Home Improvement: Kitchen Pantry

I hate how you always have to scroll through 5 million pictures to get to the finished result, so here you go:

Is this what happens when you get old, you get excited about pantries? AHHH MY PANTRY IS AWESOME!!!! (The first part of the saga is here, in which I replace the floor.)

We still have the same number of shelves; the bottom 3 are 1x12"s, and the top 2 1x10"s. I did this on purpose so that now I can actually reach the boxes on the top shelf, instead of having to perform some sort of olympic balancing feat to reach the boxes that had gotten pushed all the way to the back. 

It's probably not necessary to explain how I made these shelves, because it's pretty obvious from looking at them. What's not obvious is that the friggin' wall is not straight. This resulted in having to cut each shelf 3 times (smaller each time, thankfully.) While they fit between the 2 walls at the front of the pantry, they did not fit at the back. I guess I had forgotten this from when I did the floor, and ended up having to cut a notch in the drywall to fit the tile in.

 And no, I didn't decant everything into cute vintage glass jars with painted-on chalkboard labels. Because I am a normal person who actually uses my pantry to store normal food. So let's all have a collective chuckle at this pantry I found on Houzz:

Meanwhile, the garden is going gangbusters. Don't ever let someone tell you that you can't grow food on a deck. I'm planning on canning all of this in vintage glass jars with gingham cloth on the top tied with rustic twine.

New Toys

For years I have been jealous of the people I read about who go to a thrift store and just happen upon a beautiful piece of furniture or really expensive shoes for sale for $2.99. Finally, last week it happened to me! I am now a person who owns 2 spinning wheels.

 

I'm quite happy with my Fricke wheel, but when you see an Ashford Traditional for $45, you buy it. It's missing some parts, most notably a flyer, but I found a used one that's currently on its way via the slow boat from rural Canada.

You may have heard of this little bike race in France called the Tour de France, which is nothing but the inspiration for the more important event going on right now, the Tour de Fleece. 'Tis the season for sporting-related fiber events. Goals are individual, with the most basic to spin every day of the Tour. I've finished 2 bobbins so far: "Tanzanite" on Polwarth and "Cody" on Merino, both from FatCatKnits (I'm on the FatCatKnits team, which explains this.)

 

And the craft-related machinery doesn't stop there! For my birthday this year I got a new sewing machine. My Singer wasn't terrible, but it refused to sew through anything more that just 2 layers of regular fabric. This is the Janome HD1000, and can sew through a yardstick (skip to 1:36). I'm not sure I will ever need to do that, but it's good to have options. 

Finally, the pantry, currently in the form of a large Tetris game, is nearing completion.  Let me tell you, that can of Benjamin Moore paint has really paid for itself. Not only did it cover all of the kitchen cabinets, but also 2 shelves, a ceiling fan, and all of these pieces - and there's still half a gallon left.

 

Evolution of a Light

Uhhhh I have a blog? I haven't posted in over 2 months! Every once in a while I contemplate just officially ending the whole thing (it's been over SEVEN years), but I also want the option of putting stuff up here in case I feel like it. Usually what happens is that I read someone's amazing blog about how they bake strawberry cakes and grow heirloom vegetables all day, and look at their artfully composed photos of a single leaf, and I think I should do that. Then I get home from work and sit on the couch for 4 hours knitting or watching trolls attack each other in the comments sections of feminist blogs, and the whole thing just seems like way too much work.

So if you thought the last post about 4 square feet of tile flooring was thrilling, you're going to love this. Now that I'm old and grizzled in the home improvement sector, I was bracing myself for the worst when I decided to take down the fluorescent light in the kitchen. At best, I thought, there would be a hole in the ceiling. Worst case there would be a colony of hobos living up there.

Ok, not so bad! Needs paint, for sure, but there's not a gaping 3-foot hole up there. There was the world's worst drywall patching job, but I could deal with that.

First I pulled the patch down (i.e., punched it) and sanded as much of the patching compound off as I could. Luckily the drywall piece was in good shape so I didn't have to buy more.

Next I googled "how to fix drywall." Googling is a very important step in all home repair projects. I screwed a piece of scrap wood behind the hole so that the patch would actually be attached, rather than floating there precariously as it was previously.

