Fortune's Wheel

Remember how my last post was all about me moving to Austin, TX? Within a few days of writing that post we had a sudden reversal in all of our up-in-the-air plans. Mr. B had an interview on Friday and within hours he received a phone call with a verbal job offer IN SEATTLE. With the three day weekend he's still waiting on the formal paperwork but we're fairly certain that this will all work out in our favor since they want him to start work this week. Excited? You betcha. Relieved? That too. While I'm interested in Austin, the idea of planning a cross-country move right after Little A starts kindergarten (can you believe it?) and after I finally got settled into my newish job was more stressful than anything else. I'm happy to stay in Seattle and be able to plan a move in several years with purpose rather than because we have to. 

But let's talk about knitting!

 

My knitting group had a stash swap/sale and Jeanne gave me two 50 gram skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in December Ribbon Candy. I cast on for Simple Skyp Socks and enjoy the way the yarn is striping. 

 

I also have a cardigan on the needles for my podcast's new KAL - Cardi Party KAL - that starts tomorrow! This is the very beginning of Pretty (me) by Nadia Cretin-Lechenne in Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sport. The color is Del Rey and it's a delight to knit. 

Thank you so much for all of the kind words about our almost big move! I have my fingers crossed that everything works out as anticipated and we'll able stay in Seattle for the next few years. Wish us luck!

 

Big Changes Afoot

Let me tell you, the last couple of weeks have been really crazy around here. Not only are we getting Little A ready for kindergarten, but the Mr. got a job that will most likely have us moving to Austin, TX in the next six weeks or so. Flabbergasted? So am I. And freaked out. And kind of excited. And sometimes tearing up at the drop of a hat. Seattle has been my home since late 2001 and so many of my milestones have happened here: moving to a BIG city for the first time, meeting my husband, getting married, having my daughter, graduating from college, and of course, learning to knit and meeting all of my awesome knitting friends!

I'm excited to see what this big, big change brings to our family and to experience what another part of the country is like. So things might be quiet on the blog for a while, or I may write more in expectation of the Big Move, or...I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine.

If you have any good tips on moving cross-country I'd love to hear them!

Tired

Moving is in full swing and I am so tired! As of yesterday I am up to five carloads moved by myself. In total we have eight loads moved. The house looks sparse since there's almost nothing on the walls and most of the shelves are empty. The Man has the next two Mondays off of work for moving time so the plan is to stay at the new place on Monday night. I'm looking forward to living in Ballard but the move has me sore and smelling like wintergreen (icy hot for backaches). In what little free time I have I've been working on some knitting. Kira is almost up to the armpits and then I have to knit the sleeves. I really really like working with Nordique and the yardage is really good. This sweater only calls for seven skeins for my size.
We got a booklet in at the shop last week from Manos del Uruguay called Adirondack Accessories. The cover is of some lovely twisted cable mitts knit in a silky merino blend. I snatched up the book and pulled out my leftover partial skein of Sundara Aran Silky Merino. I knit this first mitt in just two days and it's loverly although it does turn my fingers red. There are a lot of great accessories in the book and they all look like fun to knit. I'm not given to wearing legwarmers but I just might knit the two pair in the book since they're sooo pretty. There's even a hat by Cecily (designer of my sweater, Kira) that is really cute. I'll just work my way through that bad boy and have hats and mitts and legwarmers ready for next Fall.

Waiting, Waiting, Moving!

I heard back from the property management group and we got the apartment! Hooray! Things are on hold, however, until the lease is ready to sign and the keys are in our hot little hands. This is such a very very good thing. The landlords of doom came over last night with a letter stating that they're going to repair/remove mold, windows, cracked ceiling, etc over the course of three months. This was followed up by a list of things we have to do like move all of our bedroom furniture into the living room several times to allow for mold cleaning, keep the heat on but also the fans running (can we say waste of energy?), and do some general cleanup outside the house. They ended by saying that we would be required to sign another one year lease with rent raised by $100. Thank goodness we have a place to go that is clean and bright and not with these landlords. The property has not been maintained well in the seven years we have lived here and every time something is to be replaced they act like it's our fault. Um, yeah, it was totally our fault that the 30+ year old refrigerator stopped working and that guy who came to cut down the tree in the back yard? Yeah, our fault he never showed up for work after the first day. Or that the electrician put the grounding rods in incorrectly. Or that the plumber left refuse underneath the house. Sheesh. Good riddance to you and helloooo new apartment!

Mold Update

Sooooo, it looks like we're moving. Don't know where. Don't know exactly when. The Mold & Asbestos Abatement Man was here yesterday and we're told that all the windows need to be replaced, some clean-up done, and painting and patching. It's 6 weeks alone to get the windows ordered and who knows how long to install them. The people who own the house seem optimistic that it can be done in about a week but I know how construction goes. As soon as they open up those walls I'm sure things will go wrong. To top it all off the washer broke today and leaked water all over our laundry room...again. I'm so fed up and overwhelmed by this place. How do homeowners cope with houses that won't behave? At least we have the option to move to a cheaper, mold-free place. Rents in Seattle are pretty good right now and though we'll probably have to leave the neighborhood I'm looking forward to not living in a place that makes me sick and is too expensive. If anyone has super-secret awesome locations that are inexpensive and MOLD-FREE please do tell.