Bad Blogger

Not only do I not blog frequently, when I have a perfectly bloggable event happen, I don't even take proper pictures so I can blog about it!

This past Saturday I went on a cleaning spree, and once the bathroom was done,I put all fo the bathmats in the wash and set them to go.

The washer stops, and I ask Jeff to put it into the dryer, but he finds it to still be full of soapy dirty water, and apparently one of the bathmats has completely disintegrated, sending little carpet threads and nasty plastic sand through the pump.

Uh-oh


Sure enough, after a bit of sleuthing it would appear that the pump is either burned out or clogged. It's a nearly 10 year old machine, so this isn't too upsetting. Worst case scenario we get a new washer, right? However, I'm not the type to just toss something that may be fixed so I get out my handy Reader's Digest Household Hints and Handy Tips book (Thanks Mom and Dad! Best book ever!) and look up what might be the problem.

I break out the putty knife and open the front and sure enough, the pump is sitting there, hot and not really pumping out any water.

Break out the hose and start bailing the washer, including all of the junk that came from the disintegrated rug. Then carefully pull off the hoses connected to the pump.

Did you know that there's still about a half gallon or so water left in the bottom of the washer's basin even after getting all the water out of the basket? I didn't.

Glush! All over the floor, me, and down the register. I start trying to dam the water away from going down the drain and all the time shouting for Jeff (who was in the bathroom and couldn't hear me). So there I was, fiercly pinching shut the hose from the washer with my left hand, and pushing water away from the air register with the right and shouting for Jeff to come help.

He's shows up to my panicked cries, and we get it mopped up. Fortunately not much went down the vent and Jeff was able to mop it up with his much longer arms. We flush out the basket with fresh water until no more carpet bits or backing comes out, and I run water through the clogged parts of the pump until it works.

The question then was is the pump burned out, or is it salvageable? I get out my handy voltmeter and determine that the motor is still conducting normally, so I'm hopeful.

A bit of a struggle to get the hoses reattached, curse words and a cry for some vegetable oil to lube this %$^& thing may have been uttered, but I finally got it back together and plugged back in. We poured a couple of gallons of fresh water into the basket and turned the washer to pump it out. . . .

Success.

Without a $200 service call from Sears.

Go me!

Unfortunately there are no pictures though, because I'm a bad blogger.

Maybe for 2011 I should have a set blogging schedule. Even if there's nothing to say, I will blog!

2010

Goodbye 2010. I'm really not sure what I did to piss you off, and I'd like to apologize.

Hello 2011. I'm hoping we started the year off on the right foot, and that this year is better than last for me and my family. I'm going to start recording the good things that happen this year, more than I did for last year.

Let's start the year off with a lovely finished object!

Made this hat for my friend Angela. Fisherman's Wool, with needle-felted accents.

Five Years

In August the 5 year anniversary of me working for my company rolled around. Five years. The longest I've been in any one place working or learning in my adult life.

It has been good. The first four years were steady and routine. We had one contract that I primarily worked on, with occasional jaunts to do emergency response work. In the last year we lost two contracts and gained three or four more (two of which I work on steadily). The last year has been a roller coaster ride settling in to the new contracts, and that ride continues on into 2011. Still, this job has been good to me.

I knit at lunch and my coworkers are extremely bemused by my hobby. Travel has not been a constant, but is often an enjoyable break from a desk job. Office politics are essentially nil. There's one coworker I'd rather be without, but I try to take him with the tablespoon of salt that is necessary and go on with my life, disallowing him power over my emotions.

At our Holiday lunch paid for by the company, everyone reaching a 5-year increment received a little plaque and a pin recognizing their service. Five years earns you a tiny ruby in a pin. In terms of metaphysics, it is believed that rubies improve motivation and the setting of goals; the stone of love, energy, passion, power, and a zest for life.

I'll take that :)

Heat

Heat was restored on the 5th of November, and although they tore up the yard and knocked a pipe loose that ran my house vacuum, I was overall happy with the company I used. Granted, now I have the equivalent of a car payment again, but that' only for the next 18 months (thanks 0% financing!)

Now back to more knitterly blogging!

The joys of homeownership

I have to admit being impressed with any appliance lasting 20 years. Our gas pack has a cracked heating unit, which essentially means death for any heating unit. Good timing though. We can still take advantage of the current tax writeoff and get an energy-star appliance to boot! Details to follow.

SAFF 2010

I forgot my camera, but I had an absolute blast this year at SAFF. Phil, Jamie and I headed on out to Asheville and saw so much fiber and fun. Here's the pictures of my haul!

Long Overdue

Oh how I love long weekends. I took Friday off as well to be able to really relax and get a bit of cleaning done. I'm also obviously taking this chance to get some blogging done as well!

I can't believe how long I've had my February Lady sweater finished and haven't posted pictures. I guess that's sometimes what happens when there's a sweater you really really like that gets worn immediately after finishing.


There was enough yarn left at the end for me to be able to make a matching hat, which is rather cute when paired with the sweater.


I also made this cute flowerpot hat while I was on the road doing USDA work.





