What a day! So last night we were freaking out because the insulator said he couldn't come until the end of March. My step-dad called and put some pressure on him and he called me this morning and said he could do it today. So I agreed. Eek! Good thing I called my FIL because he asked me if the inspections were done and said we'd be SOL if the insulation was blown in and the electrical and mechanical weren't inspected. Heck the mechanical isn't even done! I called the builder who said he'd call the guy off. An hour later I hadn't heard anything back. Called the builder again. No luck. Left a message with the insulator guy. Called FIL and asked him to go out to our house and head off the work crew. His truck was in the shop this morning and he was waiting for it to be finished. Luckily the mechanic loaned my FIL his truck and off Bob went to save the day. Again. I have the best family in the world.

So were going back with the original plan of regular batting insulation because waiting an extra month is not a good thing.

In knitting news...I'm thinking something with ruffles for my next project. I'm enamored with the Rowan Sweet sweater a few other bloggers have done. It's so lovely!

I've been slacking, I know. It's just that nothin' much is happening lately. I'm plugging away on the Regia socks & Bill's cabled sweater. I just turned the heel on the sock and I started the 4th (I think) repeat of the cables on the sweater. I'm considering making this the front and doing the back in plain 2X2 rib as that would knit up much faster. I don't know though.

The house is moving along nicely. Bill started installing the duct work for the furnace last weekend. Hopefully they'll finish up this weekend. We're waiting for the insulator guy to show up. Oh! My step-father is dry walling the place for us and he's got all the spray equipment so that we can get the painting done really fast when the time comes.

And that's about it. Went to the dentist this morning and my new job is really going well.

I'm still plugging away on Bill's sweater. I've got about 12" knit on the back, so that 's just under 1/2 of the back or about 1/6 of the total work needed to complete it. I started knitting the heal flap on the Regia sock.

The sun finally came out this weekend, but the promised 30 degree whether didn't materialize. Instead it was -15 Saturday morning. But the sun did make a huge difference in how I felt.

We went looking for tile for the kitchen on Saturday. Everything that we liked was like 3.50 - 3.75/sq ft. I did find one that I liked that was on sale for $1.59 but Bill was convinced that it had to be shit because it was so cheap. We need to decide soon I guess because since they finally started working regularly on the house it's progressed rapidly. We've got windows, shingles, bathtubs...It's just amazing. I guess this week the plumber, electrician and heating guys (Bill and his dad) do their thing. At this rate the house will be done in about a month. If we don't hold up the process by taking too long to install the floors.

The builders are finally putting up walls. We now have all the exterior walls, including the garage. I can actually start to visualize how this is going to look. The weird thing is, it seams so much smaller with the walls up.

Nothing exciting going on on the knitting front. I'm plugging away at Bill's sweater and I'm working on a pair of socks. I've got about 4 inches done on the first one, just by knitting on my lunch hour, in the car or while I'm waiting for kuntaw class to start.

Wow, this week has gone by really fast! My new job has been going well, although their databases are desperately in need of loving attention. Umm, there's a reason why they're called relational. That's OK though, because that means that anything I do will be fabulous.

Work on hubby's cabled sweater is slow going. I'm halfway through the 2nd 32 row repeat...so that would be 48 rows. Actually I'm probably on row 50. This is going to take a loooonngg time! I keep wanting to stop and knit something for myself. Hopefully this urge will pass, because I really want Bill to have something nice from me. And that hat thing I tried last weekend for him didn't work so good.

It looks like they may start building again soon! They delivered a load of lumber today, according to my FIL. This is good, because the longer they take, the more things we come up with that we want. As it is we're already going to install a hardwood floor and tile ourselves (can't afford to pay someone to do it) and Bill and his dad are now going to install the furnace and water heater because his dad doesn't like the brand that came with our "package". Don't worry, Bill's dad is a mechanical contractor.

We really need to get this house done. I love Bill's parents and all, but as time progresses, I'm really beginning to get irritated with them. And really they're the same as they have always been. It’s me that has the problem. I'm out of sorts, and I don't get that "alone-time" that I used to have every day. And if they don't finish soon I'm in danger of loosing my "best daughter-in-law" title by becoming a raging bitch.

The hat I knit for hubby was a total flop. It came out of the washer looking like a pancake. I consoled myself with some other craftiness. I worked on Bill's sweater and my socks a little, but my biggest accomplishment was making a salve like Burt's Bees Farmers Friend. We love this stuff, but I can't see paying a ton for it when I have all the ingredients. Plus we're using up all of my brother-in-law's stock

We went to our trailer and I got some of my oils, waxes and essential oils and I was ready to go. Here's the recipe for my version.

4 parts calendula comfrey infused olive oil
4 parts sweet almond oil
1 part Vit E
2 parts Beeswax

My parts were tablespoons. Normally I would weigh everything, but I couldn't find my scale.

Melt and add 1/2 teaspoon Lavender Oil, 1/2 teaspoon Rosemary oil, and 1/4 teaspoon tea tree oil (I substituted this for the Eucalyptus oil shown on the ingredients list)

The best way to infuse the olive oil is to let the herbs soak in it for a few weeks in a warm sunny spot. Or you can simmer the herbs over low heat. I wanted this stuff ASAP, so I did the simmer method. I just heated up the oil and turned the stove off actually, after I cooked the first batch with the stove set on warm :) Have fun. Your hands will thank you.

It was a good week. I finished up at work on Wednesday, and I don't start my new job until Monday, so I had a few days to myself to putz around.

Thursday I made incense. This stuff is dead easy to make. I got the blanks in a special buy last year. They're enormous! 19 inches long and 1/4" in diameter. But they burn for something like 3 hours if made properly. I did these in patchouli.

Yesterday I started a hat based loosely on Bonne Marie's bucket hat for my husband. He told me he wanted a pillbox hat, so I showed him the bucket hat pattern. He didn't want the "ruffle" and I didn't want to knit a band and then pick up stitches for the top. So we'll see how it turns out. I only have a few more rounds to do. I'll be felting it, so hopefully it turns out.