Fong f- fong fong fong!

I just knit a fong, a 'socklet' with a thong strap, to facilitate wearing flip flops without injury. I learned of this pattern on Knitty's Message board, and knew immediately that my skinny, flip-flop-averse feet needed a pair. So I got to work. Since I've yet to knit a pair of socks (although it's on my to-do list), I have no stash of sock yarn. I'd heard a rumor that Lion Brand Microspun might work, so I tried it. (Anything to save a trip to the yarn store with two kids in tow, right?) I made a few tweaks to the pattern (some suggested in the original pattern's comments, and a few of my own), and even figured out kitchener stitch. Here is how I did it:

* I cast on 42 stitches in Microspun, size 3 needles. (I know that 42 is not the right number for a pattern containing k2p2 rib, but there was beer involved during this knitting session.) 42 is still too big, however, so I'll re-make them with 38 stitches (my feet really are that skinny!).
* I used k2p2 rib on this, but in my remake, I'll probably go with k1p1, mostly for aesthetic reasons.
* I used reverse stockinette for the little thong part, and really like that. I got the idea from the comments section on the original pattern.

I have only made one so far, though; it's a little big, so I'll make a smaller pair. But the idea translates to a real, usable product, and I'll be able to purchase thong sandals for this summer without the fear of them flying off my feet when I dare to walk a pace quicker than "chain gang shuffle." Here's my bony foot and its need for a fresh pedicure.



P.S. I now have that horrible Cisqo song stuck in my head.

Fear me, thrift store sweaters!

I'm on an unraveling rampage. Really, I'm too cheap to buy really great yarn. The idea of spending a hundred buckaroos on one garment's worth of yarn just boggles my mind. But for just a couple of bucks and a whole bunch of time and work, I can have heaps of good wool at my disposal. I have started with a men's XL sweater. It's a pretty heathered dark green.

The yarn seems to be completely untwisted when I frog it, which makes it fairly weak. I hope it is all worth it. According to my (rather inexact calculations, I have about 300 yards from just the left sleeve.

I'll probably go find a scale after I frog the whole thing to really figure out how much I have here. This had better be worth it. It's sorta a lot of work.

****
In other news, I really need to get better at photographing this stuff. It's maddening to have a hundred pictures of project that don't end up resembling the real thing. I've vowed to get better at it. And to create a picture-taking space on my front porch. It has windows on three sides and gets great morning sun. So expect upcoming yarn pr0n from me.

But don't hold your breath for it. I'm a horrible procrastinator.

The Song of the Lace Siren

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a lace person. I have never been a lace person. Nor have I even been a fan of pink. Or ruffles. Or overly feminine clothing. So why have I become obsessed with knitted lace? And dream of making something like the Pacific Northwest Shawl or Scheherazade?

I spend too much time browsing the internet, looking at the beautiful shawls women have made for themselves, wondering if I could possibly master the art of knitting laceweight yarn in a huge complicated pattern. And could I master knitting from a chart? In my first attempts at chart-reading, I kept getting confused and knitting random rows backward. Have I mentioned that my fingers have a tendency to knit willy nilly, not paying attention to pattern or number of rows? (I'm working on that, though).

Whatever the reason, I keep imagining myself with a huge beautiful shawl wrapped around me, looking horribly elegant in spite of my my t-shirt and jeans. I don't know, but it is a strong pull. I just need to practice a little more before I go tackling the Peacock Feathers Shawl.

In the meantime, I'm practicing on sport weight yarn and a small pattern. This is the Kendal insertion, and I plan to make it long enough to tie back my ever-longer hair. It's not perfect, but it is progress.



P.S. I also need to learn the art of photographing lace. I promise to get good at that soon, too.

an old house haiku

my home's workmanship
thy name is surely shoddy
sigh, neverending

I'm waxing poetic today. A rare occasion indeed. When pulling down the old wallpaper in the living room, in preparation to prep the walls for eventual paint, I am finding that the plaster underneath is not sound. It's not falling apart at the moment, but nearly everywhere I push, it gives. (For those not in the know, plaster is supposed to be solid.) I think the keys are intact, but it is delaminating. I wanted to learn to skim coat plaster myself, and give the walls a nice new smooth finish, then paint. I'm now sure it will not be that simple.

I actually have a plaster professional coming out tonight to look at it. I'd rather to do the work myself, but I'm just not up to that scale of job right now. I have a job and a husband and two children who also need my time.

