really pretty random, even for me

The temps for the next three days are set to hover around 90, with big humidity. My brain is already turning to mush, so let's do some random stuff, shall we?

Hubs and I are seriously considering replacing our kitchen ceiling as a first step in making our kitchen less gross. I asked the guy who did our other recent repairs to write up an estimate to replace our current lovely ceiling with a regular, smooth drywall version. With some lights, because right now we have 1. One. Just one light. If Hubs hadn't put the chandelier over the table, we'd be eating in the dark.


Isn't it gross? The panels are drywall that's been "textured" and the "beams" are 2X4s painted brown and screwed to the support beams. I guess it's supposed to look rustic. Really it just looks terrible. We hate it...the panels are graying with age and the painted "beams" are impossible to clean for some reason. The dust just locks onto them and I can't get it off. It's dark and dingy and ugly (the ceiling, not the room...the room is relatively bright, though you can't tell from this photo). We're currently hashing out whether or not this is DIY-able. The cost to have it professionally done isn't totally prohibitive, but we'd be able to cut it at least in half by having Hubs do the work with some buddies.

I would really love to win one of those DIY/HGTV contests where they give you a new kitchen, boy would I ever.

And while we're on the subject of stuff I dislike about my house, does anyone know if there's a market for used fake gas fireboxes?

I don't want mine anymore. We dearly wish to replace this money-guzzling gas box with a real woodburning stove - a big, quality cast iron stove that will heat and can be used as a cooktop in an emergency (don't scoff...last October we had a storm that left many without power/heat/phones for more than a week). I am wondering if I can sell this thing. There's nothing wrong with it...it's just that you can actually see dollar bills going up in flames when it's lit. What? I hallucinated that part? Oh. Well, anyway, we can't afford to replace it right now, though I would be happy to just pull this out, sell it, and stash the money in savings to eventually buy the woodburning stove.

Well, enough whining about house stuff.

Let's talk about knitting and sewing, it's more fun!


(Color is so totally off in this picture, but I can't seem to get it to look remotely correct.)

Here's the beginning of the River Forest Gansey for Daughter (which I forgot to mention is from Handknit Holidays) in Knitpicks WotA in mulled wine (not bright purple, I swear). This is the second try...the directions say to use an elastic cast-on, and the first time I did so. But I'd knit about the same amount as you see here, and the ribbing was baggy and looked horrible. This is not a fitted, elastic ribbing, and the body of the sweater proceeds straight up, so why does the cast-on need to be elastic? It's a boxy sweater. So I ripped and did a long-tail cast-on instead. I think it looks much nicer now. And I am using my lovely handmade straight wooden needles (a Christmas gift from Hubs when we were dating) because I'm getting a tighter, nicer stitch with them than I was with my Denise set on the first try. (Though I love my Denise needles, and I recommend them. I see the kit now comes in pink and a portion of the price goes to breast cancer research...awesome!)


I love folk art and folk art designs. This is a style I wish to use in decorating my home, and thank goodness Hubs likes it too. I started this quilt over 2 years ago in the two weeks I had between quitting my job and giving birth to Daughter. I was supposed to have a whole month, during which I would have gotten more sewing done on this project, but the little stinker showed up early. At this point I'm buttonhole-stitching the applique shapes onto the center panel of the quilt, and when that's done I'll sew the applique section to the two checkerboard sections I did manage to complete back in '05. Then it will be quilted and hopefully hung in the dining room, which currently has furniture in it and little else (well, except for all my sewing crappe). This design is based on the "Only one Crow in the Garden" quilt from Folk Art Quilts: a fresh look by Sandy Bonsib. I want to make just about every quilt in this book. It's fabulous, and I highly recommend picking it up if you're a quilter who likes folk art.

Well, all the good PBS shows are over, so it's time to turn off the TV and do something with our day. Hope you're all keeping cool, wherever you are!