Cleaning 101

This is a picture of the fireplace when I moved in. It was bugging me that it was so dirty. So I watch too much HGTV but it paid off because I learned how to clean a stone fireplace.

This is the after...

I need advice...

In a nutshell...
These are three of the many colors I have slapped on my wall to try to decide what color to paint a very large room.



We are talking 30 feet ceilings (with skylights) and just a big room in general. I am looking for that perfect terra cotta color but can't find it. If I can't find something soon or at least decide Mr Yarn is going to strangle me.

Another view of big room:



Please give me your opinion. No white, off white or ecru allowed.

I am still alive...I swear I am

Long time no blog but I am still busy trying to get my life together. Here is a new picture of Dakota. Don't want to bore you but I also don't want her to get too big without getting puppy pictures of her.

We are getting ready to have our kitchen torn out. This is what it looks like before (although the photo really isn't too good)

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Oh and I have been knitting. I am about 3 inches away from being done with the Tumbling Block sweater that I am making for a good friend. I feel like it has taken me forever to finish it.



I got my Alice Starmore "Fern" kit in the mail today. I can't wait to start it although I don't know if that is what I will do next.

I also don't know why the color on all these pictures look so weird but I am too lazy to go downstairs and take them all over again so use your imaginations.

Our new puppy. We adopted her from New England Saint Bernard Rescue. Her name is Dakota. I didn't name her and they made me promise not to change her name because she knows her name. Not my favorite name but I love her. She is the sweetest puppy (5 months old, check out those paws).

No knitting. Still cleaning up the house. Promise to post pictures of the new place soon.

I am still alive

Well, no pictures yet because I can't find the cord to the camera yet. We are still swimming in a pile of boxes and furniture is being delivered to fill up rooms. It has been a hard road but I think we are on the downhill side of it now. Days are spent peeling wallpaper and nights are spent putting away stuff and putting stuff together.

I am loving New England. It is beautiful and I have lucked out and the weather has been perfect. The neighbors are friendly and welcoming and I really feel at home here. The only downside is how much I miss all my family and friends.

I will post more when I get the cord to the camera and time. We just set up computers last night and the connection is iffy at best. Thanks for all the well wishes and thoughts.

Goodbye sweet puppy

We made it to Boston. Our sweet puppy didn't. Her sweet heart gave out on her way out here. I can not begin to write how much we will miss this sweet soul.

Hanami

I tore through this one alright. It is the Hanami shawl. I did it out of Jojoland cashmere. I love this yarn. The shawl was really fun to knit but I am not all that in love with what it turned out to be.

So kids, this is it. This will be the last post until I get to the new house. We are sadly leaving Northern California (I am leaving my heart here though) on a redeye Wed night. We will be in the new house on the 15th. So, it will be a bit quiet around this blog for a few weeks. I can still get email at my old email address. I will never give that email address up!

Bye for now.

Voila

I finished it!!! I just need to block the crap out of it now. Uh oh.

Guess what...

I am on the LAST row of the "Rose of England". Funny thing is that it makes me sad to be finished with it. I started it about 9 months ago and this has taken me longer to finish than anything I have ever knit. It has come full circle. I started it when Mr. Yarn lost his job and am finishing it a week before the move to Boston. What am I going to knit on next?

So, I needed a project to work on while flying to and from Boston and since Rich is freezing his buns off I decided that I would hop to it and knit him a scarf. The fact that Rich is wearing scarves in the first place spells COLD.

This is the DNA scarf (how perfect for a chemist). Pattern is free on line.



One more week and I am outta here!

Ok, so I have been busy

There is so much that is happening that I haven't really had time to do anything other than moving stuff. I know I am boring but...

We sold our house! It had three offers and sold in one week. Not only that but I went to Boston and bought another house that I love. It was like shopping for shoes or something. It was weird but it is the perfect house and if all goes well with inspections etc we will be moving into it on the 10th of April. So, ya wanna see the house that I bought? Keep your fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong. It is on 1/2 an acre and in Marlborough.



another




and one more

House for sale

First open house tomorrow! You can see what the house is looking like now that we did our "thing" with it.

http://2020pacific.com

You can see more of it if you click on the photo gallery icon near the bottom.

2020 Pacific

All newly painted and just waiting for the first open house on Saturday. It looks better than it ever has and my heart is breaking moving away from this old and wonderful house. 103 years this house has been around and I suppose we were lucky to add 6 years of its history. Next people will be lucky to live here. Really good karma in this place.

Damn, it is COLD!

