Sunday, October 08, 2006

two FOs and a new techno-toy

We live in a newer subdivision in the OC, so our house sits on a very small lot. It's actually on the corner of a cul-de-sac, which gives us a 'bigger' lot than most houses in our tract. Bigger, however, is relative- the average lot is approx 3500sq ft.. Ours is just over 4000sq ft.....not exactly huge. Here's the front of our house- you can see how close we are to our neighbors behind us:

DCP01126

This means our backyard is not only rather small, it's oddly shaped. This photos were taken when first moved in and were in the process of landscaping.
houseyard
We used to have all the boys' play stuff on the right side of our yard (where the big yellow flowers bush is), but they weren't playing much out there because it was too hard for me to watch them from inside the house. There was also the issue of the prickly bark we had put down for playground mulch. It was so full of splinters that the kids couldn't walk on it at all without getting poked.

Recently I was at the local big-box building supply and spotted some rubber mulch that looked perfect for the playground area. So the Dearest and I loaded the Funbus with about 20 bags of the stuff and spent all day Saturday moving the kids' jungle climber and sandbox, capping sprinklers and spreading rubber mulch.

We're very pleased with the finished product and so are the boys. They spent over two hours this morning playing in their sandbox and jungle climber.
finished the yard
sandbox

While the kids were playing happily, I finished grafting the toe on my latest sock FO:
new socks, new toy
FO Report:
Simple K2, P2 Ribbed Socks
Pattern: My own- just CO 68sts, knit in K2,P2 ribbing till they're long enough, turn and heal and keep going till they fit. Then decrease the toe. I did something a little different with these and tried the "princess foot" where you purl all the footbed stitches (see the 2nd photo above). This makes smooth stockinette side face the foot. It's marginally more comfy than a regular sock, but I don't think it was worth the extra effort of purling in the round with DPNs.
Yarn: Henry's Attic Kona Fingering (superwash) that I dyed myself.

Oh, and check out the new toy the Dearest got for me. Isn't it cool? I'm dying to get the car adaptor so I can finally listen to my music and audiobooks in the Funbus.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooohhh, the socks look like sherbert! Was that your hand dyed stuff? I love the pattern....

That "bark" looks great, too!

Elspeth said...

Great socks! I thought I was going crazy but those looked like purl bumps on the foot!

I have inherited DH's Nano, and it's really nice. The car charger is definitely a deal - $20 and it doubles as the cable you need between the Nano and your computer to update the songs. I learned that the hard way, but it's worth it now.

Home's Jewels said...

Love the socks - the colors are so yummy!

Rubber mulch?? Cool idea - that means no splinters! Most of the new homes in our area are on very small lots, too.

Jenna said...

Nice dye-job on that Henry's Attic. The princess foot is an interesting idea - the bumps sort of bothered me on my first pair of socks, but now that I use smaller needles it hasn't been an issue.

Liz K. said...

As I was looking to your socks, I was thinking how gorgeous the colors were. You hand-dyed them? They're fab!

Wendy said...

I like the look of the princess foot! But I always prefer the purl side in handpaiints.

The cheapest/best car adapter for mp3 players I've found is just one of those cassette adapters. If your car has a tape deck that it. I never found those little fm broadcasters to have very good quality, and the other line in adapters that you have to have done by a shop freak me out (expensive, unreliable workmanship in fiddling with the all important electriacal in the car).

Anonymous said...

Your backyard, to be honest your whole yard, is much bigger than mine. I live in a little tiny apartment in Berlin with a rather large, sunny balcony. I consider myself lucky because many around me don't even have that. I love and envy your yard-in a good way. Oh and I love those rubber chips. When I was in the States I watched a home decorating show where they used those for the backyard-too cool.
The socks are great too-interesting foot-I've never seen that before.

Anonymous said...

Love, love, LOVE the socks!

Anonymous said...

Love, love, LOVE the socks!