Why I live where I live

I saw this on Krista's blog today and it sounded like fun! It's the weekly Sunday Scribblings Sunday Challenge (plus, I love love love the picture so I had to join in on the fun).

Stephen and I moved into our house in a Montreal suburb the week before we were married. After visiting one too many fixer uppers, we decided to buy a new house. A house that would meet all of our needs and would be built to our specifications. First off, we wanted a house that we both loved where we would want to live for the rest of our lives. Second, it had to be in the boonies as they say, close but not too close to our respective parents. Third, we wanted to live in a community where there would be lots of young families so our (future) kids would have friends to play with and we wanted a quiet street where they could play street hockey. Fourth, it had to be close to the commuter train since we both work in the city. Oh, and I wanted it to be MarthaStewarty (Stephen still doesn't quite know what that means!)

We ended up buying the first house we saw! It was a bit out of our price range, but it by far exceeded our expectations so we took a leap of faith and bought it! We came by every Saturday while it was being built to see what had been added to it since our previous visit. It was so exciting. Sometimes, we couldn't wait until the weekend and would drive up on a Thursday night and peeked through the windows with a flashlight! Our builder was terrific. He built our house with his dad and everything was just right when we moved in. It is our dream house in every way.

Well, maybe except for the doors... The first week we were here Stephen kicked the laundry room door open after we locked ourselves out of it. That one required fixing mouldings, the knob and a paint touch up. Then, after seeing a really cool segment on Canadian House & Home about adding character to your newly built home, I decided to paint all of our upstairs doors black. I hated the result and tried everything to paint them white again but the gods were against it and I couldn't get primer nor paint to stick to them. We decided to change the doors altogether which was a disaster. The hinges didn't line up so we had to chisel out a new location for them on the doors and we did a really poor job hanging them. In fact we still have 4 doors that are unpainted and don't close! Oh, well. At least I can knit, right? Our door troubles were't over yet though.

The front door (which we never really liked anyway) warped from the cold this winter and we had wanted to replace it with one with a window anyway so we picked out a new one before Easter and hired Home Depot to come install it. They came by on Wednesday and got it done in a few hours under Julian's watchful eye.

I really love it. It makes such a wonderful difference, especially on the inside. We no longer have to turn on a light in the entrance in the middle of the day!

All in all, I love our house. I love our town. And I really hope to live here forever!

Why do you live where you live?

Argh!

Okay, so it's been a while since my last post but it's been an especially hectic week. We had our front door changed on Wednesday and then I realised on Thursday that (holy cow) my driving exam was Friday! So I thought it about time to start studying and I realised that I really don't have the capacity to concentrate on a textbook for very long anymore. Too many distractions. Too boring. And I know it won't be the end of the world if I fail. So instead I finished this:


It's the foxy pirate sweater from Phildar knit in Aviso. And the eighth time was the charm on the intarsia medallion. Check it out!


I ended up doing something you are never supposed to do. Are you ready for this? I didn't weave in all those ends. I knotted them instead! Gasp! And I don't feel bad about it. I realised that the reason the tension was always off and uneven the first bajillion times was because I weaved in the ends as I went and it caused the stitches to pull. I tried to knit more loosely to account for the change in tension resulting from the weaving in and that didn't look good either. Then I found a site (thought I don't remember which one) that recommended square knots. Let me tell you, it didn't take long to sell me on the idea. So I knotted all those ends and dabbed the knots with some 'fray away' to make sure there's no way in heck that they'll unravel and ta-da! It's nice even intarsia! Here are some stills.

But then I really had to study. Thankfully, I have the greatest most supportive husband in the world who took the day off on Friday to baby sit while I CRAMMED! My exam was at 2pm and I started studying at 9am. That's probably why I was so nervous going into the exam. I was convinced I would fail. Too many details. The subtleties of the french exam. Multiple choice (the worse kind of test ever). My knees were shaking as I waited in line for my turn. And I really don't know why because there's no big deal. Really. If I failed one of the 3 sections, all I would have to do is go back next week and retake the section of the test that I failed. And I could keep doing this until I passed them all.

So they called my name and I went to my assigned computer terminal to take the test. I took my time. Rereading every word at least 5 times before submitting my answer, held my breath to see if I got it right and I did. Question after question. And I aced it! Took a picture. A vision test. A gazillion pieces of paper to sign and then I got it...my very own learner's permit! I'm so excited about it. Well except that I'm terrified to actually get in the car and drive! Good thing I have 8 months to learn and practice before my road test. So I haven't actually been behind the wheel yet (even though I have a permit to do so, yay!) and am not really looking forward to that part. I don't know if I should go out in a parking lot with Stephen first or if I should wait for the instructor? Well I have lots of time to procrastinate on that one ;0)

When I got home, there was a lovely little UPS package waiting for me on my back porch. It contained this gorgeous bowl:

It was handmade by the uber talented Jennifer of Knit Mama Knit and I was really excited to be her first etsy buyer (click here to check out her shop). I love this bowl! It is more beautiful than a photograph could ever capture and I just love to hold it.

I've been walking around the house with it trying to find it a suitable home. I haven't yet. So it's sitting in my lap holding the yarn, buttons and rick rack for my next project

I just realised last night that there are two yellow and orange Project Spectrum days left (including today) and I still have at least 5 projects in mind for this month. And part of me thinks it's still possible.


The totally deluded part! LOL!!! I can probably finish 2 things if Jujube will let me. Okay, maybe.

Cheers!

Pirate of the kitchen!

First up, the pirate wear! Remember Julian's incorrigible foxy pirate sweater? Yeah, that one! Well it’s been languishing in a time out for a while. I actually went one further and frogged it back all the way before putting it down last time. So all I had to go back to was piles of kinky yarn in various lengths and colours. I didn’t think I’d go back to it, but somehow I found the serenity to do so on the weekend and have knit everything but the back!

I have two fronts, two sleeves and a collar. All that’s left is the back with that cursed intarsia medallion! I wanted to do it today except that it requires the level of concentration that is impossible with Julian around these days. Now that he’s mobile, I just can’t seem to get anything done anymore. It’s even worse now that he started pillaging the kitchen.

Argh!

Warming Grace

I've been on a real bunny kick lately with Easter and all. I even managed to work a bunny into my square for the Warming Grace project. See?

Isn't it cute? It's got a basketweave stitch basket, embroidered flowers and even a bunny finger puppet inside. I had so much fun making it and I hope Grace loves it too ;0) It's going in the mail first thing Monday along with a postcard of Montreal and the other (very boring by comparison) heart square I knit before the inspiration struck.

And now some sad news. My husband's family cat, Shmootz, died very suddenly on Thursday morning. She's the younger of their two cats and just ...died. Stephen's dad was there when it happened. Apparently, she just fell to the ground and died. He figured she must have had some kind of heart attack.

The saddest thing is that Stephen and I can't even remember our last encounter with her. We were there on Monday, but don't remember seeing her. She must have been outside chasing spring bugs. She was a happy content kitty like the best of them and she will be terribly missed.

Go give your pet some extra love in Shmootz' memory.

Go on...