Update on the headband

I finally located the pattern for the headband that I posted about the other day. I still don't have the darned thing finished. It's been crazy around here. But it's getting there. It's hard to made headway when you have all of 10 minutes at a time to commit to the stitchery.

On the other hand, I did complete a couple of Wonder Woman tiaras for my daughter's birthday party tonight. I'm pretty proud of them. There's no pattern to share, because I made them up in my own little noggin. To any purists out there, I know that there is not a second point on them, but 5 year-olds have little heads, and I was afraid the bottom point would not work well in the combo of felt and gold lame'.

Work in Progress

Sadly Mr Dangly still has no legs, but I have managed to knit his second arm to help him through until I can bring myself to finish him. Having only one appendage was just too much of a handicap for him.

Meanwhile, I've got a new work in progress to report. It's a little headband to tie up my not-so-cute hair. In an attempt to change up the hairstyle I've been sporting for several years, I am growing it out for a few months. Once I get to the "I cannot stand it one minute longer!" point I will most likely go see the handy dandy hairstylist and have her cut it in exactly the same shape. But hope springs eternal that I'll be able to break out of my hair rut.

It's a good thing the pattern is simple. I have misplaced the pattern around here somewhere. To be more exact, my 2-year-old scattered my patterns all over my office, and I have not yet found this one. I promise that I will give credit to the pattern's author as soon as I find it. Why oh why did I not remember to bookmark the page??



I'd also like to mention that this yarn is a thrift store special. It is black wool "super fingering" from Red Heart. Do they still make wool yarn? I don't think so. Anyway, I paid $.15 for the whole skein. I'm estimating that this headband will cost about $.07 when it's all said and done. That's a price this bargain hunter can live with, even if the black is not a fun color to knit.

A few pictures

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make fingerless mitts. I've posted about it, but never got around to showing off the finished product. I'm still in need of a better pattern, though. I have oddly skinny hands, and the pattern as written was just not right for me. I am wearing these all the time, even though they are too short to keep my wrists warm. I tried to take pictures of me wearing them, but I have yet to master the art of photographing my own hands.


Then I started making a Mr. Dangly monkey for my daughter. The pattern calls for it to be knitted flat, then seamed, but I hate seaming. And I am bad at it. So I broke out the teeny DPN's and some Caron Simply Soft yarn, and went to town. I wanted it to be washable, thus the acrylic yarn. This stuff splits like there's no tomorrow. It is soft, but NOT enjoyable to work with. So Mr. Dangly remains a one-armed, legless deaf monkey. Poor little guy.

While avoiding the aforementioned critter, my friend Becky showed me the current object of her affection, the Lady Eleanor stole. Of course I got all obsessed over it as well. With the leftover yarn from the mitts project, I decided to try my hand at entrelac. It is seriously addictive. I love things that are easy, but look impressive. Yes, my life (and hobbies) are all smoke and mirrors.

I've managed a few rows of the entrelac, so I think I'm ready to tackle a real project. I'll probably go with something a little smaller (and something that doesn't sing out for such expensive yarn-- I'm cheap like that). I'm leaning towards the Danica scarf from Knitty. We'll see what happens.

That's all for now. Forthcoming is the story of the Great Homebrewing Debacle of '07. Let's just say that Duct Tape really can fix anything.

Hey look-- I'm spamming on my blog!

1920's Coats O.N.T. Designs crochet pattern books for sale. These are great books that my mother bought at an estate auction. They are so cool that I am loathe to get rid of them. But I cannot crochet, so they have no purpose here. Except to make me tense that my kids will decide to color them. or tear them page from beautiful antique page. eek!

I am sending a portion of all of these sales to Doctors Without Borders, as part of my commitment to Knitters Without Borders. Unfortunately, I have to manually donate the sales of most of these books, due to ebay/missionfish minimums. Y'all will have to trust me that at least 20% of everything fiber-arts related will be sent off to charity.

In addition, I have a bunch of old embroidery transfers that I need to sell, and my mother informs me that she has a collection of tatting books, also destined for ebay. Those will also benefit Doctors Without Borders, too.

I think I'm ready to start a new house project.

After several months and the holidays, I'm finally ready to start on a new house project. I don't know which one yet, but I have lots from which to choose. I'd really like to do the living room next, but it's a ginormous job, including skim-coating the current plaster, then wallpapering or painting. Floor also needs to be redone. Previous owners decided to glue down construction-grade plywood, paint it to look something like red linoleum, and call it a floor. I guess it is a floor, as I can walk on it, and it keeps the furniture out of the crawlspace below. But it is very very not pretty.

