The other day JessaLu asked what everyone did last weekend. I said I didn’t do anything. You already know this was a lie because I was participating in Frank Harlow Day. That went great, by the way, and I thank you all for the good wishes and sunny weather. I did something else last weekend, though, and it was kind of a big deal.

It all started on Friday when I was home in between setting up for the event. I was checking a couple of blogs and saw Karen’s post about selling her antique circular sock machines. I’ve wanted one of these for quite some time but I haven’t been willing to invest the money in one as they are pretty expensive. Karen and I emailed back and forth and I found out that she was selling hers for dirt cheap.

And I still had some inheritance money to spend.

And before I knew it I was driving out to Sturbridge on Sunday to meet her and buy one of these machines from her.

And about 10 minutes after I got home from meeting Karen, who showed up in my driveway but JessaLu. Yes indeed, my friend drove 3 hours at the spur of the moment on a Sunday afternoon just to show me how to use my new toy. Amazing.

So we set it up.

Isn’t it pretty?

And we cranked away.

And by the time she left I had finished my first sock.

I closed up the toe myself (thank goodness for YouTube) and tried it on.

I admired the short row heel and picot edge.

And now I just have to make its mate.

It was pretty easy with Jess sitting next to me. I just hope I can remember what she taught me now that I’m on my own!

As you may recall (because I freaked out about it a fair amount) I finally sold my father’s mobile home last January.  Dale and I decided to take some of my rather small inheritance (most of it went to Hannah) and invest it into our home by redoing our dining room.  At first we were just going to paint.  Then we decided new furniture might be nice.  By the time we finished the room was completely different.  Here, let me show you.

This is the dining room when we started.  My grandmother’s dining room set, busy wallpaper, ugly carpeting.  Please note that it wasn’t usually messy – we have started work and that’s why there’s stuff all over the table.

It took two days to strip all that gawdawful wallpaper.

And then the carpenter came.  He installed birch paneling on the walls and picture frame molding on top.  He also put new molding over all the existing woodwork.   It really dresses up the room and goes well with the age of our house.

We spent the weekend after the carpenter finished painting all the woodwork white.  We painted the upper walls a beautiful sage green.

The following week the carpenter came back and installed vinyl plank flooring.  We bought a patterned area rug and Dale installed a new light.  Then we waited for the furniture to arrive to complete the room.  I suppose you’d like to see that, too, right?

From the mudroom looking into the dining room.  The Canadian Production Wheel is a nice touch in here, I think.

And from the living room looking into the dining room.  My Wheaton College rocker looks really nice in here now.

I love this hutch so much!  I’m not sure yet about the stuff in the cabinets but I’m thinking on it.

And, finally, you can see how nicely this room coordinates with the newly finished bathroom.  You can also see more of the picture frame moldings in this photo.

The final verdict – we love it!  This is our main entrance into our home and it’s really wonderful now.  Now bring on the dinner parties!

The theme for Ten on Tuesday this week is 10 Words People Would Use to Describe You.  I decided to go with nouns and I couldn’t believe how easy and fast this was.

1. Wife

2. Mother

3. Librarian

4. Knitter

5. Spinner

6. Photographer

7. Friend

8. Cook

9.  Organizer

10. Writer

How about you?  How would someone describe you?

As I mentioned on Friday, Dale and I had a little mini getaway to Cape Cod last week. It was school vacation, which meant Dale had the week off. It also meant that Hannah was away on a school trip, which meant we could go away without worrying about what she’d be doing. Ahem.

So I booked us a fancy room at The Daniel Webster Inn. I’ve eaten there many times over the years but I’ve never stayed there. It was beautiful!

Big, romantic bed, strewn with flower petals.

Jacuzzi built for two.

Huge shower with heated tiles.

And a cute little balcony.

There was even a gas fire place. We had complimentary champagne and chocolates as part of their Spring getaway package and we indulged ourselves in room service for both dinner and breakfast. It was heavenly!

Like all vacations, it was over far too soon.  It was sweet while it lasted, though.

The beach was chilly last week when Dale and I visited Cape Cod.  It will be glorious there this weekend with an expected high of 82° on Saturday.  Too bad I’ll be spending the weekend in the 19th century.  Timing is everything, that’s for sure, because you know I’d rather be at the beach!

