Halfway Down the Stairs

Wooden Floors, Counter Tops and Carpet, OH MY!

What do you think? I'm torn between the green and the brown for the Sun Porch. The floor is Tigerwood - I just really love the color. Anything is better than the hot mess my kitchen is right now.

This is a table I found at Crate and Barrel - It seats up to eight. I'm trying to decide if I want benches for the long sides and chairs for the ends or all chairs (then it would only seat six). We have a more formal dining room (this is for the kitchen), so the benches would be okay, but I'm afraid DH may not like that idea....
The website actually shows this table with wicker chairs, but no way, no how are wicker chairs gonna survive in this house of dogs, boys and madness.

(Shhh - I'm getting new stainless appliances too since my oven has given up the ghost and the icemaker ceased working - woo hoo! Hello debt! Just kidding - property tax refund/rebate because of the property value hit we took for the water intrusion damage to our house.)

Knitting Progress - I am on the home stretch on my Snowdrop sock and turning the heel on my second Waterfall sock so I should have some FO's in the next day or two. Also, some of that pretty, pretty yarn I was talking about is coming up soon!

Did somebody SAY NAY?


Inspired by Miss T's post this morning, I am declaring myself a Naysayer. I say NAY to sticky yarn, I say NAY to yarn barf, I say NAY to ugly colors attached to the pretty, I say NAY to NORO! Miss T, I promise you if any more Noro Kureyon Sock comes my way, it is yours!

Nonetheless, I persist in completing this pair of socks because I will NOT be a quitter. I am at the heel of my second sock, opinion of the finished items are being withheld at this moment.

I got some pretty, pretty stash this weekend. I'll post a pretty picture tomorrow.

I was not allowed to bring my camera into the Spring Fling, but I picked up many stinky shoes in order to help big kids find their matches, and then I watched a mass of 6th graders hop up and down to Miley Cyrus' song and they were screaming every word.

Coming Soon...


To a blog near you:

1. A remodeling post. I've spent the last week picking out flooring and appliances and countertops for a kitchen that is about five years past it's "worn out" date. (The floor is scratched through, the table is a germ-trap, half of the oven has ceased to work and the Corian counter top has split clean across.) Also, we had an ice dam that melted into our screen porch this March, ruining a smallish piece of Berber carpet that needs to be replaced. I've got samples to show you tomorrow.

2. A Spring Fling Post. The Sixth graders have a year-end dance/party this Friday and I am Security.

3. A Yarn Shopping Post. 'Nough said.

4. A Knitting Progress Post

5. A Lacrosse Post. Because between now and the end of July my life is Lacrosse and the cabin.

If you're a hockey fan and have nothing to do tomorrow night now that the Wild are done - go check out the Swarm at the X - tickets are cheap and the games are really fun.

In the meantime - enjoy our Luau pictures. Do you think the Teen was impressed?

There really is a lot going on here...

There's the Waterfall Socks...

this first one took half a day, yep. Half a day.

This is the Snowdrop Sock (like Deb's) in the Noro Kureyon Sock (yukky, but pretty. Every couple of yards I pull out of the skein is a big knotty mess.)


This is a cardi - can't remember the name of the pattern - I'll tell you later when it's finished, but the yarn is Cascade 220 Tweed. I really love the knitted fabric. La, la, la... Can you tell I'm not really feeling the blog tonight? I just spent two hours entering used Gameboy cartridges and PS2 games for sale onto Amazon for my boys. Puck's made about $185.00 in two days. Seriously. My brain is a little goggled. (I know, I made up a word.)

I ordered a new kitchen counter today from Home Depot. We are now officially quite a bit poorer. Our old counter was a faux-Corian material that doesn't do well with hot/cold fluctuations. So, if you should use a slow cooker or electric frying pan on the counter during the Winter months, the counter may crack when it's cooling down. Especially after the ten year warranty is over. Yup. It's ugly. Silestone, here we come. I don't even want to talk about the hardwood floors. (sigh.)

The End of the Road:

Well, for Sock Madness 2 at least.


I just didn't feel like starting the pattern when I got it in my email, so I didn't. I watched as the finishers added up and I just didn't care. However, I kept plugging away at these socks and I really love the sweatery feeling of these. The blue is malabrigo lace and the brown is from TLE - Lane Borgosesia Cashwool. I think this pattern will become available after Sock Madness 2 is over - but the designer's name is Tina Lorin - her blog is Knit Tenacity. I finished these on Monday night - so I was about twelve hours behind the last finisher.

Pattern: Slippin' Stripin' Socks by Chrtine (Tina) Lorin Yarn: malabrigo laceweight and Lane Borgosesia Cashwool. Needles: Knitpick's size 2 dpn's (2.75 mm). Started: April 11, 2008 Completed: April 14, 2008. Note: See above.

Oh, and I have other socks hangin' around on the needles. This is my Waterfall sock. I know, mine looks different, but I like it, quick and easy repeat. The pattern came with a yarn club shipment from the Woolgirl, so I don't know if it's available yet. I am not using the yarn she sent me for this pattern, but I probably will because the pattern is quite excellent.

