I've been thinking a lot about home ownership lately. There are a lot of people that talk of home ownership like they talk of their marriages and their jobs: like it's a shackle holding them back from reaching their true potential. Though you have to wonder, true potential for what?  

This house is old, it is going to require a lot of money over our lifetime together. But it is also something that I am still super ecstatic about. It sometimes hits me at odd moments, like last night randomly: loml and I live here. We are making this our home, however slowly that is happening. We now have furniture in all the rooms. No unpacked boxes. And lists of plans and hopes and problems. To me this isn't solely a responsibility, it's a hobby. I'm going to put money into this house to make it my own and I'm going to relish it (most of the time).

I think I've mentioned here before that I was a weird teenager - I used to watch This Old House every afternoon and initiated a process to choose nice, wooden furniture for my room. My parents helped subsidize my weirdness - if I paid part of the cost of the furniture, it would be mine as an adult. It is now officially a part of the purple room here. I have always enjoyed this part of domesticity. 

The gutters could use replacing. The garage as well. Mulberries. The basement floor is partially ruined already. The list goes on; and sometimes it feels damn good to complain about the problems. But I own those problems, I am happy to put part of my money into fixing them. I'd rather have money to replace the garage than I would a new shirt, shoes, purse, gadget or car. It may not seem fun to you, but it is to me. I mean, what is more fun than seeing and falling for this and realizing there are dozens of places you could put it:

(via Oh So Beautiful Paper, hopefully available here soon)

I tend to be a non-social person. That's not to say that I'm anti-social; I like a good get-together. And I've been known to enjoy a good party. But I just don't really thrive off of social situations. I am good with one-on-one, good with those I know well in small groups - I just don't like crowds. I am, in many ways, an introvert.

Strangely, I have found that I love it when loml has people over. I love it because I get to watch him doing something he likes and is great at (being social) and I mostly get to observe without participating.  It is like sucking in the atmosphere at a no-pressure party. I feel like I get all the benefits of social interaction without having to actually do much. It's fantastic.

fo 1 & 2!

Yes, it is June and I am posting my first and second finished knitting projects of the year. It took me 6 months to finish a single thing. This:

It's small. Smaller than a baby blanket should be. But I just got to the point where I was done with diamonds and needed to give this to the mom-to-be. She's due in two weeks. So here is a case where it is the thought that counts.


However, I made up for the small blanket.  This is possibly the cutest thing I've ever knit, and all for baby Seb (he will be Sebastian Mateo).  Immediately following the blanket, in less than a day, I whipped this up:

It's called the umbilical hat. And it was a crowd pleaser - the yarn was right (soft and machine washable) and it was itty bitty. Maybe not so practical for a july baby...but that's beside the point. More to come, much more quickly now that I don't have a baby blanket hanging over me.

Do I want to buy this? I don't know yet. But since I'm trying to be a more regular blogger and I'm dead tired, this is my effort at content this week.

Lately I've been feeling like an adult. An adult with a partner, a house, a job and responsibility. It's funny how suddenly, or as suddenly as 9 years can be, it seems I've grown up. That's assuming adulthood begins when you can legally drink. I'm trying not to use this space as a place to vent (wet basement! job frustration! boys smell!), so yeah - all of that, but also the good stuff.

Like gardening. I know it doesn't appeal to some but it is cathartic to me to dig holes and rip out plants and sweat. And this house is going to take a lot of gardening thought over the next few years. I don't think the landscaping is bad - but it is a bit boring.  A lot of groundcover and ivy and hostas and ornamental grasses. And one rose bush, which I hate (white roses?  really?). I know roses are an art and people worship and cultivate them. But I think they are a bit silly. Give me a rhododendron or a hydrangea any day. There are some lovely hydrangea bushes here in fact. One out of about five seems to have had a bad time this spring, but happily there is one bush that is probably the size of a wine barrel.  It is huge and hardy and I cannot wait to see what it brings.

I only planted a flat and three tub plants this year: impatiens in my planters (shout out to my mom, the impatiens lover) and some bigger geraniums in the front landscaping. I mostly just spent my time ripping out stuff I didn't want. If you're not sure about that ornamental grass, don't plant it - because taking it out is going to hurt.  I have a lot of ground cover to consider, some bushes to remove and then a backyard to wrestle with. 

I wonder if I can manage a very small vegetable patch at some point (and then we'll not eat those vegetables just like the CSA box we've already changed from veggies + fruits to fruit only).

