Hmmm. Now that I look again it's not so exciting when it all looks just....beige. In my defense, that wall is in the front entry of our house, which means that it continues up the stairs and all over and can basically be seen from every room. Those pillows sit on our family room sofa and so I thought the lovely camel on the stripy pillow might do the trick, but now I'm torn with a desire to add more color (egged on by Liam: "Let's paint it every color of the rainbow! Except for pink.") tempered by a basic need for calm. So I swatch and stare.
But that's not all. We're going to have hardwood installed on most of the main level. That has always been a little dream of ours; we love the look and our lifestyle is not really compatible with carpet anyway. (Seriously - why is carpet in almost every house?) So now we're jumping in and actually doing it. Well, technically WE aren't doing any of it, except the part where we pack up an entire floor of our house and move it to the garage. But the funny thing about getting wood floors is that you need soft things to put on top of them. Which leads me to...
floor pillows!! Who doesn't love a floor pillow? I've had the Amy Butler sewing book for a long time now, but have never made anything out of it. The fabric (in a thrilling brown) is actually a set of cheep-o curtains that hung in our old living room. But they're 100% cotton and, of course, free, so I figure they're perfect for repurposing, even if I'd really like something more colorful.
But I do have some color in my house, really. See?
See the red, back there, behind the panda?* In the midst of all that colorful cream?
No wonder my knitting is getting brighter - I do love me some Spring Tickle. (Now that sounds like something more exciting than yarn, doesn't it?).
Any minute now, as soon as I finish the clapotis for me that's on my lap (Ravel it), I'm casting on for some more socks. A brave and completely non-knitting friend took a shot in the dark and sent me Wendy Johnson's sock book for my birthday - that was a pleasant surprise, let me tell you. There are a few patterns in there that call for DIC Smooshy, one of which is my favorite in the book, so hopefully I'm going to cast on for the Lace and Cable socks before the day is out. The only thing is that I've never done toe-up socks before, her directions are all for two circulars, and I'm firmly a DPN girl. Hopefully I'll be able to muddle through.
Well, I hope you all have sunny and relaxing weekends. I need to get packing.
*The panda, who we affectionately call Big Fat Panda, was a gift from my brother who knows that kids long for giant stuffed animals but that their parents will never ever buy them.
I'm not quite sure what Livvy is up to there.
Good luck with the house projects and the socks! I love that shade of DIC Smooshy (it does sound a bit dirty, though).
Livvy looks very pensive on her panda perch!
Posted by: Jodi | June 13, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Knitty has a great tutorial for Judy's Magic Cast-On. It's what I'm using for my latest pair of socks, and I like it. Use short needles, though, or you'll poke your eye out. :)
The floor pillows will look great!
Posted by: Jody | June 13, 2009 at 11:04 AM
You know I'm with Liam. Color!! Color everywhere! Really.
But beige is a nice background for color, really.
Can't wait to see all the knitting. Go, socks. Boring to do but lovely to wear!
Posted by: stefaneener | June 13, 2009 at 09:58 PM
I could go for some Spring Tickle right now...wait...what?! Just kidding.
Beige is fine...just as long as you've got those bits of color around to spice it up.
Liv is super cute with her nightgown and panda.
Posted by: Stacey | June 14, 2009 at 12:22 AM
Hi Kath...creative projects! Neutrals are a great palate for splashes of fabric colour which can be changed for mood and seasons. I love hard wood also. Looking forward to travel plans. See you very soon!
Posted by: sue | June 15, 2009 at 05:39 AM
Beige does not equal boring! I realize in reading your post that my entire downstairs are varying shades of brown. And I love my house! It's warm. And hopefully not boring!
Posted by: Lisa | June 15, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Appears to be some sort of bear convention.
Good luck with the hardwood installation! The smell is going to be bad, just to warn you. We had our floors re-done last summer and we had to stay at husband's parents' house for a few days.
Posted by: Sarah | June 15, 2009 at 01:44 PM
From a person who has a very tall wall - neutral means it can stay that color a very long time through several overall room changes without you on top of a ladder repainting. :)
Anxious to hear what you think of the pattern as you progress.
Posted by: Holly Jo | June 15, 2009 at 08:41 PM