I’ve definitely been blogging less ever since I started working a second job, but my posting has gone down even more ever since I signed up for Plurk! Plurk is similar to Twitter, but I find Plurk much more interactive. Updates are threaded, similar to IM, so it’s easy to keep track when someone replies to you. Also, the interface is prettier, though the timeline can be confusing initially. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy to navigate (especially if you use a scroll wheel). I had abandoned Twitter initially, but discovered Ping.fm, which allows you to update both sites simultaneously. The current beta code is letmeping if you want to sign up. Anyway, I’m having lots of fun plurking, so come over if you’re so inclined and friend me! I will send you a dancing banana if you do.

I found out about the Nanner Sock pattern from Plurk. The pattern was written by Wendy and it’s currently only available to Plurk users. (Send her a message via her contact form if you want the pattern.) Lots of other plurkers are knitting these, and because I am a sheep, I cast them on. Well, that’s a longer story than it should be. The Nanner pattern is written toe-up, and I have had an aversion to toe-up socks ever since knitting my Brick House socks, my only toe-up socks. But, I figured I would be a valiant knitter and knit the pattern as it is written. I know I could have done them cuff-down, but I wanted to challenge myself.

It literally took me hours to figure out how to cast on properly! I can’t remember what cast on I used for my other socks but I decided to learn Judy’s Magic Cast On for the Nanners. I started and restarted probably a dozen times! By the time I figured out how to do the cast on correctly, I measured and realized my gauge was WAY off–I started with US 0 dpns but eventually went all the way up to US 2s in order to get the correct gauge. Finally, success! I am now very comfortable with the Magic Cast On, by the way, since I have done it so many times in the past two days. Picture soon, once I remember to take one!

How about a house update? We’re closing in ONE WEEK agghhH! hehe. It’s very exciting but I am still freaked out. M and I are trying to decide which insurance company we’re going to start a policy with, and it looks like Farmers has the best rate for our house. I was hoping USAA would give us a big discount (we both have several accounts with them already), but for some reason they’re quoting a more expensive premium than Farmers. Also, tonight we’re going furniture window shopping again, as well as handing over our bank statements to our mortgage lender.

Sidenote: dude, it feels so weird and grown-up to be using terms like “homeowners insurance” and “mortgage lender,” and it’s kind of freaking me out!!

Anyway, we are planning on moving in next weekend, Friday through Sunday (the 27th - 29th). We both took Friday off from work, so hopefully we can get everything moved in by Sunday night. I’m so excited to bring my doggies over there! I hope they like the backyard. It’s not as large as my parents’ yard, but at least they will have a bit of grass to run around on and I am really, really looking forward to having them roam around the house again. (Remember, my parents always keep them separated from their dog because of the Great Dog Fight of 2007, which will NEVER be repeated, ugh! ) Also, M and I will be able to take them for more walks and have all kinds of fun with them, yay!

I will absolutely take oodles of photos once we move in–actually, I will probably take a bunch once we close, before we even put our stuff in. Because nothing’s more fun than photos of a furniture-less house, right? hehe. And I know someone will poke me if I don’t take lots of pics! I’m super excited about the second bedroom, which we’re planning on using as a spare room/workout room/yarn room/office. Basically M and I are drawing an imaginary line down the middle, and on one side he’s going to put his workout stuffs there, and on the other side I’m going to put a desk, bookcase, and (hopefully!) yarn cabinet, eeee! Right now the room is baby blue because the current owners have a baby boy and that’s his room, and honestly, I liked the wall color so much that I talked M into leaving it up. A) we won’t have to paint over it and B) I love blue and I think it’s really pretty. Once the crib is gone and we move our stuff in, I don’t think it will look baby room-ish at all, anyway!

I have a very specific plan of how I want to arrange my side of the room, down to the desk I want and everything. I’d draw a diagram but my drawing skills suck. Also, that desk is only available on target.com and I don’t know if I want to risk ordering it and having it damaged in shipping because that’s a mighty expensive desk. I really dislike the look of particle board furniture though, so I might have to look elsewhere for a glass & metal desk.

Also, my dream yarn cabinet is available from IKEA but it’s rather pricey as well and our closest IKEA is in northern VA, and I really don’t want to take a drive up there. blah. I wish I knew where to find all the cool furniture around here, but I haven’t bought furniture in years so I’m pretty clueless! Anyway, my main thing is that I want to get my yarn stash out of Rubbermaid bins and into a cabinet, but I want a cabinet/bookcase with doors, should a disastrous thing happen like a moth get into the house and into my yarn stash. I had an open bookcase in New Mexico, and never had a moth infestation, but I’m paranoid now that I’m back in VA and don’t want to take any chances!

(btw, just noticed that my dream cabinet is, in fact, made of particle board. Is it true that IKEA used to use solid wood once upon a time?)

All right, next time I update I’ll have pics of my Nanner sock in progress and possibly house pics, eee! My class is still kicking my butt–I have a paper to write this weekend, as it’s due by Monday night–so it might be a few days till I post again. Plurk me in the meantime.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Knitting, My So-Called Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.