I have a confession to make. Something that actually kind of shames me. I am nearly 30. It is 2011. And I still use scrunchies. The fabric covered hair bands of the 80's and 90's. The worst part of this is the actual reason behind this scrunchy use. Fine, thin hair + hot as a coal during sleep = hair must be pulled back at night or I wake up with a drenched neck (you wanted to know all of this right? along with the acne?). 


Pulling my fine, thin hair back in a regular rubber band was causing it to break, intensely. I mentioned my concern to my stylist and he recommended the scrunchy as a less traumatic hair tie - it cushions my hair so it doesn't break as easily when it's held back. 


And so, I've taken to wearing scrunchies when I'm in the house. It will hopefully prevent me from having bald spots in a few years (I predict, if loml and I grow old together, I will be the one growing bald over the years. Sigh). But it can be kind of...shame inducing when people stop by. Don't judge.

This! I have adult acne, it's impossible to deny it. It's gotten worse in the past few months, one of the things I can blame on being almost 30? I've started a face regimen like a 16 year old (astringent, pimple cream, etc). And when I'm looking the other way, literally in the matter of seconds, I get a huge new pimple. It's ridiculous.

Hmm, once abandoned, it becomes nearly impossible to suddenly write a blog post. I feel like I should have something profound to say after nearly four months of silence. But I really don't. I just wanted to get the ball rolling again. Watch this be the only post for another four months. Maybe there is something to that feeling that I should have something to say before I post...

I'm having this weird issue, that I'm slowly becoming aware of:  I cannot clean in the house while loml is present. And by present I mean not otherwise entertained/detained.  And detained means one of the following:  asleep, out of the house, somewhere in the house with someone else, cleaning with me. 

Is this super childish of me or ingrained habit?  I can't figure out if I'm resistant to cleaning because he is available to clean to so why isn't he doing it?  Or if I'm resistant because I don't want to be watched?  Or if I'm resistant because if he's not busy I am striving for quality time?  Or really, when it all comes down to it, am I just so used to working the cleaning junket by myself that I can't fathom having another human wandering around messing up my pattern?

I think they are all equally likely.  

Journal swap round 5: me

I realize, as I'm doing this, that most of my ideas are neutrals.  What I mean is...the idea behind this page was a winter tree with an owl.  I wanted to start experimenting more with color though, so I forced spring.  And I think, honestly, it was better in my head.  But, that's bound to happen quite a bit.  It's kind of twee, huh?


I also realize that I'm fairly obsessed with texture.  So I'm challenging myself to use a completely flat surface in the future as well as colors.  

Let the experiments begin...

This is the life....

Head on a pillow, on the warm radiator, Christmas tree providing soft/mood lighting...


Good life.

And no, I wasn't watching access, I just hadn't changed the channel yet....

baby gimlet blanket pattern

This is a departure and not meant for regular readers.  Just an fyi.  

A few years ago now, I knit a blanket for a cousin's baby.  I loved that pattern - which I found on a knitting blog I frequented.  Since that time, that blog and its author have all but disappeared.  I tried to get permission to reprint the blanket pattern and failed.  However, the pattern was printed on her blog for free and I absolutely have no wish to take the credit for it.  So, this pattern courtesy of KnitAnnie.  The ravelry link is here:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-gimlet. 

All details in pattern are from KnitAnnie and do not apply to the blanket that I, personally, knit.  Note that the pattern was written by KnitAnnie, so any "I"'s from here on out are her.  Also, she's from Australia, so watch out for metric.

Materials

Any double knit (8 ply) or aran weight yarn would be fine for this blanket, as long as it's soft and fairly plain.  I used Cleckheaton Country 8 ply (5 and a bit skeins) in Colour 003 and 4mm needles.

Finished size: 64cm x 64cm before blocking, 75cm x 75 cm after.

Directions:

Moss Stitch: *K1, P1, repeat from * to end

Diamond pattern:

Row 1: *P1, K7, repeat from * to end

Row 2: *K1, P5, K1, p1, repeat from * to end

Row 3: K2, *(P1, K3), repeat from * to last two stitches, P1, K1

Row 4: P2, *(K1, P1, K1, P5), repeat from * to last 3 sts, K1, P2

Row 5: K4, *(P1, K7), repeat from * to end

Row 6: repeat row 4

Row 7: repeat row 3

Row 8: repeat row 2

Cast on 104 stitches and moss stitch for 4 rows.  This forms the bottom border of the blanket.  Moss stitch 4 stitches then follow diamond patter until 4 stitches remain, moss stitch 4 sts.

