And She Knits Too!

Hole, the saga continues

The heat still wasn't as good as the rest of the house so I did some more investigating (using an existing access hole under the kitchen sink). 

We missed a connection.  Fuck.

This one is completely screwed up.  The duct won't connect to the elbow joint because the water pipe is in the way.  Who does stuff like this?  We need to move the elbow back a few centimetres.  If we can get to it between the floors. 

Please oh deity of home renovation, please make this accessible from the basement.  Please.  I don't want to make more holes in my living room.

Resolutions

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution person, but this year I decided it's not so bad to put some plans on (virtual) paper.

Knitting:

1. Finish Colorwork Classic.  I will work on it at least once a week.  I still like this sweater and it deserves to be finished.

2. Sew up Lizard Ridge.  All I need is the right colour yarn, and time to go find it. 

3. Knit from the stash as much as possible.  There are so many temptations out there, but I also have so much yarn I want to knit from my own stash.  I have all my yarn in nice drawers now (thanks Jenna) and I can go look at it and shop in my own house.

4. Knit for fun.  It's not work.  There are no deadlines.  Stress about the whole thing less.

Work:

1. Write more.  Every working day I need to work on a paper or revise or something.  Stuff is piling up and I've lost the writing groove. 

2. Don't take on any more work.  I'm an Instructor, Advertising Manager and Post-Doc, that's enough.

3. Figure out what's next.  What do I want to do for money in the next few years?

Life:

1. Do something new/fun with the kids (together and individually) every week.  I feel like there's a lot of time spent with everyone doing things on their own and not enough together stuff.

2. Don't obsess about not being able to finish everything in the house.  Painting and hole repair and whatever else will happen.  But also, try to finish things that are already started.

3. Get more sleep.  I'm a better mother/thinker/human when I get enough sleep.

Hole

How an innocent question turns into an afternoon of hole-making.

1. Wonder why Alexander's room is colder than the rest of the house.

2. Pull off heating vent cover, vacuum, notice that the hose if sorta "free" in the hole.

3. Get light, realize duct is actually not connected to the hole (photo from between the floor boards).

4. Panic a bit.  Swear a lot.

5. Get your handy dude Craig to start investigating.

6. Realize holes will need to be made.

7. Get a bit light headed.

8. Make hole.

9. Discover that duct is not connected to vent, and to the other elbow, or the main duct (ie the ankle bone is not connected to the knee bone or the knee bone connected to the thigh bone).

10. Swear a lot. 

11. Make more holes.

12. Start reconnecting.

13. Realize holes are not big enough for arms and seeing what one is doing.

13. Make bigger holes--ie make two holes one.

14. Finish reconnecting.

15. Patch holes next weekend.  Go eat at Lahore Tikka House for dinner instead. 

Some Knitting

I've been enjoying my last week before work starts (tomorrow, sigh) by starting a bunch of new projects.  I finished the Lady Detective Hat but it's a tad too small and I look like I'm wearing a lampshade, so no photos.

I also started a sock.  I haven't knit a sock since the Fall and I missed having one on the needles.

This one uses Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Rainbow.  They're for my friend Steve who recently turned 40.  He asked for Bright Socks, so bright socks he gets.

And, for me, I started the Pimlico Shrug from Knit 2 Together.  I'm using Art Fibers Sherlock and I think it will be really pretty.  It took a bit to understand the eyelet pattern, but now I have the hang of it, so it's just a matter of doing 34 inches of a rectangle.

In case you're wondering, I haven't forgot about Lizard Ridge, I just haven't had the time to find the right yarn.  I was going to today, but I got a wee bit busy...I'm saving that for tomorrow's post.

Poppy!

Poppy is done!  I finished it on December 31, laid it by the fireplace and then forgot about it until today (blame hangover and unpacking and general holiday laziness).

The last bit of crochet finishing was a bit of a challenge, but with Mom's help and some wine, my tussles with the crochet hook are now forgotten.

Playing with the colour and not blindly following the pattern was fun.  I did end up with more stripes at the ends (or the back where the seam is) than the front, and my need to control personality took a bit to get around that, but in the end I'm really pleased with the result.

A perfect fit--I knit a size smaller than I would normally, so I'm learning what fits!  Now to find a deep v-neck shirt for underneath--I love Silk Garden, but not against my skin.  A great pattern for great yarn (though Noro should reinstate these colours--they are gorgeous).