Seeing Red

No I'm not feeling hostile......today. I started this lovely and free pattern for a wide scarf or a narrow wrap using Lamb's Pride in a lovely deep red color. It shows a little brighter in the photo.

The kitchen is coming along, most of the cabinets are painted and next it'll be the walls and replacing the trim. There is a lot to do and it takes a while given the fact that Aaron is working weekends and nights to complete the job.

Nothing else significant here other than the fact that Mr. Larj has his first weekend off in more than a month. He works as a printing press operator at a fairly large shop and puts in 12 hours a day +. He along with his co-pressman, put up a united front and said that they were not going to work this weekend since they were both at their limit of endurance. Hopefully he can get some rest and re-charge his batteries.
That's a good goal for a weekend.

Blog-worthy?

At last weeks Tuesday SnB , which consisted of Sonya and myself, we started discussing my current projects. I told her what I was working on and she said, "Why haven't you posted it on your blog?" I guess I feel like I have to have something newsworthy and outstanding to post. My knitting of late consists of some pretty basic accessories. A pair of mittens and a hat using Cascade 220 wool and a grey 2x2 rib hat using Berrocco Ultra Alpaca.
When I started knitting again I think that I went a little color and yarn crazy. I made a lot of things that were wearable but none of it really matching or fitting in to any sort of color scheme. My focus of late is to work on some pieces that actually match my winter coat and can be paired with something more colorful without having a mish mash of styles. I finished these over the last couple of weeks and have been wearing them (hence some of the fuzz on the mittens), but wasn't sure if they were "blog-worthy.


I have also been working on learning to knit continental and combination style. I always hear about how much easier and faster they are etc. I started a 2x2 rib hat in the round using the continental method. I am having a hard time with holding the yarn and keeping my tension so I am less that thrilled with the look of the finished stitches. Although for stockinette in the round it seems to work well as it is just straight knit stitches. I switched over to the combined method that Annie Modesitt uses and found it easier to keep my tension and the stitches seem more uniform but the gauge of the fabric is a lot tighter and the stitches seem to have a different look. The picture shows my continental efforts to the right side and the combined towards the left. Can you see the difference. Any advice ?



As for other goings on, the kitchen remodeling project is coming together. Here's the tile being grouted in. So far the sink, counter tops, most of the tile and half of the cabinets are painted. The boys have been over here all weekend, working their butts off and they are coming again in the morning to get started with tiling the dining room. The new stove and dishwasher are here but are not yet installed. It's all starting to come together I figure another week or two and then it'll come down to wrapping up the fine details like window treatments etc.

Emergency Knitting

I am still here. It's been a strange and hectic month. As most of you know the weather in this part of the Midwest has been mighty chilly. Last week when I was off sick with some unforgiving viral stomach ailment, I decided that I needed a pair of emergency leg warmers. I found some Lion Brand "Landscapes" on sale at Meijer for $1.97 a skein. I couldn't pass it up. Cheap, some wool content and bulky enough to be a quick knit. I cast 28 stitches on to my 36" size 13 circular needles, did a 2x2 rib using magic loop technique until they were long enough and cast off. Not only are my legs nice and warm when I am marching across the "back 40" lot at work but I also now have the ability to levitate. I know....who'd have thought that leg warmers could be so magical!

The emergency knitting continues; on the needles right now are a basic pair of mittens using Cascade 220. You'd have thought that I would have seen this cold snap coming but given our very mild December and most of January I just couldn't get into the knitting for extreme weather mode. Next a rib hat using this pattern and some heather grey Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

As for non knitting news, Mr. Larj and I enjoyed a rare evening out with some friends at the Dirty Show. It's an annual showing of erotic art held in Detroit at various galleries. This year it's at Bert's Warehouse Theater in the Eastern Market area. As usual the show didn't disappoint. The artwork was really outstanding this year and the stage show was excellent. One of the featured artists this year is H. R. Giger, you may recognize his work from the "Alien" movies. It will be running for the rest of this weekend and again on Valentines day. So break out your naughty knits and check it out!

We are also now starting in on the kitchen O' skank renovation. You may recall the recently finished Bathroom O' Skank, well, our same contractor is now starting in on our incredibly outdated kitchen /dining room. There will be new paint, additional cabinets, light fixtures, a ceramic tile floor, folding doors, counter tops, appliances, tile back splash, and of course a kitchen sink. Before and after pics soon!