It's over!!
Finally!!
On my foot this morning. I only took a picture of one foot - as a matter of fact, this happens to be sock #2. I know, because the second sock ended up with an ever so slight tighter cast on. Considering the stress levels when I did it for the third time, I would say that "ever so slight" is nothing to complain about!!!
So, just to make sure that I finished the socks off as they were started... I started last night with 4 rounds on the toe, then ripped back two of them. And, somehow while grafting the toe, I ended up missing a stitch, or half a stitch, so when I wove in the end I fixed it. I've never had so much difficulty knitting a second sock in my life!!!
On a side note - if I ever make these again, I'll likely make them shorter. Funny how life is like that, and what you liked before you don't like now, and vice-versa. Hubby and I were just talking about that in a related way last night - there were things that he wouldn't eat when we first got married that are among his favourites now. Anyway, I used to wear only knee-high socks. Anything shorter, and I wouldn't wear them. Ankle socks were the worst!!!
One year, my son gave me several pair of ankle socks for Christmas... I wore them, and found they aren't so evil anymore. (still haven't bought or knit any, though). I've found some knit sock patterns refer to the socks as "ankle" socks, when in fact, they are about half way between the Hermione and a true ankle sock. In other words, about the length I've been knitting and wearing them. To me, it is an ankle sock if it barely covers that sticky-outy-ankle bone. I do like to wear the ones my son gave me, especially in summer, inside track shoes when walking the dogs. (Instead of just wearing sandals and bare feet, like I did once in my life, that fateful day last July). Mind you, I have been known to wear sandals when walking the dogs in the country, when they are off-leash. Still not the greatest, as I get stones from gravel into my feet that way sometimes.
Now, I also did some other picture editing this morning. I did say I might get brave enough to show pictures of the kitchen. I mean, really, when I tell people I have few cupboards and no counter space, I mean it... I do have a small kitchen. I don't relate well to actual measurements or square footage, really, in my head. At best, I do things like, "Ok, my bedroom is X by X, and it is too small, so when we buy our new house, it needs to say the room is X+Y by X+Z" (yes, that is what I did, and what I got, and in the old house, the bed was against the wall on one side, with dresser and walkspace on the other. This house - dresser and walk space around the whole bed.) So, don't ask me what the dimensions are, but I'm sure you can get a relative idea by the other items in the kitchen. Never mind the few dishes that need washing, or the untidy appearance of some of the storage spaces - I do the best I can with what I have.
My kitty cups hang over the sink... the one counter has dog treats and the spices we use pretty much daily to weekly. Not that I have cupboard space for them anyway, but these things need to be kept handy. Hard to see, but the part of wall that is beside the sink, between the microwave and the kitty cups - that is the chimney.
So here, you can see some of the extra storage shelves I've used/invested in to try to help free up cupboards. There are three entrances to the kitchen - the back of the house/door, the livingroom, and this entrance that leads to the closet and bathroom opposite, and the stairs to the second floor. Yes, thanks to that white shelving unit, the space is narrow, but we can walk through it OK.
So here is my fridge - I mentioned in a previous post how I didn't realize just how much stuff was on it... I've since started clearing that up. Directly opposite, but not photo worthy, the fridge door is the basement staircase. The canister top you see by the shelf is one of three stacked up (no where else to keep my flour and sugar and stuff) so it is not in the livingroom doorway....
My kitchen table - it has a drawer in it, and yes, it is big for the room, but I use is when I need to do things "normal" people do on the counter - mix stuff, use the electric fry pan, the electric grill, etc. And, yes, the laptop is there, too. Right by my south-facing window so I get the sunlight I need to survive! Oh, and of course, Mis Mica. (not a typo, Mis is short for Mischief)
And finally - a shot of the stove and the back entryway. That space is where Delko spent as much time as possible when he first came to live with us - it was his "safe spot" - a space that was about the same size as the kennel he'd lived in for three and a half months. The wide open spaces of our home were almost too much for him! He's long since gotten used to the freedom. But for the first several days, we had to carry him into the livingroom, and if we didn't block the entrance, he'd bolt back to the back entry.
So. Yes, my kitchen needs cleaning - and yes, I do have a couple high up cupboards that don't show in the pictures - one above the stove, one above the microwave, and one above the sink. I'm a short person - the items that don't get used often go there, or I just drag a chair over. In the picture that has Mica in it, you can sort of see beyond the plastic drawer unit, there is a narrow cupboard - it goes from floor to nearly ceiling (which is another nightmare I want to fix). I've mentioned it before, I think, about how semi-useless it is. I think it would have been a great broom cupboard, but it has shelves in it, and it is just too deep and narrow to be overly useful. But, it is my "pantry cupboard", and I keep the baking supplies, the dry soups and other dry goods, smaller canisters of brown sugar, my teas, etc. in there. Things that I don't use every day. Those foods are in the one low cupboard over the coffeemaker and drain board from the first picture.
