Beautiful sock!

I fear for your stove. We had to return a sofa that we'd bought recently because it wouldn't fit through the doorway. Good luck.

I too have a basic, turn it on, it's hot stove (but with temperature control). The only thing I wish for is self-cleaning. Even little pixies with hazmat masks to come in and scrub the thing.

I hate cleaning the stove. Hate. it.

And the delivery space defying magic is pretty fun to watch. I still can't believe they go the dryer down my stairs. Though I didn't have a 10 inch difference to contend with.

Enjoy your new stove! Love the delicate sock pattern - very summery!

Oh please. First look at that smarmy electronic display winking at you in your own kitchen and you'll be hooked. You'll fall like you'd just tripped over cashemere on sale in your favourite colour.

1. I can't take my eyes off the tilework behind the stove. Very cool. Did you do that?

2. Happy, happy belated birthday. I am a 1968 as well. Perhaps we were in denial about approaching 40. Once I embraced the 39, I actually began to look forward to turning 40. You?

Neat trick with the blue, really now. I'm trying not to think of it as a mocking sort of thing.

And the stove? We once got a refrigerator into an apartment that had doorways too small - it really is possible (and also quite fun to watch).

Beautiful sock pattern! At least it wasn't the air conditioner that died.

Thank you for the Farenheit temps. When I read 43 degrees, I thought, "oh it's cold in Toronto today" forgetting that 43 degrees is quite warm! I know we should get with the times and switch but I am thisclose to 50 and don't know if my feeble brain cells can embrace change of that magnitude any more. Back in the 70's we tried to go metric, we really tried, I even learned about grams and liters in school but it didn't take. I'm still having trouble with this whole 8 planets thing (pluto has my support forever).

Well, now Megan will have a "sock sister" somewhere out there with the other half pairs.

Enjoy the new stove! Wrestling with appliances is overrated.

I totally hear the old stove/new stove problem. When mine died last year and I had to go to the store for a new one, none of the sales people understood when I would say "Yes, but do you have one without all of these buttons and a giant, blinking display? I don't even need it to tell the time, just On and Off!" Trust me, sales people think people like me are just a little bit off the ol' rocker.

Are you going to video the boys trying to get the new stove in and put it up on Youtube? I bet it would be a laugh.

...And by wrestling, I mean with the "operationally impaired" appliance, not with the installation of the new one. :-)

Perfect timing here too .I was outside when the Canadian SNOWBIRDS arrived to put on a show tomorrow . They flew right over our house and I was Waving and dancing and waving--- one of them came right immediately very close over the house and I got goose bumps and shivered !!!! Strange what the word Snow does to me eh ? Absolutley love those birds The socks are a lovely pattern and getting the stove in ---well???!!!---Please let us know how it turns out ok ? Have a cool day somehow love your postings, thank you

Your backsplash behind your stove is simply gorgeous. Did you do it yourself?

Also, I think if the delivery mens are cute and sweaty, you should definitely take video for YouTube. :)

You mean your daughter saved you? That's gotta be a little wierd.

So sorry to hear about the passing of your old stove. I personally don't like change. Plus, these new-fangled thingies are all computerized anyway. Think a NEW Mr. Washie could ever be fixed in 25 years with a $30 part? My sister's new/old house came with a stove that turned out to be so old that it had a metal plate on the back stamped with the stove company that made it and showing "Made for Susan Something-or-other in 19??" Neat, huh?

How in God's name could it be so hot there when you are so far north? So sorry for the sudden onset of SUMMER - perhaps it is now time to knit with cotton? Looking forward to hearing how the oven dilemma is solved - I've got a refrigerator dilemma looming myself.

What a beautiful sock and equally beautiful tile work behind the old, dead stove.

I can relate to knitting in the heat. I was camping last week and knitting a simple wool sock. Due to sweating (or glistening - since I am a southern gal), it seemed as if the yarn was felting as I knit it!!!

I'd love to see the new, live stove coming in!!!
Best of luck.

The thought of yet another appliance blinking "12:00" at me in bright neon colors the first time the lights go out, with no idea how to make it *stop doing that* makes me shudder. Good luck.

I noticed the tiles behind the old stove too-- they are gorgeous. As is the Turquoise sock yarn. Mmmmm.

Stoves tend to die creatively. About ten years ago, my mother's stove sort of exploded when lightning hit the neighbor's tree. Thank heavens no one was in the kitchen at the moment.

I feel your pain when it comes to the humidex. Here in South Louisiana, we get our summer exercise running from one air-conditioned space to the other. Hate. It. When I'm not at work, I sit under the A/C vent, spinning and knitting and pretending I'm in Dutch Harbor.

Also? Go right ahead and single Americans out. I use metrics daily in my line of work, and I think that Americans who flat-out refused to learn or teach metrics back in the 1970s are just plain dumbasses. It's flat-out stupid to refuse to use the same measuring sticks as the rest of the world.