Or I can work on my office. The walls are currently white, formerly covered in dark blue wallpaper. The walls and trim need to be painted. I bought paint for this room (oops paint, of course) over a year ago, and it is sitting in the basement, waiting patiently.

I have the stairs to do as well. I ripped out the hideous carpet, but they look heinous now. They need the remaining finish stripped off, then re-painted and shellacked. As much as I would love to tackle that next, it's a open-window-season sort of dealio. Shellac is seriously stinky until it dries. If I want to be loopy, I'll drink heavily. Inhaling denatured alcohol fumes just isn't my bag.

The upstairs bathroom is also on the list, but no one sees it but me, so it's low-priority. It's a really small room, though, so it might not take too much to finish. The kitchen is a project still too large for me fathom. So it waits until summer at least.

So that's it for now. Just wanted to update y'all on my thought process. I hope to update soon with new progress pics.

I've been busy.

In the last weeks, I've managed to make a bunch more dishcloths (I really needed some. My drawer was looking pretty bare), a roll-brim hat that makes me look bald (although it is really cute on my daughter) and started on a pair of fingerless mitts. I'm participating in a rather informal KAL on Sewingmamas.com. I started them on New Year's eve, but after knitting up about half of the first one, it was obviously way too big for my puny wrists and hands. So I frogged it and started over with sz 5 needles. I think they will fit this time. I really love the yarn I'm using. I'm not a fan of variegated yarns as a rule, but Paton's Merino in "majesty" is really pretty. I tried taking a picture today, but with three needles, two markers and a stitch holder in there, it just looked like a blob of yarn. I hope to get a good picture of a finished mitt in the next few days.

Update on stuff

First, I finished the December Dishcloth Knit-a-long. I think it's pretty cute, albeit difficult to photograph. It's a rocking horse in case you cannot see. I still need to weave in the ends. It's been waiting for me for 3 days now. I even procrastinate on the little stuff!


After I finished that, I decided to give DPNs a shot. So I cast on a few stitches, and it worked! As a mostly solitary knitter who has learned from Knittinghelp.com and books, I'm pretty proud of myself. So I'm showing the fruits of my experimental labor to you.

I eventually practised decreasing on it, until it looked like the receptacle end of a condom. oops. My 4-year-old said it looks like a bell. We're going to go with that. yeah-- a bell.

I started a hat last night. Not enough progress to show yet. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to show that off. It took me hours to find a hat pattern I liked that was within my skill set. There are a dizzying number of patterns on the internet. yeesh!

I cannot bring myself to scrub stuff with it.

I finished my first dishcloth. I'm happy with my first foray into the world of useful knitting. I have come to the conclusion, however, that I really don't like variegated yarn. I always thought I didn't like it, but now I know so. Maybe something more subtle would be better. But I digress.

Back to the issue at hand. I have grown an odd connection to my creation, and cannot bring myself to stick it in the dish towel drawer. I'm sure I'll get over that eventually, but for now, I just keep moving it from counter to table and then back again, keeping it from getting dirty. I'm such a dork sometimes.


Anyway, I've started on a new cloth with a star pattern in the middle. I'm hoping it will be Christmassey and and pretty enough to give as a gift.

Um, I think I might be addicted

During my hiatus from major home projects, I've decided to start knitting. I started to learn last winter, but never really got the hang of it. I tried it again a few weeks ago, and now I'm rather obsessed. I have always fancied myself a seamstress, but with two kids and a sewing room in the basement (the kids are on the main floor, tee hee), I never get anything sewn. Knitting is much more portable, and easier to start and stop in ten-minute intervals. A necessity in this household.

I started my first dishcloth yesterday. It will have the Om symbol in it, provided I follow the pattern properly. I'm making it out of Walmart cotton yarn, but it probably should probably be made of natural colored organic cotton. I'll work on that for the next time. You can find the pattern here if you are feeling the need for more connection with the Universe whilst scrubbing the dinner dishes.

Taking a break

I'm absolutely burned out on house stuff right now. So I'm taking a break from big projects until after Christmas. Now if I could just get to cleaning the house and hanging stuff on the walls, we'd be all set.

