just couldn't leave well enough alone.

How many samples did I say I came home with? Twenty-two?

Yeah.

I couldn't help myself, I'm a mixer! I'm a mixer! I mix all day! I must mix!

Daylight (below) overhead light at night (above)

Here we are up to colors 30 and 31. Custom mixed. In fact, 17 is custom mixed, 21 is not. Everything above 21 I made myself.

Living room:

Living room:

Living room:

Sneak peek of the kitchen remodel!

I can see now just how dim my dining room is during the day.

And let me tell you, my husband was just tickled beyond belief that this is now his dining room and living room. I mean, who wouldn't want to come home from a business trip to find this?

What do you think? Feedback? Favorites?

off to the paint store...

... to buy some samples of paint based on your previous suggestions. I will update with pics!

Update on Saturday, June 19, 2010 at 6:25PM by Yarnista

I came back with 22 samples, and per one commenter's previous suggestion, talked to Ashley at Sherwin Williams. You were right -- she was great! When I've requested a million samples at other paint stores or big box stores, I usually got some amount of attitude, like what I was asking for was the biggest headache in the universe. (And maybe it is, but since you work in a paint store...)

I dropped off my requests (nearly everything was from things y'all suggested -- you know me well), including some things that needed to be matched from other paint brands. It was no problem for them, and when I stopped back 30 mn later, they had everything all boxed up and labeled neatly, and helped me to my car.

I can't wait to change and get some of these samples on the walls!

we've moved into the new old house...

... and boy, are my arms tired.

We're waiting on some furniture. Namely, a couch and a round dining room table, which have both been ordered but have to be constructed.(Not unlike when you order yarn from us; you tell us what you want, we make it for you. But you do have to wait while we make it for you, because this is not McDonald's.) We've unpacked a good portion of the boxes, but have yet to hang anything on the walls, so the pictures you see will probably not stay where they are.

The living room now:

The table and mirror on the left will not stay there. I bought the mirror, which is an antique and weighs about 900 pounds, at an estate sale. It will eventually hang in the entry way, after I can get someone to engineer a hanging solution that will not rip the plaster out of the walls.

You can't see that the mirror has a small pineapple at the top, so I think it's befitting that a symbol of hospitality hang in the entryway. The round table is walnut, which I also found at an estate sale. The square table is an old game table with a swiveling top that I bought for $2 at a yard sale. I will eventually paint it and put it somewhere else in the house.  And the chair is my favoritest piece of furniture. It is wildly comfortable, and once I get a lamp and a footstool, I'm sure this will become my reading chair.

Speaking of reading, I'm pleased with how the library is coming along. I still need to get my daybed in here, but the books have arrived:

See? Viridian green walls. I actually chose one of the colors Benjamin Moore deems "historic", and then painted the ceiling (which is curved, I love it) a pale (historic) green). For now, the mantle holds some of my pictures and collection of vintage schtuff.

Here was the color of Lake Superior yesterday. Keep a rag by the keyboard to dry your eyes and wipe up your drool. After moving back here, I kept marveling at the sky -- it seemed so big, and the cloud formations were remarkably beautiful. I realized that after ten years of living in big cities on the West and East Coasts, I'd gotten used to seeing air pollution. There's very little air pollution here, and the sky is amazing.

If you ever receive an email from me early in the morning or after dinner time, chances are very good it was sent from the library in my house near Lake Superior.

Yay!

P.S. The people at Macintosh have gone above and beyond to help me with my aforementioned computer problems. I'm confident we can get things fixed. Yay!

P.S.S. I am getting close to choosing some paint colors based on your previous suggestions. Yay!

frustrated and trying to distract myself.

I am frustrated.

I have a new computer, and the computer is not cooperating with me. It's especially perplexing because this is supposed to be one of the good computers, the kind whose name rhymes with Smacintosh.

I knew there would be a learning curve with the keyboard shortcuts and the different menus, and I was prepared for that. I hired someone to come and do the data transfer from my old machine to the new one so the transition would be as seamless as possible. Instead, my new Smacintosh is misreading all of my 5000+ picture files, none of my photo editing software is locating the appropriate libraries, and Yarnista is not a happy camper right now.

So I will distract myself (and you) from the frustration by posting old, sentimental photos that are blurry and badly sized, but still so sweet that I can't help it.

This is my little Sunny Delight at age 18 months. Even then, she spent all her time scribbling and coloring. She's now rounding the corner towards six, and wakes up every morning wanting to make books, write letters, and draw pictures.

I got a water table just so I could take pictures like this one:

This is an adorable little coat I knit for Sunny Delight when she was a teeny baby. It's knit from denim yarn. Which, I learned, does not stretch. This sweet little thing fit for about a week before it was too tight to get on her. Today's lesson = do not knit baby clothes from denim yarn. No.

This is a picture of me and a group of Law students taken on the steps of the US Supreme Court in 2006. It has nothing to do with knitting, except that my students used to tease me about it. "Will you knit me a scarf?" "How about a hat?" "I saw this sweater at the mall and I really wanted it, but it was $40. Can you knit me one instead?" (No, no, and no.) These students are all now finishing college. That makes me old. Some of them still write to me. At least one of them will be a senator, I promise you that.

Apparently, I used to be emaciated. No one told me. Why did no one say, "Sharon, you're emaciated. Eat more Butterfingers!"

Ah, back when I was younger and thinner:

Mr. McBoy was such a cute two year old.

And a cute three year old.

And he's still a very very big, very cute eight year old.

I used to have a colorway called McKenna. It matched a baby blanket someone sent me.

My sister looks like a movie star like 6 hours after having her fourth child.

If you don't want to squeeze these thighs, get your blood pressure checked.

And, just for good measure, take a tip from me. Ruffled shorts only look cute on babies.

I remember buying the pink and purple yarn at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Which I did not get to go to this year. And now I'm sitting here frustrated again, only this time with a Smacintosh.

reminder: pattern submissions due today!

And I can't wait to see what you've come up with! Here's the submission info, should you need it again.