I finished my emergency knitting project:
Leaf Lace Beret in Top Cat. This is for my work partner. Her birthday is Friday. We were discussing hats one day and I discovered the only hats she owns are toques. Now, there is nothing wrong with a good sturdy toque, but every girl should have a variety of hats (and shoes, and skirts, and... well everything!)
She admired my handspun beret, so that decided the style of hat to make - and I figured the leaves would make it go nice and quick - and it did. I started this on Saturday morning and finished it up Sunday afternoon (and there were lots of breaks in between, including a trip to the hardware store and the previously mentioned hiking adventure). I had actually started on Thursday, but by Saturday I'd changed my mind on the yarn and started over.The other project I tackled was stripping the carpet off the stairs. I'm not quite sure why there is even carpet on the stairs in the first place - the rest of the house is hardwood.
Anyway, the carpet is old and stained (including a few pet "accidents") and I'm tired of hauling the vaccuum up and down it, so I bought myself a utility knife and set to it. (Dave was off playing with his cars - my favourite time to tackle DIY projects)
This is as far as I got before I gave up for the day. I've discovered that the only tool you really need to remove carpet is sheer muscle (of which I have very little). Especially considering whoever installed it got a little too excited about using the staple gun.After getting the carpet up, I made a quick call to my very own Bob Vila (my Dad) to ask him what I need to remove the tack strips. Oh... more muscle (and a claw hammer - but mostly muscle). Crap. But I managed to remove it all.
Only nine more stairs to go!
Needless to say, my body is a little pissed at me, but I'm determined to remove all that carpet. Dave has offered to do it for me on the weekend, but I want to conquer it myself. I'll just do a stair or two each day.
He can sand them - I hate sanding. And, once that's done, they will be painted and all shiny and new. Stay tuned!
8 comments:
I want to punch the person who invented carpet tacking in the face! I removed the carpet from our 14x10 dining room and 14x5 hallway last summer and put in tiles and it took me longer to remove the carpet tack than any other thing!! Good job! You're moving along.
Love the beret!
Ooo! Looks like fun! Seriously, I love tearing things up. Putting them back together, not so much, but tearing them up is always good.
And look! I beat the firewall today!
That's a lovely gift!
We had carpet stairs too (still do on the basement stairs), and now they are just lovely wood, and I love it. I would never have thought to tackle that by myself, you go girl!
Ooh, nice - wood below the carpet. I'd love to get rid of the carpet on my stairs, but there's just particle board underneath.
Beautiful job on the beret! I think that those steps would look just so cute painted a different color than the walls, sort of a bright cheery color. Something to brighten up a small area.
Ooh - good for you, that's a big project, but it sounds like it's going to be beautiful when it's done! And I love that hat - your co-worker will, too, I bet.
Two projects well done: one requiring delicacy and skill, the other requiring persistence and brute force! I love the beret, but I suspect your family will appreciate the stairs more. Unless you "let" them take turns wearing the hat, as I'm *sure* they're begging to do. (Don't worry, you always have us to appreciate your knitting. That's why you blog, yes?)
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