The Knitting Chair

In the past 3 houses we have lived in, I've had a workroom. Each one has been a great place for me to be creative. Eric has always been SO VERY gracious to me in this respect. One of the first things he would look at when purchasing a new home after the basic bedroom needs were met was a workroom for me. Am I lucky or what? In our present house over the garage is my workroom. It's a room that's a little out of the way and right outside the door is a work desk that has built-in filing cabinets, a bookcase, and a place for the family computer. This is where I keep a lot of my books and files of projects and ideas I have. Up to this point I have always been in the business of making things to sell. Scripture totes, personalized baby things, and custom purses to name a few. Until now. For the past few months I haven't really spent time in my room because I stopped those business ventures for now and the room wasn't inviting. I would walk in there and the way it was set up was so utilitarian that without 50 of something to make I felt weird. Eric told me I should make my workroom into a retreat. Clean out, redecorate, and make it a real place to relax as well as a place to create. Boy, he was right and I was off and running! I cleaned everything out and reorganized. This alone took a couple of weeks. (surprising how much stuff I have) Then I saved up my hinge money and bought this...

The knitting chair. I love it! This is the first step in many. I'm still saving for other things I want to add, but this is the first installment and I am thrilled with it. Needless to say I spend MORE and MORE time in my room now. It's a great place to knit, read and just think.

Ollie

Today we had to put Ollie down. It was one of the hardest things we've had to do. We had that dog before we had the kids. 12 years is a long time. We will miss him. He was so great with our boys as well as the neighborhood kids. He even helped some of those neighborhood kids overcome their fear of dogs. Gentle and protective and true to his breed, the backyard sure is empty without him.

Just in time for Valentine's Day...

I have been working on Eric's socks for quite some time now. A little too long if you ask me. I made these socks using a different technique than I normally do and I guess I was a little intimidated. The second sock only took me about 10 days, which all things considered, is good for me. I really like the way they turned out. Especially the stripes on each sock matching perfectly down to the last row! I know, I know, I'm sick in the head. But like I tell my boys, "Anything worth doing, is worth doing WELL!". If I'm going to knit 15,000 stitches per sock, I'm doing it right. Eric loves them and plans on wearing them on Sunday to church. They fit him just perfect. I cast on his zippered sweater this afternoon and I'm presently working on the cabled hem. Wish me luck!