Where I shine

We've been living a lie for about a month now. Chris came home a few weeks ago and "popped the question" ... and since I had already agreed to marry him and love him forever and ever like years ago, he decided to mix it up: "What if we moved to Northampton?"

Back up a few more weeks. Chris likes to practice "real estate porn", where he looks at houses for sale in different neighborhoods and sees how big a house we could get for what we paid for our apartment. I find it really depressing ... did you know that for what we paid for a 2BR apartment in Queens, NY, we could have a private compound with a pool and servant quarters in Alvin, TX? For some reason he loves it.
Anyway, he was surfing around, getting turned on by square-footage, and proposed that someday we could move to the Northampton area. I went to school there, it's very green, there are woods nearby. "Sure," I said. "When the time comes I think that's a great option."
Chris went a step further and found an engineering firm that looked promising. "Someday", he said, "that's where I would like to end up. In a place like that."

Fast forward. Imagine some seedy, gross porn music. Picture Chris sitting in his office at work, glancing around to see if anyone is going to walk in on him. He opens up his real estate site, and finds Florence, MA, a little town just outside of NoHo. It has little houses, big back yards, and a diner. Chris starts to flush, he's getting a little too excited. He clicks over to MassLive.com, a local news and classifieds site, and searches his dream company. He almost calls out in ecstasy ... that company has just posted a job for his exact level, his exact job. ... what should he do?

Now, if this were a movie, or last season of "The Office", he would have kept it a secret and gone to interview for the job without telling me. But instead he came home early and asked me what I thought about it. After a minute or two of freaking out, I was actually on board. It was technically part of The Plan, it just jumped up the queue a little.

This was Oct 7. We updated Chris's resume and then spend a week in an anxious tizzy. They called, they loved him, they wanted to set up an interview. On Oct 16 he drove up and interviewed. There was a part of me that hoped he'd come back and report that while they loved him (of course), he didn't like them/the office/the management/whatever, so nothing would have to change. But no, he loved them. It's exactly where he wants to be. We spent another week or so living in two adjacent universes -- one where we would be moving soon, very soon maybe; and one where nothing was going to change. Those two things don't go very well together, especially when you (ehem, me) are a planner by trade.

On Tuesday the 22nd, they called and offered him the job. He took the obligatory day or two to discuss it and tell his own bosses, and accepted. His start date is Dec 2. Friday Oct 25, it was official. We were leaving.

It had been an emotionally exhausting few weeks. That night Chris plopped down in his big chair and said, "I am so tired. I could just go to bed right now and sleep for days!"

"NO!!!" I shouted. "This is where the fun part starts!!!!"

... because now I can start organizing, color-coding, packing, and throwing things out.

This part is where I shine!

... to be continued.

Big news!!!

No, I'm not pregnant ... why doesn't everyone keep asking me that?

We're MOVING!!! Like for real moving. Away away. The husband got a new job and we're packing up and moving back to Massachusetts. I quit my job.

holy hell, I quit my job. WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!

I'm gonna do the mom thing until we're settled, then I'll pick up my Childbirth Ed stuff where I've left off (which is almost done! More on that bit of craftiness later). I have some freelance stuff in the works too.

But for the first few months or so, I'm going to be Rowan's Momma, LLC. Full time, no benefits (except hugs, I guess). But guess what you guys, Pinterest is just bursting with all those awesome moms and all the adorable educational shit they do with their kids all day. I could BE one of those moms! Also, I'm always complaining that the SAHMs have all the cool activities to themselves, like Toddler Yoga that's only allowed at 11am on Tuesdays when the rest of us are working. I'm about to infiltrate that secret society of daytime parenting ... I'll report back if I discover anything unsavory.

So yes, stay tuned for:
1) posts about moving and how I'm awesome at it.
2) posts about figuring out crafty things to do with my kid for 8 hours a day.
3) posts about knitting Christmas gifts for everyone because we can't afford to buy Christmas gifts this year because I just quit my job ... seriously, who does that?

Or no posts at all because I'll be taking care of that kid all day. He's kind of a handful. Though my first plan of attack is to set him up with a day planner. We'll make sure to schedule "blogging" in there. Also naps. For me.

I refuse . . .

. . . to throw away my magazines. It's really a problem.

Before I moved the last time (over three years ago), I consolidated my magazines into one really cool notebook. Like a Bible of all things pretty, crafty, decorate-y, delicious. It has a sections for decorating, style, tips and tricks, and beauty. I have a whole separate binder for recipes and cooking tips. But I lost my fire for it after I moved to New York three years ago, and have had a stack of Martha Stewarts, Real Simples, Luckys, Clean Eatings, Cooking Lights, and Tastes of Homes, not to mention IKEA, Webs, Lionbrand catalogues. Oy. I was able to go through all the cooking and yarn mags a month or so ago, but I have 1 year of Martha Stewart Living and 3 years of Real Simples that were just stacked in a bookshelf. I made a plan to go through them all, but it was completely overwhelming. We move in 4 days, and so there is no hope for me.

As a last resort (and to appease my husband/trick him into thinking I threw them out) I have been hiding them at the office. Every nook and cranny I can find. I genuinely plan to go through them all and add to my "bible"; it's just happening any time soon.

The down-side of using yarn as packing material . . .

. . . is that when our move date gets pushed back I can't knit anything. I am nearly finished with Baby Notre Dame Letterman sweater number 2, and eager to start on the "Golden Dome" hat I have half-designed in my head (see below for details). I was hoping to use either beige or gray yarn for the bottom; however those specific skeins are being used to pad certain fragile objects packed in boxes, stacked in my bedroom. Problem is I don't know which boxes contain which yarn. I didn't think to document which skeins were padding which boxes, because I thought I would be UNPACKING them soon!!! sigh.

