BUSY!!

I have been so busy it seems this entire winter that I feel like the months are just racing away from me! I honestly don't know how some of you do it! You work, have kids still at home, knit, blog, podcast, spin, go to Fiber Fests....It's mind boggling to me!

What's Going On In My World:


In 2 words. Flooring, painting. Since my birthday in late October we have been doing some home renovations. Pulled up the carpeting in the living room, office & hallway. We painted all of those rooms (Behr Gobi Desert) & then put down this awesome vinyl flooring. It's called Allure & we got it at Home Depot. It comes in 1'x3' planks & is installed as a floating floor over your concrete or even over old vinyl. We got the colorway called Ashlar. It's a dark (but not too dark) stone looking flooring with browns, oranges, golds & to my surprise a dusty blue. That sounds very 70's but trust me it's not. I didn't see any blue in the store samples. Anyway, I love it so far & it wasn't too hard to put down. Except going from one room into another because there are supposed to be transition strips that you can buy from Home Depot. Guess what? Home Depot has no clue what you're asking for & G even called the 800 # in the package & look all over the internet. No luck. But we persevered & did it.Here's a pic of the office at about the halfway mark.

    By the time we got those 3 areas finished it was into mid December so we decided to hold off on the remaining rooms until after Christmas. That stretched into February. Then we tackled the kitchen & dining room. Oh yea...somewhere in between we did the entry hall. It has been a tremendous amount of work but it looks great & I'm so thrilled with it. It is so much cleaner than carpet & we're hoping to see some improvement in our allergies. We still have the laundry room to do & plan to start that next week. Oh and paint the bathrooms.

What's On My Needles/Hooks?

1. Holiday Wine Tags - I started these back in Nov 2011 thinking they'd be great Christmas gifts. I think I only got one set made. They are cute but I ran out of time & they're somewhat tedious because of the small thread & hook.
2. Diamond Lace Dress It Up Scarf - Started this in early January using Classic Elite Yarns  Mountain Top Vail in Chestnut colorway. It's a luscious alpaca/bamboo yarn gifted to me by my SS- Carrie K. I have had to frog the scarf once because I didn't like my cast on. Cast on again using the crochet over the needles method & it looks nice. It has been languising due to the Irish Diamond Shawl finish up. But it's now on the front burner.
3. River Slippers - Started these in late January & got one finished fairly quickly. I don't love them. Not sure why. They look really small. But I will finish them because I feel like a failure if I don't finish things. LOL.
4. Stripe The Squares Baby! -  This is my second blanket using this pattern. It's really easy & looks great! I will probably send this to G's great-grandniece Sarai. She was born just a few weeks ago. Or, maybe I will send it to the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Gastonia.
5. Special Olympics Scarves - Our local group, Hooked On Threads, is making scarves for our Special Olympics to be held in Marble Falls in early April. Of course, it will not be cold weather then. These scarves are as a memento for the athletes. Our group has committed to 22 scarves-one for each athlete & for each coach. I have finished two & am on my third. They're all crochet.
6. A baby hat that I cast on for out of sheer desperation for something to knit while on the bike.
7. I have swatched for my cardigan project & have a general plan but have yet to begin the actual knitting. I just don't want to start another project until I have something completed. Maybe I should knock out the other River Slipper. That might give me the mental go ahead. 

What Have I Finished?

The Irish Diamond Shawl!! Woo. I love it & Mom does too.

What Am I Reading/Listening To?

I finished reading The Hunger Games. Loved it! I have started the second book in the series Catching Fire. It's good but I'm not enjoying it as much as the first book. It is depressing & much more emotional to me than the first book.

I am listening to Vengeance In Death by J.D. Robb on audiobooks. Love this series!

I've also started listening to a couple of podcasts lately. One is Knit Naturally by Dawn who used to be a member of LSSK. Not sure if she still is but I enjoy listening to her & hearing about her world. It's great! 

The other is Wool Junkies who just started podcasting in December. I'm enjoying theirs as well.

I think that's all I want to say today! Have a great day!