Done!

As promised, here is a picture of my completed Inishowen scarf...the one that matches the carpet...

Don't Call Me Cheap!

Last weekend, while Dave and I were putting our house back together, I noticed a little discomfort while walking. Not pain, so much as annoyance. I looked down to discover the tread was coming loose from the sole of my tennis shoes. These shoes are a hundred years old, and I should probably buy a new pair, but instead I hot glued the tread back in place. Some people may call that being cheap, but I call it prioritizing. The less money I spend on shoes and clothes, the more money there is left for yarn :-)

Spring Roses

I haven't taken very many garden pictures this year.  My yard is in such disarray that I'm a little embarrassed to show it, but I just couldn't resist a few rose pictures.  My blog just wouldn't feel the same to me without them.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of my red rose bush, but I do know that it's very pretty. This bud is just about ready to open.

My first honey perfume rose of this year is just as beautiful as ever.  This plant never lets me down.

This is the new Heirloom rosebush Dave bought me for Valentine's day.  I love the bright pink color, and the scent is amazing!

I hope all my readers have a wonderful week!

Camouflage

I started a new scarf today.  I know I have tons of WIP's but I just couldn't help myself.  I was in Hobby Lobby, looking through their I Love This Wool section, and just fell in love this color.  It's called Biscuit, and it's from the Naturals line.  Each skein is 220 yards of sturdy, surprisingly soft 100% wool yarn.  Using my 40% coupon brought the already reasonable price down to around $3.50, give or take.  I had bought this yarn with Debbie Bliss' Cables & Lace pattern in mind, but changed my mind.  Inishowen (another Debbie Bliss pattern) was a much better fit for this rustic yarn.  

I worked on my new scarf while Dave and I watched a couple of Tivo'd shows.  Like I always do after I've finished a few pattern repeats, I laid my work on the floor to take a picture for my Ravelry page...

Obviously, I'm going to have to find a new surface for taking pictures of neutral colored projects, but this picture shows the speckled colors of my carpet beautifully!  I'll get a better picture of the scarf after I've completed it.  This is great pattern!

Carpet Day!

I've been looking forward to this day all week!  The men from Carpet One arrived at almost 9am, and I was up and ready for them.  My excitement hit a little snag as they began to rip out the old carpet to reveal hard wood floors in relatively good shape.  I must admit I had a moment of second thoughts.  Hardwood floors, when properly taken care of, are absolutely beautiful, and knowing I was about to cover them made me a little sad.  As I saw the new carpet put in place, my excitement returned!  It truly is beautiful carpet, and wood floors can be quite a hassle.  Below are several pictures I took in different stages of the job.

I know, thanks to the many knitting pictures on my blog, you've all seen my old carpet, but I just for the sake of before/after, I've included this picture.

What I didn't show ya'll in those knitting pictures, is why I wanted the new carpet.  Bald spots aren't very attractive no matter how many scarves are laying next to them.

The cause of my discomfort.  Hardwood floors, in fairly good condition, are a rare find.  I knew I didn't want to deal with the hassle of  weekly buffing and waxing, but still I died a little inside when the carpet pad when down.

After they laid the bright red, eyeball searing carpet pad, they went to cut the carpet.  Abby decided to come out of hiding and investigate.  She and Annie loved the way their toys glided across the smooth surface.

Here is a shot of the new living room.  We haven't put my pretties back on the tables yet, because they're not finished, but I still wanted to post a shot of the new carpet!

One more shot of the living room at a different angle.  They'll come back tomorrow to do the TV room, and the master bedroom, and then we'll have the weekend to put everything back in place.

Windowpane Scarf

I love this pattern!  Not only is Windowpane beautiful, but it is surprisingly easy, making it the perfect tv watching, road trip, or knit night visiting pattern.  The designer, Adrienne Lash, was kind enough to offer this pattern as a free download to Ravelry members.  Thank you so much, Adrienne!  

 The yarn (more stash! Yay!) is Regia Hand-dye effect, a fingering weight yarn made from wool, nylon, and a touch of acrylic. I have mixed feelings about his yarn.  There is a strand running through the fiber, which I kept snagging on my hook.  On the other hand, it's this strand that creates such a gentle color transition from stripe to stripe, and gives the overall scarf a rustic, tweedy look.  Beautiful!

So, is the beauty of the finished project worth the trouble of working with a yarn that snags? I have mixed feelings.  I love this scarf, and I'm so happy I stuck with it and finished it.  After a nice soak in wool wash, the yarn blocked out beautifully, and it is incredibly soft to the touch.  On the other hand, the snagging caused this scarf to take far longer than it should have taken to finish. I will probably not buy this yarn again...unless there's a crazy sale on it ;)

More Home Improvements!

I'm so excited!  Thursday, we are getting new carpet.  We were going to wait until next year because of the window expense (and that was a big one), but we've thought it over, discussed it fully, and have decided to go ahead and do it!  

Sunday was rough for me.  I wanted to get a jump start on the job of packing away breakables, books, and CD's.  It sounds easy in print, but it wasn't.  I was very sleep deprived (see two posts down), and I couldn't focus.  I became overwhelmed, because my mind kept lumping all the tasks together into one huge job, instead of seeing it as one task at a time (actually, this happens to me a lot).  I seriously considered taking a nap, and starting my work on Monday with a fresh mind.  That was not to be.  Sleep was impossible, when all I could do was think of all the work ahead.  I finally got up, and plunged in.  It was haphazard, with me running around in a confused frenzy, but I did manage to get several boxes packed.  Sadly, it wasn't until Dave took them out to the shed that I began to relax.  Poor Dave, wanted to rest, and I didn't let him, but we were both glad it was done.  We finished up our packing Monday, and now we're ready for the carpet people to come.  Wish I didn't have to wait until Thursday....