Continue as above for all rows until blanket is almost square.  Moss stitch 4 rows and cast off.  Weave in ends.

(katie here:  I ended up doing 17 repeats of the diamond pattern to get a square.  Plan for something similar)

Image of this blanket (complete with baby!):

Journal swap round 5: librarian.

When I saw this, I thought of new beginnings and spring...London and Mary Poppins...I don't know if i can explain those last two.  It's also highly possible I felt this way because I received this right around the move.  And yes, I've had this book sitting around for months.  But I'm finally getting back into it...

For next year, I'd like to continue to write here every now and again, to keep up with the knitting, to keep loml around.  Basically I want a year of status quo - a year where nothing huge happens.  I also am already planning on doing more for myself.  My first three areas of attack are:

• Coding improvements.  I'm taking a Ruby on Rails program in winter. I know I code for my living, but I often feel like I don't actually do much coding.  Sharepoint sort of stole that from me.  And so I'm going to try a few certificate programs and learn some new languages.
• Hobby improvements.  I'm taking an embroidery class from Lill Street.  I've wanted to try classes there for years and now it's on my way home from work.  There's no reason I shouldn't try stuff out there.
• Body improvements.  Since getting the IUD I've gained a shit ton of weight.  You go on the pill, you gain weight.  You go off, you gain weight.  It's all very frustrating.  So I'd like to get in a routine where my exercise is just part of my day and I only eat cookies once or twice a week, not every day.  That seems doable and will hopefully aid in shedding a few of those pounds.

I hope you all have a lovely NYE, whatever you may be doing.  

I can't believe 2010 is over.  It sometimes is amazing to me how quickly and sometimes slowly a year goes.  Here's my quick year-end review.  I cheated and googled "year end review meme" and came up with this list.  I feel pressed for time as I only have 18 minutes left in December 30 to do this for you, so here's my quickfire:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before? I bought a house, lived with a boy.  Huge things.
2.  Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I looked on my blog, and I made some hobby resolutions, that I wanted to hobby more.  And I think I did that pretty successfully.  Seven finished knitting projects, with a move.  I also stated that I wanted to write here more, which I mostly did.  And to keep loml around...and here we are.  Sitting on the couch together.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No. 
5. What countries did you visit? Er.  None.  I don't even think I left the state last year?  Oh my goodness, that's sad.
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010? I am pretty content, though the last question shamed me, so how about some vacations?
7. What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? URGH, my memory kills me.  I want to say the day I signed the mortgage, but I already can't remember it.  And I am close to the day we moved in, but again, I think I'm off by a day or two.  Date memories are just lost on me.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Definitely buying a house without completely losing my mind.
9. What was your biggest failure? I think I didn't do enough for myself still - I wanted to take classes of some kind forever (art, etc) and just never did.  I had nothing but time between January and July and did nothing with it.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Yes.  For a while there I thought I was dying of some unknown lung problem.  I am not.  
11. What was the best thing you bought? HOUSE!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Boku?  This is a weird question.  Boku is becoming a real cat slowly.  Here's proof.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  Republicans.  
14. Where did most of your money go? HOUSE!
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? HOUSE!  (how boring is this becoming?)
16. What song will always remind you of 2010? Again, my memory really prevents this from being true.  I just...don't really have this kind of song memory.  Maybe 'Dancing on my Own' by Robyn.  Or some other pop number.  Like a G6?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: - happier or sadder? I hate this kind of question.  I was happy last year.  I am happy this year.  Any happy is good.  Why should I qualify one against the other?  I think I'm probably the same or happier but meh...
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Exercise. 
19.  What do you wish you'd done less of? Stress.
20. How did you spend the holidays? Thanksgiving with loml's, eve with mine, day with both.
21. Did you fall in love in 2010? Not anymore than already.
22. How many one-night stands? Uh.  Now I feel like it's 5 years ago and this blog was awesome and new and I was doing random memes all the time.  Zero. 
23. What was your favorite TV program?  I like 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, etc.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No.  
25. What was the best book you read?  Hmmmm.  I really liked the Hunger Games trilogy.  That's the first I thought of.
26. What was your favorite film of this year? Harry Potter!  I think it's the only one I saw in the theater this year.  
27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010? Comfort above style, aka, why don't any of my pants fiiiit (whiny voice)?
28. Whom did you miss?  Hmm.  No one?
29. Who was the best new person you met?  Is it weird if i say I didn't meet anyone? 
30. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.  It's midnight.  I failed because I can't answer this one quickly enough.  Something cheesy about home is where the heart is?