Confessions of a Wife Left Behind

So we closed on our new house last Friday.  And this past Tuesday, my husband left for an 8 day business trip.  This is the second time he's left me to do all the packing and unpacking from a move all by myself!  This time, I decided to get some retail compensation.

I've bought two knit-related items, though neither is a big splurge.

Purchase #1 -  I finally hunted down a knit-novel that I had been searching for.  I found Unravelled by Robyn Harding on ebay for $2.31.  I find these knit genre books are all pretty similar and a bit hokey.  That aside, this book is a light read, a great distraction from the stress of moving, and I am enjoying it :)

Purchase #2 - I bought a mini-skein of hand-dyed merino sock yarn from Wullenstudio off of esty.  I have a plan to make a necklace, similar to one on saw on Anthropologie, from this yarn.  Once I'm done, I'll share my notes on this blog.  Stay tuned!!

Although I'm miffed about my husband's absence, I can't complain completely.  I've managed to make great headway on my lace pullover. 

I've completed the back piece and I am almost done with the front!!  Just the sleeves, blocking, and joining to go!  I might actually finish this sweater by the end of June.  (And I still love the color!)

Its A Start

We closed on our new house today.  Here's a photo of a rose from the yard of our new house, sitting on our new windowsill!

For a little while, at least, this blog might focus on decorating and setting up the house.  But I will still be knitting along the way :)  Stay tuned!

Coffee Tables, Coasters, and Ottomans (Oh My!)

More about the new house, decorating and knitting...

We will be buying new furniture for the living/family room.  Everything we have now is stuff my husband or I bought after college and have been hauling around with us for years.  I'm particularly excited about getting a nice(ish) coffee table, something like this beauty from Macy's.

from Macy's website

(Actually I can't see paying this much for a coffee table, but I like the glass top and the medium wood color, and I think we can find something similar at other stores).

Of course, if we invest in a nice coffee table (i.e. something that hasn't had three previous owners and was bought at Goodwill), then we need to treat it well.  Do I hear coasters?

I just finished these babies last night.  Using the pattern for Pinwheel Coasters from Ravelry, I knitted these using some leftover Red Heart Fiesta from a previous project.  I made 6 coasters with a #8 needle, then used various scrap yarn to darn the center hole, adding the different colors.  I like how funky this set looks.  And very utilitarian, too! 

And on another decorating note, I think I may have found my ottoman:

I bought this ottoman at Target for around $55 (but I had a gift card).  It doesn't really "match" the chair, but I love the fabric and all the colors.  I think I'm going to keep it.  Heck, its my knitting room - I can have whatever furniture I want, right?

A (Knitting) Room of One's Own

Well, my lace pullover sweater is going about as well as possible.  Its been slow in knitting, but I've been having some wrist pain and trying to take it easy by cutting down on my knitting :(  This has been disappointing, but there has been some GREAT news:  My husband and I are in the process of buying a new home!  Best part - I am going to convert the formal dining room into a knitting/arts room of my very own!!! 

I've never had a dedicated arts room for my projects, but I think this room will be perfect. I really love it!! Its light and bright and just the right size (the photo above is from the real estate listing and features the sellers' dining room furniture).  To be honest - its one of the main reasons I wanted to buy the house :)

And I'm so excited to start decorating this room (and the rest of the house).  I've had this wonderful overstuffed green armchair for many, many years, but have never really used it or even sat in it.  I've always loved it so much that I put it in the dark corner of every living room I've had, fearing it might get faded by sunlight.  Well, now I'm going to use it.  It should be a very comfortable knitting chair.  Maybe I need an ottoman to go with it?

I love this one from the Anthropologie website, but it doesn't really go with my chair.

I have a couple of these small bookcase/storage units that I want to put in the room, probably under the windows.  I'll use these to store my books and art supplies.  And I want to put my small work table in there for blocking and other projects. 

Next step - I want to get a funky area rug for the room to make it cozy.  I've scoured many a website looking at area rugs.  There are some really beautiful ones out there, but I'd like to keep the cost under $150 (or much, much less). 

One of my favorites is this rug from World Market, but they're out of the size I need and the price is much higher than what I'd like to pay.

I've even found some interesting area rugs on Walmart's website (like this or this) at much better prices.  Luckily, I have some time to look around for something I really like at the right price.

I'm sure I'll have updates, but enough about decorating and shopping - back to knitting: who hasn't fallen in love with this top from the upcoming Summer 2012 issue of Interweave Knits?  I know I said I needed to take it slower with my knitting, but this beauty has made it's way to the top of my queue!!