I'm itching to see what this place looks like with holiday decorations on it. We didn't decorate last year, because we had just moved in, and all the boxes were sucking up my holiday spirit. But this year? watch out. I plan on putting every decoration I own out, and then buying new stuff just for this house. Funny thing is, I'm not really into the holiday of Christmas. But stringing lights and greens in the house for the winter make me all giddy inside. If I didn't have 2 kids and 2 cats, I'd put up 2 trees, each decorated with a different theme. Maybe one Christmas and one Yule. But I'm not sure how I'm going to keep the one from being destroyed, so the dream will have to wait a few years.

The waiting game for decorationing is killing me right now. (I'd look crazy if I started now, and I am trying to keep my nuttiness from public view.) But in less than 2 weeks, be prepared for pictures. I have a 1gb memory card for my camera, and I'm not afraid to use it!

The Floor is done!!!

I was beginning to feel like we'd never be able to set aside a weekend to sand and shellac the family room floor. But I whined to my husband enough that we managed to clear our schedules and rent the sanders to work on it. Refinishing is not fun. But it is so very nice to move the furniture back into a room after so long. I might not have felt that same elation if we had gone from project conception to completion in 3 days. (Okay, I might be rationalizing a little here. I'm pretty good with the rationalizations-- I like to stay with my strengths).

Here's the floor before we started the sanding. I had stripped most of the old carpet adhesive off the floor prior to this weekend, as I really didn't want anyone breathing 20-yr-old adhesive dust. I'm glad I did that step. Even so, it was a giant mess. Our shop vac got a real workout. Thank the heavens for 3 mil. plastic and tape. At least I was able to spare the rest of the house from the dust by sealing off the doorways.


This is my husband, doing the first pass with the sander. We started with a 45-degree angle, as the boards were cupped in spots. Not too bad, though, considering the floor spent its first few years as a porch (we think). It was clear, however that there was never any varnish on this floor. No one gots pictures of me working the edge sander or the belt sander ot the sanding block-on-a-pole, but I did lots of sanding too. We were both thoroughly sore after all that.


After all the sanding was done, there were still several dark spots and stains. I assume those were courtesy of the pets who have called this place home over the years. I tried bleaching one of the spots, but it was pretty obvious that the stains weren't going to go without a hell of a fight. So we decided to call them "provenance" and leave them. The room will be filled with furniture anyway -- so we'll just plop things on top of the worst spots. I like to cheat like that.


And here is the "after" shot. We covered it with 2 coats of 2-lb. cut of amber shellac, then a third coat of 3-lb. clear. I am in love with the color that the shellac gave the pine.


Why shellac you ask? Well, I didn't want to use polyurethane--it's too toxic, and I also wanted something renewable. So, inspired by This Old Crackhouse and Life in the Prairie Box, I decided to give it a whirl. I'm rather in love with it. I hope it is durable enough for our family. It's a pretty "rustic" floor, so absolute perfection isn't really expected (or needed, either).

I learned lots of things about floors and floor machines and shellac through this process. I'll try to get to those lessons very soon. Right now, I need to go move everything backinto the room. Our reupholstered furniture is coming home on Thursday, so I have lots to do to be ready.

Next step, window treatments

I finally finished the wallpaper in the dining room, but now am stuck for curtain ideas. The window seat will be recovered with a coordinating fabric in the very near future.
It's a South-facing window, so I probably need some way to block sunlight in the afternoons, but in general I prefer to let the light stream in as much as possible. I am not a fan of miniblinds (is anyone actually fond of them, I wonder), but they do seem to be the most readily available these days. I love the look of the bamboo matchstick blinds, but in my experience they still let a lot of eye-blinding light through on super-sunny winter afternoons. I'm toying with the idea of a valance and cafe curtains, but maybe full-length sheers might be nice too. Too many options, and I'm horribly picky. If you are reading this and have an idea, please let me hear it!

My name is Robin, and I am addicted to

mistinted paint. I just love that table piled with cans of "oops" paint that employees screwed up, or that customers did not want. I have a basement full of it. Sure I have projects lined up for almost all of it, but who know when I'll get to any of those.

But I can really justify yesterday's score. I found a gallon of exterior house and trim paint that is almost exactly my planned color for my front door. For $5, I coudn't not buy it, right? It's a good thing that I was still carrying around that batch of paint chips in my purse, huh? (My messy purse is a topic for another time and blog.) I might not got to the door until spring, but I am ready for the task when the mood strikes me.

And another project gets started. oops.

