Month: July 2003

Weekend Madness

Sarah Crafts

Somewhere in the middle of a very busy weekend, I managed to do the following:

  1. start another sock
  2. buy another sock book
  3. buy more yarn for a pair of socks in the sock book
  4. find this pattern book to help reduce my large stash of off-white wool
  5. order this pattern and accompanying yarn

…and, I got a new Sony Clié, so I’ve been spending time playing with that. Did I mention we also toured the Keuka wine trail – ok, only four wineries, not the whole trail.

(Is it any wonder I need weekends to recover from my weekends?)

Disaster Averted

Sarah Crafts

I had a knitting crisis last night. I finished the straps for Suki…and then I had nothing on needles. (Well, I’m not counting the extremely heavy throw or the blanket poncho, both of which are too hot to work during the summer.) I mean, don’t get me wrong – I have several unfinished projects going on right now, but I’ve been good about finishing a piece of a project before picking up something else to work on. Hence, no knitting sitting patiently on needles, waiting for me to notice it and take pity.

After much waffling, I decided to go back to the Christmas sweaters…but it was a tough decision!

I can’t wait to felt the tote. And I suppose the knitting isn’t really done, since I’m going to make pockets out of the little bits of leftover yarn. And I do mean little bits! I had just enough blue to make one strap, so I made the second out of the purple. I think I can get one smallish pocket out of what’s left of the purple, and a larger one out of white.

What’s This?

Sarah Crafts

aqua yarnSomeone’s been a naughty knitter! I’ve never bought yarn off of ebay before, but these colors were just so…perfect…and it looks so soft…and…ok, so I had a moment of stash acquisition insanity. It’s 1000 yards of some hand-dyed indeterminate worsted weight blend…for $10, I ought to be able to do something with it, right? Either a short-sleeve sweater, or maybe pair it with something for a long sleeve sweater…or even a really loose knit to wear over something. I can’t wait until it arrives! (Maybe I’d better finish a project or two while I’m waiting!)

Put Down the Needles…

Sarah Crafts

Suki Stripes…and back away slowly… I finished the back of Janda on the Fourth, at which point I caved and cast on for Suki. I’m almost done knitting the bag – although, knowing me, the straps will be the bane of my existence, and I won’t finish those for a decade or two. (Just kidding!) I only have 7 more rows to go before starting the bottom decreases.

OK, really, I need to finish the light box and get my butt moving on the MQP. It’s just that knitting is so addicting!

My name is Sarah, and I’m a knit-a-holic. (The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? But what if you don’t want to recover?)

Home Improvement, Part…5-ish?

Sarah General

The light box is almost done! OK, so Denis helped me with some of the cuts – particularly the ones involving tiny pieces of moulding, since they were far too close to the spinning blade of death for my taste! I could get used to the air-powered finish nailer, though. Wow. I was looking for other things that needed nailing since it was so easy to use!

We also (finally) bought all of the materials for the built-in bookcase/window seat/entertainment center we’re building along one wall of the family room in the basement. (Yes, we have a window in the basement large enough to have a window seat – two, in fact. There are advantages to living on a steep hill!) We splurged and spent $48 to have the materials delivered, since renting a truck would probably have cost almost as much.

And I’ve finally made the decision to not go with the landscaper who has given me the run-around for three months now. Especially since her estimate (which I had already thought was high) was only about 60% of the actual final cost of the fence, and the cost of putting pavers in around the pool is six times the cost of the materials. That’s just insane. We’ll probably end up doing most of it ourselves – what it would have cost to do the fence, I could buy composite lumber, build the fence panels myself, and never have to stain it again. It just might take me a while to do! (Maybe I can at least get someone to come dig the post holes. Ugh.)

Happy Fourth of July!

Sarah General

I finally played in a concert in a park last night. We opened for another group, which seems really silly for a concert band to do! :) The group after us was really good – three guys playing folk-type songs on guitars, banjo, and sometimes fiddle. Then there were fireworks. Of course, I had to get a glow-necklace, because you can’t celebrate the Fourth of July (even on the third) without a glow-stick-type-thing! I put it on my dresser last night and every time I woke up I checked to see that it was still glowing. Some childhood habits never die.

Today, we’re cooking hot dogs and swimming. Ahh. Gotta love days off in the summer. Now if I could just get the horn part of Stars & Stripes Forever out of my head…off-beats, anyone?

A Girl’s Gotta Do…

Sarah Crafts

…what a girl’s gotta do! I really want a light box, to help with my quilting efforts. What quilting efforts, you ask? Well, see, I know I haven’t been quilting much lately, but I started the Mystery Quilting Project the other night. The MQP involves a lot of applique and…oops, I’ve said too much. Anyway, tracing patterns taped to the window is a little tough, and pre-made light boxes as big as I want aren’t too cheap.

So, I found these instructions. The only modification I’m making is that the finished size will be 15″ square (14″ usable), since the MQP blocks are 12″ square. Not only do we have all of the power tools required, I went to Home Depot and got all of the raw materials last night. The employee who cut the acrylic top to size was totally surprised that I’m making it. I took shop class. Granted it was, ah, 14 years ago, but c’mon, how hard is it to use a table saw?!?

Don’t worry, I’ll be careful with the table saw. Gotta keep the quilting (and knitting) fingers intact!

Socks, Socks, Socks

Sarah Crafts

I finished another pair of socks! For some reason, this pair took me quite a while – I wasn’t as fond of the striping sequence as I thought I’d be, but they’ve grown on me.
ocean socks done

Knitting socks may seem silly, but there is nothing more comfy than a pair of made-to-fit socks. Plus, it’s highly addictive to knit them. There’s something magical about the transition from something that could be a sweater sleeve to something that is definitely a sock!