Mon Mar 19, 2007

Wash and wash and wash and wash

And I’m not even talking about laundry. For once.

The stupid Noro clogs won’t felt in my front loading machine. This is the first pair I’ve tried to felt in a front loader. I ran it through a hot water cycle with towels three times, before essentially giving up and just tossing them in with a regular load of reds in warm water. After they still weren’t quite small enough, I put them in the dryer with the same load. They’re still really floppy in the toes. I was going to take a picture for you, but as insane as it sounds, I can’t find them.

Don’t laugh. My house isn’t even messy. I’ve been cleaning it all day and for part of the day, I was even wearing them. But they’re gone, and I’m too tired to look for them anymore. You’ll get a picture another day.

What to do once I find them? Well, I could try to finish them off by hand. Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a good time to me, either. What I’ll probably do is find a friend with a top loader and give them another 5-10 minutes or so. I think that’d do it. Stupid clogs.

That being said, they’re pretty neat looking.

On a complete change of topic…

Nate and I were looking through several issues of Modernism magazine last night, as well as The Art of the Incredibles, which turned out to be more helpful, for ideas and color schemes to paint our house. It needs it both aesthetically and preventatively.

Our house lacks street appeal. We’re trying to figure out how to help it out a bit. It was built in the late ’70s, and we’d like it to look about a decade older. If we went a little more retro, we wouldn’t be out of place. There are some fantastic ’60s houses around the corner in both directions, but our street is a bit newer. We’re contemplating adding some rockery or brick, but most likely, we’ll just be redesigning the front porch/walkway/thing, painting, and messing with the landscaping.

image

So here’s a drawing of my house, minus the front porch/walkway/thing, in a color scheme we’re thinking about, however it isn’t remotely that bright. Those were the only colored pencils I had, and it didn’t work. That drawing is obnoxious and loud. The blue green we are looking at is a very, very muted seafoam kind of green. The reason the garage is a different color in the drawing is because the bedrooms above it hang out over the garage, and the garage is recessed and down a steep driveway from street level.

I was just toying with the idea of making it a different color. I can see now that before I can figure out if it’s a good or a bad idea, I’m going to need to get the colors more accurate.

But anyway, there’s my house! If we were to put any rockery or brick up, it’d be where the black is in the picture, and maybe on the garage. What do you think? Our inspector said it was a bad idea structurally (hi guys!), but I’m liking the way it looks in my imagination. And he’ll still love me.

Rocks, bricks, or otherwise, the siding on that part of the house needs to be replaced.

5 Responses to “Wash and wash and wash and wash”

  1. carol Says:

    I volunteer my top loader for your sad clogs!

  2. Anita Says:

    Awww…I feel your pain on the front loader. When I did a Sophie purse for a friend it took FOREVER to felt in mine (and I am still thinking it might have been possible to get it tighter). In retrospect, I thought I would just go to a laundromat with a handful of felted projects next time…

    You know what would be fun? See if you can get on that HGTV show Curb Appeal! They do some great designs with the outsides of homes!

  3. Amy Lu Says:

    I think if I was in your shoes I’d take them to the laundry-mat and do them there. In one of their top-loaders. I like doing that from time to time. It’s usually pretty quiet, and I can sit and knit in peace.

    I have a front loader too, and it usually takes 3-4 cycles with a couple pairs of blue jeans to do it. Even then, some wools just seem to need even more agitation.

    Felting by hand isn’t much fun, but I have a friend that does all her felting that way.

    I can’t believe how big Clark is getting! And what a handsome little prince! My goodness!

  4. Danielle M Says:

    When I knit clogs out of Noro Kuryeon I had the same problem, only I do have a top loader! I finally decided that they were good enough, but they could have been a little smaller and firmer. Good luck with yours!! 🙂

  5. Jan in PA Says:

    I tried to felt by hand once…got blisters and aching shoulders.

    I wish I could help you with your colors but when it comes to exterior things, my mind goes blank. That’s why we live in a brick house, I’m sure!

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