Then I ventured out of my fortress of solitude to meet with some local knittahs so I could learn how to cast on a toe-up sock and knit this lovely pearl:
Conclusions: I was right, toe-up is kind of a pain, but not as hard as it could be. I probably still won't do too many because I'm NOT a fan of short row heels. We shall see how this one turns out. Also? I brought my camera to Starbucks in my knitting bag. Guess where it stayed? Yea, you guessed. We were there until almost 12:45 and then we all had to run, but not before we made a quick stop into Lulu and Luigi's and bought goodies for the furry friends. See Sammy's dance performance over at Deb's blog.

Well, the day is gray and not too promising looking, I have kitchen counters to purchase, Lacrosse games to time and Wild hockey games to try to watch without losing my nerve. Hopefully the knitting will calm the waters.

Busted....Stash.



I mean really, could you resist this? Yarnzilla.com was having a little sale before Spring Break and I just wanted something bright and flowery and soft...

So, when I said I had quite a bit of it....I'm talking 1400 yards. Or, I could just roll in it for a while.

I needed to round out my cart(you know, for shipping purposes) when I bought a few patterns from the Loopy Ewe last week, so some Sanguine Gryphon got plucked right up. Some Bougainvillea and Pythagoras came home to roost. I didn't want TLE to think I'd forgotten about them.

Well, I didn't make it in the third round of Sock Madness 2. I confess, I may have performed better if I'd cast on when I got the pattern, but I actually waited until the next afternoon. It's okay, now I can knit the rest of the patterns and enjoy them. I am almost finished with my Stripin' Slippin' sock (or is it Slippin' Stripin'?), and I really, really like the finished product. However, I have a Waterfall sock on one side of my desk, my Hareton sock on the other corner and a tweedy cardigan down in the TV room. Time to spread the attention around. With all the hockey/knitting I've been doing, I should have much more completed, but I've been breaking the evenings up doing the timekeeping in the stadium booth at our local Varsity Lacrosse games (EP won last night 11-10 against Eagan, holy cow, what a game!)

But I digress, I stayed up until the bitter end to enjoy the Wild's sweet victory last night!!!!!! OMG, it was a heart stopper right until the end. At least we didn't have any injured players during this game. Lorraine says her favorite player is Ralston, and while I do love him, how could you disregard Burnsie? And, frankly, any player with a French name has a place in my heart, like, Pierre-Marc Bouchard!!!!! Or Boulanger, or Pouliot! I believe I need a nap this afternoon so I can last through tonight's game.

Round 3 Underway:


Slippin' Stripin' Socks.
I love this sock and this pattern - this is laceweight yarn - could you tell? However, for some reason I am knitting v-e-r-y slowly. I started this on Friday didn't finish until last night. I am not sure my chances are very good in this third round. Only 12 out of 20 move on. Well, I'll keep plugging away.

Isn't this pretty? This is malabrigo Silky Merino. I have enough for a good-sized project. Any ideas?

We're having birthday cake today for DH and nephew, they share a birthday, so I must get a movin' to have things ready.

Waaa!

What a game!

A Prettier Picture:


These are a more color-accurate picture of my Reversai socks from the Sock Madness 2 competition. I didn't think I'd like the short-row heel, but I like it much more in a garter stitch.

These are my finished Sockamania Simply Cable Socks:


Pattern: Simply Cable from Sockamania by Anni. Yarn: Brooklyn Handspun in the Warm Night colorway. Needles: Knitpick's size 1 dpn's (2.25 mm). Started: March 17, 2008 Completed: April 9, 2008. Note: This is a lovely and easy pattern - I was able to put it down for Sock Madness and pick it right up again, no problem. This yarn is gorgeous, I love how the color knit up.

Tonight I am working on a sweater and watching round one of the Wild playoff game!!! Woot!

Did I Mention?

Hawaii was really very lovely:

This would be the beach where my kids got REALLY sunburnt.

Sock Madness 2: I made it past round two! The pattern was sent out on the 31st and I was not anywhere near a computer/printer to get the pattern. When I was printing out our boarding passes on the 3rd I snuck in a printout of this pattern - The Reversai (Flickr page). I started them on the flight home, and finished them last night and I managed to be the final finisher in my group! Yay!

The deets:

Pattern: Reversai Socks from Sock Madness 2 by Janine LaGras. Yarn: Seacoast Handpainted Panda in Mountain Rainbow. Needles: Knitpick's size 1 dpn's (2.25 mm). Started: April 3, 2008 Completed: April 6, 2008. Note: This is a really different pattern - completely reversible. I wasn't sure about the garter stitch, short-row heel, but I really kind of like it now.

I will try to get a prettier photo a little bit later - maybe after it's done SNOWING!

ETA: I seem to have gone off of the enabling wagon lately, but, it's just time. I've gotten emails over the last week. Spritely Goods has updated her shop with new base yarns and rovings, the Yarn Nerd has updated his shop, Sophie's Toes is updating tomorrow at 7pm and Scout has added new pattern tamers and bags to her website. Sheesh. Too bad I spent all my money in Hawaii this month. (um, yea.)

And again, I say:

GO WILD!

We Are Home.

We saw a volcano. Hot magma!


A black sand beach and sea turtles.



Oh, and I burned my kids. They were surfing/snorkeling/boogie-boarding at the time, but ooo, the Teen has second degree burn blisters on his shoulders. It's gonna get in the way of Lacrosse, kind of hard to get those shoulder bads on over blistered sunburn. I am a bad mom with very white children.