The light at the end of the tunnel

Work on the house has hit a frantic pitch as we are trying to prepare for a housewarming party this weekend. Since we didn't seem to be making much progress without a goal, we decided to set one. I'm so sick of painting trim and 6-panel doors. Who the @#%* invented those things anyway?! If all goes well, we'll be able to move stuff upstairs, have a proper bedroom, a proper craft room, and when people come over they won't have to see the horrible construction zone we lived in while occupying the living room.

Once the craft room is set up, I plan to sew on at least a square a day to my not yet complete zigzag afghan, and start the back to my cabled sweater. As soon as I can get the P.L. blanket done, or get to Knitting Sisters to buy more needles (whichever comes first), I will begin Juli's barter cardi. I'm also on a schedule to get items done before the MI fiber festival, too. My stash must be emptied as much as possible so that I can bring home MORE YARN! Unfortunately, house renovations must be finished before yarn reduction can take place. I may even have to sacrifice my Wednesday night group this week to get things done on the house. I really hate to do that because one of our members is a new mom and she was planning on bringing the baby by to show him off. That, and I need my group therapy night. Ah well, such is life. I can at least look forward to the pre-4th/housewarming party on Saturday... my first big social event in weeks!

Start of Project Linus blanket: Summer Sky

Last night I finished the second sleeve to my cabled sweater, so I figured a much easier project was in order. I can't keep dragging charted projects to my knitting group every time! I found a free pattern for a rib check baby blanket and decided to use it. What a nice, easy, textured stitch. After digging in my donated yarn stash, I came up with 8 or 9 very partial skeins of cream colored worsted weight yarn. Even though there were all different brands, they were somehow all the same color! The only other thing in the bag that went with it (and wouldn't make the finished product look like some horror from the 60s) were 2 kinds of blue-periwinkle yarn, one in a light shade and the other slightly darker. I'm not sure how far the cream colored yarn will get me, so if I do run out, I'll have those 2 blues as back up. I'm not sure if I'll just join color to color or if I'll try to do a striped gradient.

My llama yarn is still calling to me from inside my cedar chest, but I'm determined not to work with it until my craft room is set up. Curtains are hung, door molding is in place, and floor registers are in, but the base molding is still avoiding its inevitable installation. Maybe this week...?

A snail's pace

The second sleeve to my cabled sweater is almost done! I'm about 10 rows from the end, and can perhaps start the back of the sweater tonight at my knitting group. Now that I'm nearing the halfway point of the object, I can't help but think about what I want to knit next. I know I have that whole list of items, except I'm really itching to work with the llama/alpaca yarn that I've got. I want a shawl!! All of the patterns I want to work up require more yarn that what's in my possession, so I need to do what -- buy more!! Gayle, at the Fuzzy Farm, should be getting yarn back from the mill any time now, so I guess I know who I'm calling.

Work on the house is progressing as fast as my knitting. We finally got all the wood floors down in both rooms last weekend. Now it's up to me to get the trim painted while Dave works on the base molding. One door painted, one to go. Then there's all kinds of little stuff like hanging curtain rods, last minute patching and spot painting, etc. I can't wait to move in! Maybe next weekend...