Change All The Things!

So it turns out when your fingers are blistered and bleeding because you are so metal playing your guitar it also hurts to knit.

Suck monkey.

Good thing I'm using super soft yarn on really big needles.  I found a way to make it work without gripping the needles too much.

Unfortunately my project with super soft yarn on really big needles is a Knit Picks test knit.  So no pictures allowed until after it is published.  That makes for a rather boring knitting blog doesn't it.

In other life news I didn't do my spring cleaning.

I thought about doing it.  I talked about doing it.  If I spent as much time working as I did thinking about working it would have been done.  Only I just didn't do it.  I thought to myself "Self, lets wait until summer break and then the kids can help."  And I replied to myself "Self, that is a really smart idea.  Let's wait.  It will get done faster with more people working.  Plus they live here too.  They can help."

Only that did not happen.

We decided not to ruin summer break with spring cleaning.  We were too busy swimming, and making bath bombs, and being lazy slugs.

So I sat back and kept thinking.  We moved into our house nine years ago and our house no longer works for us.  Our family is a much different family than we were nine years ago.  We have teenagers, and an extra kid.  We have different needs and responsibilities.  We use the spaces differently than we did nine years ago.  Only for the most part our house is still configured the same way it was when we moved in.

And it isn't working for us anymore.  And if I'm being honest things are a bit of a mess.  And by mess I mean a disaster of epic proportions.  Things attack you when you open cabinets.  Our former baby proofing is no longer effective.  Dangerous chemicals (and everything else we don't want the Queen to mess with) are stashed every high place we can find.  Everywhere I look things are crammed and cramped and in some places unnecessarily complicated.

I've really been thinking about the spaces and storage and how to make things work more effectively for us.

This project sucks.  It is a very grown up management project.  And not exactly an inexpensive project in some cases.

But it must be done.

First up, we turned our rarely used front room into a music room.

We took this big monstrosity of a couch no one uses

and created this cozy corner perfect for strumming guitars instead.

Where the piano formerly sat

Is now a cozy readying spot

Yup. I just used the word cozy twice.  I'm really striving for a hygge feeling in my home.  Also I finally got a new couch and it's making my soul so happy to have the big sectional gone, replaced with a nubby comfy couch.

The piano has returned to the inner wall where it belongs.  Every piece of furniture in the room has been dusted.  Every inch of floor has been scrubbed.  This room is "Mommy clean."  I may never let the children set foot in this room again.

There is still work to do.  The way the hutch is being utilized for storage needs reconfigured.  The yarn cabinet is a complete mess

Half the lights aren't working for the love of all that's good.

And I'm rethinking the way we are baby proofing the front door.  The wall of gate may still be our best option, but I'd like to explore some other ideas.

But all this is a good first step.  The Queen is reliably sleeping through the night.  After three years of chronic sleep deprivation I am starting to feel like me.  And I'd like to return to the homemaker I used to be.

As soon as I finish practicing my guitar.