So, what have I got to blog about?
Well, as the last proper blog post was 4th Jan (has it really been that long?), I guess this post will be a long one.
First(ish) was the wet patch by the kitchen door. Well, it was the cold of just-past-xmas and Biscuit’s 13 ½ now and has been known to have the odd accident so I wasn’t too concerned at first. I used spill magic to sop up the wet and put paper down then when it got wet again, added extra papers etc. I should have twigged when the spill magic crystals swelled to a jelly but then I had a wad of papers and removed them to find an even bigger wet patch underneath (and dry paper on top) then I started having kittens. You see, it was a few feet from the stop cock tap inside and the outside one was pretty much in a direct line-of-sight to the wet spot (underneath the floorboards) so you can imagine what mental images were running through my head...spraying water and a lake under the house just about covers it!
The reality was somewhat less dramatic despite when I cleared the corner under the stairs to allow our friendly neighbourhood plumber access and saw how far the wet and mould had travelled I totally freaked! What he identified (very quickly) was that the seals holding the stop cock tap in place had broken and it was causing a tiny drip that over the course of time the carpet and underlay had wicked to spread over a large area. The patch by the door was obviously ultimate saturation but on lifting the carpet, the floorboards were wet but not damagingly so; a few hours with a fan heater dealt with that.
So, the tap was replaced, the floorboards relatively dry but the carpet was ruined. Hub was onto the insurance people on Monday and whilst they wouldn’t pay for the repair, they would agree to replacing the carpet providing we went with their approved dealer (Allied Carpets) and sent an assessor round to see whether the carpet could be saved. That was about a week all in with me worrying this time that they’d only stump up half the cost etc. etc. as there was no way we’d logically have paid for new-for-old cover, had we?
When the carpet man arrived (the appropriately named Tony Topping!), he said he had been given authorisation to replace the carpet (minus a £50 excess they’d previously mentioned) and surprise, surprise, we DID have new-for-old cover! The slight downer was that the samples he gave me to choose from were basically various shades of beige...from cream to darker oatmeal. I ended up with the darkest one available which will still be paler than what’s currently there but it will lighten up the hall. Thing is, the hall really needs re-decorating, at least the skirting boards and woodwork overpainted from the somewhat exuberant gold spray paint that I thought was creative some years ago (don’t ask!). Plus the paper really needs replacing below the dado rail where Floppy’s “ helped” to remove it...and painted a more neutral colour too (deep pinky red rag rolled?).
Hence we've tried, in bitesize chunks to wash down the paintwork and key the surface ready for the first coat. Pete's done most of the downstairs skirting board but there’s loads to go. I’m still waiting to hear when the carpet fitters will arrive so at the moment, we have this look downstairs....
(actually, they arrived Friday with only a couple of days notice but now it looks more like this)...
We've put oddments down to catch any trodden-in muck as it's quite a bit paler than before and there's still plenty more to do (including touching up the satin gloss paint that got damaged during fitting) but hey, it's a start! Despite not being able to help an awful lot, I've been shuffling around like a little old lady for the little I did do so I need a bit of downtime before I do any more. This could take some time....
Oh yeah, Biscuit "helped"...
No? Maybe this one?
Yeah, 'cos cuddling up to wet skirting board is the best place to be! When we got back from the supermarket, this was what greeted us and there was a reasonable circular spot coated in black hairs sticking straight out, quite funny really!
Oh yeah and I mustn’t forget my fiber swap parcel, a mix of yummy fibres and merino nepps that I spun up into this...
These yummy soft batts were what arrived through the post a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Ghostknitter. Unfortunately, in the hecticness of the last month, I've forgotten exactly what fibres were included but I can remember corriedale and merino nepps, the inspiration being spring.
Thank you so much, I'm only sorry it's taken me so long to find camera and alternative lead (as original one went walkabout!)
Like holidays, totally out of the blue we had a little windfall post Christmas so I’ve been able to pay off the first bit of the Ireland holiday. It’s nice that I don’t have to worry about scraping pennies together for it and at a particularly tough time for many I’m very grateful.