I haven't had much time to knit. We are packing up the house. We just got back from Boston. Boston is COLD. I didn't have a hat so I knit one on the plane. Problem was I didn't finish it until we were back in balmy Northern California. I am sure that it will come in handy in the weeks to come. Did I mention that it was snowing? I am sure that I looked like an idiot as I stuck out my tongue to try to catch a snowflake. I have only seen falling snow one other time. The real estate woman that was dragging us around (we saw 15 houses) must of thought that I was an idiot. Oh well.

We did find a house that we want to put an offer on. It is beautiful. 4000 sq feet on an acre in a wooded neighborhood. Soooo, I have to suck up the fact that I have a horrible hacking cough cold and get going on getting all my stuff together. This is better than waiting for Mr Yarn to get a job but it isn't too much fun. The fact that we have a 165 Saint Bernard that we may have to take to temporary housing (read: hotel with a kitchen) AND two cats is going to be...what is the word for it?....HELL.

The winner is...

Rich got an offer that he is accepting in Boston. Looks like I will be eating lots of clam chowder. The adventure begins...

Living in a house from the 1800's

I love my old house. There are tons of great things about it like the original stained glass, and the original fixtures, and high ceilings, and that it is made out of REAL 2 x 4's that are redwood. I love the original old floors, and the original glass that is still in all the windows. I love that there is a cupboard in the kitchen that used to be for ice to keep things cold, and that the original built in is all rickety and old but authentic and wonderful. Then there are all the things I hate. I can't stand that there is not ONE closet in this whole house (what did those people do with their clothes?). The same windows with the original glass that I love I also hate because it is drafty. I can't stand the small small rooms. I can't stand that there are NO closets (oh, I already said that). So everything has its good sides and bad.


The thing is that I am starting to get itchy to fix it up. We did the huge backyard thing a couple of years ago, and who knows if we are going to be staying here (I hope we do). I figure that I am going to fix up the bathroom. If we move it needs to be fixed and if we don't move it will be a nicer bathroom for us. So the question is how the hell do I move that tub? Heavy? Uh, cast-iron heavy. I don't know where to start. If I take this wallpaper off I know (call it psychic) that the walls might be crumbling under there. I want paint. I hate wallpaper. So, it is daunting.



Since most the rooms in my house are bright victorian type of colors I also think we should paint. I have been watching too many TV shows with names like "Sell My House". Muted and safe colors they say. Ha! Check this out (and please excuse the mess, I didn't know you were coming over)



A smashing peach color that I have been too lazy to change (yeah, I have lived here for 4 years, so?)



This room is really brick red but I sorta like the color that it is in the picture!

and last but not least



This is really orange and not lemon yellow but I never said I was a photographer.

So you get the gist of what I am saying. Sell "as is" or Navaho White?

Stinking Rose of England

I am still working on this puppy. It goes on and on. I would say that I am more than 3/4ths done. I work on it almost every day and hopefully one day I will be done with the damn thing.

In the moving front. Still don't know where we will end up. Choices now are: Boston, Texas, Boston again, Wisconsin more than I can hope for right here in the Bay area. Miracles do happen now and then. Don't they?

A promise is a promise

I promised my friend Leigh that I would make this sweater for her husband and by god I will! Argh. It is going pretty fast and will need a hell of a blocking, but I think that it will work out. I did this K Fassett sweater back in the 80's for myself. That sweater is sitting in a cedar chest. This one will look fine on Don.

Food fun

I decided to do something other than knit and so I spent my day in the kitchen making Blood Orange Marmalade. I have to say that I have canned lots of stuff but this one had to be one of the most labor intensive marmalade/jams to date.

On the knitting front...
I finished Pearl Buck but can't get a good picture of it. I am sending it off to mom because it will look way better on her. It is too cropped for me and just not my style.

Hope everyone has a great Holiday. I will be spending mine being a curmudgeon.

Pearl Buck

Finished the back of the "Pearl Buck Swing Jacket" out of the Winter 05 Interweave knits. Fun knit but I think that the cable design could be a bit more sophisticated. I would rechart it but I am just too damn lazy to have to think about it right now. I am just an idiot who mindlessly knits away on patterns that were done by others. As soon as I get my brain back I am going to start designing some for myself.

Time for another hobby!

I have decided that I want to play the Dobro. I do! When the dust settles and I know where we are moving I am going to buy one and take lessons. May be a while till I invite you over for a concert but it is the desire to play that counts.

On another note, Dr. Yarn is on his way to Boston. Another interview. Next week is Dallas. Week after that is New York. I am thinking that we may end up in Wisconsin...



then again, I won't count the chesse until we hear one way or the other on Friday or Monday.

