There is a light at the end of the tunnel

I didn't think to write down the day when we started the kitchen makeover.  I really should have, because seriously it feels like it's been nine hundred and ten years that we have been working on it.  I'm pretty sure it was right after the Derecho that wiped out our power for almost a week.  So that would be early July.  Which really isn't that long ago when looking at the big picture.  When you are living in a kitchen that is a bit of a mess with half your dishes in the spare room and the other half missing in action, it's a bit of a challenge. 

We so close to being finished that I can taste it, or is that dinner that I'm dreaming of?  The only things left to do are minor in comparison to what we have done: painting the trim around the kitchen and dining room windows, changing the lower wall color in the dining and great rooms (the current color clashes with the new cabinet color), painting that trim,  constructing three shelves to go above the sideboard in the dining room and building a new pantry which will need paint as well. 

One thing that has been great is that Andy and I have taken a few weekends off here and there to regroup. This past weekend we went with friends to a wine festival on Saturday and spent most of the day fishing on Sunday.  We have a romantic four day weekend coming up which we are really looking forward to.  Biking by the beach, great food on the water, and hopefully not a lot of tourists.  I'm really looking forward to eating out.  I hear most restaurants don't keep their dishes in the spare room...

 

Andy built the cabinet above the island from scratch to match what we had.  I love how it turned out and it gives us a lot of extra storage space.

 

 

 

We have picked out a new light fixture for the dining room and will hopefully have it up soon.  This is what it currently looks like.  We took the leaves out of our table to make the room seem larger.  The sideboard is a new addition purchased at a discount furniture store.  It's the perfect size for our small room.

 

The pantry on the right is going to move into the spare room to store yarn and fiber.  There will be three shelves above the sideboard.  The new pantry will look very similar to the cabinets with wainscoting and crown molding.  It's going to be about a foot taller and possibly wider.  I'm hoping for some slide out shelves, but we will see what transpires there.

 

 

 

caissa

Earlier this year Anne Hanson asked me to do a test knit for a kimono style sweater.  Sight unseen, with only a hint of what it was going to look like, of course I agreed!  After all, Anne's patterns are fantastic and very well written.  Hints of what it would look like would pop up on her blog from time to time.  Little snippets of knitted fabric, hints about the shaping, and photo's of the yarn kept me on pins and needles!  Last month an email from Anne came and it was time to begin. 

 

It took me just a little over a month to complete my caissa and I really enjoyed every minute of the pattern.  It's straight forward, easy to follow and like all of Anne's sweater patterns, fit's perfectly. 

 

We have had a couple of cool nights here and Ive already had a chance to wear it.

 

 

It's the perfect sweater for wearing with jeans and a light shirt in the fall.  And this winter it will layer nicely over a long sleeve shirt.  Ive checked to see that it's light enough to fit under my coat which will make it perfect for car trips. 

 

The pattern should be coming out soon.  Keep an eye on Anne's blog for the details. 

 

If you would like to meet Anne and have a great learning experience, she will be at the Shalimar Yarns Studio on Friday September 21 for the Knitspot Finishing Series.  More information and the link to sign up is here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Labor Day

Our Labor Day weekend was very relaxing and enjoyable.  We went to Dish for dinner with Shannon and Rob and then walked around downtown. Taking pictures of each other and having a great time.

 

Andy really spoiled me all weekend by taking me out to lunch Sunday and Monday.  I really enjoy cooking, but it's so nice to have a break.

 

It rained for part of the weekend which means prime knitting time!  I made some real progress on my Cassia test knit that Im doing for Anne.  It's a fantastic and straight forward pattern which makes it perfect for tv watching or knitting when company is over.  I did a quick dry fit last night to check the sleeve length and I absolutely love how the sweater fits and looks!  Pictures to come soon! 

 

I did manage to squeeze in a few hexipuffs.  The grand total as of yesterday is 164.  Still a long way to go, but they seem to fly off the needles.  Each one takes about 20 - 30 minutes.  The Fair Isle ones take about 45.

 

Ive also discovered a new favorite wine.  No, not all of them!!  It's Flip Flop Moscato.

It's light, slightly sweet and even Andy who is not a fan of Moscato seems to like it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



More on the Kitchen and a bit of a break

August has been such a busy month and has flown by.  We have been working on the kitchen nearly every day.  There have been times when Ive wanted to give up from shear exhaustion.  Andy manages to keep going, I have no idea where he gets his energy and drive from.  He's really an amazing guy! 

 

It rained on Saturday so instead of being able to work on the upper cabinet doors we took a trip to Home Depot to purchase our new backsplash.  Little did I know that when we got home Andy was going to install it.  It looks like an old tin ceiling and came in sheets that are applied with adhesive.  It took just a few hours to put up and we love it!  It completely changed the look of our kitchen and will be much easier to care for than tile.

 

Shown here with my Shalimar Yarn's KAL project, Anarchary in the UK Handwarmers.  The yarn is Homage in Cranberry, Bluecrop and Tawny and is a dream to knit with!

 

 

The next time you see this kitchen there will be doors!

 

Andy and I did manage to take a three day weekend and head to Yorktown, VA.  We were both so exhausted from our home improvement projects that we really appreciated a quiet getaway.

 

We spent some time on the beach

Met a Pirate

Supported our forefathers

Saw cannon fire!

 

And quite honestly spent a lot of time at the Yorktown Pub

 

 

 

 

 

 



Ravellenic Gold

67 Hexipuff's knitted during the Ravellenic Games!

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!!

 













129

129

I think it's safe to say I haven't been knitting much of anything else recently! 

And now for the weather.  Back to you Tiffany...