Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Is It Knitting If...

All you do is rip? And then don't even take pictures? Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

Today was Knitting Day and I went, actually did a little knitting on the Chevron Scarf (it's actually Feather and Fan but it's easier to write Chevron) and then, when the felting gurus arrived, I pulled out the Giant Purple Boot and the felted swatch. What? Didn't I talk about the Giant Purple Boot before? Oh my. Well, fear not, it is no more. The general consensus was that the boot wouldn't felt down to a size that would fit any normal female foot, so I spent the rest of the session frogging it.

(Cue the music: "A Froggy Day... in Pasadenatown...) I wasn't the only one frogging, though. Mary's scribble lace project didn't inspire the love, so off it went to the frog pond as well. No pictures of that, either, so you only have my word for it that these projects ever existed.

So the purple (actually, Plum Heather) Cascade 220 is now back into a couple of very large balls, and I'm going to break out the Felted Clog pattern and turn it into a different style of slipper. Hopefully, the friend I'm making them for won't mind clogs instead of boots; knowing her, she's going to love them and is too nice in any case to say anything but how thrilled she is!

Distraction from lack of real knitting content in the form of cute cat photos: Hi-Hi with one of the spiders that came in the Socks That Rock package this month.



Rest assured that the stash is safe from spider incursions.





The other ongoing project around here is Garage Door Renovation. Today was Stage One: demolition of the old door. (Okay, so Stage One was probably cleaning out the garage, but that doesn't really count, does it? Except in sore muscles and sweat?) Tomorrow the new door comes in. Want to see some in-progress shots?

I thought you'd never ask! Warning: graphic content ahead!

For instance, dry rot and centuries of old paint on the base of the framing:





Pretty, no?


No.





Top headers and the bottom of the garage door itself. One thing I learned is that this wasn't the original garage door--which I had figured, since the house was built in 1921.


The original door would have opened from the center, like a barn door. They showed me where the hinges likely were--the patching still showed.

And, of course, back then the owner probably wouldn't have had a couple of cars. Maybe an early version? Or would this have been a place to keep the tools needed for the nursery?

Stuff headed on out of the garage and out of my life! Yay! The rocking chair that collapsed under me one day when I was quietly nursing D3... buh-bye!







Also, there's my old stroller. Gee, since the youngest of my kids is now getting ready to welcome her own baby, I guess it's time to say adieu.


The remains of the door. And yes, that's my contractor over there in the corner, sweeping up after himself.

Can you believe that before he left today, he had even hosed off the cement slab, so it all looks clean and nice?

Gotta love a tidy man! (Hush. He's younger than my sons!)



The newly framed opening, ready to get the new door installed tomorrow.





Then, next week, some electrical work (takes juice to run those motors to open and close the door, woo hoo for automatic doors!) and a coat or two of paint on that raw wood, and the job will be done.

More pictures at Flickr.

Isn't it amazing how doing a couple of things stirs the juices to do even more?

Tonight is Halloween, and we'll be at D5's for dinner and fun and games. I've been told that a certain Dr. M will be in attendance (aka my grandcarrot) as well as the Lollipop Guild. Photos tomorrow!

5 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

If frogging isn't knitting then I am in trouble. I can't ever call myself a knitter again.

Happy Halloween! It is fun to play on Halloween night when you've got the little ones around!

DPUTiger said...

Have you tried Fuzzy Feet from Knitty? Stupid-eaasy and a good felting project. Also perfect for a skein of 220 (unless you're knitting for gigantic Ski Feet, 1 sken gets you a pair of slippers). Just a suggestion if you don't want to do clogs.

mary said...

Hurray for the new garage door and clearing out the garage! I'm sorry I missed your felted boot frogfest but I think you're gonna like the fiber trends one when they're done.

Madge said...

Do you know how excited I am about your new garage door? I can't wait to see it hung up in its glory soon. Kudos for culling the wheat from the chaff!

The Fiber Trends pattern? Awesome. Thanks again for nabbing me a copy.

And have you hit WEBS for the Kathmandu Aran Tweed? Somehow I managed to buy two sweaters' worth today. How did that happen?!

Denise said...

Yikes! I thought that was a real spider for a second! Thats what I get for looking at the pictures before reading everything.

I love a good garage cleaning myself, it always feels like such a fresh start. If only I could keep Mr. CPA from putting more stuff in there afterwards!

Of course frogging is knitting. If you drive in reverse you're still driving, right?
;-)