Category: House and Home

Zen and the Art of Reno


I knew that renovating a home wasn’t going to be easy, and at times that it wasn’t even going to be fun. What I wasn’t prepared for was the emotional highs and lows of living there while it was going on. I suppose I’ve adjusted fine to living in a chaotic environment (from a lady who thrives on routine), but to exist in one in which I don’t see progress is frustrating. Plus, all the things I usually do to relieve stress, like knit, or workout, or cook, aren’t possible because the things I need to do those things are either still in boxes or covered with a tarp, or dust, or both. Awesome.

But here’s the uplifting point in this mild rant: this week our new place is still dusty and still chaotic and still under construction, but we are starting to see progress. In renos and in life, progress is important. You can deal with a lot as long as you feel like today was a day that you got closer to your goal.

I am master of my yarn

I’ve been knitting since I was about 8. I’m a combination of mom-taught and self-taught, and to date haven’t completed anything that wasn’t square or rectangular (i.e. scarves, blankets, and shawls). My tension is impeccable (I flatter myself). I am resigned that I’m meant to be a knitter of quality, but not variety. Make that WAS resigned. Because I can now confidently count this–let’s face it–adorable baby sweater among my knitting inventory:

20+ years of fearing increases and yarn overs and bobbles and all for naught-because this wasn’t that bad. You Tube is a beautiful thing. Want to try this yourself? Props to Arcadia Knitting for providing me with a relatively simple pattern. I may just have to crank out five more of these guys for the craft fair this year…..