Here I am, after a two month absence. And really, I'm typing to avoid the temptation of working on my current project, a flat panel v-neck tank with ribbed sides in Allhemp6. Hemp is a wondrous fiber, but it also really hurts my hands to knit with it for long periods. I like to knit for long periods and want to get that tank done in time to wear it this year, so that is a bit of a problem. The yarn is pretty stiff and a little splitty, which made my cabled cast-on a real headache. After twice (!) making accident mobius strips after using a long tail cast-on, I decided to take the time and extra effort not to fuck it up a third time. The temptation to throw it in the corner in disgust was great, except I'm trying to keep my house fairly neat (or at least not a ridiculous mess, it's all relative).
This is my second recent project in hemp. The first was a shawl made out of Hempathy, which is a hemp blend. The other fibers and its ply structure make it a lot easier to work with than the 100% hemp on my needles now. It might have spoiled regular hemp for me. Allhemp6 is supposed to be a DK weight yarn, but I cannot imagine knitting it such a tight gauge. I'm knitting it at 4.75 stitches to the inch, with no complaints about the look of the fabric. Still, it will probably be a while before I break out the rest of the hemp in my stash.

In other news, I recently discovered that my cat is an excellent birder. Not by catching a bird, thank god, but through his tenacious attack on houseflies. Songbirds, you are lucky that Winston is not allowed outside, or you'd have to flee for your lives! A month or so ago, I had the Orkin man out to attack my carpenter ant problem. They were quite active in my house, thanks to the renovation work. I suspect the Orkin treatment also killed my resident spider population. Spiders are not my favorite houseguest, but they keep the fly population in check. Now, there is only a twelve pound tabby who achieves surprising height and hang time in his jumps. He's very accurate too. Winston is a terrible mouser (never actually killing the mouse), so it's good to see that he has some hunting skills. I may still have to get some flypaper, though.

Magic House Shit

We've been very busy these last few weeks. The bathroom is a bathroom again, all the rooms have new flooring, and the kitchen is basically finished.
The bathroom may be my favorite room in the house. While the walls were down, the guys put in paper faced insulation, so there isn't any noise transmitted. The toilet was rebuilt, so that it no longer aggravates me by running forever after flushing. There's also a new, non-grody medicine cabinet set into the wall, soon to be joined by another storage cabinet over the john. Lewis had a stroke of genius and used the natural stone, yellow '60s California Casual subway tiles I bought last year at ReStore (for a dollar a piece!) as the border with a neutral wall tile. We'd planned to use it on the backsplash in the kitchen, but it's shown to much better of effect in bathroom.

You might recall that we had to take the walls down to remove the old tub. Well, the headache was totally worth it, since we replaced it with a soaking tub and European shower head. It's absolutely amazing. The slope of the tub walls is just perfect for reclining lazily. I've noticed that the plastic tub doesn't hold heat as well as the old cast iron one, but it also isn't so goddamn cold when you first get in. Maybe we should have slid some insulation in between its walls, but there wasn't any provision for doing so.

The bathroom balances out the other remodeling heartbreaks. I decided the ceiling fan in the kitchen had to go. When Lewis took it down, we discovered that the reason the fan has rocked and looked like it might fly off and guillotine us all was that it was not hanging from a rafter after all. And the reason that one of the sockets kept burning through light bulbs turned out to be a major wiring problem, not a short in the fixture as previously assumed. A couple of years ago, my aunt Maria found an awesome local electrician who is now rewiring the entire house. I knew the wiring was bad enough that I didn't want to replace any more switches or outlets, but I didn't understand the scope of the shittiness. The electrician seemed genuinely surprised that a couple of my outlets worked. Soon, all of my outlets will be grounded, the light fixtures replaced, and flickering gone.

The biggest change in the house has been the flooring. Lewis laid real ceramic tile in the kitchen and bathroom, replacing execrable vinyl flooring. The dander and allergy fortress/carpet was torn up. The original tile lurked underneath, and it was a bitch to tear up. All of the houses in my area were built in a hurry in the 1950s on the cheap, so the tile was a real gem: black and white acetate tile that suggested an orthodontist's office or chiropractor. To say that I am glad that it is gone is an understatement. Removing it was very labor intensive, involving a long handled floor scraper that Lewis tells me was designed for breaking ice off of sidewalks, swearing, and buckets of sweat.

Further complicating matters is this:

Lewis went home for a couple of days and came back with this cast and his husband Ricardo to make up for his limited mobility. This is a good injury for a knitter, but a nightmare for a contractor. The doctors refused to give him a walking cast, which is a major drag. We thought it was just a break in his foot, but it turns out that his ankle, which has felt "funny" is also broken. He's talking about a "spider cast" right now and drawing lines in soapstone on his black fiberglass cast where he'd like to vent it. He has some really great power tools, so it might happen.

