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Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Three cheers

We closed on the condo purchase on Friday!!  Huzzah!  I have the original key, and made copies for the rest of the Plaid Patrol.  Three guesses as to what was first moved into our new digs.  Go on, you'll get it if you think about it.  Yes!  You're right, it was yarn!  I loaded up the Red Menace with boxes and bundles of yarn (all light enough for me to handle), and some tools, and scooted off to our home.  I moved maybe a fifth of the stash, and I'll move more mid-week -- I'd like to keep it from being knocked around or trampled underfoot by the movers.  I'm claiming the front room as my craft space.  I can have the sewing machine set up & ready whenever I might be moved to sew.  Funny, I never used to think that was fun.  Then I started finding blogs about revamping old clothes into new styles, and thought I could do that.  It looks like I'll "inherit" the large bookcase for the craft room too.  The Plaidman built it specifically to house some of my larger knitting books and magazines, out of 1" X 12" boards.  I'm going to need a narrow table for the sewing machine, swift, and winder.  Although we've a small desk that might serve for the sewing machine, I don't think it will accomodate the other two items.  There just isn't enough of a "lip" around the top to hold those tools.  We're going over to American Freight later (this week? the weekend?) , so I'll look for something suitable then.  We need a lot of furniture...dining table & chairs, sofa & either a loveseat or two comfy chairs for the living room, lamps for the LR & Disco's den & the craft room.  Disco has a built-in bookcase in her basement suite.  I think a good floor lamp would work well down there; if I can get a good deal I'll buy two.  We have to figure out where the computer desk will go, and where the stereo will reside -- I'm thinking the "breakfast nook" would be a good place for that; we've got a stand for it.
ETA:  We've started carrying lighter boxes of "stuff" to the new place.  Maybe half of the stash has landed in the upstairs "craft" room.  Now we're splitting time between the two homes, 'coz we carried all the laundry there -- as Dog is my witness, we will not wash clothes at a laundromat again! -- even though we can only process 1 wash and 1 drying load at a time.  Hours of work, during which I wandered away to the craft room and picked up my swatch for Color Affection.  I frogged it, and started the shawl!  Startitis strikes again.  This was Sunday.  Yesterday, our dining table and chairs were delivered.  Plaidman & Disco worked together to put the legs on it, then he left her to work on the chairs while he drove to the Box O'Docs to pick me up.  Of course we had to go back for Disco, and I wanted to see the table.  We actually haven't had a dining table since we left West Nashville, some 18 years ago!  I'm not sure what the general plan is for today.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

I need a list

Or a spreadsheet, or just to have my head examined.  We are closing on the condo in two days!!!  We'll still own the crackerbox house, so there's no huge hurry to move -- but neither the Plaidman nor I can lift, push or pull much.  We'll need some help, which I'd like to hire.  The Plaidman has changed over the utilities at the condo, and our insurance is in order on both properties (I have two houses.  Who'da thunk it?), and you know I can't hold more than three thought trains in line at a time.  SO ... I don't know what else I need, other than a good list. 
I have frogged the sleeve joins, neckline decreases & raglan decreases on the Gramps Cardigan.  I watched Kate Oates' little video about moving the stitches to maintain the cable pattern, in fact I watched it about 3 times in a row.  I did not have any knitting in my hands, to be able to duplicate her process while watching.  So, I need my tech person aka DiscoDame to get into that video & download it to a flash drive, so I can watch it at home with the $&(#% sweater in my hands.  This little item must go to a new home!
I've worked many more rows on the Estonian scarf/shawlette, still loving it immensely.  Just think, in the condo I'll have a whole room for crafting!  I'll be able to block this puppy on the floor, with the door closed against feline intrusion.  I'll be able to have the sewing machine set up 24/7.  All my knitting & crocheting books & magazines will have their very own bookcase.  Speaking of which, the former owner's two offspring were present at our last walk through.  They'd been wondering what to do with some things that were still in the house (well, actually, on the patio) that had no places in their homes.  One item is a medium sized bookcase, needing a coat or three of paint; another was an older TV with a swiveling stand.  Both were offered to us, and will be staying with us.  Disco can have the TV & stand for her suite.  Once it's repainted, I'd like to put the bookcase in the front room as part of my crafting space. 
I have no idea how I'll manage to stay sane, moving right before Christmas.  I sure hope Disco & the Plaidman work up some more enthusium for this move, as they're at home all day most days & have the TIME to do some packing. 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Knitworthiness

Not too many folks have this quality.  I knit a covering onto a holiday ball, and brought it in for our office ornament swap.  We drew numbers, and in turn picked up an ornament -- mine was the last one picked.  Did I mention that all the ornaments were wrapped?  I think the yarn bow I put on mine may have been too big a clue.   Well, I thought it was cute!  Most of my other knitting is in a holding pattern, as the Plaid Patrol wrestles with the paperwork and the physical work of getting ready to move.  Yep, we're buying a condo.  Disco will have a very large room (30' X 12"!  Half the basement!) that she can divide as she wishes.  She'll have her bath too -- no more waiting for her to get out of the bath.  Last night, as I pulled into the driveway, I saw the Plaidman & Disco at the shed.  They'd pulled a lot of "stuff" out; their mission was to find out if we still had a small dining table and an iron twin bed in there.  Disco is tired of her platform bed, and I was hoping we still had the iron bedstead.  The two of them did get a lot of trash out of the shed, but no table or bedstead.  I think she'll just have to keep the platform bed for now.  We do plan to buy a whack of furniture, as the condo is about 2.5 X bigger than the little crackerbox house.  Currently, we don't even have a couch!  We had a futon for a long time, then the frame started breaking down.  The plan is to move the fridge & oven out to the shed while we have the floors redone throughout the little house.  I'm not hurrying to get that done, we can take our time as long as the outside is maintained.