The Start Of Something Fishy...And Stash Enhancement

Yesterday I ended up subbing for a science teacher, but I DID get my prep period. So I got a really good start on Fishy:

For those who don't remember, I'm making this:

And hey! Guess what? There's a mistake in the pattern! LOL Not a big one, though. :) After you make the 4 corner pieces, you go on to make the fillers. On the large one that I made, the row count was wrong. It tells you to do 4 rows of green to begin instead of 3 to match the big stripe. A typo, obviously. But it does kinda make you wonder what "triple-checked patterns" really means. :)

Now - on to stash enhancement and a project that will be jumping to the top of my queue shortly. Thanks to Willa Jean, enabler extraordinare, I heard about a sale on this yarn:

It's Muench's Sir Galli and I'm going to use it for the Bianca Jacket pictured. :) You might recall that's been on my to-do list (which reminds me, I need to update my sidebar!) and I wasn't sure what yarn I'd use as a substitute. Willa Jean remembered & let me know about the sale. I so seldom make a pattern in the yarn called for (much too expensive!) so this is a real treat for me. :) The silk tweed feels lovely and the bag price was a darn right steal!

Now - the only problem I have is that I've packed the IK 2006 fall issue! LOL I need to open up some boxes & dig it out. Of course, if I do that, I'll probably be casting on too. ::wink:: This yarn will make a wonderfully lightweight cardi.

In case you're wondering, I ordered "Sand" (on the second page) and it's darker than I thought it would be. (The picture above is a bit washed out.) There's more black in it that you can see in the example pic but I actually like it better. The color has a little more depth. :)

We're still waiting on our house offer - he's still crunching the numbers. A friend of Doug's came over yesterday to look at the house. He buys & sells for a living & had rentals for years, etc. What he told us was a little disheartening. To really spiff it up to sell, we'd probably have to put on a new roof, re-stucco, re-tile, etc. We'd be getting up to around $20,000 and we'd never get that back out of the house. Too many brand new ones going for a lot less just across the arroyo. The saving grace is backyard access and the huge lot. However, if we can unload it without putting any $$ in it, that's the way we've decided to go.

It's really the luck of the draw on this one - to have the right buyer in the right place at the right time. Timing is everything. We've been told we should've sold it last year to get a really top price. But - I'm looking on the bright side. Even unloading it at a reduced price we're still making a substantial amount of money on a two year investment (although DH is pretty depressed about the whole thing) and we'll be out from under rentals and able to concentrate on finding our new house & fixing up this one to sell since this one experience has pretty much soured us on rentals forever. If we DID rent out this house, there are 10 times more things to get screwed up here than next door. DH & I couldn't imagine coming in here & finding it trashed too. It would just be too much. Sigh.

Sorry folks! You're going to hear my house-whining until all this is settled and we're in our new place! LOL

Not sure whether I'll be working this morning - I do have a half day job starting at 11:30. I'm sure they'll be needing emergency subs, though. They almost always do!

Have a great day & remember - it's almost the weekend!

Comments

[Wendy]

The fish bathmat looks pretty fun. Funny there is a mistake, who could have predicted. My money will alway be on you when it comes to finding the mistakes.

I love littleknits. I had a problem with shipping from them at Christmas time, but it wasn't soley their fault. They have the best deals though!

I am bummed for you about the house. I hope you are able to unload it without much stress and a decent profit.

[Lisa In Oregon]

I LOVE THE FISH MAT!! I could *almost* go to the "dark side" (crochet) for it, lol.

[Vera]

What's up with the errors?

My fair isle tote pattern had a minor error in it too, and I'm working on a sweater form Plymouth yarns that had an error in it too. Oh well...

That rug is too cute.

[jillian]

Ooh-THAT sale. It's a tempter. Your rug is going to be adorable!

[Carrie K]

Cute crocheted tops and your band!

There will be much gnashing of teeth on the house if your sale goes the way it seems everyone else's has. Oh well. Good luck!

That fish mat is so cute!

[nat]

and, you know the thing about putting all that $$ in, apart from not getting it back on resale, ifthe buyers dont like the tile pattern etc, it just gets replaced all over again, and thats just wasteful!

[Wendy]

This comment is to add to Nat's....I totally agree with her.

My parents had a very nice house that they put on the market a few years ago. They restained the deck, restained the redwood siding on the house, put in lawn and sprinkler systems in different areas of the yard, put in new carpet throughout the house, painted, etc...

For months, Tony and I would drive 45 mintutes to the house every week to mow and make sure the lawn was watered, etc.

When the house did sale, they tore off the siding on the house and put on new siding, took off the deck, filled in the swimming pool with dirt and then paved a driveway ontop of it, and the lawn was gone. They remodeled the entire house, taking out the spiral stairs and putting in different stairs, taking out walls and putting in walls, etc... It was crazy and heartbreaking as that was the house I grew up in and now I only have it in pictures and memories as even if I went there today I would not be able to recognize the house.

Anways, I sort of got on a tangent, but I agree...you could put all this money in the house and then find out that a year after you sell it that the owner changes everything you had changed to sell it. It is a crazy world.