Still, it’s been a total swings and roundabouts ride. Hubby bought a stereo system thingummy for the kitchen but was very unhappy with its performance when we received it. On talking with customer services, they decided it was probably faulty so arranged for a (very convoluted) pick-up which involved more stress and phonecalls to actually get a date. Even then, I waited in all day for a courier who must have knocked on the door with a sponge as I sure as hell didn’t hear him. It was only when I went to bring in the bin and saw the yellow card that I phoned them up and gave them a rollicking. He arrived back half-an-hour later somewhat sheepish and I thought that was the matter ended but by Monday the company had gone bankrupt so bye-bye stereo money! It’s not nice but I feel it could have been worse...losing over £100 is a lot of money but it was from Xmas money so we weren’t left out of pocket as such. Getting a £100 gas bill and a £200 credit card bill did though!
It’s been a right bizarre month!
In other crafty news, I’ve been knitting for my Swap Partner. Rosemary’s now received her parcel so I can safely blog about it. In a bizarre twist of fate, we knew each other from a yahoo group and she clocked my identity early on so it’s actually been really good. We e-mailled each other regularly and I feel she’s more of a proper friend than if we’d been “secret” pals so it’s all good.
(sorry for nicking your photo, in typical fashion, I forgot to take one myself before I packed them away!).
These yummy soft batts were what arrived through the post a couple of weeks ago, courtesy of Ghostknitter. Unfortunately, in the hecticness of the last month, I've forgotten exactly what fibres were included but I can remember corriedale and merino nepps, the inspiration being spring.
Thank you so much, I'm only sorry it's taken me so long to find camera and alternative lead (as original one went walkabout!)
Then there was the Monday after that (about 3 weeks ago?) when I had to have a really yucky medical. It actually worked out very well but that didn’t stop me stressing about it either before, during or for a week afterwards waiting for the fateful brown envelope. Still, I can put all that behind me now and look to positive things...
Like holidays, totally out of the blue we had a little windfall post Christmas so I’ve been able to pay off the first bit of the Ireland holiday. It’s nice that I don’t have to worry about scraping pennies together for it and at a particularly tough time for many I’m very grateful.
Still, it’s been a total swings and roundabouts ride. Hubby bought a stereo system thingummy for the kitchen but was very unhappy with its performance when we received it. On talking with customer services, they decided it was probably faulty so arranged for a (very convoluted) pick-up which involved more stress and phonecalls to actually get a date. Even then, I waited in all day for a courier who must have knocked on the door with a sponge as I sure as hell didn’t hear him. It was only when I went to bring in the bin and saw the yellow card that I phoned them up and gave them a rollicking. He arrived back half-an-hour later somewhat sheepish and I thought that was the matter ended but by Monday the company had gone bankrupt so bye-bye stereo money! It’s not nice but I feel it could have been worse...losing over £100 is a lot of money but it was from Xmas money so we weren’t left out of pocket as such. Getting a £100 gas bill and a £200 credit card bill did though!
It’s been a right bizarre month!
In other crafty news, I’ve been knitting for my Swap Partner. Rosemary’s now received her parcel so I can safely blog about it. In a bizarre twist of fate, we knew each other from a yahoo group and she clocked my identity early on so it’s actually been really good. We e-mailled each other regularly and I feel she’s more of a proper friend than if we’d been “secret” pals so it’s all good.
(sorry for nicking your photo, in typical fashion, I forgot to take one myself before I packed them away!).
This is what I’d knitted, a leaf lace scarf in 70% Angora yarn sent to me in a recent yarn swap. It’s lovely and squishy and I thought it’d be cosy around her neck. Then there was the handwarmers that were in her favourites list, trimmed with an oddment of the Angora for them to match. As her ravatar is currently a bunny, I thought it appropriate. Then there’s a pair of 12mm Knitpicks needle tips (as she’s collecting), cute mug and some goodies. She seemed to like it all anyway!
I ditched the original stocking stitch design for a more intricate one with a little short-row shaping (so it’d lie flatter) and I’m pleased with the final effect. It’s currently on show at the shop hence the pic.
In the meanwhile, I’d put aside the ambitious Christmas shawl in order to finish Rosemary’s swap parcel and also the Hug coat that languished for some time for want of an appropriate collar. Not any more though!
I ditched the original stocking stitch design for a more intricate one with a little short-row shaping (so it’d lie flatter) and I’m pleased with the final effect. It’s currently on show at the shop hence the pic.I was up-to-date with the shawl by Wednesday...and indeed cracking on with other projects like Peter’s new sweater (grr!),
the new new shop project (yum)
And the neverending spinning saga.