Stash Busting: The Latest Knits

I am so proud of these two scarves!  Both are knit using two balls (each) of Rowan Big Wool, which had been in my stash for ages.  Several years ago, The Woolie Ewe had decided to quit carrying some Rowan yarns, and had marked much of their inventory way down for quick sale.  I bought the last two balls they had in stock of these two colors.  This is the classic example of an impulse buy.  I had no pattern in mind, and no plans for their use, I just simply wanted them.

 This is not the first time I've done this, hence my two closets worth of stash, but I am happy to finally be using some of it.  I owe it all to the scarf-knitting frenzy I seem to be on.  I'm almost obsessed with them, and I have that obsession to thank every time space is freed up in my closet.

 Now to discuss the pattern.  It is called Big Lace Scarf and it's from the book More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, by Joelle Hoverson.  I am so in love with this book, and so in love with this pattern.  These are the third and forth scarves I've made from it and I keep going back to it for my bulky yarns.  The lace pattern is so simple, I memorized it after a couple of repeats.  If you have 120 to 150 yards of super bulky weight wool yarn, I highly recommend this pattern.  It isn't a free pattern, but the book is beautiful, and well worth owning.

So there you have my latest finished knits.  I'm so happy that it's finally warm enough to photograph them outside!

Exhausted!

I enjoy being a night person, but it can be very hard when Sunday morning arrives. Especially when I sleep half the day away the Saturday before.  I tried, and I tried to sleep last night.  I read until my eyes would no longer stay open, but the simple act of putting my book down woke me up.  This happened over and over, until a little after 6am, when I finally decided to just get up.  I've drank a diet coke and showered.  Now I sit at my computer, writing to my readers probably the most boring, inane post since I started my blog.  I know if I go back to bed, and actually manage to get to sleep, the chances of my getting back up in time to go to church are slim and I don't want to miss church.  I've been struggling lately, and church is my steady ground.
So I'm going shut this computer down, blow dry  my hair, and maybe knit until Dave gets up.  Hopefully, I'll be able to take a nap later.  Most of the time I can't go to sleep in the middle of the day, but occasionally I can. I pray today will be one of those occasions.
I hope everyone has a very blessed day!

A Little Deflated

I sent a question to the rose expert from YouTube. I wanted to know where and when to cut the dead rose plant to make room for my new sprout. I found out that it may not be my pink rose after all. If the pink rose plant was grafted onto root stock from a different rose, the root stock rose is the one that will emerge.  I guess we wait and see. Either way, it's fine. I had already said goodbye to this rose. The deflation comes from the fact that my white roses and pink climber have done the same thing. I may have lost three bushes, and that, I didn't expect. :(

Unexpected Good News!

I discovered it Monday, while I was getting ready to weed the rose bed.  It seems the rosebush I thought I'd lost, is trying to survive!

This is the rosebush that produced those big pinkish-purple roses I love so much.  I just knew this rosebush was dead...I mean...look at it.  Wouldn't you have thought so, too?

Well, it appears I gave up too soon, because this little sprout, coming up from the roots, is very much alive!

Nature never ceases to amaze me :)

Yesterday's Accomplishments

These are the pictures I promised to share.  Rain is expected off and on for the rest of the week, so I took these pictures today, while I had the chance. Please excuse the ugly, weed-filled yard in the background.  Dave and I are getting new grass seed this year, so all our potted plants had to be temporarily moved to the patio.  That's why they're all crowded together.

My white rosebush got a new pot this year!

My Joseph's coat rosebush (front) didn't get a new pot, but I did transfer it to one that wasn't broken.  My pink climbing rosebush's (back) pot wasn't broken, so I just top filled it with fresh soil.

This is the heirloom rosebush Dave got me for Valentine's day.  I finally planted it!

This Angel Face rosebush is my newest plant, so it got the other new pot! Unfortunately, the color is a little off in this picture.  The flowers are actually more purple than pink, and they smell heavenly!

And last, but not least, my new patio tomato bush.  

All this, along with the freshly weeded rose bed, equaled a busy day.  I'm very sore, but at the same time, very happy!

Pain!!

We finally got a break from all the rain, so I decided to do some yard work. The rose bed needed to be weeded again, and lots of repotting needed to be done. We ate lunch, ran a few errands, then Dave laid down for his nap (waking a 4am is hard on him).  After washing up the cat food dishes, I went to work. I had planned to start with the potting, but that came to a screeching halt. I had forgotten to ask Dave to drill the drain holes into my new pots. I looked through the shed, and was unable to locate the drill, so I went to work on the weeding. By the time I finished, Dave was up. He drilled the holes, while I potted our new patio tomato plant. He then showed me where to find the drill should this happen again.

It actually was a blessing that I couldn't find the drill, because the potting turned out to be a huge job. I used up two giant, Costco-sized bags of potting soil! I may have skipped the weeding if I hadn't tackled it first. Years of exposure to the elements causes pots to become fragile and break. Two of these broken pots, which happened to contain roses, needed to be replaced. Repotting large plants is hard work, but very rewarding. Yes, I have a back ache, and yes, my body is sore, but I have four freshly potted rosebushes and a patio tomato to enjoy! It's totally worth it :-)  I'll have pictures to share if the rain will stay away.