Paint, and Spackle and Mirrors, Oh, My!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of demo work, sleep deprivation, and paint fumes.

Needless to say, this made for a number of memorable moments (including, but not limited to "Panty Painting"). There was the Bathroom of Doom which took more hours in labor than the rest of the house.

The Bathroom of Doom was a claustrophobe's nightmare. When we moved in, there was striped wallpaper with paisleys- in the most nauseating of colors. The first day, Grace stripped both the wallpaper and the wallpaper glue off of the door. We had intended to pull down the rest of the paper sooner, but it just didn't happen.

Until now.

The stager had instructed us to simply paint over the wallpaper- which was fine with everyone who I consulted, because it just sounded wrong (and a little lazy) to me. Everyone concurred that it would be fine to paint over the fugly wallpaper, so we set to work.

The walls were TSP'ed and primed, and that's when Cynthia started to notice some…peeling. She was then instructed to paint over it and hope for the best. As she began to paint, she noticed that we could see every patch, seam and bubble from when the ugly wallpaper was put up.

Ok. We pulled down the paper only to find (literally) ten tons of wallpaper glue up on the walls. Colleen, Cynthia and I all scraped and scraped and scraped. The glue looked like giant grey boogers, which only added to the aesthetic appeal of the whole process (and also contributed a fair amount to the hilarity of it all).

Once that was thoroughly done, the walls were re-TSP'ed, spackled and primed, and painted. I won't go into the rest, but there was a completely disproportionate amount of time spent on that bathroom.

It went from being the BoD to the Bathroom of Luxury and Leisure. Once the official real estate pictures are up, I'll post them- but this is now a warm and welcoming place, and I am so proud.

The drag of this whole thing is that the house is beautiful now. I only wish we had done this work while we were still living there, because every time I walk in, I can't even believe that it's the same house.

Oblivious to the Obvious

Or… "In Which Gretchen Scares the Crap Out of Me"

So, Gretchen and I work at the same Big Company. We work in two different (but relatively close) locations. Occasionally, when our hair isn't on fire, we have lunch together.

I also may have reminded Gretch how much she likes spinning by inviting her to spin at the Retzlaff Winery back in June. Not only is she on another spinning kick, but also a lace kick.

In any case, I was running a little late from a meeting I had before lunch and I was a little… distracted. I open the curtain to my cube and MISSED the six foot, redheaded amazon waiting for me, who then yelled, "BOOO!" at the top of her lungs.

I shrieked, and it took me a moment to realize that (a) it was Gretch and (b) I am a dumbass.

Seriously, how distracted do you have to be to miss something like that?

Life Changes

During my blogging absence, I have done something that I never thought I would ever do.

I joined a knit-a-long.

I know. You should be ashamed of me. I have NEVER, EVER in my life followed the herd. I take immense pride in being different, doing my own thing, and (literally, occasionally) being my own drummer.

But.

I looked at the Yarn Harlot's blog, and she had a fair chunk of it knitted. It looked really cool, and as I'm currently obsessed with lace knitting… I did it. I joined the group.

Unfortunately, due to the move I'm still on Clue 1 (of an available 4 so far). The chart looks like it has a monkey face to me- but maybe not. A shawl with a monkey face would be cool.

I digress. The chart is written clearly, I have some navy blue alpaca and perfectly matching beads. (Thank you Hollis, for saving me a trip to a bead store by having exactly what I wanted. You are evil, but in a wonderful way.)

I'm enjoying the lace knitting side of the shawl- it's not repetitive yet, so my brain is tickled by having to pay some attention to what I'm doing for once. I'm not so thrilled about the beads.

I like beads and I like (tastefully) beaded clothing. I even like the use of beads on this shawl. I am having a bit of a problem with getting the beads on the shawl. I'm not stupid, mind you, just horribly, tragically, impossibly uncoordinated. This would be much easier if I had a third, coordinated arm.

Regrettably, the two factory-installed ones I came with aren't all that coordinated, so hoping for a stylish aftermarket one is (possibly) not promising. It's a good thing that there are a couple of beads every eight rows or so, so it's only occasionally that I swear or stab myself with the impossibly small crochet hook holding the bead. (This has happened a few times. Like I said, I'm uncoordinated.)

Don't expect me to join every Tom, Dick and Knit-a-long. I maintain that I am as unique as a snowflake.

I’m Not Dead Yet!

Contrary to my absence on the blog, I am not dead. We had a very successful move and are getting settled in the new place while getting the Shanty painted, re-floored, and staged for sale. It should hit the market next week.

I would like to say a public "Thank you" to everyone who has helped with the move and all the necessary prep work. We – quite seriously- could not have done it without you.

We hosted the first Minion meeting in the new house on Saturday, and (despite the lack of seating) managed to have a pretty good time.

Fortunately for anyone reading, the move has provided me with a number of terrible/funny stories, which I will be posting to the blog when the time presents itself.

I will also be posting the pictures of me in my shawl at D&M's wedding- so you can see why I was so pleased with the shawl.

Now, all we need is some house-selling mojo. Think happy thoughts!

Pearls of Wis-DONE!

That's right! For all of my worrying, I have finished and blocked the Pearls of Wisdom shawl with over a WEEK to spare!

That's my shawl on the blocking board. The points stayed just as sharp when I pulled it off the board, and I have been hauling it around with me, showing it off to anyone who will listen.

And the nupps? Genius. Brenda Patipa, you have outdone yourself. You can put yourself on the short list of designers whose designs I have completed. As soon as I'm unpacked, you bet I'm knitting some more lace, and likely, yours.

The pattern: Brenda Patipa's Pearls of Wisdom Shawl (22"x 85")
The yarn: 300g/1300 yards Handmaiden Sea Silk in "Forest"

I mean, yeah, we had our differences, but it worked out in the long run. I hate blocking, but as everyone in the world has posted before me, it makes all of the difference. It looked *okay* before blocking, but the blocking opened up the holes and made the flat bits light, lofty and airy, and the nupps really stand out. The nupps really make the shawl a 3-D experience.

(For those of you keeping score, I had less than 2 yards of yarn leftover.)

Andrew came home and saw the shawl on the blocking board and was wowed. It wasn't a hard knit, once the nupps and I came to an understanding, but it really turned out quite nicely. I have been patting myself on the back for both completing a relatively huge project (1) before deadline and (2) doing it in lace.

I'll have actual, good pictures of the shawl/wedding outfit after next Saturday- once we've started moving in and living in the new place. By Saturday I'll also have my outfit, hair and makeup done appropriately to do the shawl justice. Right now I'm too busy just trying to not dissolve into a shaking puddle of tears, and by then hopefully some of the worst will be over. Oh, how I hate moving!

(The new house needs a name like "The Shanty" but more fitting to it's practically palacial nature.)

I'm also near complete on the Print O'the Wave stole- less than 6 edging repeats left to go- and the wedding is in AUGUST!

I'd like to give a quick thank you to my Minions, who have been invaluable during this incredibly stressful month.

More soon, my friends and studio audience. I have my materials for the Mystery Stole 3 knitalong, and I'm looking forward to getting started on that.