My original goal was to move on June 11 . . . it being the 20th, I'm sure you have guessed that THAT plan did not come to fruition. The good news is that we close on Thursday at 4pm (YEA!!!). Bad news is that the movers we had on hold are not available on Friday, and the building does not allow weekend moves, and the closing Thursday is too late in the day to move afterwards. More bad news is that between the 27th and the 3rd is the movers' "peak" rates, so it would cost us more to move on Monday. grrr.

So right now we're waiting to hear back on what that higher rate would be (we might just have to swallow it . . . that's what she said). If it's too much, we'll just wait until "peak" is over, and move July 5th (screwing up our Independence Day family plans AND Chris's Birthday plans) if they even do "holiday" moves, or wait until July 9th . . . a full 3 weeks from now!!! double sigh.

Anyway . . . the Golden Dome hat. I wanted a hat to go with the Notre Dame jackets, and any true Domer knows that their true symbol is the Gold Dome of the "Main Building" on campus.

(Side note: you'd think that the most iconic building on campus would have a cooler name than "Main Building", wouldn't you?)

I found Jane Tanner's "Rib-a-Roni Hat"

The pattern has 16 wide ribs that come together evenly at the top (instead of spiraling); I am going to widen them and only have 8 ribs.

The bottom will be folded up and have a zig zag pattern to represent the "gables" (I know they're not true gables, but I can't think of a better word). I would love to use a "twisted knit" stitch, if I can figure out how to make the colors work. I did a twisted knit on the washcloth shown below, and I love how it makes a raised, diagonal knitted line.

If you look at the photo of the building, you can see why I would want the gray or beige yarn that is hiding at the moment. I think I might just give up and use white and blue (since I'll have some leftover when I finish the jacket). I also don't think I'll be able to replicate Mother Mary on the top of a hat, but I'll see what I can do, in a non-blasphemous sort of way.

When I can buy yarn again . . .

So I'm not allowed to buy yarn at the moment. First, because my husband and I are buying an apartment and I can't justify the extra expense just because "it's so pretty!!!!" Second, I don't want to pack and carry more than I have to. We are on a trajectory to have no food in the house on move day, just so we don't have to carry any extras down to the truck. Even though yarn is light, and makes for nice padding material for fragile things (see below), I figured I should cut back.

no need to buy bubble wrap!

I also had to be very strategic about which yarn I packed away, and so had to be strategic about which projects I could work on. I am currently working on the Notre Dame Letterman Jackets -- one is done except for the buttons, and the other I just started this weekend. But I have trouble working on just ONE project at a time! How is that interesting? And of course, every magazine and blog I read shows me all sorts of cool things I could be making, if I had the stash for it.

Like these, I want to make these so badly!

But I don't have any cotton yarn. So of course I want to run out to Michaels and pick up brightly colored cotton yarn and make these. Not for myself of course, but this would be such a cute housewarming or hostess gift. Because, really, who DOESN'T need crocheted citrusy pot holders?!

OH! AND THIS!!!!

HOW GREAT IS THIS?!?!?! It reminds of a latch-hook rug I did as a kid. Took me YEARS to finish, I swear! I'm not sure I'd have the patience to cut all the little pieces of yarn though.

We're moving!!!

Ok, this has nothing to do with knitting, but I'm just too excited!

Last night C and I had an interview with the co-op board for the apartment we're buying. It went great!!! We got the official word today so now we can schedule our closing. We're so close!!!

Needless to say, I'm a little distracted at work today, so I let out some creating juices making an address change card to send to our friends and family, featuring my adorable dog, Gipper.

Decorating Ideas for my Crafty-Corner

So my husband and I are in the process of buying an apartment! Very exciting!

We have put in an offer and actually spent this morning reading through the contracts. We have a potential closing date of May 31, 2010 (but that's not official yet).

Towards the beginning of this process, I was very careful not to "move my stuff in" in my head, because I didn't want to be disappointed if things fell through. But now I'm giving myself a little freedom to mentally decorate, especially when it comes to the baby room (already painted with a mural of green grass/sky/flying Dumbo) and a crafty-corner for myself.

Currently, my yarn is tucked away in every corner of our apartment (in drawers under the couch, in a hanging shoe organizer, in a bookshelf, and in bags shoved behind the couch). If we had removable couch cushions, it would be under there as well. I'm trying to devise a better way for organizing and storing it in our new place.

Stage one: DON'T BUY ANY MORE YARN BEFORE WE MOVE!!! That's actually going pretty well; I've been able to make several gifts without buying more yarn, which is pretty impressive. Sort of like throwing together an awesome dinner with foods you happened to have in the pantry (which I ALSO did this week!). HA HA!

Stage two will be figuring out the best (and prettiest) way to store the yarn I have. I came across this post yesterday in the Craftzine Blog, and I LOVE it!

These are coffee cans covered in contact paper and mounted to the wall. I was thinking of modifying this a little and mounting the cans individually, like picture frames. I would cover them with either black or brightly-colored contact paper (bright primary colors?), and attach a picture hook on the back of each. Then I could mount them all over one wall, or in one corner, and fill them with my yarn. AND if I needed to take the yarn with me while I traveled, simply take the can off the wall, throw a cover on it, and toss it in my bag!

As a cute addition, I could turn the cans/caps into dispensers (the caps have holes for the yarn to feed through).