Domesticity

One of the best things about long weekends, is that you can accomplish things without having to use up every minute of your long weekend time. I managed to get quite a bit done yesterday and today.

It took part of yesterday afternoon, and most of today to turn this:










Into this:

Still some work to be done, but the bulk has been either put away where it belongs in the first place, or tossed/recycled/added to the stack of things to be given away. I don't know about you, but getting rid of clutter always makes me feel like I've really accomplished something. This room is on our third floor, and is where the computer, knitting supplies, and three bookcases are. It's also where we put all the wrapping supplies, boxes, and anything/everything else related to Christmas gifts, so it gets really cluttered! It's so nice to be able to walk through the room without stepping over stuff ...

While I was working on this, The Tim was on the first floor, putting a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and I would occasionally interrupt my decluttering to work on a big pot of butternut squash soup, which turned out even better than I was hoping. It was a good day for soup, since it is really wintry - or as I like to say, freezingly cold.

It's been quite the homebody weekend, wouldn't you say?

On the knitting front, on Friday evening, I managed to get more done on the reknitting of my Clapotis, and have now gone one repeat past where I had to rip it out. I like the way it's looking, and am hoping that I can make some real progress on it this week. I also pulled out the yarn for a pair of socks I'm planning to make for a Christmas 2008 gift. Yep, next Christmas! It's part of my master plan to make certain gifts for certain individuals who shall remain nameless, as some of them read this blog. If I post any pictures at all, it will likely be on Ravelry, since none of the recipients are knitters, so they won't stumble across items there and ruin the surprise.

However, I am distracted from all of my other projects by my love for the pattern A Kimono-Style Cardigan to Knit, by Ann Budd, in the latest issue of Piecework. Have you seen it? Well, it's a nicely designed sweater, which has cables (always a plus for me), and the photo in the magazine shows it knitted in a beautiful green yarn. And since it's kimono-style, there are no button bands to knit and hope you got the buttonholes and the buttons lined up correctly ...

I have decided that I would like to meet Ann Budd. I find it hard to believe that she is one single person, with all of the patterns, books, and articles that have her name on them. On the other hand, she has to be a single person, because her work is so consistently good, and I think that would be impossible to do that on a continual basis with, say, three people who all worked under the name "Ann Budd" (like all of the people who wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries under the name of Carolyn Keene). However, meeting her is unlikely, as I am not planning any trips to Loveland, Colorado any time soon (where the Interweave Press headquarters are located), and I am even more unlikely to be submitting a pattern I've created to any of the Interweave Press magazines, which would provide the opportunity for us to cross paths.

Anyway, it would be nice to meet her. I'll bet she is a nice, regular person ... who just happens to be amazing!