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....