I have long resisted learning to knit socks toe up.  I’m pretty happy with top down and just haven’t really felt the need to expand my sock knitting horizons.  Cookie has tried to get me to take the plunge.  Hillary has, too.  But no one has offered an incentive that enticed me.

Until now.

You see, the other day when I posted my list of underrated movies, my dear friend JessaLu commented that she has never seen Gettysburg.  I hope Jess won’t kill me for telling you this but she used to be a Civil War reenactor and I was shocked that she had never seen the movie.  Granted, it’s long, but it’s sort of mandatory for those of us in the hobby.  So while I was giving her a hard time about it she started giving me a hard time about not knitting socks toe up.  And then we struck a deal.  If I knit socks toe up then she’d watch Gettysburg.

So, Jess, do you want to borrow my copy or do you want to get it from Netflix?

I’m knitting, in case you weren’t sure.

I finished Acer and it is blocked but needs buttons.

I finished the Hemlock Ring Lap Blanket but it needs blocking.  This is a problem.  First of all, it is pretty big and I’m not sure where I can actually block it.  Second, my knee is still bothering me from that fall last month and kneeling is pretty painful.  This blanket will require lots of kneeling to get it blocked and I’m just not sure I can do that right now.  Dale has graciously offered to help but, well, I can’t even picture that.

I have a yummy sock in progress but it hasn’t progressed much since last week when I showed you.

And finally, I have a baby sweater in progress.

This is Trellis and it’s for a baby boy due in August.  I think I’ve got enough of a head start.

So that’s it.  What are you knitting these days?

And this week we have Ten Underrated Movies as our Ten on Tuesday theme.  This might be tricky but I’ll give it a shot.

1. Gettysburg.  Dale will love me for including this as it’s his favorite movie.  And I do think it’s underrated, probably because it’s so friggin’ long.  But if you have an interest in the Civil War, I’d really recommend this one.

2. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.  Cary Grant in 1948.  It’s truly the original  Money Pit except way way better.

3. Big Night.  It’s all about food.  Italian food.  Need I say more?

4. Starman.  It’s corny but I love it.  A kinder, gentler alien.

5. That Thing You Do.  Maybe it’s because Tom Scott is from our hometown but my family loves this movie.

6. Big Fish.  I think this might have been fairly popular when it came out but then it just went away.  A seriously great – but genuinely weird – movie.

7. Frequency.  Time travel and a heart-warming father and son reunion.

8. Frozen River.  Sure, Melissa Leo got an Oscar nomination but beyond that this movie was really overlooked.  And it shouldn’t be because it’s really really good.

9. The Great Debaters.  I thought for sure this one would get a bunch of Oscar nods but it was completely ignored.  I don’t know why because it’s fantastic.

10.  Neighbors.  Talk about weird!  But with Dan Akroyd and John Belushi you just know it has to be good.

You know what?  This was hard!  I hope you found some movies on this list that you haven’t seen yet and I hope you’ll check them out.

I did something unusual on Saturday. I went shopping with Hannah. You see, I’m not a big shopper and it used to be that shopping with Hannah meant a day of arguing and disagreeing and compromising. I tell you this so you’ll understand when I say that I was dreading going prom dress shopping with her. Guess what, though – we had a terrific day together! We didn’t argue and we laughed and talked and agreed on just about everything.

Hannah helped me pick out a new pocket book. I love the green! Of course she was pushing designer bags on me but, ummm, no. Some of them cost more than my last spinning wheel!

And we found an adorable prom dress for her. I’m only showing you a sneak peek right now but you’ll see the rest of the dress in due time, I assure you. And this is only 1 of 2 dresses since Hannah is going to both her junior prom and her boyfriend’s senior prom. The junior prom dress is being made by dear Lois so this one is for the senior prom and it’s short and flirty and just so friggin’ cute! We get bonus points because it was on sale.

We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and ended the day by getting matching manicures. It was really fun and I enjoyed my daughter’s company so much.

And here’s the real shocker. I didn’t knit a single stitch all day. And I didn’t even care.

I had a very simple centerpiece for Easter.  My love of tulips is well known by now, I’m sure.

It’s a 3 day weekend here in Massachusetts – yippee!  Hope you all have a great weekend, too.