Then, I screwed the patch pieces (I don't know why there were two, but at this point I was just going with it) to the board.

I taped over all of the seams with some flexible mesh tape. 

Finally, I smeared the whole thing with patching compound and tried to smooth it out as evenly as possible using a putty knife. I did two coats and let it dry after the first. Then I sanded it down, using the highly effective method of standing on a ladder with a cookie sheet lined with newspaper balanced on my hand waitress-style underneath, so the dust didn't coat the entire kitchen.

Then I left the room and let Jason do the electrical. There are a lot of couples who like to do DIY projects together as some sort of torture-bonding ritual, but after 5 years we know enough to just stay out of each other's way. It works out; Jason's good with plumbing and electrical, and I'm good with painting, sawing, and making sure things are straight. When I came back down a few hours later there was a light!

The pantry project I mentioned a few months ago is currently in Stage 2. I have cut all the wood for the shelves, but plan on painting them before installing them. When I finish that, the kitchen is done! So plan on pictures when I get around to it, probably early 2014.

For anyone participating in the Ravellenic Games (i.e., the knitting olympics, but I'm not allowed to call it that: see here), I'm on the best team ever: Team Apathy. Team motto: "Hear us meh."We don't care if anyone finishes or not.

Home Improvement: Pantry, Part 1

Brace yourselves for a whole bunch of really exciting photos of 5 square feet of floor!

This is our pantry. Ugh, I know. So uncharacteristically unorganized.

I'm going to redo the whole thing, and I had to start with the biggest offender, the floor. This gross white tile floor is on the list of head-scratchers (along with the orange ceiling in the basement) in this house. Why wasn't the floor replaced along with the rest of the floor in the kitchen? Was that just too much effort?

I started with taking off the baseboards. I intended to reuse them, but they turned out to be really gross too. Also, they're too short - there was originally a bi-fold door here, so there was a gap in the molding and rails on the floor and ceiling. I used a razor blade to cut through the caulk at the top of the baseboards, and hammered a chisel in to pry them away from the wall.

Hidden behind one was this matchbook cover for Sears driving school. I wasn't that surprised to find it, since it seems like whoever built this house just put all their trash in the walls.

Home improvement always involves an unexpected element, and in this case it was that the tile had been installed over 2 layers of linoleum... which turned out to be awesome! Once I chiseled under the first tile, I was able to peel the whole thing off the floor in sheets.

I only bruised my hand once! Also I was dumb and didn't wear gloves - were you aware that ceramic tile shatters into tiny little slivers that will slice your hands to shreds? Neither was I.

The floor then was covered in tile adhesive [If you are laying tile on a floor to be walked on, you must put down a foundation first. But no one will be walking in here, so it's ok.] I set some tiles I got at Home Depot, which are all displayed high up in the most inconvenient place ever. I ended up climbing up some pallets to get them, which I believe is frowned upon, but had I looked for an employee I'm sure the entire process would have taken 3 times as long.

I only had to make 2 cuts because miraculously the pantry was a little over 24" wide.

After a few days of drying, I put in some grout, and ta da! Done. I feel like this project went way too easily. Something bad is going to happen. Oh wait.

Remember those baseboards I took off? They are 3" high. Guess how high baseboards are now (post-1985)? 3 1/4". Yep. Guess I have an excuse to buy that table saw I've been wanting.

Next, I'm going to paint the pantry and add solid shelving. I seriously hate those wire shelves, stuff always falls through or tips over. The problem is that there are SO MANY options! I'm thinking a few slide-out shelves will be good, so we can access items towards the back. I still haven't figured out what to do with the trash cans - they are in the way but there doesn't seem to be another place to put them.

What is in your dream pantry? What haven't I thought of?

Finished: Hermione's Everyday Socks

More socks! I feel like I keep knitting socks, but I don't actually gain any, because for every new pair an old pair gets discontinued. I do have small feet, but my old socks have shrunk so much they could fit toddlers' feet. These have been my traveling project for the last 6 months, and have been exciting places such as a National's baseball game, Nova Scotia, and the outlet mall.