I went to the store yesterday to buy some paint for my front door frame. I was so excited that by the time my 2-year-old's nap was done, I'd be able to cross something off my list. One thing COMPLETED! I had decided on "Kelsey Island Green." In the spring, I'll paint the door a coordinating, but darker green. I'm quite excited about it. I'm desperate to subdue the bright white house with hunter green porch look. But I digress.

I bought a quart of the paint at my local Ace Hardware. My 4-year-old was very happy to carry the paint into the house for me. She's quite the little assistant these days. I told her to carry it onto the front porch, while I head back to hang up my purse. I han up the purse, and immediately hear, "MOM! NIGEL DROPPED THE PAINT AND IT'S SPILLING ON THE FLOORRRR!" Sure enough, The boy had grabbed the quart of paint (in the living room, of course), and threw it to the floor, popping the can open, and pouring an entire quart of Kelsey Island green onto my living room floor. So I grabbed an old tray and a paint brush and salvaged about half of the paint into a plastic container. But it left a rather large reminder on the floor.



Cons:
-- That's $11 worth of exterior grade paint on the floor.
-- "Splotch" is not a decorating theme I was going for.
-- Now I need to paint the floor sooner rather than later. Another project to add to the list.

Pros:
-- I hate that floor anyway. It's plywood, poorly faux finished to look like linoleum. At least I think that was what the previous owners were going for.
-- He managed to miss the sofa, the area rug, and my mother's childhood desk.
-- He also managed to not paint himself in the process.
-- I only bought a quart. Can you imagine the mess if he had done that to a gallon???
-- The first coat is on the door frame already. That was a built-in procrastination ender.

All things considered, I figure myself to be pretty lucky. He could have dropped that on the floor where the floors ahd already been refinished. (Just thinking of that makes me tear up a little). But I still think we should rename him "Calvin."

Project status check in

I've avoided updating this of late, and I am a wee tad embarrassed about the number of projects I've got going, and the time it is taking me to complete any of them. But hey, it is hard to work around small children. Even harder when you're a person with a serious weakness for the internet and long walks in the brisk fall air. But I'm now here to own up to my slothlike progress.

-- Front door painting. Yes, this is a new project. I tested the paint that had been chipped off around the front door frame. Of course it was lead. So I spent Saturday washing and rinsing the frame and priming the lead paint away. I still need to paint it, but I have no exterior paint yet. A trip to the hardware store is on tap today.

-- Family room floor: I've gotten it about 75% stripped of the old adhesive. I had to hold off doing too much more until we got another working entry door lock. Previous owners had not repaired broken mortise locks, they just added slide latches. But now I've got a front door that we can use while the back entry area is being redone. I've decided on shellac for the floor, by the way.

-- Dining room wallpaper: About 80% done. It 'looks like more, but I left the worst area of the room for last. Lots of trimming and small sections. I might have finished this weekend, but my 2-year-old's nap was seriously truncated on Sunday. I hope to finish before this Friday. Then I'll have one room ready for "decorating." yippee!

Meanwhile, (since I obviously don't have enough to do), I started a new message board. It is dedicated to all things homemaintenance-- but with a eco-friendly, green, nontoxic spin. If you are interested in remodeling or redecorating your home "green," or just using less-toxic household cleaners in the kitchen, please stop by and introduce yourself. I really hope it takes off, and becomes a good resource for people who want to fix up their homes without destroying the earth (or their own health).

DIY ing the Green Home

Adventures in Wallpaper

Okay, I'm taking a break from worrying about the rest of the house to FINALLY get some wallpaper in my dining room. We ripped down the old stuff before we moved in, in an attempt to force me to get the new paper up quickly. It only took 9 months of living with patchy, ugly, bare plaster walls. In house-project time, that's not too bad. (At least in my experience. Your mileage may vary of course.)

I went and bought all the necssary supplies, rounded up the other things I needed, and then set off to pry all the "secrets" from my mother. After the consultation with her, I boldly started on my project.  The first strip of paper went very well. But when I turned the corner, my home's complete lack of plumbness (that's a word, right?) caused an overlap on the loser half of the wall. It wouldn't be an issue, excpet it is in the corner that the eye goes to when entering the room. oops. I think I'll put a potted plant in that corner.
All in all, it wasn't so bad. I got about halfway finished with it before my kids were utterly sick of leaving mommy alone, so the rest of the project is slated for next weekend.  In the meantime I need to figure out how to get those two errant bubbles out of the paper, and clean up some of my trim work.

Please, if you ever visit my house, don't look at the walls too closely.