April « 2009 « Stoneview

Ergonomic improvements

Friday before last Jason and I spent the entire day looking for a new more ergonomic desk. The keyboard tray had broken off my old desk many years ago and there never was a proper place for the mouse and it was suggested at physical therapy that a new desk and office chair might go a long way towards helping to manage the recent neck/shoulder/arm troubles. We had a very difficult time finding much other than flat pack MDF type desks or over the top budget busting desks that would mean skipping any sort of vacation for a few years. In the end we ordered a flat pack desk which arrived earlier this week. I spent all afternoon yesterday doing all the fiddly pre-assembly work with the help of the cats and when Jason got home we spent the evening putting the thing together. I now have a keyboard tray large enough to accomodate both keyboard and mouse and a nice chair that has adjustable arms and height. Once I can train myself to sit properly and get accustomed to working with my glasses on I should be in much better shape.

This morning I tried to decide what really needs to go on the desk and what needs to find a new home. I have to say it's nice to declutter! Some of the new home things were taken up to the sewing room where I found that Gwen has claimed herself a new bed. While organizing in there I'd brought in some baskets from the basement and temporarily put this little blanket into one of them which Gwen thinks is quite the parfect nap spot.

Handspun Kerchief

Yesterday I had a lot to do at the computer but it also required a good bit of waiting. While I waited I knit a little bit and by the end of the day I'd finished the last little bit of the Handspun Kerchief. The yarn is all handspun and it's all done by me except for the orange silk. I think this was a great way to use several of those little handspun yarn samples that seem too small to be useful. Each one was about 60 yards and I used a skien of 330yds natural to tie it all together.

Sewing room spring cleanup

Over the weekend I hauled everything out of the sewing room closet and asked Jason to install some shelves for me. Despite it being a last minute request he complied knowing that the sewing room will be a temporary guest room for the next couple of months. Ordinarily I"d spackle and paint first but with all that's going on I was anxious to just get it done. It's easy enough to pop the shelves off their brackets and fix that up later on. I can now see the floor again in the sewing room. Later this summer I hope to do a big reorganize to make it even better.

Indoor spring cleaning

I blame it all on Kim and Aggie! That and the fact that I have lots of company coming for May and June. All my kitchen drawers have been cleaned and nicely lined and I've tossed quite a few books as well. The cookbook shelf is looking very tidy indeed and the shelf above the desk is considerably lighter in preparation for a new more ergonomic desk arriving this week. Jason is installing new shelves in the sewing room closet for me so that I can tidy up that room which will temporarily serve as a guest room for the next few months. Once Daniel is off at college next fall his room will get a makeover and become the new guest room (with room for him when needed of course!).

I used to watch "How Clean is Your House?" quite a bit but when they first started taping in the US it went downhill. I thought the houses they were cleaning were not terribly messy and the show seemed more about pushing a certain brand of products. I've recently rediscovered them and was excited to see they are back to the old format with filthy houses and great tips for getting them clean without using a lot of nasty cleaning chemicals.

Tokena

Yesterday I finished up the mate to my Tokena test knit.

I'm really happy it's salad season again, I've missed them!

Spring Cleaning

On Friday we had a load of mulch delivered and Jason began the spring cleaning in the yard. Normally I do the weeding and mulching but this year it falls to him since I'm unable. There was a fair bit of coaching on what is and isn't a weed but I think he did a great job. I was really excited to see the tulip tree leafing out though I'm sure it's still a few years yet before he will bloom.

The flower beds are just going bonkers with the heatwave this weekend and things are blooming like crazy. I"m not sure what I did right but the lilac is really loaded with buds and it won't be long til he joins the party.

Handspun Kerchief

I've been slowly working on the handspun kerchief adding a few rows here and there. I"m almost done with the orange stripe so then there's just the blue before it's finished. I think I will have no trouble getting it done before New Hampshire Sheep & Wool.

Long overdue

A few years ago Dad brought me some of my grandmother's things. I've been planning to do something with these photographs for awhile now but first I wanted to get them scanned and digitized so they'd be easy to share with other family members. I thought the scanning would be good busywork while I'm on knitting rest and applied myself to the project this week. The result is a nice Flickr set that still needs annotating but it's a great start on a long overdue task.

Talia’s Wings

This is Talia's Wings, another test knit for Sock Madness that I knit last fall. I had a real struggle with this one mostly because I had not yet conquered the toe up sock method. It was actually an accident that I got this one as they'd meant to send me a cuff down but I was determined to beat my block. I loved the toe design and that part went very smoothly for me but I had a difficult time determining when to stop the foot and start the heel. I wonder if this is because I knit loosely and always have to go down a needle size which means my row gauge is usually different from everyone else's once I've got the right stitch gauge. There were many emails back and forth about this sock working out kinks in the pattern but also trying different sorts of heels. The first sock I knit turned out too long and thin and the second sock is a bit too short but I learned a great deal in the process and I now know a lot more about toe up heels and what style I may or may not like.

Silly cat, bookmarks are for me!

Gabby's favorite toy is a bookmark. It started with a tassled bookmark but she loves them all, paper or cloth, tasseled or not. She nearly always follows me upstairs expecting a little play session and this weekend I finally managed to catch her on camera. She just goes bananas tossing it and pouncing it and leaping in the air with it. Too funny!