I am a Clean Freak or 100 Ways to Drive Your Husband Crazy

Kristi called me the other day and asked what I was doing.  The conversation went something like this:

L: I'm cleaning
K: That's all you ever do
L: No, I organize too

I think it's no secret that I'm a little compulsive when it comes to cleaning and organizing.  I never seem to be able to get it quite right.  It seems like either I could have done a better job with how things fit where I placed them, there is too much stuff, or the storage solutions that I have come up with just don't work.  The only area I am completely satisfied with in the house are the kitchen cabinets.  It's really only been since September that the kitchen cabinets were finished.  While we were working on them we took everything out of the kitchen.  This gave us a chance to go through what we had and sort it into what we were keeping and what needed to be taken to Goodwill.  Everything is nice and neat and has a place.  I think Martha Stewart would be proud! 

We added sliding racks for the lower cabinets.  It makes getting pots and pans out much easier.  Before it was easy to forget what we had in the back of the cabinet.  Now we know and we aren't wasting time looking for the sauce pan or trying to lift the enamel cast iron dutch oven out of the back. 

Over the past couple of weeks I've been re-organizing the craft room (gack, I think this is the fourth time now...).  It would be a lot easier if there was just one type of craft that I enjoyed, but since there are a few it takes up a bit more space.  Aside from knitting and spinning I also like to sew, do a bit of jewelry making, dabble in rug hooking and have a very small rigid heddle loom.  Oh and yarn.  I have a lot of yarn and perhaps more than a few project bags and handbags.  What can I say?  I like yarn and bags. 

On the left in a smaller book case are all my knitting patterns, knitting books, a basket full of hexipuffs and hanging above is my little rigid heddle loom.  The mini LL Bean bag on the loom has all the tools that go with the loom.  The middle case from the bottom up: jewelry supplies and yarn, handspun yarn, the next two shelves are indi yarns, knitting needles and tools, at the top are hat boxes with sewing trims/nicer spinning fibers/things I couldn't part with, shuttles and a basket o'hexipuffs.  On the right from the bottom up: orange bag with spinning bobbins and flyers, picnic basket (empty!!), office organizer and foam for needle felting, third shelf has a rug in progress and supplies, fourth is all needle felting, top shelf is a basket of buttons, lazy kate and miscellaneous all topped off by knitting magazines.  I still think it looks messy but aside from covering it with a big curtain, I'm not sure what else I can do.  If you have a suggestion, please post a comment. 

I coerced Andy into helping me in the basement this weekend.  Shannon had given us a solid wood table style desk when she was moving.  We thought it would be perfect to put the drum carder on.  Andy built the brown shelves on top of the table when he was in middle school.  He was horrified when I asked him to trim the bottom of them a bit so they would fit on the table!  Being the good sport that he is he trimmed them and then helped me put everything on them.

It's not especially attractive, but it's organized and in a workroom in the basement.  The table is nice and sturdy and I can't wait to try the carder on it.  I had it clamped onto a old sewing machine table for a while, but it just didn't work well.  This is a huge improvement. 

Yesterday it was finally not 1,000 degrees in the shade or pouring rain.  Andy and I headed out to work on the start of the new patio.  Andy was able to lay the foundation for the new walkway that will go from the basement door to the patio.  The rail road ties are extremely heavy and need to be moved with a hand truck.  The grass in the path will be coming out and will be replaced with stone.  It will be less work to take care of and less chance of me getting bitten by bugs when walking back there.  Since I'm allergic to nearly everything that bites and my blood is crack for mosquito's we are doing everything we can to reduce the chance of bites.

My thumb finally seems to be working properly and I'm knitting again at full capacity!  It just sort of happened over the weekend while I was working on Mariposa for the Shalimar Beat The Heat KAL. I cast on on Saturday and I'm 1/4" away from binding off for the arm holes.  It's in Shalimar Enzo Worsted, Billies Blues colorway. 

With my thumb back in shape,  I've been able to work on my new sock design.  It's gotten some great comments from guys as well as girls so if you are looking for something to knit for a friend or your husband for Christmas this would be a great choice.  I'll be putting it out for test knitting sometime next week and hopefully be publishing it at the beginning of September.  The yarn is Maple Creek Farm Sherman in Chocolate Mint Truffle.

Wandering Wildflower is specially priced at $3.50 until August 1.  After that, the price will be going up to $5.00.

Maryland Sheep & Wool

Last Friday Andy, Shannon and I headed up to Maryland for the weekend.  We all got to stay with Kristi and Paul from Shalimar and I have to say we had a blast!  It was non stop fun from the moment we got there until we headed home on Sunday.  When we arrived on Friday we all pitched in for the Shalimar Yarns Annual MDSW party.  Before we knew it, people started arriving and the fun started.  I got to meet Julia Trice in person.  Have you ever worried about going to a party and having the same outfit on?  Well, this time it worked out really well! Julia and I both had our Adiri sweaters on.  She is so much fun and I had a great time getting to know her better over the weekend.

I only briefly got to talk to Kyrie who I haven't seen since last year.  She's an avid horse woman and couldn't stay long at the party.  A friends horse had foaled and poor little guy needed to be bottle fed due to a foaling complication.  From what Ive seen on Facebook the foal seems to be doing much better.  I bet Kyrie's helping hands had a lot to do with that!  Here she is with Andy.  They look like they were having a great time, it makes you wonder what they were talking about.

Here are Laurie and I working in the kitchen.  Laurie and I are kindred spirits and we kind of took over the kitchen when we got there.  She's a fantastic knitter and if you would like to see what she has made her Ravelry name is Ellejay119.  I have to say that I wish I lived closer to Laurie because I think we could have a lot of fun and possibly get into a lot of trouble together!

Saturday at MDSW was crazy busy.  It was fun walking around, doing a little shopping and getting to spend time with friends that live in other parts of the country.  I had finished my Audrey in Unst in Breathless DK Copper Pennies and it was actually cold enough to wear it on Saturday morning.  The only problem was that I hadn't counted my buttons before knitting the button band.  A quick email to Melissa Jean and problem solved!  She had a button waiting for me when we got to her booth on Saturday and I sewed it on as soon as we left the booth.  Now that is some awesome customer service!

That cute guy in my lap is Enzo.  He is so much fun and really larger than life.  A bouncing ball of energy and fun.  He was waiting at our bedroom door each morning to come and jump onto the bed to cuddle.  Speaking of fun loving, Michelle Miller/FickleKnitter is one of the most fun people to hang out with!  We had a meet and greet with her at the Shalimar tent on Saturday.  It had warmed up and we had a chance to sit and knit and chat joke around and tease Shannon. She's a really lovely person and a wonderful designer.

Connie and I both wore our Frost in Bloom's in Shalimar Breathless and Homage on Saturday and Shannon was kind enough to take a quick picture.  Shannon had on her Ribbon Street Cowl and I was so lax with the camera this weekend that I forgot to take ANY pictures.  I wish I had because she really looked adorable in it, especially when she had it paired up with her straw cowboy hat.  Maybe I can coerce her into a photo shoot.

I finished up the new infinity scarf. If you have a name idea, please leave it in the comments of my last post.  The winner will receive a free copy of the pattern when it's published.  It's currently being test knitted and should be released around June 1st.

I'll have a bit more on MDSW in my next post with a few of the goodies that I picked up while we were there.  I picked up the cutest needle felting kit's from a new vendor!  More on that later :)