Thursday, March 12, 2015

Apartment Hunting.... Witch Place Should We Live?

Yikes! It's been a little while, but life has been so eventful the past week or so. Let me skip to the most exciting news though... My fiance Michael and I went to visit Salem, MA on Sunday to start our apartment hunt, and it turns out we found a place already! I am so relieved that we found a place we really like AND that the apartment search is over. As anyone who lives in Boston can attest, apartment hunting, especially for a September 1 move-in, is an awful, stressful, and all-consuming process. Turns out Michael and I will be moving on May 1, so we will no longer be on the September cycle. That also means we will be moving pretty soon!

Michael and I on the commuter rail out to salem. I'm sporting my new Broken Ribbed Cowl.

So unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but we may try to see the place again soon. The place has two bedrooms with a big dining room and even bigger living room. The living room was so bright when we toured the unit. The house used to belong to our realtor's grandmother, so there are some aspects of the house that are old and grandma-like. I'm thinking particularly of the shower door which has swans etched into the glass and the old stove. BUT there is a brand new washer and dryer, with more options than just hot and cold water.

Downtown Salem is just so quaint and full of history.

We are extremely excited for our new place. Neither of us have much furniture, so it will be really nice to be able to decorate the place together. Luckily we have similar taste and its not halloween-themed thank god. We want the place to have traditional New England maritime look. Not quite sure what that means exactly, but I'm thinking navy and neutral colors and a whale plaque. I'm also hoping to commission a handmade coffee table and end tables from my talented brother Paul.

Coffee table handmade by my brother.

Before the excitement of moving turns into stress from packing, I'm making it a point to find some pretty house-related projects for our new home. I can start to look for new projects now because....

[FO] - Gloucester Baby Blanket

Finished Gloucester Baby Blanket! On to the pattern!

.... I finished the Gloucester Baby Blanket! This was a fun project for me, all the way from the design to finishing it. The design was not too complicated to develop. As I was looking through an old knitting book of fishermen sweaters, I found a herringbone motif that I really liked. I adjusted it slightly, then added a cable, and filled in with moss stitch, and Voile! The pattern was conceived.

Close up of the motif. It is so hard to photograph this lemon yarn color correctly.
The picture above is much truer to the actual color.

But now I have to actually write it up. Thankfully I was very good in taking notes, but I am experimenting with how to write and chart the pattern to make it easily understandable. You can expect this free pattern to be available soon... hopefully within the week.

I would love to get around to it this weekend, but I will be busy at the 2015 Fiber Camp here in Cambridge. This is an annual get together hosted by the Common Cod Fiber Guild. It is my first time going to one of their events, and I can't wait. I'm particularly anticipating getting my hands on a new book called From Folly Cove by Julia Clay-Farwell, as she will be there to sell/sign her book.  I've been wanting to start her sweater Natti Turtleneck, but I've been waiting until I can buy the book.

Our first trip to Folly Cove (plus another picture-taking tourist who refused to move).

Folly Cove was one of the first places Michael and I discovered on our frequent trips to Cape Ann. On our first trip to the north shore, we spent all day walking around Rockport, and the last stop on our long journey was Folly Cove. This was right after we finished eating lobsters at the famous Lobster Pool.

Michael and I on our first trip to Rockport. 

So more to come next week... a new pattern, a new sweater to cast-on, and a review of the cool new things I learned at Fiber Camp! Also, I'll be volunteering at the registration table both days 10:30am-12pm, so stop by and say hi!

Here's a bonus picture of Rockport, MA at sunset. The view is breath-taking.

4 comments:

  1. I like your way of writing, I am excited for your move! Oh to be even closer to a beach! I live in Charlestown, I am near the harbor, but no swimming there! It was great to see you at Fiber Camp! I hope to see you at more Common Cod events!Erin/19vesperstreet on Ravelry

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    1. Thank you so much Erin! It was great meeting you and all of the kind gals and guys at Fiber Camp. I can't believe it took me this long to find out about Common. I'm so excited to be involved.

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  2. Beautiful blanket and great pattern, I'm very proud of your knitting! Congrats on the new apartment with Mike! Let me know if you need any help with the layout or design love you!

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    1. Thanks Marissa! Thomas came up and helped me measure out most of the apartment, so it would be great to have your input on layout and design!!!

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