Woolarina
Thursday, February 28, 2008
getting away! Boulder and CA...
Life is always hectic, but has been super busy on all fronts the past few weeks! At home, we're getting ready to paint our bedroom after all that patching. Work entails deadlines on a crazy number of projects, plus I'll be out of town all next week for a design review. And Woolarina.. well, that involves some pretty intense party planning (and dyeing and skeining and spinning!)
But yeah, next week I will be in Boulder, CO again! I hope to not get a crazy cold like I did last time! (I was so ill I totally couldn't drive home from the airport!) It is a fun town, so I am excited. (not so much to be sitting in meetings all day, but... what can you do?) There are some yarn shops on the radar, but seeing as how I've been cleaning house lately, I am hesitant to go and get tempted! I have a lot to use before MDSW still... but I will be enjoying the food and beer and the funky little shops on Pearl Street!
Next up after that is the west coast again, though not for a few months. My husband has a conference in San Jose, so I am flying out. We can:
a) go North, see northern CA and Oregon, meet an internet pal, see old friends + new babies, and see old friends + kids, and maybe more friends. Vineyards likely. Beer for sure.
b) go South, see the prettiness that is Santa Barbara/etc., Irvine, LA. See several old friends. Vineyards for sure.
c) Stay in San Francisco for a few days. Vineyards definitely.
Any of the three would be fun. I haven't been to LA, but no great desire (aside from seeing friends). We haven't been to OR outside of Portland and that vicinity, so would be neat I imagine. San Fran is always good, but we've been. Quandaries!
But yeah, next week I will be in Boulder, CO again! I hope to not get a crazy cold like I did last time! (I was so ill I totally couldn't drive home from the airport!) It is a fun town, so I am excited. (not so much to be sitting in meetings all day, but... what can you do?) There are some yarn shops on the radar, but seeing as how I've been cleaning house lately, I am hesitant to go and get tempted! I have a lot to use before MDSW still... but I will be enjoying the food and beer and the funky little shops on Pearl Street!
Next up after that is the west coast again, though not for a few months. My husband has a conference in San Jose, so I am flying out. We can:
a) go North, see northern CA and Oregon, meet an internet pal, see old friends + new babies, and see old friends + kids, and maybe more friends. Vineyards likely. Beer for sure.
b) go South, see the prettiness that is Santa Barbara/etc., Irvine, LA. See several old friends. Vineyards for sure.
c) Stay in San Francisco for a few days. Vineyards definitely.
Any of the three would be fun. I haven't been to LA, but no great desire (aside from seeing friends). We haven't been to OR outside of Portland and that vicinity, so would be neat I imagine. San Fran is always good, but we've been. Quandaries!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
neverending
I am at the point where I would reallllly love to just peel off all the paint from the walls! There is some layer in there that isn't adhering well, making the top layer crack more. Ugh! We do not have the time though, or enough vacuum power to get all the bits, so we are patching here and there. No more cinder blocks have been seen, but there are shallow holes requiring lots of patching all over the darn place. Sigh..
We did buy primer though, so will get started with that this weekend. We can't agree on a paint color. Nothing will match any of the bedding we have now, but maybe that's not bad - I've wanted nicer (non ikea!) sheets for summer for a while now, so this is good. I won't be giving up our orange ll bean sheets for any color, though. so warm and comfy! :)
I have been dyeing like crazy - not even moving the dyepot from my counter... my apartment is liking the humidity from steaming and drying yarn, so it's not bad!
It's not official yet, but we are organizing a big yarn/knitting/spinning party on ravelry... will most likely be March 30th, in Takoma Park. Metro accessible! We're hoping to have most of the local indie dyers/spinners participating, and it should be really rad!
We did buy primer though, so will get started with that this weekend. We can't agree on a paint color. Nothing will match any of the bedding we have now, but maybe that's not bad - I've wanted nicer (non ikea!) sheets for summer for a while now, so this is good. I won't be giving up our orange ll bean sheets for any color, though. so warm and comfy! :)
I have been dyeing like crazy - not even moving the dyepot from my counter... my apartment is liking the humidity from steaming and drying yarn, so it's not bad!
It's not official yet, but we are organizing a big yarn/knitting/spinning party on ravelry... will most likely be March 30th, in Takoma Park. Metro accessible! We're hoping to have most of the local indie dyers/spinners participating, and it should be really rad!
Monday, February 18, 2008
cracked.
We were having a nice day off. I was going to get some dyeing done. We were going to mosey along on repairing and preparing our bedroom walls for painting...
Then we started looking at the cracks! We'd known we'd need to DEAL with them. We just didn't think it'd be TODAY. But no... once you start picking at the old paint and plaster, you cannot stop! Oh my -- we got down to the cinder blocks on one wall! There were a few old cracks that just keep getting repaired over the years, and cracking again, messing up paint jobs.
