What I've Been Up To...

Over the past month I've been going at several designs, two of which I can't talk about until they go live, but...Oh, I can't wait to show those off!! Please stay tuned!

A huge thing that has sucked a huge part of my life lately has been a home improvement protect. Our basement was finished when we bought it, but about a year ago we had water damage that made us remove the carpet. Since we were going to replace the flooring, the ugly parquet flooring had to go to....then of course there was the fireplace. The fake 80's brick was chipped and an eye sore. So why not replace that to!! Famous last words.




Day 1: Down comes the fireplace. The demo didn't take long, so then off to the store for fire board, ceramic tile and vinyl flooring.

So, you know the tile and vinyl I had searched last year are both discontinued. Figures.

New ceramic brought home and by Day 3 we had the walls back up and all the pieces cut and ready to go.



The fireplace then came together quickly.



By now my back and knees are shot, but I can see it all coming together. I was the fueled by the WANT to have my yarn room back. Pop some Advil and keep going.

Day 4: We grouted the fireplace, scrubbed the filthy floors and patch all the concrete from when we removed the carpet nails...they were EVERYWHERE!! If I see another nail I'm going to scream.

That night we went out for sushi...the kids Loved that.






Day 5. Yes, Day 5. We were suppose to be done on day 5. We started putting the flooring down and unfortunately we had large furniture in the room that couldn't go on the new tile for at least 24 hours. That means we are heading into Day 6.




Looking back the huge comment made by my amazing husband...don't ever ask me to do this again. I felt the same way, but we both know that we are DIY people. We like the fact that we can stand back and say with pride: we did that!

We finally finished in the late afternoon today...thank goodness. I have bruises on my knees and shins. My back is super tender, but my heart is soaring!



Do you feel the same way when you accomplish something like that? I can't wait to stylize the room and have a cozy place to call my yarn room.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

The one thing that amazes me every time is how much my daughter is like me. She'll say things that I'd say and we sometimes finish each others sentences. She's 7 years old. What's it going to be like when she's 14? Only time will tell.

When she was six I taught her how to knit because she wanted to be like me. Now, she didn't obsess about it in the beginning, but as time went on things progressed. She saw me knitting on the couch and she'd gather her stuff and join me. Usually only handling a row or two. It's progress. I tell her that a row a day will get her a scarf sooner then not knitting at all.

This is the scarf she started about a year ago:



I think it's fabulous! Of course she's on the fence because it's not perfect. ~wonder where she got that from. **cough**

For Christmas I bought her a Monster High knitting bag from Knittings My Bag... Love her stuff. I totally missed out on the St. Pat's update and thinking of ordering a custom bag;)



Anyway, I put two skeins of Lion Brand Hometown in black and pink along with some needles in the bag as a gift. She loved it. Has been working on it slowly. She would have gotten more completed but if it doesn't look right then she wants to fix it. So proud.

Since then she's requested her own 'blog' (as she calls it) on Ravelry. I set up the account and helped her log her projects. It's really kind of amazing to watch her become involved with the knitting community. Watch out knitting world, Miss Mac is here.

Left Over Sock Yarn Blanket Update

I started this blanket back in October of 2008. Perhaps I should just rename it to the Never Ending Sock Yarn Blanket. It's not that I don't work on it... I do. See here's proof:



I just seems like there hasn't been much progress because the blanket grows only one square at time and who wants to watch that grow. I still love it and it will most likely take another 2 years to finish, but I'm well on my way. See here, I have more squares to add:



In case anyone is curious, the awesome Thirty-One bag was a gift from my mom. It holds the blanket, extra squares and plenty of room for the left over yarn balls.

Do you have any Never Ending Projects that your working on?

Scorpions Kill

I wanted to share with you something that Miss Mac brought home before the New Year. I have it hanging on my fridge and it makes me giggle. Definite proof that she is so much like her daddy...



It says: The scariest bug is scorpion. It is the scariest becuse it eats frogs and it kills people.

Yep, totally her daddy right there!

In other news:



I've made some good progress on the October Frost sleeves. So loving the yarn and the pattern is just going very smooth so far. The next couple of months are going to be super crazy design time for me, but I'm hoping to keep blogging through it even if I can't show you anything. I know totally bummer...but all good things will be revealed.

Happy Hump Day Knitting!

Faery turns to Frost

For a long time I was stuck on the Faery Ring (rav link)... Mostly because the pattern was incomplete. The designer was "working" on it... well, I started this project in the summer of 2009 and she still hasn't completed the pattern. This is not to say that I couldn't have finished it on my own. I am capable of figuring these things out. But, do I really want too?

After further pondering and taking the project out of time-out... I came to the conclusion that even if I finished it, I most likely wont wear it. So over the course of a weekend I ripped it out. I re-skeined and washed the yarn. Now what does one do with 2,340 yards of beautiful wool? Anything really.

So I looked through my queue and picked October Frost from A Fine Fleece. After reading some reviews I'll most likely make some modifications to the sleeves and with that thought I then cast those on.




Really enjoying knitting this so far and I think I'm enjoying the fact that I will have a cardigan that I'll wear even more!