Yup, I have been knitting, believe it or not.  I missed doing my last post a few of weeks ago as we lost power the day after my last post, then I just got sucked into knitting and chores and, well, you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I did finish my cardigan project that I started once I went on hold on my sister’s surprise birthday project (the good news is that I just finished that one yesterday so I’ll post about it as soon as she receives it).

Fair Enough cardigan

Pattern: Fair Enough cardigan, by Wendy Bernard

Source: knitandtonic.net

Yarn: Lana Grossa Bingo Chine in color 522, total used about 10.4 skeins for main color, and Lana Grossa Bingo in colors 24 and 51, total used about .32 and .30 skeins, respectively. All yarn used is 100% merino wool.

Needles used: Addi Turbo circular, size US 7; Clover Takumi circular, size US 6; Clover double-pointed needles, sizes US 6 and 7.

Size made: 34.25″ bust

Project start date: October 26, 2008

Project end date: November 13, 2008

Notes: All in all, I really enjoyed this project. The colorwork in the yoke was a perfect amount for me, as I’m still a beginner when it comes to that skill. The fit is great, and for once the sleeves were long enough for me.  The pattern is knit in the round from the bottom, so there are no seams (yay!).  One thing that may be a bit of a pain is that you graft the six stitches in the armpit of the sleeve to the six held on the body.  I had to really tweak the graft to get the stitches nice and even.

My only real issue was that this project seemed to take about 200 yards more yarn than I would have expected. I did do a yarn substitute, but my gauge was spot on. Needless to say, I was really happy that my LYS is willing to hold yarn under your name so that you have your dye lot reserved JUST IN CASE you need more yarn.

If you don’t believe me, just check out what the weather station is saying…

 

(And yes, it really is 81 degrees inside the house.  The wood stove is cranking.)

More on knitting projects tomorrow!

Back in a not-too-distant past, if we ever felt cold in our house, we would walk up to the thermostat and press the “up arrow” button to bump up the temperature.  It was that simple.

Things are a bit different now.  While we have a central furnace as a backup, our primary heat source is now a woodstove.

In order to run the woodstove until spring, you have to split wood.  Thus, you need to take advantage of the good weather to run the splitter (DH is practically an expert now).

(And no, it’s not a pug guillotine.  Piccolo happened to walk through the shot while he was focused on finding new poo to eat.  Seriously.  He’s a poo-eater.  And let’s just say that he’s LOVED his time here discovering new delectables thanks to the deer and wild turkeys.  Mmm, mmm.)

While DH slaves away at the splitter, someone has to move the wood into the barn and stack it.  Thus, I now know how to drive one of these…

You fill the Kubota’s front bucket and drive into the barn, and stack, and stack, and stack the wood.

That 20-foot long section in the photo is three rows deep and 5.5 feet high, and there is another section at the other end of the barn that is at least seven feet high.  The goal is 6-7 cords to get two houses through the winter.  We’ve got to beat the rain, so no knitting during the day and I’ve been too tired to accomplish a lot of knitting at night.  My poor sister–her birthday gift is now a month late.  I know I’ll appreciate her patience when we’re staying warm in the depths of January.  Thanks, sis!

Well, we knew this would be coming—a drastic temperature shift that lets you know that fall has truly arrived.  I’m sure there are a number of you out there that live with seasons like this on a regular basis, but I have to admit that our San Diego blood is still trying to adjust to this:

That first number on the top left?  That’s the outside temperature at 9:07pm last night.  Yup—37 degrees!  Brrrrr!!!  I checked the history this morning and our official low here on the hill was 34 degrees last night.  The pugs are finding their post-meal walks to be a bit chilly for them as well.  The first thing Piccolo does after coming in the house is run straight for the corner of the couch so he can curl up by the pillow to warm up.  I’m actually considering making him a sweater, poor thing.

So, what do you eat when the weather turns cold?  Homemade chicken noodle soup!

I made up a pot of this last night, since the market had a great deal on chicken scraps for stock.  Some warm sourdough bread and a bowl of soup sure beats back the cold!

The transition to becoming Oregonians continues.  Both DH and I successfully passed our Oregon Driver’s License knowledge test (DH also had to get his motorcycle endorsement, so he had it worse).  Two of the cars either have plates changed or are in transition (the Maxima is waiting for its new Oregon State University plates).  The Harley and Boxster still have to be changed.  Plus we still have Kato’s two vehicles to change for him since his job has had him out of the country since the move.  With so many vehicles, it’s a blessing that Oregon doesn’t charge for tags based on the vehicle sale price like California.  Unless you get custom plates, it’s the same flat fee for a 2-year period.  Granted, we’re still having to pay for title changes on each one of them, but in the end we’re still coming out ahead compared to California prices.

Still not much knitting going on, so my poor sister is still waiting for her gift.  I really need to get on that project this weekend!

Today’s agenda includes prepping the wood stove for use starting tonight.  We’ve run the furnace the last day or two, but we’re ready to get the stove going to keep the power bill down to a managable level.  It’s forecast to get into the upper 20’s the next couple of nights.  More brrrrrr!!!!

Ahh, finally a morning here without smoke from the forest fires that have been burning for weeks.  Once I looked out the window this morning, I knew I needed to jump on this opportunity.  I threw some sweats on, grabbed my camera and headed outside.  And yes, this is the view to the east of our house.  Doesn’t suck, huh?

The grind of getting ready for inclement weather continues.  The insulation underneath the mobile has been replaced and DH has been helping my dad cut and split wood so that two houses can make it through the entire fall and winter on wood stove heat.  The ironic part is that last night’s low was 66 degrees and it’s now 92.  It sure doesn’t seem like fall is here.

I’ve been slowly working on finishing my sister’s (now late) birthday gift.  I’ve got the seaming done and am now completing some knit trim that needs to be sewn on.  Once I get it to her, I can finally post my project summary here.  On the side, I’ve been studying the Oregon driver’s manual to take my driver’s license test this week.  It’s so weird to think that I’ve been driving for over 25 years and I’m studying for this test!  I would have gone into the DMV to wing it, but I took the practice test online and wouldn’t you know that I missed 2 out of 10 questions, so I barely passed.  So, there are apparently enough differences between California and Oregon that I need to read the book first.  Yuck!

Well, off to lay very still (no AC in here) and read the manual…