make a perfect frosting for cupcakes as well.

Cheesecake Dip
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Heat over medium-low heat in a small pot until smooth, stirring frequently. A whisk helps to break up lumps easily. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Remodeling PS - cutting tiles that are multiple sheets of smaller bits is pretty much impossible without an honest to goodness big guns tile cutter. We have now learned this the hard way. Dan is off to the hardware store to rent one. Live and learn, right?

Wacky Wednesday

This is what Ryan grins and utters every Wednesday morning. School gets out the same time every day...except Wednesdays, which get out an hour and a half early. So they call it "Wacky Wednesday" to help the children and parents remember. This works, well, most of the time.

So today I'm going to cover all kinds of wacky territory. First, an apology. I have been neglecting this poor blog in favor of spackle and tiles and paint. I have gone so far as not even mentioning the incredible knitters meet-up we had on the 5th with Lauren and what seemed like a million other cool knitters. Bad, bad Kathy. Above, you see the beautiful Mountain Colors Twizzle that Susan made me buy. Really, honestly - she held a sharp pointy stick to my head and forced me to pet the soft, luscious Merino and silk. Next to this, you see the Chibi that is all Lori's fault. She bought one and as I scoffed just a little she ever so slyly pointed out that the needles were bent at the end, all the better to seam with, my dear. Ah, well - show me a good tool and I'm there! What I didn't get a picture of was me tempting the lovely Andrea to watch House. Bwahahaaaa. (waves arms gracefully through the air) And now, to your right you see the Multidirectional Scarf that I'm making out of this cuddly stuff. Another apology - I know, I know, I'm *this* close to finishing my Perfect Sweater. I know! But right now we're doing so much with the house (and I've been sicksicksick) that I needed something brainless and simple to work on. Scarf time. Over there, you see a cream puff. Not just any cream puff, but a Beard Papa's cream puff. Caramel, to be exact. Oh my freaking stars, these are goooooood. Crisp, just barely sweet, creamy, and filled literally as I paid my $1.50. This was the first time I've had one, but it won't be the last! Over on the other side you see Arden's finger pointing to Koi...that happen to live in the middle of the mall that has the yummy cream puffs. There's a round circle of open ponds overflowing with fish of all sizes (from "look, so big, Mommy!" to "oh, it's an eensy tiny one!"), shapes and colors. Arden kept running from rock to rock, pointing to this fish and that one and asking what each one was called. I think he was asking for names. Last is my not pictured cat, Tabitha, who had to go to the vet's today for an abcessed tooth. She came up this morning, mewing plaintively, and when I looked at her face I saw one tooth sticking out of the side of her mouth. It was so swollen that it was being pushed out, so off to the vet we went. Poor thing. They were able to save the tooth, but she hurts and is curled up into an unhappy ball right now. No picture out of deference to her less than photogenic condition - she would have nothing less. To her great credit, nobody at the animal hospital could believe that she was really sixteen years old. I have a hard time remembering it, myself. They said she'll probably live to see twenty, and I'm hoping they were right.

You know what every bathroom needs?

Carpet. There's nothing like sinking your toes into cushy, warm polyester first thing in the morning. And the way it squishes when the sink leaked last summer? So cute! I especially like the way it enhanced the overall decor, adding a certain sense of sophistication that would otherwise have been missing.

We were surprised, shocked even, when our Realtor suggested that we lay down tile on the floor instead. Who wouldn't love beige shag, especially right next to such a deep and inviting bathtub? But we went ahead anyway, saddened that no one else could see the treasure our house held.

Ha! I pulled up that carpet so fast, I barely had time to shout victoriously as the last corner came loose. Who the heck puts carpet in a bathroom? I've been asking myself this for six years now. After the carpet came out, I ripped out the padding, finding it stuck in little bits all over the floor. Turns out it was stapled down, so we had to pull up each and every one with pliers. I pried off the tack strips around the edge of the room - so deeply satisfying to rip out wood and hear the cracking and splintering. Destruction is fun!

We finished laying down the backerboard - thin sheets of cement - on top of adhesive. Laying that stuff down was a bit like icing a really large cake, since you have to spread it just so and then comb through with a serrated trowel. I felt like tossing chopped nuts or coconut on it for decoration. Next comes the tarpaper membrane that will hopefully protect the lower floor from water damage, then we're tiling, baby! I can't wait.

Membrane is done! We're tiling tomorrow.

Now here's something different

That would be hail you're looking at. On my patio. In Southern California. Bizarre.

Blog within a blog

I'm going to be very, very busy until next Wednesday. Why, you ask? Because I'm doing a one week food blog over at one of my favorite foodie haunts, eGullet. I'm taking pictures of every single thing I eat and cook, so it's a little like being on some kind of odd reality show for people obsessed with spices and microplanes. I'm having a blast, but there will be understandably little blogging here while I'm working on it (knitting updates to come, though!). Anyone interested in taking a peek, look here.

I know three things about

Today my oldest was doing the ever dreaded homework, and we got to this week's "journal" page. "I know a lot about _____", it read. Then, down below, were three large squares so each child could share three things they knew about whatever the subject was.

