Vacation Time

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Photos from vacations past, just to get everyone in the mood. The top ones are from my parents' vacation with my sister and the nephews in Gulf Shores, Alabama. They were so good I couldn't resist posting them.

The unprofessional ones are from our previous vacations to Sea Grove Beach, Florida.

And for those who are wondering, no, that chest does not belong to anyone I know. It's a deckhand from the Beer Boat.

Socking it to Me

I am a great admirer of Cookie A's sock patterns. In theory, at least. I have made several pairs of Monkeys, and that's an undeniably great sock pattern. But when it comes to her more complicated sock patterns...well, let's just say after my previous two disastrous experiences with Pomatomus, I wasn't hopeful about my chances with the advanced stuff.

I got the Twisted Flower sock pattern last year during the Monkey Pal Sock Swap. It's such a gorgeous pattern, but I put it away, figuring I'd tackle it some day, maybe in about twenty years' time.

However, having decided I wanted to knit a pair of socks to enter in the Tulsa State Fair this year, and in thinking of something that would be impressive, I took a second look at Twisted Flower and found, to my amazement, that after successfully completing Tangled Yoke--at least the cable section was a success--this pattern is a bit of a cakewalk.

Even with all the teeny-tiny cables.

Only problem is I am not even to the heel-flap of the first sock and I already have Second Sock Syndrome.

In other news, we leave next weekend for vacation, so I hope to post an entry or two from the beach.

Dog Sitting

My parents have gone on vacation, so we have a canine guest this week.


I know pugs are popular, but I don't know why. They are fairly disgusting, what with the snorting and the snoring and such. Still, there's something undeniably charming about them. The cats are unhappy about the visitor--there's been lots of disgruntled meowing and accusations and "Why wasn't I consulted about this?"

In knitting news, the handtowels are done. I noticed while uploading this picture that the towel on the left is twisted so the wrong side is showing, but I couldn't be bothered to re-photograph.

It seems like all I am knitting these days are ballbands. I have the yarn and patterns for more interesting projects like Rusted Root (Rav link) and Honeycomb but the disastrous results of my first two attempts at sweater knitting have kind of put me off starting them. I just don't want to be disappointed again!

Hope everyone has a great week.

Bathroom Update

We finally put some finishing touches on the bathroom this weekend. This has been the never-ending home improvement project from hell. Seriously--never-ending. Now some spots on the walls need touchups because when the so-called painter's tape came down, it took wall color with it. It's a vicious cycle.


But it looks pretty good, despite those pesky spots. This is my favorite view:



In case you're wondering, the towel rack is a custom job from etsy seller thedarkcottage. My current knitting project is ballband handtowels that will hang from the hooks. Strangely enough, this project did not occur to me until the day before yesterday, but I think it's a perfect solution.



Oh, and Monkey Pal Jody--I lost your email address, but I wanted to say thanks so much for the package. The socks are a perfect fit and the yarn is gorgeous--definitely well worth the wait and just to my liking. Thanks for everything!

How Absent Have I Been?

Ok, that's arhetorical question. I have been very absent. The thing about not blogging is that it kind of turns into a habit. But sitting here watching this horrible trainwreck of an American Idol finale--well, it just seemed like the right time.

More this weekend, and hopefully some knitting to show too!

And the Winner is......

I kind of screwed up my blog contest because of my own fickle nature. We went with the color Honeydew, which the astute among you will know was not one of the choices! Oooops.

See, what happened is we decided on Pastel Jade. Went to the store, got the supplies, came home and got to work. Just for fun, I opened the can and put a little paint on the wall. And I didn't like it. So I let it dry, put a second coat on the spot, but that didn't help matters any.

It's a lovely color, but it wasn't what I had in mind. It was too pale, too washed out--not juicy enough. So back to the store we went to make another selection. And we ended up with Honeydew.

In related news, I have a full gallon of Pastel Jade if anyone local is interested!

So I used a random number generator to select from all the guesses. I'll get to the winner in a minute, but first--pictures.

It's a hard color to photograph, but it's a bright, springy green with a pale yellow ceiling and white trim (which is not finished yet). We love it.

Ok, on to the winner.........

Congratulations, Kristie! I'll send you an email.

Thanks to everyone for participating. Hopefully I'll have some knitting to show one of these days.

It's Coming!

No, I haven't forgotten about my contest. I'm just waiting until I can get a good picture.

And can I just say--wow! 83 comments? That's a record for me.

Oh, and for anyone out there contemplating stripping wallpaper and painting? Don't.

Hahaha, just kidding. Stripping the paper was a major chore though, compounded by the fact that we did the MS walk Saturday morning (3 miles!), then went to Home Depot, then got started on the bathroom and worked for about 10 hours. Yeah, exhausting.

And then a repeat on Sunday, except substitute the walk with breakfast with friends at The Crusty Croissant. And then last night--another coat on the ceiling and the first coat on the walls.

Tonight, a second coat on the walls.

Tomorrow, trim and touch-ups.

Then, photos and a winner!

I did pick up some helpful painting tips though.

1. Put lotion on your hands before painting. It makes clean-up way easier.
2. After finishing for the night, put your wet, drippy brushes in plastic bags and put them in the freezer. The next day when you are ready to start painting, take them out about an hour beforehand. Perfect!

Thanks for your patience.