Moving on...

Things are moving on here. The new kitchen is almost finished, and the days of chaos and the to-ing and fro-ing of joiners and painters and plumbers and the gaffer and the architect and all and sundry are almost at an end. 

I'm ready for it to finish and for things to return to normal. 6 weeks with only a microwave - even if we did have a washing machine and a dishwasher and a sink - was a bit wearing and wearying. But the results are just as good - if not better - than we hoped. We can now see through the house from front to back; we can see out into our garden in a way that we couldn't before. It's nice. Really Nice. I like.


Today the new floor was laid. The fitter left the paper template in situ because of the painting and grouting work happening tomorrow. We couldn't really pass up the opportunity to draw on such an enormous piece of paper, so after supper the chiddlers and I got to work...

As you can see, the decorating didn't stop with the paper, oh no. The jelly bean drew on herself. A. Lot.

In other news, I finished some socks. They are pink, and a bit stripey and I really love them (although they are impossible to photograph). Trouble is, I lost concentration somewhere along the line and they are teensy bit too small for me. 

pattern: generic top-down socks

yarn: Kaffe Fassett Random Stripe for Regia (#02901 colourway) 

combined with some plain pink 4-ply in a grumperina stripe (tute here)

Seeing as I have a dozen or more pairs of handknit socks in my drawer, I don't really need another pair. And, in these days of austerity I don't want to appear to be greedy - so I've put them in the gift stash


and promised myself that 


if I happen to pass the shop where I bought the yarn, I might allow myself to buy a couple of balls because, well, most of my handknit socks are a year or two old now, and must be quite close to wearing out. So, making some more would just help me to keep the others going a bit longer because I wouldn't need to wear them as often....and if there's anything a girl really needs, it's a pair of hot pink stripey socks.

Beanies and bobbles (FO)

The pink hat I lost last week is still hiding in Glasgow somewhere, but the other #9 baby beanies are all washed and ready to drop off at the Pregnancy and Parents Centre.


They look kinda cute all stacked up and ready to go...

Baby beanies (9 here)

pattern: own 

yarn: any and various odds and ends in the sock/4 ply stash

At the weekend we went to a friend's fifth birthday party (happy birthday Aisling!). I was itching to make something for her, so I spent a happy half an hour or so trimming scraps of felt to make this sweet pair of rainbow hair bobbles. I did it while watching England play Sweden in Euro 2012. There were places where my cutting was decidedly wonky; but, I just think that adds to their charm.

And, in other news (in case you were wondering) the building works are still on-going, but due to finish this week. We can't wait! Things already look and feel so different, it's hard to remember what it looked like before... 

FOs reporting for duty.

Deli is done - finished on Sunday evening while watching the color purple. (We have a Love Film subscription, and I'm trying to fill a few holes in my (our) cinematic education). Here is a bad phone photo of it in action on Monday.

Today I was in Glasgow at a conference. I took some small knitting with me and polished off baby beanie no. 10 before lunch. Then I accidently cast on a sock in the afternoon plenary. All I can say in my defence is: there was yarn, needles and a requirement for me to sit and listen to some people talking for an hour or two.

I'd show you the hat - which is super scrummy, using some Kaffe Fasset striping sock yarn in hot pink - but it has escaped somehow. I suspect it jumped out of my bag at the conference...  If you are in Glasgow and find it wandering about, do send it home!

WIP

Things are happening here. Big things. Things that have been planned and thought about and discussed for some time. In fact, I knew I wanted to do some of these things when we first saw the house (7 years ago!)


We have builders in. We have a temporary kitchen (aka the batcave) and many boxes. There are tiles and lights and worktops and all sorts waiting to be unpacked and installed. 


It's an exciting thing. We've just moved beyond the slow structural elements of the build, and into the quicker and more palpable progress of wall finishes and kitchen installation. Yesterday the kitchen arrived in a myriad of boxes, and this morning the joiners arrived to start putting it together: a three dimensional puzzle of components. 


It feels very grown up, although we are not thinking at all about the grown up bill that will also arrive shortly. 

 the jelly bean tidies herself away in the old kitchen

The contractors have been great - tidy, considerate and punctual. The gaffer, is a very likeable man who says things like 'no problem', 'we can do that' and 'its all pretty straightforward'. We like him. 


There is knitting here too, of course. Hat no #9 sprang off the needles yesterday and no #10 is just being cast on. Tonight it's a knitting night, so I'm planning to take Deli for a night with the girls. Hopefully it'll be her last night as a UFO!


In other news, some sunshine and the long jubilee weekend meant a wee bit of time in the garden. The chiddlers helped me plant the rather wizened seed potatoes that had been waiting to be planted. And, the wigwams for our climbing french and runner beans are also up. Must plant the seeds now!