Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Lookie what I have and you can't have some... neener, neener, neener! Okay, gloating is over. I phone ordered the last skein of Mama-E's Cloverhill special yarn and it arrived today. Hooray for Mama-E! Thank you Cloverhill! I'm sure there will be more of this there soon.

Voice of Guilt

Following a hard day's packing and a much needed shower I climbed into bed to knit before falling asleep. The stage was set. Koigu cakes made. Needles poised. Badcaul pattern on my lap. Socks in the starting gate. Guilt voices start.

them, "Say there, you have packing, cleaning and filing to do."

me... (insert cricket noises here)

them, "You should at least fold clothes, there's a big pile of them at the foot of the bed"

me... still silent

them,"Isn't this supposed to be neutral month in project spectrum? Don't you have a mystery sock KAL? That yarn isn't neutral and there are pictures. Besides, Christmas is only 5 months away and you're behind with your sock knitting for men. All you've made are girly, bright colored socks.

me... still silent but picking up pretty Koigu and looking in the sock yarn stash basket. Pretty Koigu trades places with sensible, Baby Ull in a sensible gray colorway.

them, "You can't use that pattern, it has a picture!"

me... still silent but getting grumpy at the guilt voices. Pattern is put away. I cast on blindly and just start knitting.

them, "Say there, don't you have two knitting UFOs to finish up before starting something new?"

me, loudly "What more do you want damn it? I'm knitting large gray socks! It isn't like I can piece together a sweater in bed. Leave me the hell alone!"

B in a confused voice, "What did I do?"

Ranting, packing & a wee bit of knitting.

The packing is excruciatingly slow, heavy and painful. When did we acquire so much crap and why is it so heavy? In addition to packing and sorting we were subjected to another pain in the ass of the moving type, a.k.a., the realtors (shuddering inwardly and reaching for vodka). The real estate market has cooled significantly following the past few years' red-hot sales. But this is Spanaway and folks here are a little s-l-o-w. Heck, the mullet hairstyle is still "in". Developers and builders here are no exception. They are ploughing up fields and woods left and right in order to build cheaply made high-density housing. There are also a lot of military personnel due to the proximity of Ft. Lewis and McChord AFB. Many folks using V.A. loans opt for new houses because they are easier to finance and the housing inspectors don't delve deeply into spec. homes because of the sheer quantities being built at single locations.


These houses are built on 4,000 sq ft. lots, house sizes start at 1,500 sq. ft. and they are priced from the $290,000's. These houses are being built less than one mile from our current house. Last year this same property consisted of lovely pastures with grazing cattle. Our house is one of the older ranch style houses in the neighborhood. It is 1,680 sq. ft. with 1.22 fully fenced flat acres and a separate 2 car garage w/shop. It has been completely remodeled (except the laundry room). It is definately nothing fancy, but it's a solid house. Even so, the realtors said we can only get $265,000 for it. WTF?

We've decided to leave our washer & dryer, refrigerator, etc. with the house. Much of our larger furniture will be sold prior to moving as well. It's dreadfully expensive to move and store unnecessary items... especially those that have seen better times.



The jaywalkers knitted with Mama-E's Junebug are finally done. Procrastination on these socks was partially due to the fact that I have long, skinny feet and these are designed for shorter, normal width or wider feet. I've made Koigu cakes from the KSKS yarn that Liz sent and I'll cast on tonight. I've never made toe-up socks before!

In other news, two nights ago a loud noise woke me up at about 2:oo am. It sounded like somebody falling against the house underneath my bedroom window. B is working graveyards so it was just the girls and I at home. I peeked out the window and couldn't see anything. But I'm not exactly stealthy and we don't have a well-lit yard. Just the same, I picked up the cordless phone (so I could dial 911 and talk with a snarky dispatcher who probably wouldn't send anybody out) and proceeded to double check all doors and windows. There were several more thumps and sounds of muffled voices. Not once could I see anybody outside my house and I fell asleep holding the phone. The next morning I chalked it up to my overactive imagination and nervous personality. Turns out that the same night someone broke into a house just two doors down and stole some items while the owners were away. The housesitter watching the house between us (they were also on vacation) and the burgled house heard voices. She got up and saw a man and woman outside the house next to her. She did nothing though because they weren't disturbing the house she was in. Hello, it was 2:00 in the friggin' morning and the older couple who owns that house were away? If I had actually seen anybody, I would have called the police... regardless of which house they were burglaring/robbing. What is with people? Cindy, could I borrow Dylan Thomas the wonder dog? My cats aren't loud enough.

Obviously this information will not be volunteered to anybody interested in purchasing the house. I just hope nobody asks me about crime because then I would have to let them know what a crappy neighborhood this is!