It's supposed to be 99 degrees today - perfect for some wool socks! I know you just want to look at the pictures, so here are the details: Wullenstudio yarn (75% merino wool, 25% nylon; color "Lipstick On Your Collar"); pattern No Purl Monkeys (just Cookie A's Monkey pattern, but knitting the purls instead of, well, purling the purls); shoes are Semira by Doc Martens.
What's that? A finished knit? I hardly know what one of those looks like these days. I finished this shawl a really long time ago, back when it was cold, and my hands didn't immediately turn into sweat factories as soon as I picked up wool.
The pattern is Citron, and I used Malabrigo sock in "Botticelli Red" that I bought in San Francisco last year. It was pretty fast and fun to knit, although it's somewhat small. When I have worn it, it has been bunched up around my neck like a scarf. (Which seems to be the preferred way of wearing shawls anyway, since this isn't 1879.)
The pattern is available free at Knitty; raveled here.
And after:
I actually only threw away two grocery bags full of trash - everything else has been rearranged (I always was pretty good at Tetris). I know, not super exciting... but still super satisfying.
Once we moved in, the bathroom started looking sad and lonely.
I painted the walls "Silver Drop", and Jason and I put up the train rack. The plate, candle, and lantern were TJ Maxx finds, and the print on the wall is from this great Etsy seller.
To illustrate my point above about blogs being an inaccurate representation of reality, here's what the bathroom really looks like, cat litter box and overflowing trash can in all their glory:
Last weekend the sun came out, and I was finally able to climb out of the nest of quilts I've been hibernating in since December. Of course, the first thing I did was find some things to clean and organize (if you don't know me in real life, and if you haven't figured it out by reading this blog, organizing is one of my favorite pastimes.) My instinct is always to group like items together and then put them away into neatly arranged boxes. Generally, this works for things like tax returns and old photos, but it doesn't work for art supplies.
Half of my art supplies were down in my basement sewing room (henceforth known as "the craft bunker"), and the others were in drawers on my desk. I brought everything up so that I could have everything at hand while I worked on my journals and other experiments. I also covered a shoebox with paper and made some smaller origami boxes to hold my cork stamps.
Yes, I love art supplies. I recently acquired some nicer colored pencils and some watercolors. I also discovered that there is a Utrecht store right near my office in the city. This could be dangerous.
For months after we moved in, this room was completely empty. (Well, empty aside from the empty boxes and old furniture I was trying to sell on craigslist.) I tend to have a very exact picture of the furniture I want, and have a totally unrealistic price I want to pay for it. But, we now have a couch (bought on sale!), a table (on sale!), a side table and lamp, and chairs ($20 on craigslist, but still need to be painted). The "coffee table" is two of the $13 tables from Ikea, acting as a stand-in until we can get a real table. I like this one from Pottery Barn, but not for $400.
We also need a chair, and I like this one from Room and Board, but once again, I'm not paying more for a chair than we paid for the whole couch.
See the nook over by the door? Ideally I'd like a bench, to make sort of a foyer/entrance area. Then I would like the furniture fairy to pay for it and deliver it to the house for free.
(2) In 2008, one of my reading goals was to tackle the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list (current standing: 69/1001). This year, I've decided to try to read as many books set in different countries as possible. I'm not taking into account the nationality of the author, just the setting of the book. So far, I've visited 7 countries:
3) I did manage to finish one project. These are reusable snack bags that I made using this tutorial. My sister gave me a store-bought bag like these for Christmas, with the stipulation that I copy it and make one for her. She got the brown one, and the other went off to a friend.
On Friday, my office was closed as more snow fell. After a nice sleep, I uncharacteristically made breakfast not consisting of cereal. The name of this breakfast is comically difficult to write in a way that doesn't sound like murder or scandalous pregnancy.
On Saturday, I was confronted with this:
The next day, after 3 hours of flinging snow onto piles taller than me, we had successfully unearthed 3 vehicles. And there was much rejoicing.
Projected accumulation is 10-20" for the storm coming tomorrow. We had about 30" this weekend, so if we get the maximum we'll have a total of 50" on the ground. I am 58" tall. I will be sure to wear a brightly colored hat so that you can find me.