Actually, I haven’t been terribly lucky with spinning either, here are my attempts so far...
My first skein (left) was really twisty but under advisement, I put it through the wheel again and plied it a little more so it’s less crazy and the second 3-ply yarn I have stuck to my trusty Joy wheel throughout and it’s not bad (if I do say so myself!). So far, I reckon I’ve spun around 400g of my 1600g target so it’s not looking good for finishing on time. Plus what I have spun so far is closer to sockweight despite being 3-plied so I’m going to need a very fine cabled pattern...unless I ditch what I’ve spun so far and retrain myself to spin fatter. The yardage isn’t brilliant either L Nor is the feel, definitely overspun in areas.
So, I’m torn between calling a halt right now, carrying on regardless or starting from scratch again.
I could just pick some lovely dyed roving and have a play instead....
After years of winding hanks from my knees and a three-hour stint with a mate ballwinding a particularly awkward Tencel laceweight yarn, I was left with a deep desire to buy a skeinwinder of some variety. You know the kind of thing, some are like the ribs of an umbrella without the fabric (unsurprisingly called an umbrella swift), others take different forms. Well, I was mulling over the cost when it occurred to me that I already have one! Two to be precise! To explain, a few years back, I picked up these wooden ballwinder kit thingummies, the must have come from the fifties at the latest. There’s a cute little wooden post attached with a rubber band to a winder-upper handle and four arms with pegs at the end and a block of wood that they all slide into...a swift! That entailed turning the house upside down looking for the box it was all in and remembering that I’d bought another which I could lay my hands on easily but unfortunately was incomplete. Anyway, after tracking down the second set and setting it all up, I’m hooked! To wind a skein of sock yarn in ten minutes and the selfsame tencel that caused me all the troubles in half an hour is addictive, as is watching it whirring round in circles as I wind. 
See you all next week...Maybe!
the new new shop project (yum) And the neverending spinning saga.Actually, I haven’t been terribly lucky with spinning either, here are my attempts so far...
My first skein (left) was really twisty but under advisement, I put it through the wheel again and plied it a little more so it’s less crazy and the second 3-ply yarn I have stuck to my trusty Joy wheel throughout and it’s not bad (if I do say so myself!). So far, I reckon I’ve spun around 400g of my 1600g target so it’s not looking good for finishing on time. Plus what I have spun so far is closer to sockweight despite being 3-plied so I’m going to need a very fine cabled pattern...unless I ditch what I’ve spun so far and retrain myself to spin fatter. The yardage isn’t brilliant either L Nor is the feel, definitely overspun in areas.So, I’m torn between calling a halt right now, carrying on regardless or starting from scratch again.
Decisions, decisions....
I could just pick some lovely dyed roving and have a play instead....
Oh, and Sunday mornings have transposed to Nadine’s and lunch and gamey/crafty pursuits so finding a slot (and energy) to blog in is getting harder...but I’m not complaining!
After years of winding hanks from my knees and a three-hour stint with a mate ballwinding a particularly awkward Tencel laceweight yarn, I was left with a deep desire to buy a skeinwinder of some variety. You know the kind of thing, some are like the ribs of an umbrella without the fabric (unsurprisingly called an umbrella swift), others take different forms. Well, I was mulling over the cost when it occurred to me that I already have one! Two to be precise! To explain, a few years back, I picked up these wooden ballwinder kit thingummies, the must have come from the fifties at the latest. There’s a cute little wooden post attached with a rubber band to a winder-upper handle and four arms with pegs at the end and a block of wood that they all slide into...a swift! That entailed turning the house upside down looking for the box it was all in and remembering that I’d bought another which I could lay my hands on easily but unfortunately was incomplete. Anyway, after tracking down the second set and setting it all up, I’m hooked! To wind a skein of sock yarn in ten minutes and the selfsame tencel that caused me all the troubles in half an hour is addictive, as is watching it whirring round in circles as I wind.
Hence I have multiple balls of wound yarn cluttering up the living room table as whenever I get the urge, one more skein gets unearthed and wound...I figure it’ll pay off in the long run...
See you all next week...Maybe!
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