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks (free, and super-easy)
Needles: size 1 DPNs
Yarn: Paton's Kroy Socks FX from Joann's (I am an equal-opportunity yarn buyer)
Raveled!

It's only after looking at this picture that I'm realizing how different in color these socks are. Oh well, I doubt anyone will notice.

Help me out here. I've been in a reading slump since the beginning of the year. The problem is that I've read every book. Yep, all of them. Tell me what to read! Here are the books I've read 400 times each:

• Teenager living in a dystopian society gets thrown into a situation where she has to be plucky to survive
• Slightly abrasive-yet-loveable detective solves a murder
• Single woman living in the middle ages/colonial America/World War I breaks gender barriers
• Someone eats locally/hikes a trail/travels to exotic locations for a year
• Comedian/TV personality shares humorous anecdotes about their life

I'm generally not interested in vampires, werewolves, lands populated by creatures other than humans, and space, but hey, if an awesome book exists out there with those themes, recommend it. But for the love of God do not tell me to read Twilight.

Home Improvement: Entryway

A terrible thing happens when you're a homeowner. It starts with some innocent browsing of real estate websites, where you type in what you paid for your house and look at what's for sale for that price now. Pretty soon you find yourself sprinting to the computer whenever you see a new for sale sign in the neighborhood and sneaking into open houses (or maybe that's just me).  We're certainly not planning on moving any time soon, but that doesn't stop the drooling over other people's garages and hardwood floors.

I know I need to calm the freak down and just bask in my house's awesomeness (and probably stop watching so many episodes of House Hunters.) For example, how many houses have you seen that have their very own built-in handmade coat hook wall? I have one of those!

There is an awkward entrance area in the living room right as you walk in the front door. Before, it didn't have anything in it, besides this wobbly lamp and a whole bunch of shoes (not pictured, because I staged this photo to make it look pretty.) Oh, and the walls were orange.

But now, we have our very own FOYER. Do people even say "foyer" anymore? No? Let's call it an Entryway. The board and batten I did all by my little self, and it was my first project using a miter saw. I'm pretty sure the neighbor hates me now because I didn't have a nail gun, and had to pound tons of nails into the wall by hand. There are tons of tutorials on how to install board and batten, so just google it; I used a mish-mash of all of them. I did replace the baseboard, but you can skip this if you have taller ones. I used 1x3 pine for the vertical pieces and 1x4 for the horizontal, and didn't install any boards, only batten. The wall is just painted and looks fine because it's smooth drywall.

The wall color is Benjamin Moore "Alpaca", the choice of which obviously had nothing to do with my fiber-based hobbies. I made the wreath, using this tutorial, out of a boring book on Joan of Arc. Don't worry, I checked out the reviews online first to make sure I didn't want to read it first.

The two framed pieces of art I made; they list all of the places Jason and/or I have ever lived. It's a lot: Virginia, Arkansas, Delaware, Maryland, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, Missouri, Washington, Georgia, Ohio, California, Montana, and Ireland.

Here's where I got everything, just in case you're interested:

• Bench: Overstock
• Fabric Bins: Home Depot
• Half-moon table: World Market
• Basket, lantern, and vase: TJ Maxx
• Coat hooks: Lowe's
• Frames and key hooks: Ikea

Fresh Off the Wheel

Whenever I mention spinning to a normal human, they almost always assume that I'm talking about the type of spinning you do in a class at the gym. Bike spinning might make you stronger, but it certainly won't make you yarn. And yarn is what it's all about.

This fiber is 100% merino from Pacific Wool and Fiber, a birthday gift from last year. I had a full 8 oz., which is rather a lot of fiber. It was my first spinning wheel project, and I spun it into 3 fairly thin singles, which took my entire life.

The yarn came in somewhere around a heavy fingering or light sport weight 3-ply. New spinners, I'll tell you a secret - 3-ply is much more forgiving to uneven singles than 2-ply. It is more work, but it pays off in the end. I'm not sure how much yardage I ended up with because I haven't measured it, but I'm hoping it's at least 600 yards. I'm thinking about making a stole or shawl, so that I can use up all the yarn, perhaps Woodland Shawl or Sakura.

