Over My Head

 

The Mister may do all the cutting and nailing but it's always my job to do the painting.

So I spent the day on a ladder putting coat after coat of semi gloss on my pretty new window trim. Oy....I used to be able to paint like a pro but time has marched all over me I am sad to say. I felt like I had done an all day yoga session when I was done. Working with my hands over my head is no fun at all anymore. 

In between coats I finished the handspun Olympic hat.

That's the one that started out looking like this when I dyed some Corriedale I had in my stash with the colors of the Olympic rings back in August. 

Even though that was the softest Corriedale I had ever spun I knit a lining into it. Now I have a soft acrylic buffer between my head and the wool and a double layer of warmth. It went right into the emergency bag I keep in the car that is stuffed with warm winter wear for when I discover the hard way it is colder down by the water than it is at home. 

I also got a few more rows done on Festive Doodle's sleeve the night before. I can knit 4 rows of the chart in one episode of Friends if I let the theme music play. I think this has to be my nightly habit until I get this thing done. We can't be too far from sweater weather now, can we?

Holy Smoke!

 

Last night the new range took its maiden voyage and it did NOT go well. The burners worked just fine but the oven, well.....I turned it on 300 to heat up some bread and the house immediately filled with such a smell of burning plastic I had to turn it off and open every window and turn on all the fans. I should have read the instructions where you have to "burn off" all the leftover goo they use to build the thing. It was awful. I was NOT happy. 

Speaking of windows....We rigged up some trim around the over the sink window yesterday and I couldn't be happier with it. 

I need to paint it but it already really makes a big difference in the room. I now have a real window sill instead of just a hole in the wall. Ignore the blue tape. It marks the studs. I've got it all over the place.

While I was hiding downstairs from the acrid oven fumes I got caught up with my Inktober sketches. It took me 3 tries to get that wonky compass done. I thought that would be the easy one but noooo....I also did Collide, Moon and Loop. I couldn't paint a decent looking moon so I put a scribbly moon man on it. I tried several different things for Loop but took the easy way and out and just drew a bow.

And......a side note to Val....several of these charm packs and some yardage are on the way. You gave me the kick in the behind I needed. Thanks!

 

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

I have no idea how but I managed to get another branch and a little outfit stitched this week but I did. The bunny also now has a pinwheel in its hand.  A teeny tiny pinwheel that used 8 different colors. Jeesh. 

I also finished all 40 of the shower invitations and the only thing left is to seal them, stamp them and drop them off at the PO. I'm having a hard time taking that last step because I have very mixed feelings about gatherings in the time of Covid. Since it's not in my control all I can do is hope all these folks understand the risks and take every precaution to protect my daughter and grandson to be. Praying folk, please do your thing. I'd most appreciate it. 

As for the daily kitchen update, you see that? It's a window. Yesterday morning we discovered that tiling around a window that doesn't have any trim around it is a problem. So instead of prepping the wall for tile yesterday we..............

.......took another long trip out to Lowes to buy the wood we needed to throw together some kind of window trim that we can butt the tile up to so it doesn't look so raggedy.  It wasn't in the least bit any fun but I did get another maple doughnut out of the deal.

Woo Hoo Part 2

 

How about a big woo hoo for this being done? Well, not actually done but ready to be sandwiched-when I can find the time and the space to do it. It's a lot bigger than I planned on.

I wish I could woo hoo the invitations. I worked all weekend but I'm still not done. Forty is a lot. It's also a lot of people for a shower but most of these are for elderly relatives and friends all around the country who most likely won't come but will get their feelings hurt if they aren't invited. 

I can woo hoo three more Inktober sketches that I didn't think I would have time for. While the invitations were drying I dashed off Roof, Tick and Helmet. I've also really messed up the days. I can't keep them straight this year but that's sort of the story of my 2021 life so I suppose it works in a sad sort of way. 

Woo Hoo

 

Woo hoo...the Walrus man socks are done. That makes eleven pairs in the gift box for 2021. Something should fit somebody don't you think?

These would have made pair number 12 in the gift box but they pooled rather unsightly at the ankle. It's Stroll in the Base Camp colorway and I think the contrast is too stark for plain vanilla socks. You need an afterthought heel to make these look right. They are going in The Mister's sock drawer when they are done. He's not in the least fussy about stuff like that. 

And...woo hoo...the Fright Club beanie is also done. I even wove in all those loose ends. I love it but it's a beanie and I'm really not the beanie type. I want a hat.

So.........I ordered what I hope are similar colors in Swish Worsted from Knit Picks and I'll try it again with bigger needles and bigger yarn and see what I get. 

Kitchen Update: Pile-itis

 

It's been one step forward and two steps backwards around here this week. Now that the counter is in we got serious about attaching all the wall cabinets which meant we could finally get those big boys screwed in where they belong. It wasn't fun. It took a lot of heavy lifting and a lot of shims but they are finally in. We even got the replacement door on. Hallelujah. I was tired of looking at that gaping hole.

Of course that meant taking everything out of the cabinets again. Knowing this was coming, I hadn't put the shelves in or put much in them but I did have enough stuff to make a big mess on the new island. 

It's piles, piles and more piles around here. Trying to keep us fed in a work zone has been interesting. 

It's not helping that I still don't have a working stove or sink. The Mister doesn't want to hook them up until we get the tiling behind them done. Hopefully that will start on Monday. 

In the meantime I've been McGyvering our meals. There's pretty much nothing that I haven't thrown in a crock pot.

I even discovered you can parboil your beans for soup in an old electric kettle. I'm starting to wonder why we even need kitchens in the first place. All you really needs is a table, an electric outlet and a bucket of water. 

It Takes Two Part 2

 

When Daughter and I went over her guest list for her shower we discovered that we didn't need 30 invitations-we needed 40. It was one of those..."if you invite so and so then you have to invite so and so" afternoons and one thing that I've learned is that you don't argue with expectant mothers.

So The Mister and I spent yet another rainy afternoon coloring, cutting and gluing 10 more balloons. I don't usually let him help me with the fiddly work but this was an emergency. He actually did a very good job so come Christmas card making time he's going to definitely take on a bigger role.

After he toddled off for a nap I got caught up with my Inktober prompts. I did Watch, Pressure, Pick, Sour and Stuck. They are all pretty self explanatory. I stole Pressure from a cartoon I've always liked and I learned that I can't draw or paint a pickle to save my life. I had no idea cucumbers were so complicated but that's the beauty of Inktober. It makes you really look at things you take for granted.

For the first time I laid them all out and realized..........I was missing one. I had forgotten to do roof. That should be a pretty easy one but then I say that every time and they never are. I don't think I've ever really looked at a roof or thought much about them.  I will soon.