Reynolds Whiskey Retro Sweater

I have been a knitting fiend. I finished another sweater. That makes two in one month. I have started another one for Mr Yarn! It is the "Avast" mens cardigan. I think it will be the perfect sweater for him.

Looks like we aren't going to Michigan afterall. Who knows where we will think we are moving next. Could be India?

Tangled Yoke is done!

I finished something! This one only took a couple of weeks. I love this sweater and was motivated to get it done because I actually want to wear it. I don't wear most of what I knit but this one is going to be on the "favorite comfortable sweater" list. I had a hard time getting good detail shots of the sweater but use your imaginations.



I started another sweater that I really wanted in my winter closet collection. I think it will get lots of use this winter as well.



I bought the kit at Stitches last year. It is Reynolds Whiskey: A Vintage Collection. It is a fast knit and I should have it done in the next couple of weeks.

So, Mr. Yarn didn't get the job in Alameda and we are thinking that we are really going to have to move. Who knows where...

I am laughing WITH her...

Poor Lily came back from "spa day" with much of her tail gone. It was for her own good but it looked so pathetic that it made me give her an extra biscuit for the humility she endured. I do like the little puff that they left behind so that she didn't feel nude.

More done on "Tangled Yoke". Not much more to do on it.



Mr. Yarn is going for an interview in Kalamazoo. You heard me...

I had to move on

No, I haven't given up on the "Rose of England" but...

I had to move on for a while. I still work on the Rose from hell but since it keeps getting smaller instead of bigger (Yeah, ripping is my friend) I decided to do something a bit less complicated. The "Tangled Yoke" is from the last issue of Interweave Knits and is a perfect winter sweater. I will be done with it soon and will be able to wear it in the gloomy days ahead.

On the Mr Yarn job front: Looks like there is a possible interview for him right here in Alameda. PLEASE ask your favorite deity to look over us and help him get this job. This would mean that we get to stay right where we are and that is a goooood thing. I love it here.

A picture is worth a thousand words

I can't get a good picture of the "Rose of England" because it is all bunched up on the needles. I am at least 1/2 way through.
This picture pretty much sums up how we are all feeling around here. Evan took this picture of Lily but since I am Evan's mom I felt that I could swipe it for my blog.

My friends get me in trouble!

Off I went to the retreat up in Santa Cruz with my pals. On the way up we stopped at Knitting Arts where Jan kindly opened up the shop for us. Gail being the enabler that she is talked me into making this vest in the new Rowan magazine. Ok, maybe she didn't have to push the issue but still... I did this much while at the retreat. The retreat was really fun and relaxing. The nuns ran the place and it was right on the beach. I thought it was pretty funny when one of the sweet nuns came over to the common room we were drinking margarita's (thanks Donna for those festive drinks) and told us that we would need to keep it down because Mass was starting next door.



I then spent Sunday with Laurel and her husband and Rich and friends from a knitting list that I am on. It was a blast but Laurel MADE me start this by simply handing over the yarn that she accquired for me for this shawl. Mean mean woman...

So, now I have these two projects started but of course I can't finish them until the Rose of England is done. Don't ask about where that is as far as done.

"Rose of England"

Well I am sorry that I haven't blogged in such a long time. I guess that I don't have much to say. It has been a hard and sad few months. My close friend Jean passed away after a long illness and my whole world has been a bit upside down. I could go on and on about what this person meant to me but I won't.

I will move on to the knitting side of my life. I have been knitting this for months. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a pretty fast knitter. This is not much to show for 2 months of knitting. I have taken more time ripping than I have knitting on this. I am determined to finish it though. In many ways this "Rose of England" pattern by Kinsel has kept me sane. It is a type of meditation (although frustrating) that has kept my hands and mind busy through a really hard part of my life.




On another front... Mr Yarn is going for an interview in Montreal this Sunday. I am not going to sit home and fret this time. I will be off for a girls few days of knitting in Santa Cruz. I think I can use some wine and laughing about now.

Hold the press!

I can't do it. I just can't. I got the last clue for the Mystery Stole 3 and I just can't finish it. I was going to finish it and give it to my mother, but I don't want her wearing it. I really think that it is unattractive. I thought that I would like something that was asymetrical, but I don't. The join is clunky and looks like it could have been a mistake but it isn't. I am sad to say that I really do not like the look of this one. I still think that Melanie is a VERY talented pattern maker but this is just one of those things that comes down to personal taste. Oh well.

