More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys (or so you would think)

We have been going non stop this year on our house.  In February we replaced the flooring in the great room, hallway and the two main floor bedrooms.  It's worked out beautifully - easy to clean and maintain.  It's much better for our allergies than the wall to wall carpet that we removed. 

Next Andy enclosed the fence like railing around the stairwell:

Before

After

We began work on the stairs by removing the carpet to see what was under it.  It was a combination of stair treads (good) and plywood (not so good).  Andy replaced the plywood, rebuilt the corner steps, added trim around the edges and wainscoting risers.  I'm the painter in the process.  I come from a family of very talented artists and am glad to be able to use my limited painting skills for some good!

Then we added a shelf under the bar area of the counter that divides the great room from the kitchen.

Most recently we have begun refacing our cabinets.  While it does take a bit of time, refacing isn't really hard to do.  Andy added wainscoting and trim to the existing door fronts.  We updated the knobs and hinges and Ive painted the insides to give everything a clean and uniform look.  Right now all of the lower cabinets are complete.  This weekend we will begin on the upper cabinets.  Here are a few progress pictures.

Sanded, washed and primed

Finished!

 

 We added sliding racks to make access easier.

Before

After

The trim underneath still needs to be painted.  I think I will do that last since I still need to paint the trim in the dining room.

PS  Im up to 148 hexipuffs!!

 













My New Favorite Sweater

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be a test knitter for Anne Hanson's newest sweater design; Blümchen

I love my finished Blümchen.  Not only does it fit perfectly but it was such a fun and very easy knit that Im currently shopping for yarn for a second one!

If you are looking for a well fitting and flattering sweater this is the way to go.  I used Knitting Notions Classic SuperwashMerino in Pumkin Spice. 

The finished sweater may give the impression that it was difficult or challenging to knit, but I promise it was quite easy.  The lace pattern is easy to remember and I knit the majority of it while watching tv with Andy in the evenings.  I even brought it to our knit group and worked on it while catching up with the girls.

Leaving

Anne Hanson is one of my favorite pattern designers.  Her patterns patterns produce amazing results. 

This is Leaving and it's first sweater that I have knitted where I am completely happy with the fit. 

Knitting a something as large as a sweater and not knowing how it's going to look on your body is a little daunting.  If you look at the finished projects page for Leaving on Ravelry it looks wonderful on everyone.  It's light enough to wear in early fall with a shell under it and later on in winter would also look great with a blouse. 

The yarn is hand dyed BFL by Wits End Serenade.  It was a gift from Andy at the Montpellier Fall Fiber Festival last October. There is a skein and a half left over.  Enough for a shawl or perhaps a vest.  The nice thing about yarn is that it doesn't have an expiration date.

Seams?  What seams?  They don't really stand out, do they?  That is thanks to Ann McCauley, another fabulous designer, author and mentor.  She was here in Virginia a couple of weeks ago and was kind enough to teach a seaming class at our knit group.  While Ive done some seaming in the past I was never satisfied with the results.  After Ann's class my seaming has improved one hundred percent.  If you ever have an opportunity to take one of her classes, I highly recommend it.