Erica’s Blog

 Ribbitt, ribbitt!  This, folks, is where my Gioia stands.  Let us have a moment of silence for the Gioia…..OK.  So, as soon as Zib has the pattern revised for numbskulls like me, I’ll start again.  Hopefully by then the curse that seems to hang over this project (the yarn even broke on me as I was frogging it!) will have lifted.  Tis making me re-think my evaluation of my knitting skills, however.  Perhaps I am not “intermediate” as I have indicated in my profile.  After a mere year of knitting, perhaps I am still a beginner, not even an “advanced beginner” as the pattern specifies.

I’ve been experiencing some serious yarn barf over here, too.  NO, Jenna hasn’t been eating yarn again.  That is, however, a pretty safe guess.  No, I was trying to get to know my Kathmandu Hand-Picked (hey, guys, where’s that seventh hank?), and I got the first hank horribly tangled.  I’m at the point now where my only option left prior to…gasp…resorting to  cutting the yarn…is asking hubby to have a go at it.  For the second hank, I got smart(er) and put the hank over the back of the glider and rolled it up from there.  Hmmm….Maybe I need to add not just a ball winder, but also a swift to my wish list…..

 OK, OK, OK.  Being the marginally good wife that I am, I did eventually agree to try arranging the living room the way hubby wanted it.  I have agreed to leave it like this for a week to see how it goes.  Check it out. 

The Good:  Space.  Space.  Openness.  Room to chase the dog around.  Room for even a pregnant person to walk from the living room to the dining room or vice versa.  Also, my knitting mess is somewhat hidden from general view.

The Bad:  There is a futon in front of my fireplace!  In front, I’m telling you!  B/c my knitting mess is somewhat hidden from general view, it will also not be reachable from my “knitting chair”.  Every time I need something from there, I’ll have to get up and go around the table.  I will not be able to drop my yarn ball in the bin to keep it from falling on the dirty floor full of dog hair.

So, here’s what I need to know.  Should we:

1. Leave it like this ad infinitum.
2. Put it back the way we used to have it (smaller futon perpendicular to the wall where Paul’s shadowbox is hanging, big futon in front of the window, table next to it, and glider perpendicular to that, with Jenna’s bed in the corner of the hearth).
3. Leave the futons where they are but put the table where Jenna’s bed currently is (where it used to be) and the glider next to it, perpendicular to the futon (where it used to be).

If you’re wondering what happened to the ancient (older than I am, even) brown bookcase that used to be below Paul’s shadowbox, it’s in the entryway (look closely at the second picture).

Now, when  we eventually get the kitchen remodeled (this year????), I am going to get a built-in desk in there.  This will move the crummy desk from the living room to…oh…the dump.  At that time, we can either put one of the futons on that wall, make it a wall of bookcases, or something else (it’s not like we have fewer & fewer books over time; each bedroom has filled bookcases too).

Another option we’ve discussed is, after we get a “new” queen-sized futon, ditching the smaller one (the bigger one is the dumpster discovery held together by jumbo staples) and getting a loveseat or a pair of chairs (the glider isn’t in the greatest shape, either; it’s had a lot of hard use through three pregnancies and two kids).  This would change the configuration, too.

So, please comment.  I’m begging you.  Hubby even asked, “How long will it take after you post the pictures for people to comment?”  I assured him that it wouldn’t take long, so come on, gang, weigh in on this for me.

Thanking you in advance, I remain….