Not much else happening here at Casa Yarn. Lots of stress and saddness. My best friend Jean passed away on Monday after a long illness and still no word of where Rich's and my butt will end up workwise. Meantime I just keep knitting on crochet cotton making this tablecloth (Rose of England). It is almost like I am going crazy little by little and this is my occupational therapy. If I could make you believe how many times I have ripped out this thing you would know that it is a project of futility.

Meantime.....I knit on.

Really bad picture but oh well

Here is the Mystery Stole 3 Clue 5. I have about 6 more rows to go before I am done with this clue. I am sorry that it is such a horrible picture but I just don't have the energy to really do it justice. You get the general gist of it I am sure. I will post another picture when I am completely done with this clue. This "stole" will be going to my mother. I am not thrilled with it so far.

Mystery Stole Clue 4

Ok, here is Clue 4 finished. It is looking really pretty but I was too lazy to block it out so the picture isn't too good. Oh well.

Love that sound!

There is nothing like the sound of yarn hitting your front door when the mail person heaves it at the porch. Today I was greeted by my new purchase of the Bee Fields shawl which was written by Anne Hanson of Knitspot. The yarn was by the talented Wooly Wanka



Can't wait to do this one. Makes me think of Stephanie and her bees. Did I mention that Stephanie mines the best honey in the whole world! Is it called mining for honey? I dunno what it is called but I am a honey addict and this is some of the best stuff I ever tasted.

Welcome to my neurosis

Yeah, things around the "Yarn!" household are still tense. So, how do I cope? I knit 2 complicated things at once and throw in a mystery knitalong for kicks.

I have gotten further on Morrigan but have put it down for the week so I can obsess on other projects. I will go back to good ole Morrigan next week. Here it is up to this point:



What else did I start you ask? Ho ho....I started a tablecloth to pass on when I am old. It is called "The Rose of England" and is in its infancy on the needles. I might have started it over 100 times up to this point but reluctantly put in a life line that in the last two rounds of rip-o-mania has saved me from having the pleasure of starting it all over again. We all know that working with thread on double pointed 0's and only 10 stitches is fun but I rather not do it over and over again.



and last but not least the Mystery Stole Clue 4 (which I have two weeks to do so I am in no big hurry. It is a repetitive pattern.

Hope

A few years ago I started reading a blog written by a father (Robert Rummel-Hudson) about his little girl. She has a disease that is rare (Polymicrogyria (PMG)) and it is about their journey after the diagnosis. He is now coming out with a book about that journey and I hope that everyone goes out and buys it. You can read his blog here

Shuylers Monster

Robert's writting has always kept me going back for more. Check it out.

Mystery Stole Clue 3

I am now seeing the priate more than ever but the shawl is pretty. So I am very conflicted. No way I am not going to finish it but I will have to give it to one of my piratey friends. I can knit an eyepatch to go along with it for that "special birthday gift".

Thanks Carol in NoVa!

Carol kindly pointed out that there was errata to Morrigan. My heart sunk and I almost couldn't hit on the link to see what it was. Luckily for me I am a robot when it comes to knitting and I instinctively fixed the error without giving it any thought to what the directions ACTUALLY read. Here is the link in case you are inclined to knit this sweater:

http://nosheepkal.blogspot.com/2007/07/red-alert-error-in-morrigan.html

Now I feel really stupid for not slowing down enough to realize that it was a TRUE mistake and not MY mistake. I also can not tell you how relieved I am that I am an idiot that doesn't follow directions.

One of those things

I have gotten to a spot on Morrigan that has been a goal for the last (mumble) few weeks. I am at the spot on the sweater where I am going to be dividing for the front and back. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal but since I am working on the "lesson on futility" sweater it is a big deal to me. I am going to finish this damn sweater. I am. Then I am going to turn around and give it to Laurel so that I won't have to look at it again. Yes, I am a sick woman.

Mystery Stole Clue 2

No, really! All I can see (and it won't go away now) is a pirate hidden in this mystery shawl. It sorta wrecked the whole lace thing for me. I mean what would a pirate be doing in my lace shawl. I can't stop knitting it now because I have to see if there is also a ship or somethin.

Har, mateys...

Gypsy Shawl

I finished Evelyn Clarks "Gypsy Shawl". I started this up at the knitting retreat and just finished it. I went way out of my comfort zone on the colors and maybe it wasn't such a good idea. When Annie saw it she shrieked "Ew, what IS that?" I got told that it was very 80's. It is. I probably won't be wearing it anytime soon.

I just downloaded and started the Mystery Stole Clue 2. I am not off to a very good start but then again I haven't had enough coffee yet.