Cold Feet
Cold Feet. I currently have them. This is because as part of the general works going on in the house at the moment we are taking the opportunity to replace our deeply unattractive, old, and not very efficient back boiler with a hidden-in-a-cupboard combi boiler. The heating is therefore off while Gary-the-Gas-Bod affixes one system in a new place and removes the old system from its current lurking place on the downstairs wall. It should be fine to use it when he’s not actively buggering about with it, it’s just not ideal while he is working and since I am here in a supervisory capacity (ie I opened the door, showed him where stuff was now and was supposed to go, and pointed him towards the kettle and teabags before retreating to the bedroom to work) that means I’m a tad chilly despite my several layers. Feet, though, only have one layer of clothing. Must knit some very thick socks that are large enough to go over other socks…
Things are coming on, though. Once Gary-the-Gas-Bod has removed the old boiler the last remaining bit of wall can be plastered and once that’s dry we can do the painting thing downstairs. I’m hoping after we’ve all developed arm ache doing that it should move relatively quickly - installation of new fire & flooring & skirting being about all that will be left after the painting. The kitchen is usable (shiny oven! shiny hob!) and just needs painting, tiling, doors affixing to cupboards, and the floor putting down.
Incidentally, debate at work the other day - what is the room with the sofas in it in known as in your house? A lounge? A living room? A front room? A sitting room? I always struggle because our living and dining areas are open plan so to me it’s just ‘downstairs’, since the only other downstairs space is the kitchen which is clearly functionally distinct. My parents always had a front room, though.
On another note, I have managed to successfully ply the pumpkin-coloured Corriedale with some more of the same, to make the very small but very squishable skein of yarn at right. No idea what I am going to do with it, but for now I am keeping it as evidence of how far I’ve come in the event of me getting sufficiently far for that to be measurable!
It’s an interesting thing to learn, really - it’s a bit like driving a car, in that when you first start you understand theoretically what you need to do with your hands and feet but it takes a little while before the movements flow properly from one another and become automatic and feel natural.
I am currently tackling some merino, about which I have been told both that it’s supposed to be tricky for beginners because of its slipperyness and that it’s ideal for beginners because of its staple length. It’s a good job, really, that I am not listening to ‘what it’s best to start with’ and just having a play with a variety of fibres on the theory that I’ll likely want to learn how they all behave at some point anyway so I might as well dive in! All animal fibres so far, though - I think I’ll leave slippery silks and bamboos until I have played with a blend and/or generally got the hang of the basics. I feel as though I’m making progress, though, and starting to draft a bit better.
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Mine’s a living room, but growing up we had a sitting room (smart, with TV in and nice furniture, not allowed to take food in or kids unsupervised) and a morning room (extension of kitchen where kids could play). Bizarrely this room is now referred to as the “garden room” on the estate agent’s particulars as Mum is trying to sell it. Garden room sounds very posh to me!