Next up is what I'm calling "my circus yarn", Merino from Woolgatherings [prepare to spend money if you click on that link]. In contrast, this spin only took about 8 hours total, basically nothing in yarn spinning years. Although the colors look jumbled up in the skein, they are actually fairly long color repeats, so the resulting knit will be striped. I have about 330 yards of sport weight, any ideas? Other than rubbing it all over my face because it's so soft?

Currently on the wheel is a superwash wool and nylon blend, intended for socks, but I guess my brain just stopped working when I ordered it, because I forgot that nylon is plastic, and spinning plastic is terrible. So squeaky!

Baker Baker

A few weeks ago a coworker shared some sourdough starter and I've been baking my little heart out ever since. My favorite recipe so far is King Arthur Flour's Rustic Sourdough; it's not super sour, so if you prefer, try the Extra-Tangy Sourdough recipe. I think we can all agree that home-baked bread is one of the best things ever.

Bonus crafting content: my brother made the cutting board!

One Hook

I've been on a bit of a crochet bender lately. Sometimes you just feel the need for speed, you know? It all started when my office installed this terrible blue lighting. It's supposed to be more like natural light, but really all it does it make it impossible to focus on a piece of paper and cause people to make comments about how it looks like a mental institution. So, I stood up on a chair and disconnected all the overhead lights, and brought in a bright green lamp I bought at Target. My desk started feeling like a living room, so then I needed to get rid of the black plastic industrial pen caddy thing. I raided the recycling bin and my yarn scrap bin (yes, I have a yarn scrap bin, don't you?), and a few nights later I had these:

I don't remember how or why I desperately needed to crochet some hearts, but it probably had something to do with Pinterest or Ravelry. I had the intention of doing a valentine-themed mantle decoration but then I remembered that I hate valentine-themed mantles.

Also the living room is no longer orange and red (post on that to come, sometime). I made the mirror above the fireplace, using this tutorial, in the basement last summer during an epic marathon of 48 Hours Mystery. I am now awesome at glue-gunning and identifying psychopaths/murderers.

Work on the summer garden blanket continues. I'm about 50% done. Unfortunately I'm off crochet at the moment due to an unexplained index finger illness. Good thing I have so many back-up hobbies!

Obligatory End-of-Year Post

Wow, I just blinked, and seemed to miss the appropriate window for posting end of year mosaics. I guess that's just too bad because here are 2 more for you to feast your eyes on. These are guaranteed to be the best you've seen!*

*This is a lie.

Looking back, I didn't finish too much knitting this year, possibly because I learned to spin about halfway through the year. It kind of doesn't matter though, because after 10 years of knitting, I don't need any more hats or gloves or socks. My favorite project was my Haruni shawl, mostly because it looks the most impressive and I'm totally going to kill the lace shawl category at the fair this summer. Oh yeah, this is a throwdown. Bring it, lace knitters. Bring it.

I finished 51 books (16, 218 pages; yes, I keep track of that) in 2011. My top 5, in random order, were Someone Knows My Name, Unbroken, Kindred, No Way Down, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'm not setting a goal for 2012 because I will fully admit to choosing books with less than 200 pages towards the end just so I could exceed 50. And sometimes I just want to close my eyes on the bus instead of reading.

I've never been much of a resolution person, but I do have 2 goals for this year. One is to take my dumb cell phone with me when I go upstairs to the living room each night. Generally what happens is that I leave it in the kitchen, 2 floors below, then someone calls me, and then it beeps every 15 minutes. I'm totally cool with ignoring the beeping, but it seems to get on Jason's nerves (can't really blame him.)

The other is to establish a craft gifting stash. Knitting and sewing are hobbies, which means that I do them only because I like doing them. I also like making things for other people, but I hate the deadlines. I have deadlines at work, and imposed by outside forces such as the government (taxes, car registration, etc.), so I really don't want to connect them to my hobbies. Hopefully holiday and birthday presents will be made far in advance so that I don't hate December so much next year.

This is the last sentence where I say something positive like "Here's to a great 2012!" So pretend I said that.