He struggled mightily on what to write about. "Hmmm....you know a lot about cooking", I offered. "Yeah, but that's not very cool." Ah, the priorities of a seven year old. Long gone are the days when he wanted to be a chef when he grew up. Finally, he settled on something really cool that he knew a lot about: Oregon. His face lit up as he talked about how it snows there sometimes (as a lifelong resident of Southern California, the idea that it actually snows somewhere at all is magical to him). Then he wrote that his cousins live there. Actually, my cousin lives there with his wife and two girls, but Ryan refers to all of the smaller children in the family as cousins. Can't remember if that makes them first cousins or what exactly, but I guess he's right.

And thing-he-knows-about-Oregon number three?

"I'm going to live there."

:-)

New floor and being one with the couch

It's been an interesting week here. Dan's sister Katie came out to visit last weekend, much to the great joy of both the boys who adore her. She brought with her a late birthday gift: a portable foozball table made from dark wood that folds up and looks quite attractive when not in use. Needless to say, the boys love it....and the adults are having a blast with it as well. Who says you have to grow up?

We also started in on the forlorn kitchen floor. The linoleum was in sad shape when we bought the house six years ago and those six years have been less than kind. I gleefully ripped up the old flooring, only to find several odd things like this cryptic message (it reads: "loose shot", though I mistook that "o" for an "i" for a moment full of hysterical laughter). You can also see the old flooring that never ever looked clean, no matter how much I scrubbed and cleaned it. Whoever put it in did a lousy job as well - the edge that met up against the carpet was completely uneven with open gaps down to the cement below. Yes, I know we should have gotten rid of it years ago. Funny how hard you work to fix up a house that you won't be living in soon, isn't it? We also found a rather large and scary looking repair in the cement - no wonder the flooring was uneven in that spot! I don't even want to know why they had to fill things in there. Some things are just better unknown, especially when it comes to home repair.

Ripping the floor out was pretty quick job, at least until we got to the stove. The floor went all the way underneath, but we have a gas stove and couldn't safely pull it all the way out to get to the back by the wall. Dan puzzled and figured as only an Engineer can do, and then it hit us both at the same time: we could pull it out as far as the gas line would allow, then I could get in back and cut the floor and tear out what I could from the back. Here's where being short, relatively small, and limber come in handy. Thank you, yoga classes! I had to do some truly amazing contortions to get myself back there and back out again, but we were finally free of the old floor. Here's how it looked in all it's...erm...glory:

After we got the boys to bed, Dan and I got down to putting in the new vinyl tile. I never in my entire life imagined I'd voluntarily put plastic tiles in my kitchen, but they look fantastic. More importantly, they feel wonderful to my bare feet as I walk around, a testament to the fact that they are a lot thicker than the original linoleum sheeting. The kitchen looks so much better, and all for less than $150 and a day's worth of work. Not bad at all.

Unfortunately, soon after the lovely floor was in place I got hit by a truck...or at least that's what it felt like. I have been one with my couch, using up cloth diaper after cloth diaper in lieu of tissue (the soft cotton is so much kinder on a raw nose, and they're easy to toss in the wash and use again) and drinking gallons of tea while popping echinacea, vitamin C, zinc, astragalus, oregon grape root, and raw garlic. I'm finally at the tail end of it all and can breathe almost normally again. Just in time to do more home repairs!

....and the winner is...

Jeanne from A Bluestocking Knits! I'll be sending off a copy of Mindful Knitting later on today. Thanks to everone for voting and sharing opinions - it all really helped. Last night I finally decided on which button to use after trying on the almost completed sweater and holding up buttons against the front. I was thinking of using the last metallic buttons, but on the actual sweater they get lost and are a little too small. The leaf buttons are perfect, and those are what I'll use. Now to figure out buttonhole spacing!

Sockapaloooza update

I finally got started on socks for my pal. Had to ponder a bit to figure out what would be just right for her, but I think these will be perfect. She's young, seems to have a lot of energy, likes bright colors, and is a fan of cabling. I've been eyeing the "Aran Sandal Socks" from Socks, Socks, Socks for a long time now, and what better color than bright red? The color in the picture is almost right - it's 4018 (Red) in Baby Ull. The yarn is a bit splitty and difficult to frog, but it knits up well, is superwash, and pretty soft to boot. Had to add in some extra patterning since I needed more stitches around than used in the pattern, but it all blends in well. I'm loving how the cables are coming out! The pattern goes all the way down the heel so there's a flash of pattern if you wear them with open backed shoes. Much fun.

Oh, and the needles are a custom job, which is why they look so uneven. A few years ago, my grandparents moved out of their house to assisted living and had to get rid of a lot of their things. My Grandma was an incredible knitter. She's the one who taught me when I was little, who stood by while I made clumsy row after row, who helped design a special bonnet for my baby doll (who had gotten a rather odd punk haircut when I was three). Unfortunately, she had a series of strokes that made her unable to really use her hands at all, so no more knitting. She gave all of her knitting supplies to me, a gesture that made me cry just a little. I took all of the yarn she had kept, sorted it out into light, medium and dark colors, and made an afghan out of three strands held together, plain garter stitch. I wanted something that she could touch and hold against her cheek, something to remind her of all the things she had so lovingly made and most of all something that would keep her warm and let her know how much I cared. She cried when I gave it to her, too. The needles were made by my Grandpa years ago out of plastic straight needles. He snipped off the ends, sharpened them into points, and filed until everything was smooth. These needles aren't the best: they bend, one is a bit too short, and they aren't very strong. But I feel like I'm sharing something special with my Grandma, and that's enough for me.

