Finally

The moment you all have been waiting for. The kitchen is (almost) done.


I apologize for the lack of pictures sooner, but we were having contractor issues (as in, he stopped showing up about the first of August), and I didn't want to rant on the blog.


More photos in my flickr set here.

If you need "before" reminders, look here and here.


We do have a big hole in the ground where the air return hasn't been moved, but the kitchen is livable. Praise God, and remind me that I don't want to remodel anything else.

Eye Candy Friday

Almost there.....

Single Sock Seeks Same

I've started to worry that I've accidentally joined the Single Sock Liberation Movement. Although I am in great company, I was not expecting this detour.

Fortunately, I managed to finish a pair this week.



Pattern: generic top-down sock
Yarn: Lang Jawoll - 2 skeins
Needles: Sz 2.25mm ChiaGoo DPNs
Mods: n/a
Thoughts: I'm not a huge fan of this yarn. I'm not sure why exactly I don't like it, but it may have something to do with the "superwash" (though I've used other superwash wools before and they haven't felt like this).

I made no attempt to match the stripes, so I'm pretty pleased that they're close.

Not to worry single sockers, I've got more single socks en route!


Oh, and I suppose you want to know about the countertops? The are indeed concrete (can't sneak anything past y'all!) and my random number generator (hubbo) choose Louise! Congrats Louise - email me with your address so I can ship out your box. Unfortunately, I don't have any good shots of the kitchen, so you will have to wait a tiny bit longer. I'll try to take lots tomorrow!

Eye Candy Friday (and a contest!)

It's been too long since we've had any good eye candy. How 'bout some yarn porn?


The Knittery Merino Cashmere, Yarntini, and Gypsy Knits, all from The Loopy Ewe. I may have to buy some new sock needles to take advantage of this goodness!

And what's that I spy they're laying on?



Could it be a countertop?

But what kind of countertop is it? (And if you already know, please don't ruin it for everyone else!)

Submit your guesses by midnight CDT on Monday August 6. If more than one person guesses the correct answer, I'll draw a name. What do you win? Dishcloth cotton, of course!

It never rains,

but it drops steaming piles of dog poo on you.

So we're behind and over budget on the kitchen. But we expected that.

Then, two weeks ago, the garage door broke. Ka-ching.

Last night? The AC. Compressor. Won't be fixed until tomorrow (and that's assuming it stops raining!). It's a bit warm in here. I'm just really glad it hasn't been hot yet, and that it IS raining, since it helps lower the temperature.

Pass the ice?

Some things never change

If the rate at which I cast on for new projects is in direct proportion to the slowness of kitchen progress, what do these photos say about this week?




In the interest of full disclosure, there are at least two projects that didn't show up for the photo shoot.

We have a winner!

Carol c'mon down! Carol - email me your address so you can get your goodies!

I entered everyone who put some shade of green into the basket - it's really hard to determine which shade is exactly correct, but according to Behr it is Grass Cloth.


And look, there are two cabinets up! Woo Hoo!

BTW - I think it is totally weird that both Stephanie and I are painting our kitchens almost the same color! What are the odds?

Must run - we're off to see Harry Potter at midnight! Dorks!

Kitchen contest!

First, an update.


All of the joint compound has been applied, and the texture is done (more is done than the picture shows). This is all that has been done this week though. :(

We are hoping to have the cabinets installed this week, and to do floors, and perhaps countertops next weekend. Fingers crossed that things start to move more quickly.


Now, the contest!

We painted the kitchen today. What color did we paint it? Guesses should be detailed - just guessing white (as an example) may not be good enough. The more detailed you are, the better chance you have of winning! (I'll give you a hint - we used Behr paint.)

In the event that more one than person guesses correctly (or close to correctly), I'll draw a name.

What can we win? Dishcloth cotton, of course, for your own mini kitchen makeover! (Non-knitters - if you win I'll come up with a different prize.)

The contest will close at midnight PST Monday, July 9. Winner (and paint color!) announced on Tuesday.

If you happen to know what color it is, please, don't ruin it for everyone else! I'm looking at you friends and family whom I may have told!

Grrrr

The main reason there haven't been more kitchen pictures? There hasn't been much kitchen progress. Don't get me started. Suffice to say, that things have been moving, well, what I would call s l o w l y.


The rest of the floor came up last week, and the bottom cabinets were removed.



Hubbo had a great time with the mortar that was under the ceramic tile.



A sheet wall was erected, then a wall of 2x4s (it looked like we were going to put back up the wall), and slowly, over several days, the beams that are transferring the load to the other walls went in.



Then the sheet wall came down.

Sheetrocking has begun. Things are still moving slowly. I thought we'd be starting to install the cabinets by now. Hahaha.

Cough, cough

Still here. Covered in dust, sheetrock, insulation, etc. Things are going much more slowly than I would like. When I mentioned this to hubbo he said "I told you it would take longer than you thought." Thanks sweetie - just what I wanted to hear.

There is some knitting progress, and if would stop raining for 2 seconds I might be able to take a decent picture for you.

And now back to building an ark kitchen.

More fun in the kitchen

Before from the living room looking at the kitchen wall that will come down.



During




After Day 1



After Day 2 - upper cabinets and soffit gone.



Wainscoating and paneling removed.


Beginning of floor removal.

Don't you wish you were here?

And so it begins

The main reason knitting has been sparse (except for all those new projects that mysteriously appeared) 'round these parts? We're about to remodel our kitchen. The demolition begins tomorrow morning, so I've spent way too much time packing up dishes and the pantry and moving things into the garage. Verdict? We have way too much stuff.

We're gutting the kitchen, tearing down the wall between our kitchen and living room, and completely redoing the flooring, walls, and we'll have new countertops and cabinets.

Stay tuned as this becomes a blog about how awful it is to live covered in dust and doing dishes out of the bathtub. I'm so excited.








Before