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Back for St. Pat's
We are back from our four day whirlwind excursion to Austin and Houston. I wish I could tell you we got it all figured out, but we didn't. We looked at three houses while we were there, a pristine one on a golf course lot with a gorgeous pool, an eclectic one from the seventies, complete with cedar plank panelling and a 15,000 gallon koi pond ("it can be turned back into a pool easily! really!"), and one that was cutting edge in the sixties, complete with swanky built-in blender and a sunken living room with orange shag carpeting. But the azaleas were in bloom in Houston and while something made me sneeze incessantly, the weather was nice and it could've been far worse. Even though we were only gone four days, our yard looks springier. The trees are all leafing out and the lawn is finally greening up just in time for St. Pat's day.
Just for grins, here are links to the three houses if you'd like to play along...
Door number one...golf course home
Door number two...15,000 gallon Koi pond
Door number three...Austin Powers palace
Feel free to gasp in horror at those prices while you're at it.
I didn't do too bad on the knitting front...
The first sock of this pair has needed a mate since...oh, 2002, I think. This is Sheep's Gift in Easter Eggs from Joslyn's Fiber Farm. The first sock pooled a lot and resulted in a lot of yellow together. I think that's why I never started the second sock. As you can see, though, the second sock turned out very differently. I got this done on the way to Austin and then in a moment of insanity, I picked up the Olympic Training Socks but I was down to the two ball part at that point, so it wasn't so bad. I finished that one and started the second one while we were in Austin. I love stranded knitting, it really goes so fast. I finished the leg part on the way home from Houston and this is what I have right now...
Don't look too closely, I wasn't paying enough attention to the stars on the first one and they ended up off kilter. Oh well, I wasn't ripping back 12 rows to fix them, so they stayed that way. Design feature, right?
Update on my Knit Picks order from a few days ago. I looked at my order history when I got back and it supposedly shipped on the 9th, but as of yesterday's mail (the 16th), it still has not arrived. Guess you'd better not be in a hurry for an order from them.
Have a great St. Patty's day and a terrific weekend!
I vote for house #3. (You should do an episode of House Hunters.) Sunken
livingroom, orange shag?? What's not to love?
Your socks are always so amazing, the colorwork and everything.
Regarding Knit Picks, DO NOT take the free shipping offer, add a few more
$$$ and get it faster. I waited a couple of weeks on one order when I
forgot to select a different shipping method. Same with Joanne's, they use
a discount bulk shipper to save money, and it DOES taken longer.
My experience with KnitPicks has been either shipping so fast that they had
to have used a time machine or else shipping so slow that you could get
pregnant and have a baby before you get it. I never associated it with
using the free shipping option but that's a good point the previous
commenter has. I have noticed that small orders (which were probably too
small to be in free shipping range) tend to arrive quickly. Large orders
(those well within free shipping range) tend to take forever. I'll keep
this in mind next time I order.
Good point, Dave, I cheaped out and used the free shipping.
Okay... I'm in love with the first house. I LOVE the built ins in the
study (I adore nice wood furniture), and the architecture of the interior
is just my style. The clincher for me would be that it's so much larger
than the other two (storage is a big deal for me).
since they are all about the same price, I'd definitely go for the koi
pond. House #1 looks like it has 5 different places to eat! Wow!! You
could move around for each meal. As for the orange shag! Surely they could
have afforded to replace that by now.
The only thing shocking about those house prices is that they're half (or
less) of what they'd be here. And if they were here, the lots would be
considerably smaller. Moral of the story: be glad you're not being moved to
southern California!
Aaaah...nothing has brought us more joy than our fish ponds, tiny in scale
though they were. I think the koi house is gorgeous!
I like the Koi house too! Not the shag-a-delic one, though...the first one
on the golf course is OK, but kind of cookie cutter. So which one did YOU
like best? You're the one whose opinion counts, after all!
Okay oddly I'm drawn to the 3rd house, it's just so wierd and funky. But I
would give my eye teeth to live in the second house, those ponds, the
seeming wooded area, the peace of knitting by the 15,000 koi pond.
Although I must say the house needs a good re-decorating.
First the homes. The prices-wow, seriously wow. The square footage is
roughly the same and mine home is almost 5 times less. Thank You for
giving me one reason to be happy we moved here. :) House #1 seems cold,
not inside, just the lot. House #2 has serious potential. House #3
requires some serious work, unless you really lke retro.
Oh I love the Easter socks. I love how you've shown them on your post.
Pooling is just one of those things I've accepted. We are pickier as the
knitters than as the appreciators.
I pick house #2. It has lovely personality. House #1 reminds me of a larger
version of all the tract houses that are here in Southern California. Those
prices are a steal compared to real estate in San Diego.
Wow, those are big houses. We're moving, too, but getting about the 1/3
the house for the same price!
I'm from the Boston area ... those prices don't scare me!!
It always takes 2 weeks for Knitpicks orders to get to my Canadian address
and I can't qualify for free shipping. I'm happy with their lovely soft
yarn though.
WOW! I am so naive! I don't feel so depressed about living in an
economically depressed area (western NY). I like the looks of the koi pond
place but....a swimming pool is probably a necessity where you live , so
maybe the golf course is the way to go. Good Luck! I love the socks,
especially the Olympic Trainers. I've never had trouble with knitpicks but,
figure on a week to ten days for delivery.
Since I have serious house lust, I feel the urge to play along... If you
have to plunk down that kind of cash, I'd definitely go for the Koi house.
Yes, it needs redecorating, but the setting is FABULOUS!
I love your socks and admire the colorwork though I have to admit, I'll
stick with self striping yarns...lol. Definitely house 1, the built ins
are to die for, and the pool is spectacular, though house 2 was also very
pretty. Good luck with the hunt.
Wow! I hadn't realized prices had gone up so much in Houston since I lived
there fifteen years ago...I don't envy you. At any rate, if things haven't
changed much the Klein school district was pretty good. You do know about
the 'flying cockroaches' that are about three to five inches in length
don't you? An exterminator is a must. There are way too many critters
down there for my taste. Also, if you have allergies to black mold, you'll
be miserable down there and sick most of the time as Houston was built on a
swamp.
I just love that first house. That style may be "old hat" to people who
live in other areas, but here in Indiana, that would be a WICKED COOL
HOUSE. That price is pretty comparable to what it would cost here. You
could probably get one like that for half that price in MO where my mom
lives. Prices are really high in Central Indiana compared to the rest of
the midwest. You could get an old fixer-upper with that square footage on
a acre of brush for around $200K around here, but for something that nice,
with a pool, on an actual street you are definitely talking about a half a
million. More power to you if you can afford it. I know I sure couldn't!
I'd give my right arm for a house like any of the ones you listed at those
prices. With that much land and square footage, a place like that in my
neighborhood (NJ outside NYC) would literally be close to $1mil, if not
more. Serious house envy here. (And sock envy while we're at it. ;-) )
Every sock you make is simply amazing. I keep purchasing more and more sock
yarn...inspired by your work. But I fear I am in need of a 12 step program
for sock-yarn-aholics? Is there one? Or should I become the founder?
I love the socks you have posted for today, but when I clicked on the
pattern link it took me to a yahoo groups thing and I don't have a username
for it. Do you have the pattern posted somewhere on your site and I just
missed it?
Thanks!