Buttons, buttons

Blogger is finally back up! I've been trying for days to get on and update on my foray into the Perfect Sweater, but I haven't been able to post. I've finished everything except the second front of the cardigan, which I'll admit I'm a bit worried about. I'm doing a self facing that will get stitched down like this:

Now, the end result should be really nice. I finished the "button" side of the cardigan and it's going to look very polished once I sew the edges down. The trick is I have to figure out where all the buttonholes are going to go now, before I start the second side, since the buttonholes will be worked as I knit. Finally got to the fabric store and picked out some buttons so I can arrange them on the finished side and see what seems to work. But I can't quite decide on which will look best. The sweater is quite plain, all stockingette, shaped a bit like a fitted jacket. It's a deep, slightly heathered forest green. I'll probably wear this all the time, so nothing too fancy. Which button should I use? Please leave your answer in the comments (couldn't get a poll to work correctly to save my life this morning). I'll send a copy of Mindful Knitting to a randomly selected commenter, so there's something in it for you as well :-)

PS - the metallic buttons are all an antique-y gold tone. The third button down is plastic and has various darker greens in it all swirled together. Hard to get the colors to come out well. Oh, and Dan's vote is for the leaf button. Still not sure where I stand yet.

Move update

Sorry to have been AWOL for such a long time. Dan and I have been working feverishly to clean up and prepare the house for sale. It started out in decent condition, but there are a lot of things that we've both ignored for years or just never got around to fixing. We had our Realtor walk through and point out things that should be changed, and I made up a master list that's now hanging on the refrigerator of all the things we need to finish. So much work! Thankfully, a lot of it is painting which I really enjoy.

That is, aside from the evil popcorn ceiling seen on the right. We have a huge vaulted ceiling covered in the stuff that we planned on taking down, but just don't have the time or energy now. So we're painting it all white to match the walls. This is turning out to be much more difficult than either of us would have imagined. The accoustical coating soaks up paint like a sponge and comes off when you try to paint it, dropping down in a rain of tiny white dots everywhere. So far we've used four gallons of paint for that one ceiling alone! It takes a lot of muscle to coat the uneven surface, which is especially hard from a distance. Dan is doing the bulk of the higher up stuff while I do edging and the lower areas. Evil, evil stuff. I can't wait to be finished.

So far, we've re-painted our downstairs bathroom from a glorious apple green (see the dab of paint here) to a much more house shopper friendly cream (look left for the finished bathroom, tiny as it is). We've replaced the leaky kitchen faucet with a snazzy new one with a spray attachment that the boys love. We've washed down the kitchen cabinets and treated them with Old English scratch cover to fill in nicks and uneven spots. We've picked out vinyl tiles to cover the kitchen floor, since the old linoleum is in lousy shape. We've filled in holes in the walls and primered doors that need attention. We've cleared out whole car loads of stuff from the garage, enough that I'm driving to Goodwill every Sunday morning with another load (I now bring the workers something nice for breakfast once a week). We still need to install the floor in the kitchen and tear up the carpet in the upstairs bathroom and install tile there. Then touch up paint wherever it's needed and general clearing out of everything that isn't essential.

The original goal was to put the house on the market by the end of this month. I think it'll be a week or two into March, but that's still pretty close to what we'd planned. Then we wait and see how long it takes for the house to sell and start planning the move. Dan doesn't have a job in Oregon yet, despite a concerted effort to find one. At present our plan is to have him talk to his boss and see if his company will consider keeping him on as a consultant for a while, telecommuting once we move. He just started a very large project that will bring in a lot of money for the company, so they may well decide to keep him on to oversee things at the start. If he doesn't have a job in place we'll use the money from the sale of the house to live on while he searches in the Portland area. We will have enough to live on for a good year or so, and he plans on doing at least temp work while looking for something permanent there.

I go from being terrified of making such a big move to elated that we're finally moving to a place that feels right, that feels like home. Such a big step for all of us, but I think it's the right one all around. I can't wait!

How did my tiny little guy become SEVEN years old already?

Ryan is growing up so very quickly. It really does seem like just yesterday he was a baby so small he didn't fit in any of the clothes we brought to the hospital. Since then he's grown like a weed, soaking up the world around him along the way at lightning speed (which is the speed he does everything, hence my dad's nickname for him, Rocket Boy). He is a builder of all things Lego, especially rocketships and machines of all shapes and sizes. He loves reading Dr. Seuss, especially Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! He loves broccoli. His favorite color is red. Just last night he used chopsticks for the first time, grinning proudly all the way. He has taught me patience and acceptance and centered my life in ways I never knew existed.

I love you more than life itself, little guy.

Happy Birthday!