(this is just the surface of the cracks!) We went through so many layers. Paper, fibers, plaster, spackling compound.. Over and over again. It really makes one wonder who painted their bedroom walls dark grayish blue, and how boring were the following owners to not have any color at all! It's neat to think that there have been 60 years of people here, though as our walls get painted over and over, our rooms get smaller and smaller.
One of the many piles of broken wall we threw out/vacuumed.
We also finally pulled out the cabling for cable. We don't even have cable, but decided we'd move our tv out to the living room if we did get cable service. I wish we could pull out the phone wire as well... for 860 square feet, two bedrooms, there's probably 5 phone jacks! I can't imagine anyone needs it these days with wireless everything, but who knows.. maybe we'll move our office into another room one of these days.
But for now - we're rushing to get our bedroom finished and staying in our second bedroom... stressing over paint colors and getting excited! Yay for color and smooth walls! Wish us luck with the remaining plastering/spackling!
Then we started looking at the cracks! We'd known we'd need to DEAL with them. We just didn't think it'd be TODAY. But no... once you start picking at the old paint and plaster, you cannot stop! Oh my -- we got down to the cinder blocks on one wall! There were a few old cracks that just keep getting repaired over the years, and cracking again, messing up paint jobs.
(this is just the surface of the cracks!) We went through so many layers. Paper, fibers, plaster, spackling compound.. Over and over again. It really makes one wonder who painted their bedroom walls dark grayish blue, and how boring were the following owners to not have any color at all! It's neat to think that there have been 60 years of people here, though as our walls get painted over and over, our rooms get smaller and smaller.
One of the many piles of broken wall we threw out/vacuumed.
We also finally pulled out the cabling for cable. We don't even have cable, but decided we'd move our tv out to the living room if we did get cable service. I wish we could pull out the phone wire as well... for 860 square feet, two bedrooms, there's probably 5 phone jacks! I can't imagine anyone needs it these days with wireless everything, but who knows.. maybe we'll move our office into another room one of these days.
But for now - we're rushing to get our bedroom finished and staying in our second bedroom... stressing over paint colors and getting excited! Yay for color and smooth walls! Wish us luck with the remaining plastering/spackling!
Monday, February 11, 2008
do ya do ya do ya do ya wanna felt?
free pile of lamb's pride! Well, shipping will cost you $10.55 for priority mail (the box + yarn weighs just under 2.5 pounds).. or if you are local, meet me somewhere and take it! I want it out of my home! :)
bulky lamb's pride - the turquoise and black seem full, the others half or less it seems.
worsted lamb's pride - mostly there are half skeins, but the lime is nearly full (just I pulled some out and rewound it around the skein)
This and more stuff to come up on my stash sale page!
bulky lamb's pride - the turquoise and black seem full, the others half or less it seems.
worsted lamb's pride - mostly there are half skeins, but the lime is nearly full (just I pulled some out and rewound it around the skein)
This and more stuff to come up on my stash sale page!
Saturday, February 09, 2008
recovering!
I know it's been a while since I last posted since my computer forgot the url! hmm... last couple weeks: crazy!
Vegas was fun. A good place for a conference, but a bad place to get a bad cold. The awful cigarette odors! Bah. Why on earth do people smoke? Don't they know they stink? I really took DC and MD's smoking bans for granted, and wow - am so glad that they exist! Also, am never again staying in a hotel where you have to walk like a quarter mile (no joke!) through the smokey air to get to your freaky room with the mirrored wall and ceiling (again, no joke!)! Still - I saw a couple of good shows (Mystere and Les Folie Bergere) and didn't lose too much money, so it was a good trip.
The cold I had towards the end of the week and brwooought back? NOT GOOD! But it gave me an excuse to sleep in and not have to work so much. (yay sick leave!) I am still coughing a week later. :(
A big THANKS to everyone who came out for Crafts and Kisses! I ended up arriving an hour late because I overslept after only getting home from Vegas at 2 am, but I saw a great many woolarina fans and was so excited!
Am back to spinning (and dyeing).. will have something very exciting to share in the next week or so!!!
Vegas was fun. A good place for a conference, but a bad place to get a bad cold. The awful cigarette odors! Bah. Why on earth do people smoke? Don't they know they stink? I really took DC and MD's smoking bans for granted, and wow - am so glad that they exist! Also, am never again staying in a hotel where you have to walk like a quarter mile (no joke!) through the smokey air to get to your freaky room with the mirrored wall and ceiling (again, no joke!)! Still - I saw a couple of good shows (Mystere and Les Folie Bergere) and didn't lose too much money, so it was a good trip.
The cold I had towards the end of the week and brwooought back? NOT GOOD! But it gave me an excuse to sleep in and not have to work so much. (yay sick leave!) I am still coughing a week later. :(
A big THANKS to everyone who came out for Crafts and Kisses! I ended up arriving an hour late because I overslept after only getting home from Vegas at 2 am, but I saw a great many woolarina fans and was so excited!
Am back to spinning (and dyeing).. will have something very exciting to share in the next week or so!!!
