Sunday, January 24, 2010

Kitchen Renovation - Week 3

This was a quieter week.  Monday the electrician was here to install the new panel (leaving us cold and in the dark until early evening).  Otherwise it was just mudding, sanding and priming really until Wednesday.

The crown moulding is primed and ready to be installed in the dining room.

There was a lump in the floor so they had to cut out this piece to fix it.  I like to think of it as a trap door, although it would only get you onto a beam in the basement.

Thursday was a day off.  So nice and quiet.

Then Friday was new floors.  They aren't exactly the same as the existing floors in the dining room but awfully close.  I actually like the colour of the new floors better.  There will be a peninsula covering the seam between the new and existing and only a small opening where you will actually see the difference between the two.

Next week is more sanding and priming (maybe painting too if we can decide on a colour).  The following week will be exciting - cabinets.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Temporary Kitchen

Edited to link to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day.
 DIY Day @ ASPTL
I may not be doing the work on the new kitchen but I came up with this beautiful space all on my own!!

When you decide to live in your house during a kitchen renovation, in the middle of the winter no less, you have to find somewhere to prepare food.  We were originally going to use the basement, but thank goodness we didn't because it's practically as ripped up as the kitchen.  So the logical space was my office.

  • We moved the old fridge in (had to remove the handles to get it through the door).
  • I cleared off one bookcase to use for storage.
  • The microwave sits on a small table while the hotplate and coffee maker sits on another little table we moved in to the room.





It's pretty cramped and really messy, but better than nothing.  We also hooked up the dishwasher in the basement.  We moved the dining table into one end of the living room so we also have a reasonably comfortable place to eat.  Although not ideal, it's working out better than expected.  And full disclosure, we're eating out way more than usual.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Knit-Signal is Up


Following the devastation in Haiti, the Yarn Harlot has put up the Knit-Signal to help Doctors Without Borders.  Read more about Knitters Without Borders here and the Knit-Signal here.

Kitchen Renovation - Days 5 & 6

After a peacefully quiet weekend, things are moving along at a steady pace on the reno.

The steel beam went in first thing Monday morning.


Andrew's bedroom now has heat.


Drywall is up on the dining room ceiling.


Family room is insulated and the strapping is up for the ceiling drywall.


Plumbing is roughed in for the island sink.


Best of all, the soil stack is moved to the back wall and all the pipes have been tucked into the ceiling so that the ceiling in all three rooms will be the same height.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Various Knitting Projects

I haven't updated my knitting projects in a while, so instead of individual posts I'll just throw them all together here.

Christmas Knitting:

Niece #1 - Bella's mittens and Twisted beret (rav link only) in Cascade ecological yarn (natural)
Both of these patterns were fantastic and this yarn was so soft.  I modified the Bella's to fit a 10 year old by starting on row 24 of the pattern and using thinner yarn.  They fit perfectly.  I didn't do any mods to the beret.  I would highly recommend both patterns.



Niece #2 - Classic mittens and Star crossed slouchy beret (rav link only) in Cascade 220 (natural and confetti)
I've made several pairs of classic mittens because it's just a good basic pattern with several size choices.  The slouchy beret is a great pattern, but I wasn't crazy about it in the thinner yarn.  Fortunately the recipient was thrilled with both.  I think it was the pink.  I used sprial stripes for both patterns but knit the mitten cuffs in just the confetti.  Blogger is really dulling these pictures - the pinks are actually a lot brighter irl.



Mother-in-law:  Ogee lace scarf (rav link only) in Cascade ecological yarn (beige 8016)
I don't like knitting scarves because of the boredom factor, but this one flew along in the bulky yarn.  The lace pattern is really pretty but this yarn was itchy.  Nothing like the natural.  I ended up doing several conditioner, Soak, vinegar and glycerine rinses to get it to the point where I think it's wearable. I also did a very light blocking so the leaves stayed very organic looking.



Father-in-law: Ultimate stashbuster Juneau hat in various leftover yarns (malabrigo, Cascade 220, Tanis Fiber Arts)
I used the Juneau pattern, but substituted various motifs from the ultimate leftover vest.  I love the way this turned out - very pretty and very warm.



Charity Knitting:

Foliage in Andy's Merino lined with Sisu
I love this pattern, but it's for charity and needed to be warmer.  So I picked up stitches inside the brim and knit a lining using the Sisu doubled.  I did it in reverse stockinette so that the purl bumps would not show through the lace.  It turned out really well - warm and soft.


I think that catches me up to the various projects I've cast on in 2010.  They will have to wait for another post.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Kitchen Reno - Week 1

We've survived the first week of living in renovation land.  No, it has not been fun living in this noise and dirt, but I just have to keep focused on the outcome.

So far we've gutted the kitchen, taken down the walls between the rooms and removed the ceilings and floors:




Put in a new patio door:


Put up the wood beam on the dining room side, built out the wall around the sink to run all the utilities:


The other beam is waiting to be installed on Monday:


Lots more work has happened (electrical, plumbing, heating, etc.) but I'm not really qualified to talk about any of it (and lets be honest, it's the boring stuff - to talk about anyway - no offense to the awesome guys doing all the hard work).  I truly am surprised by how fast they are getting things done.  But I don't know how they will get that steel beam up there on Monday.


Thursday, January 7, 2010

Kitchen Before Photos

My posts are a little backwards, but here are the before shots of the kitchen.  I wish I had remembered to take them before all the furniture was being taken out.

Family Room looking into the Kitchen




Kitchen (cabinets are were actually much lighter than they look in this picture)




Dining Room looking towards the kitchen




Pantry and eating area

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Kitchen Reno - Day 1

Today's the day - demo starts on our kitchen.  It's 6:52 so it'll be quiet here for another half an hour then wham ... total chaos.  The plan for today is to load the rest of the furniture into the pod, dismantle the kitchen and rip up the floors.  They will also be cutting holes in the ceiling to see what we are in for re reinforcing the ceiling.  Fingers crossed this is one of those good surprises days.

I haven't downloaded the before shots yet, but I can't have a pictureless post, so here's a generic shot of the pod.  I'll have to remember to take a picture of ours before it leaves for podland.  There's a little more snow surrounding ours.  Update: here's a picture of our pod - surrounded by snow as promised.