Needles of Steel: Upheaval

Monday, August 29, 2016

Upheaval

Well, I've been saying for ages that I need to pack up my knitting room, so that it can be decorated. The other half finally talked me into getting started this weekend. Boy, what a lot of stuff I've collected since I moved in. I need a thorough sort out I think! Currently everything is piled in the middle of the room; some of it is piled up in the office; and some of it is in the garage. I picked up a lot of MKM magazines when I collected the SK840 back in 2005, and I had started separating out all the patterns (into womens, mens, children/baby, misc) and putting them into folders. This is fine, but if anything, the magazines take up even more space, and I got fed up part way through so haven't even touched the mags for years. I think I might have to consider putting them up into the attic for now until I can decide what to do with them all.

So of course, now that I've only really got access to the Passap and the CSM, everything else being packed away, I absolutely HAD to machine knit a top to match the skirt I made on the Tony Bennett course, and it really had to be on the KH881 demo machine which lives in the garage, because I know what tension I get with this yarn on that machine. Luckily today turned out to be a lovely fine day, so I was able to get the machine out on the patio and knit a sideways top. Despite lots of calculations, the top came out a bit weird in that I seem to think my boobs are down by my tummy button (they're NOT!), and to be fair the armholes are a bit big too, so although the rest of the top came out ok I need to knit another one before the end of the week. With nowhere to set up the machine. Ho hum!

The plan is to fill some cracks, paint the room, and then get some proper shelving, so that I can finally get all of my craft books in one room and filed by subject. Hopefully there'll also be space for the yarn stash. I'm trying to decide whether to splash out on a proper sewing machine table (the kind where the sewing machine drops down underneath) or whether to just try and source an ordinary folding craft table. Decisions, decisions. On paper it looks like a reasonable sized room, until you realise that almost half of it is under an eave so is not full head height. I have asked himself if we couldn't swap bedrooms so I could have the master but the answer's definitely in the negative. Pity.

Some pictures of the messy room as it was - I think you'll agree, a bit of a mess!