The one where I profess to have a knitting blog.

Knitting content:

That's right, one Jaywalker and second is on the needles (size 2 Addi's - 2.5mm).  Seriously, could I BE later to this party?  Oh, and get this - if you pegged this as Socks That Rock, you'd be absolutely right (it's the Moss Agate colorway). It's like I just showed you 8 inches of black stockinette, isn't it?  It's true, it's all been done before, but I love it anyway.  I can also see now why Cara has about 5 jillion skeins (scroll all the way down, it's the last pic) of this stuff.  It's beautiful and soft and yet somehow seems far denser and stronger than any other sock yarn I've tried.  In short, I love it.  As for this sock pattern?  I could go on and on and on about how much I love this pattern, but so many have done it before me (it's true, just Google Jaywalker sock, I dare you) that it's unlikely that I can add anything new.  Here are the two things I WILL say, though:

1.  This sock WILL NOT fall down. Cara told me, but I didn't believe her. It's true.  It's even magical. I wore it all over the house for HOURS the other night (hot off the needles) and it just stayed put.  No wilting, no slipping, no bunching, not even after a couple of hours puttering around trying desperately trying to hang on to the shreds of an illusion that I live in a home and not a disaster area.
2. That heel flap? HUMONGOUS!  I had to reduce each and every row just to keep this thing even CLOSE to being the right size.  It's a little wierd considering how great the leg fits.  I'm working hard to ignore what that might indicate about the fatness of my calves relative to my feet, which are not, I might add, exactly petite.

I am also, for the moment, going to ignore the fact that I just admitted that I walked around cleaning my house in mis-matched socks purely because I had just finished knitting one of them.  If y'all can't understand, I suspect no one will.

And this concludes what sadly passes for knitting content here at Chez Obsession these days.  Soon there will be some super secret knitting reveals, a progress shot of Rogue (You remember Rogue, right, my Knitting Olympics sweater?  Yeah. It's still not done.), and more fun and hijinks.  What follows is a mostly photo essay of just some of the joy that is home remodeling, because things just get crazier and crazier and crazier around here.  There's lots o' nutty, stressful job stuff, which I don't get to talk about here, yet MORE super secret knitting, which, of course, I can't talk about here, and only occasional electricity in my house, which make it difficult to talk to you at all.   

HA! THAT one got you, didn't it?  It's true, we have begun The Great Rewiring Project 2006.  It's sorta like the Knitting Olympics, only less fun - and maybe fewer people actually care about it.  Lucky for me, it's my blog and I want to show you the rewiring, so I get to show you the rewiring.  I'm selfish like that.  So if you're only here for the knitting, it's safe to go now.  I don't even have a cat shot to placate you.

All the fixtures on the first floor look like this. 

See?  Here's another (there are four of them):

Some of you may recognize the tip end of the wire-fishing-metal-snake-thingie (that's official technical lingo) sticking through this particular hole. Also, don't you just LOVE this texture thing that Rick did on the hallway ceiling?!?  In real life it looks a little like a monochrome tartan weave up there!! How cool is that?

Here's what came off the ceilings in two of the four rooms:

How's that for decades of dust, eh?

And THIS is what lurks under the temporary linoleum in the temporary bathroom (I did mention that we bought a fixer-upper, right?)

It's all quite bothersome, but OH.SO.satisfying when the one of the end results looks like this:

Go Team!

Comments

[Ella]

I just have to ask.
What did you do with your old deco light fixtures? They look amazing. Were they salvagable?
The finished room does look great. Wish I had the moola to renovate or move!

[Kathy]

I'm still on my second jaywalker too -- I prefer to think that we're fashionably late :-) That room looks splendid!

[elisa]

What's a jaywalker? I haven't knit any jaywalkers. Am I supposed to knit jaywalkers? ;)

And, Oh. My. God - that light fixture is gorgeous and the room looks PERFECT. I am almost afraid to type that, given our propensity to get smacked upside our heads by Murphy's Law, but I'm just going to put it out there and say GO TEAM!!!

[Carole]

You do know that by the time the rest of the renovations are done, that gorgeous first finished room will need to be re-done, right?
:-P

[JessaLu]

Nice Jaywalker! I love that colorway :o)

My SO uses a snake daily - I'll have to tell him your new official technical lingo ;o)

That room looks AMAZING!

[Chris]

Wow. I am in awe - that room is spectacular! Go, team!

Your Jaywalker is none too shabby, either. But that room!

[maryse]

the room looks beautiful. absolutely beautiful. it's like something out of a magazine. call domino stat!

and the jaywalker. i'm catching it when it becomes all the rage AGAIN in 20 years like shoulder pads and leggings.

[Kate]

The room is jawdroppingly gorgeous! I am envious of your home improvement and design skills!

[claudia]

I just love those red walls.

[Beth S.]

Oh WOW. I really dig your red room! See, one day your whole house will look like that. Just remind yourself of that when the going gets tough. ;-)

Moss Agate... ooh. Me likey.

[Vicki]

Ohmygod, Kellee, you guys DID THAT?? That is so COOL!! I can't wait to see the rest. ; ) Fixer-uppers can be such a pain, but also SO rewarding. Go Team, indeed.

[Laurie]

Where to start? I haven't knit a Jaywalker yet. You aren't the last one. We ALL wear the one sock first. Only. Then washing it after is called "blocking". Heh. Love the before pictures. Love the afters even more. Glad it's not me. Ahem.

I have a different kind of fixer-upper sitting in MY house. That's enough for now.

[Emma]

I have yet to try either Jaywalkers or STR. Talk about being late to the party. I'm trying to restrain myself from buying some STR, but I'll probably give in soon enough. Great work on the socks.

[Carrie K]

I love that room! I was mocked for years for my red walled bedroom (it's beige now. It's also not the same house).

I don't even have the Jaywalker pattern. Yet.

[maggie]

I love those older houses...they have lots of character. The work you put into them is so worth it. I like doing that type of work, but all I'm allowed to do these days is rearrange the furniture. :( I love your living room...it's stunning.
May I ask if you used 1's or 2's when you made your Jaywalkers? Very pretty indeed!

[Tam]

Love your Jaywalkers! I haven't made any yet--I'm happy to see in your comments that I'm not the only knitter in the world who hasn't...

[Geraldine]

Found my way here via Zen Knitz and on and on....down the blogrolls. Love your blog and love this room. Red is such a great color, with these furnishings its just right.
Cheers from Canada and BFN :)

[Suzanne]

The room is really gorgeous. It's so handy to have a physicist around for the electrical stuff. (Let me know if this is a bad assumption and that I am required to commit social seppeku.) I usually start to freak out a bit when my husband wants to noodle around with electricity. Then I remind myself that he builds telescope instruments. The expression "smoke test" does not inspire confidence, though.

[ivete]

Just had to say I love the room!! Beautiful.