5 And A Beagle

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

November Rain (and other things) 



If it weren't for the fact that I still don't have a stove/oven, I would never have bought one of these.
But you know what?... it was actually not bad. Of course it doesn't take a couple of hours to roast in the oven while filling the house up with the yummy aroma of a Sunday Dinner of roast beef, roasted potatoes and carrots, broccoli with cheese sauce, yorkshire pudding and apple pie for dessert. But when all you've got is a microwave, electric skillet and electric rice cooker, it provided us with a passable substitute of roasted pork loin (in the micro) with boiled gem potatoes (in the rice cooker). I never thought I'd tire of the day when I would pick up a pizza or burgers or sushi instead of making dinner, but I've hit the wall.

It's been 6 weeks
-without a stove
-without a dishwasher (well actually, it's been 3+ years)
-without a kitchen sink Plumbing finished and tap functioning as of 11/20
-without countertops (they just went in yesterday)
-without a kitchen table
-with a plywood kitchen floor (again, really 1-1/2 years)
-with the fridge in the dining room
-with the dining room table full of clutter
-with the living room full of boxes that can't be emptied until the last of the cupboards are completed or repaired
-with a laundry room in disarray because the ceiling has been cut open to allow for tubes/wires/cables to be fed through ceiling and shelving repaired and laundry room back in workable form 11/21-
-with a rec room with a wall ripped down to the studs
to allow for the aforementioned tubes/wires/cables to snake their way to the fuse panel Drywall up and almost ready for painting 11/21
-with a rec room full of furniture pushed to the center of the room to allow for the aforementioned snaking

But things are looking up. The countertops have been installed, the tile is supposed to be in this weekend, the appliances should follow soon thereafter and there should be running water by Friday. Or at least the plumber is supposed to be coming this Friday to put in the 3 sinks (kitchen/bathroom/ensuite) but they can't guarantee the day. Why? Because the typical November weather systems are pelting us here on the Pacific Westcoast. The 'pineapple express' is dumping around 100mm of rain (4 inches for the non-metric)today and plumbers are in high demand right now dealing with flooding issues. Proof that there are always people dealing with things worse than your own. Certainly I'd rather be waiting an extra day or two for running water on the main floor than dealing with water flooding my basement.

The camera has been missing in action the last week or so and when I find it I'll have pictures of some new knitting. A completed Celtic Cap for #3, an almost completed sock for #5 and a sock in progress for moi from two skeins of some lovely periwinkle Lorna's Laces yarn I received from the very generous Ivana.

Edited to add - Slowly but surely we're making progress on the kitchen renos. I was so happy to have completed the circle from the kitchen to the ensuite to a basin in the bathtub back to the kitchen sink again. Obviously the level at which it takes to make me happy is pretty basic right now.
Sigh the rip out of the bathroom starts today.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Come On Baby, Let's Do the Twist 

With apologies to Chubby Checkers......

Come on baby, let's do the twist.
Come on baby, the Latvian twist.
Take your needles in hand and go like this......

Here's a little (and I stress little) tutorial on my "rendition" of the Latvian twist.

When starting a second pair of socks in the battle that was Sock Wars, I cast on a pair of socks using a variation of the Latvian Twist as found in Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road.
(Photo courtesy of Rachel of SweetFigs)


Cast on number of stitches required in multiples of 4. Don't join into a round.

Row 1 - 4 Knit in MC.
Row 5 - 6 Knit in CC.


Row 7 With MC, K4, then twist (or rotate) the left needle counterclockwise 360 degrees. Knit 4 more stitches and repeat the twist. Continue this knit/twist combo to end of row.











Divide stitches onto circulars or dpn's and begin pattern for your project - 1x's ribbing, stocking stitch, whatever you like. You've now got the two colour twist on the cuff.


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