A while ago I'd received a bunch of corriedale on trade, so decided to make a chunky three-ply yarn sweater/coat thing. It is extremely warm. I think it'll be fine for a coat-sweater this winter!



Also, apparently my nephew Nick really enjoys wearing hats, and has been borrowing Ally's pink piggle hat, so for his birthday this year he gets his own nice warm handknit hat!

Options

My wonderful Mother-in-law (the one who got me the Jumbo flyer kit a few blog posts ago) liked the shawl in the previous post so much that she asked for one herself. It was such a fun knit I was already planning on making more, so am ecstatic to knit it again. Though I may not only take 5 days at it this time!

Since she's in Michigan and I'm in North Carolina, I'm gonna post a bunch of yarn options here for her to look at.

First up is some handspun. I have beautiful alpaca fiber that spins into a slightly thicker than fingering weight yarn, but it is oh so buttery soft. I can easily adjust the pattern by using a larger needle to make it more open and lacey. This is a swatch of (from left to right) a commercially prepared mixture of bamboo, alpaca and merino (the blueish one), Lola (brown), Snowdrift (white), and Cinnamon (beige)

I can also take any of the three on the right and make a tweedy blend; Lola plus Snowdrift would make for a very pretty carmel color, for example. This little swatch I'm going to mail along with the birthday gift that I spaced out on packing when we came to Colorado for Jenny's wedding.

I also have some washed and ready to card Corriedale which is not as soft as the alpaca, but it makes for lovely varigated yarn that makes a spectrum of natural colors, all from one sheep.



But she was talking more something that could be used for formal, and while these are soft and beautiful, they are more rustic.

So I have some commercially prepared yarns that are already in my stash, waiting for a project!

A black and white tofutsies yarn. Very soft and silky because of the soysilk, and it will block well.

Premier Bamboo Merino and Nylon sock yarn. This should subtly stripe, and is a muted orange, blue and grey color. Very pretty, very soft.


A couple options from Berocco Sox. The top one is browns with purple, the bottom one is greys with blue. Wider stripes than the Sensations yarn, and this isn't as soft, but it's extremely pretty.

Lion brand Sock Ease. A charcoal grey base with yellow, white and orange accents. Mom Kass did mention blacks and blues, but hey, gotta have a little yellow, right? (As an aside, this is Jeff's favorite of all the options in my stash)

a gorgeous handpainted merino yarn. All yellows and tones of yellow. I personally couldn't resist tossing this one in as an option :)

Finally, if none of these seems just right, I'm hoping that they'll end up coming here for Thanksgiving, at which point I can take Mom Kass around to my favorite knitting shops and have her pick out just the right one!

5 days

Yep. I knit a shawl in 5 days. Cast on Thursday, cast off the following Tuesday. The dress was made in about a week as well. Both are for this weekend, as Jeff's sister is getting married!

Frog Pond

The sweater I have been making for Jeff is "finished"

and I hate it.

I don't think I'm even going to post pictures, but it doesn't fit right.

New Bike!

For a variety of reasons, I decided to get a new bike. My mountain bike needs a lot of work, and frankly for living in a city with decent biking routes, I feel it's a good idea to be able to bike to places that aren't that far away.

Like the store, to get beer, pickles, tomatoes and chips for the BBQ we're having today.


Helmet - Check. Sunglasses - Check. Bike basket - Check. Neon orange safety shirt - Check

Off I go!


Of course, as we all know you can't buy beer before noon on a Sunday. . .

So I return mostly successful about 45 minutes later.



Not bad at all.

The ultimate goal is to bike to work on nice mornings like this. My office is big enough that I can store my bike in it even

Jenny's Wedding Shawl

My SIL, Jenny is getting married this summer in Colorado. I offered, instead of china or a dish or something, to make her a shawl that she could wear, both in the wedding and after. Since they're established adults with all their own cookware and such, I though thtis a more practical and meaningful gift. The time and love put in it is worth a lot more than a Mr. Coffee tea maker!

The first yarn we picked was a little too pinkey-purple.


The second yarn was perfect.


It's amazing how shrimpy and pathetic lace looks prior to blocking.


And how lovely it looks when it's done.

Blog? Huh? Wha?

Well, it seems life swallowed up my ability to blog. That and Facebook. Pictures of my recent adventures will be coming. MDS&W, a "new" ren faire, and lots and lots of knitting.

Bacon Apple Pie

I've been rather busy with Ren Faire stuff, and of course, an idiot who keeps forgetting to bring out her camera at said faire. Oh well.

I did do something nice for all my friends at the CRF. With Jenny's help, we made two, count them, TWO Bacon Apple Pies.

They were delicious.

And rather pretty.


And my friends came up with another interesting idea.

Replace the bottom crust with more bacon.

Gauntlet thrown. . . Stay Tuned.

New Old Wheel!

Funny how things work out sometimes. I was talking with an old friend, mentioned my spinning and she offered me a wheel, for free, that was old. Her mom had bought it some 10 years ago and never used it. After getting it, I think I see why, and I will say, this wheel is worth every penny!


only one speed



And missing the treadles (Which are rather important!)


I'm going to see about replacing it all, and making a nice usable wheel out of it. Or, give it to the next person who'd like to do the same!