hey, is this thing growing??

good thing i love working on this scarf, because seriously, i’m knitting and knitting, but it doesn’t seem to be getting longer. but wow, when it’s done, it’ll be perfect for what i need. it’s all snuggly and soft, and the colors are so attractive. and it’s wide—if i’m out and i get chilly, i can throw it over my shoulders to get warm and it will work. i like that.
(and it is growing—it’s getting there. one repeat at a time.)

my secret project is also growing and i’m actually thinking i might finish it by the end of the week. if i do, i’ll be a very happy knitter. i’m not really keeping a schedule (though it could be argued that i should), but if i was, and i finished that far ahead, i’d be looking at having gained time toward knitting a sweater.

um. that’s just a little confusing—let me put it another way: if i finish the secret project by the end of the week and start the faroese autumn arbor shawl over the weekend, i have a chance of finishing that by the end of the month, which means i could maybe knit a sweater in february. wouldn’t that be sweet?

that’s the dream anyway. i still have another small secret project i need to work on, but that’s not big at all.
i want to finish up the poppy socks very soon, too—i’ve decided they are now on a deadline. but they’re halfway there

and they’re adorable (it’s possible that their adorability quotient was raised considerably by how fast they knit up . . . .). they are also as cushy-cozy as promised in the knitting, mmm. i love how they look on the foot

though they’re not meant for me so they are a little short. still, you get the idea of how the lace opens up and the nicely-defined brocade texture.

i just can’t say enough nice things about knitting with this serenity yarn—it’s lovely from start to finish. you wanna hear the best part?? roxanne is going to be dyeing this same blend (merino/cashmere/nylon) in a DK/light worsted weight. she’s sending some for scarf knitting as soon as she has it in, so we’ll keep you updated on that.

speaking of cozy, i’ve been wearing my wooly-bear caterpillar socks (now that i finally have two complete toes!) and wow, are they cozy-warm.

adam’s yarn just glows and washes up beautifully, too

sometimes, i just feel a need to mention the goodness of wool on my feet . . .

yesterday was spinning class and we all agreed—thank goodness it was sunday and time for class—we needed it. we didn’t go over any new techniques or skills . . . but we had a very therapeutic discussion about the holidays. there was much hilarity over gifts from husbands and we all felt a lot better afterward (some of us have been drowning in family since 12/22/08). i shudder to think what sort of carnage i’d have wreaked by now if that was me.

after class, beckie and kris came over to knit—more discussion about gifts from husbands (not complaints, just talking; it seems everyone has at least one funny story of the genre).

of course, while we were all downstairs knitting and chuckling, david was doing this

looks like he’s hit the starting line on that room.
for posterity, i took a few pix this morning of some of its sadder features

just about all you could say about that is, ugh.

then there’s the acoustic tile ceiling. now, in a pinch, you could make a case for leaving that alone—i’ve seen it used in modern applications for spare, lovely rooms and it looked very streamlined and appropriate. it could work in the “clean box” we are aiming for here. but—and this is what’s so maddening about the work that’s been done on the house by previous owners—

just look at the alignment of those tiles—why bother? why not just stagger them if you don’t have the patience to align them? that’s just the kind of thing david can’t let slide. even if he wanted acoustic tile, he’d have to replace that.

the guy who lived here before calls himself a “faux finisher” and he was absolutely mad about putting wall treatments on every square inch of this house, especially this kind (it’s first thing to go, believe me)

which seems to consist of smearing joint compound over the thinnest available wallboard (or, better yet, masonite or fake wood paneling!), then tinting it with muddy mixtures of color (badly), and calling it a day.
nope, i take that back; not calling it a day—calling it decor.

secretly, i call him the faux faux finisher. be-ware.