If you peer closely at that photo, you might notice the new floor. It's a light oak laminate from IKEA, a total steal at $1.25 a square foot. It's so much nicer than the old flooring and it makes my bright green living room look less jarring. The realtor who walked through a few weeks ago called the color "trouble", but I find it restful and clarifying, like clary sage. The lighter floor makes a huge difference in the look and feel of the house.

I look forward to being able to set up my new den. The old one was a den of iniquity with lots of hand me down furniture, too many bookcases, and a clusterfuck of cables. The new den will be an empowered space for creation, with lots of storage for yarn, a red desk, art on the wall, and an extremely comfortable futon. I'm sitting on the newest addition to the den now, a booger green yoga ball (pictured above) that I picked up for $10 to use as a chair. My Uncle Roy has been using one as his desk chair for ages. Anything to quit slumping in front of the computer! I do not want a dowager's hump.

My House and its Magical Powers for Shit

Please note: for the foreseeable future, this blog will feature renovation related content. Knitting just isn't isn't happening in the middle of this mess.


It all began when I couldn't flush the toilet. The tank would take so long to fill, that it was only possible to flush once, maybe twice a day. A temporary and depressing solution, throwing buckets of water down the toilet to force it to flush, was used until I realized that I essentially had an indoor outhouse. One day, I called my good friend Lewis in tears over the state of the bathroom. He agreed to help. I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into then, or he might not have volunteered so quickly. What started as a two hour plumbing fix grew in scope to include the entire house.
As most of you already know, my esteemed grandparents died last summer. For the first six months, I felt unmoored. Then, I resolved to get the fuck out of this place. It doesn't make sense to stay anymore, when its biggest attraction was being able to walk to their house. Far, far away it is. And that means selling the house. And unless it was going to be sold as a gut rehab, work would have to be done. There isn't a huge market for houses with a disreputable air.

At the outset of this undertaking, we planned the following improvements:

• complete remodel of the bathroom
• new floor in the kitchen
• laminate flooring throughout

About halfway through, this has telescoped into:

• moving a wall
• new cabinets, countertop, and sink in the kitchen
• paint, paint everywhere
• more plumbing than can be discussed in mixed company
• mysterious plans for the laundry room that are currently unknown to me
• walling over a door
• replacing all the windows
• the clerks at Home Depot not only recognizing me, but asking if we liked the movie we'd discussed renting a few days before (Pineapple Express. Awesome.)
  

Sorry for the radio silence. I've been totally entranced by my new toy, a Roku, recently acquired with birthday cash. My good pal Meghan got one a couple months ago and has been singing its praises. I vaguely remembered when the Roku was launched as a Netflix box a few years ago, before they released the new, lower price-point model. Now I understand what the big fuss is about. If you have Netflix and eighty bucks, I strongly suggest that you check out the Roku. I can stream Netflix on my television now, allowing me to lounge on the couch instead of slumping in front of my steam-powered PC. I spent the first weekend I had it watching BBC programs obsessively. Pure bliss.

This has also done great things for my knitting output. I finally made the Wicked pullover for which I stashed three balls of Dream in Color Classy two years ago. It's a great pattern, likely to be repeated. My grandmother and aunt complemented me on it today when I wore it to brunch. The real secret of great knitwear is that it can look great and feel like an old sweatshirt at the same time. The DiC is a bit stiffer than the Malabrigo Wicked that I made over the holidays, but I haven't had a chance to wash and block it yet. Maybe it will soften up a bit.

Currently on the needles is another project that had languished in my queue. A year ago, I bought a couple skeins of Blue Moon Worsted Wear to make a Wicked. Now, I realize that a variegated yarn is all wrong for that pattern and am making another Summer Top Down Cardigan. What makes is summery? Short sleeves, though my previous interpretation of this pattern in some Noro yarn has long sleeves. We'll see how far the yarn will go.

In other knitting news, I tore out the February Lady Sweater I was working on. I love the pattern, but I think that a garter stitch yoke is inherently unflattering on anyone with a large chest. Or maybe just that garter stitch yoke, since its edge hit me in a really odd place. Too bad, since it has a lovely lace pattern. Now I must decide what to do with six skeins of Malabrigo Worsted yarn. I am considering Wendy Bernard's Favorite Cardigan, a cardigan-ized version of the Wicked (see? obsessed!), or a Top Down Wrap Cardigan. The last on the list would be super cozy, but I am concerned about pilling caused by the wrap action. Malabrigo pills like a mo-fo in stockinette! Such is the price of softness.

The first Shamrock Shake of the year! Strangely fancy this year, but that whipped cream and maraschino cherry do not hide its minty goodness (or that it matches my living room walls). Even though they can be a little disgusting, I love Shamrock Shakes because they're only available around my birthday. After I saw a crazy, all-green display in the windows of Hollywood Mirror today, I realized that it was shamrock season. McDonalds sucked me in yet again.