Now, when I say I get frustrated with my kitchen.... you know why. I keep some of the small appliances in the livingroom, and others are in the closet in the back entryway... Which is also where I store the plastic containers....
As for the other nightmare - the kitchen ceiling is stippled. Stippled ceilings cannot be washed easily; wetting them generally means the texture will soften and come off. Messily. (I've removed stipple on some construction reno jobs in my life) So, a previous owner decided to put in a drop ceiling a foot or so down (matching the top of the cupboards). They put in all nice plastic panels, like the kind that go over flourescent light fixtures - opaque. I loved that ceiling! Unfortunately, the house shifts sometimes, and the framework holding the drop ceiling moved some, which meant the ceiling lived up to its name - it dropped. When we found out the cost to replace the now broken panels, knowing that the frame could shift again, we removed the framework. Now we are left with a foot of unfinished wall at the top of the room, and a very nasty looking uncleanable stipple ceiling.
Anyone know of a contest for a kitchen makeover that can be rigged so I can win it?
So, just to make sure that I finished the socks off as they were started... I started last night with 4 rounds on the toe, then ripped back two of them. And, somehow while grafting the toe, I ended up missing a stitch, or half a stitch, so when I wove in the end I fixed it. I've never had so much difficulty knitting a second sock in my life!!!
On a side note - if I ever make these again, I'll likely make them shorter. Funny how life is like that, and what you liked before you don't like now, and vice-versa. Hubby and I were just talking about that in a related way last night - there were things that he wouldn't eat when we first got married that are among his favourites now. Anyway, I used to wear only knee-high socks. Anything shorter, and I wouldn't wear them. Ankle socks were the worst!!!
One year, my son gave me several pair of ankle socks for Christmas... I wore them, and found they aren't so evil anymore. (still haven't bought or knit any, though). I've found some knit sock patterns refer to the socks as "ankle" socks, when in fact, they are about half way between the Hermione and a true ankle sock. In other words, about the length I've been knitting and wearing them. To me, it is an ankle sock if it barely covers that sticky-outy-ankle bone. I do like to wear the ones my son gave me, especially in summer, inside track shoes when walking the dogs. (Instead of just wearing sandals and bare feet, like I did once in my life, that fateful day last July). Mind you, I have been known to wear sandals when walking the dogs in the country, when they are off-leash. Still not the greatest, as I get stones from gravel into my feet that way sometimes.
Now, I also did some other picture editing this morning. I did say I might get brave enough to show pictures of the kitchen. I mean, really, when I tell people I have few cupboards and no counter space, I mean it... I do have a small kitchen. I don't relate well to actual measurements or square footage, really, in my head. At best, I do things like, "Ok, my bedroom is X by X, and it is too small, so when we buy our new house, it needs to say the room is X+Y by X+Z" (yes, that is what I did, and what I got, and in the old house, the bed was against the wall on one side, with dresser and walkspace on the other. This house - dresser and walk space around the whole bed.) So, don't ask me what the dimensions are, but I'm sure you can get a relative idea by the other items in the kitchen. Never mind the few dishes that need washing, or the untidy appearance of some of the storage spaces - I do the best I can with what I have.
So. Yes, my kitchen needs cleaning - and yes, I do have a couple high up cupboards that don't show in the pictures - one above the stove, one above the microwave, and one above the sink. I'm a short person - the items that don't get used often go there, or I just drag a chair over. In the picture that has Mica in it, you can sort of see beyond the plastic drawer unit, there is a narrow cupboard - it goes from floor to nearly ceiling (which is another nightmare I want to fix). I've mentioned it before, I think, about how semi-useless it is. I think it would have been a great broom cupboard, but it has shelves in it, and it is just too deep and narrow to be overly useful. But, it is my "pantry cupboard", and I keep the baking supplies, the dry soups and other dry goods, smaller canisters of brown sugar, my teas, etc. in there. Things that I don't use every day. Those foods are in the one low cupboard over the coffeemaker and drain board from the first picture.
Now, when I say I get frustrated with my kitchen.... you know why. I keep some of the small appliances in the livingroom, and others are in the closet in the back entryway... Which is also where I store the plastic containers....
As for the other nightmare - the kitchen ceiling is stippled. Stippled ceilings cannot be washed easily; wetting them generally means the texture will soften and come off. Messily. (I've removed stipple on some construction reno jobs in my life) So, a previous owner decided to put in a drop ceiling a foot or so down (matching the top of the cupboards). They put in all nice plastic panels, like the kind that go over flourescent light fixtures - opaque. I loved that ceiling! Unfortunately, the house shifts sometimes, and the framework holding the drop ceiling moved some, which meant the ceiling lived up to its name - it dropped. When we found out the cost to replace the now broken panels, knowing that the frame could shift again, we removed the framework. Now we are left with a foot of unfinished wall at the top of the room, and a very nasty looking uncleanable stipple ceiling.
Anyone know of a contest for a kitchen makeover that can be rigged so I can win it?
posted by Catlady @ 10:34 a.m.
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