Personally? I don't even think Americans should be allowed to drink Guinness from an American pint. But that's just me.

You know the sort of people who use "liberal" as a perjorative? I know some people of that ilk who think that the metric system belongs on "the liberal agenda." I kid you not.

Rant over. Apparently this is a day of Things Not Working. I have to go buy a new printer for my office after lunch.

I completely sympathize with the knitting in the heat troubles. I live in Miami (where it is currently 92 (33 for Canadians) and humid. The first sweater I knit when I moved down here for school took two years because it was so warm I could only stand to knit on it during Jan Feb and March, the only tolerable months of the year!

Excellent timing on the stove--sounds like the sort of thing that happens to me! I do love my newish (we bought it at a garage sale) gas stove. One cool feature that I use all the time is the "Timed bake", where you set the temperature, put the food in, set the time you want it to cook for, and the stove turns off when you want it to! What with packed schedules, small children, and the apparent onset of perimenopause, my short term memory has suffered and so has anything that requires me to remember to turn things off! ("Scorched rice for dinner again, mom?")

Only a month? My SIL stove has been broken for over 5 years now!!!!!

Hope you can find a cool beer to accompany you while you wait on the porch. New stoves can be exciting, be it a bit pocket emptying. Hope you can find some nice recipes for a cooler time.

Love the new sock pattern! And I think that's the perfect colorway! Reminds me of a summer sky. Thanks for sharing! :)

Ah yes, that's the very same reason I used blue for my Loksins! ;-)
Good luck with the stove. At least it can sit around and get comfortable before you break it in. Stay cool!

If the New Stove is one with electronic ignition, you will get a pleasant surprise out of it - when I got one and eliminated three pilot lights, my summer gas bill plummeted. With the furnace turned off each summer, the only pilot left is the one on the water heater, which does at least contribute to keeping water hot. The resulting savings totalled $12 per month compared to the year before which meant that gas savings alone paid for the new stove (purchased in November 2003) about 3 months ago. And now it's saving me a skein of sock yarn a month just sitting there.

Okay...first I must say--I LOVE YOUR BACKSPLASH!! Did you do it yourself? Now, lucky you, my poor old stove is 22+ years old. I hope it gets replaced soon!

Great socks! Love the color and the pattern.

A good pry bar and a hammer to take part of the door jam out could be very useful tools to have around.

Good luck!

I feel much the same about my new refigerator. The old one died in February and I spent a month freezing iceblocks on the balcony and sticking them into the corpse to keep food fresh. One less-than-helpful repair guy (we tried to revive) suggested putting the contents of the corpse on the balcony just like his grandmother does in "the old country". Clearly the old country is in no way similar in climate to a seventh floor balcony facing northwest over the widest part of the Ottawa River (wide enough to be called Lac Deschenes). A balcony where ice blocks could be manufactured in about 60 minutes!

I still need to plaster, sand and paint the area where 'renovations' accomodated the new fridge!

We just got a new stove ourselves--but only after TWO of the electric burners on our antique stove (read: buttons for the burners instead of dials) literally blew up. Seriously, shrapnel and everything--and the second event blew a hole straight through the bottom of our very nice (and *heavy*) stock pot. Finally our management company came through...

I also was not under the impression that it got so hot in Toronto--isn't the lake supposed to keep the temperatures more moderate? My husband is from Buffalo, and it never got more than (translating) 30-ish Celsius for more than a week every summer. (Forty miles as-the-crow-flies! Though it's due north, I suppose...)

Technically Liberia and Myanmar also don't use the metric system along with the States. It drives me mad when my parents try to give me the temperature in fahrenheit and then can't convert no matter how long ago Canada switched over.

Hello-I have been lurking for months and I have all of your books. A wonderful knit shop opened in my neighborhood less than a year ago and I have rekindled my knitting obsession that has been dormant while I was quilting and rughooking and decoupaging and cardmaking. Anyway, I wanted to say that it's awful that your stove only lasted for 19 years. I have the same Kenmore gas stove that was 6 years old when we bought our house 40 years ago. It has a griddle and storage for pots and pans alongside the oven. Never a service call-it will be a sad , sad day if it ever kicks the bucket. Thanks!!

I, too, love your backsplash! Very pretty. Good luck with the new stove...I got one about 2 years ago and wonder how the heck I functioned without it. Baked goods abounded in our house for about 3 months nonstop (until my husband's pants were too tight, then I leveled off a bit).

You know...I wonder why we never converted to metric. I remember learning about the metric system in school. Hmm.

Sounds like at least one door frame is being dismantled for the delivery of the new stove and the removal of the old stove. Go with the back one and don't let them trample any of your lovely flowers en route.

The socks are lovely - even the mismatched ones.

I find your back splash fascinating. Looks like a mixer of tiles? Like a landscape. So artistic.

Our "new" stove is two years old and I still hate it and miss the old guy. There's nothing wrong with the newbie, but I just can't forgive it for not being the one I was used to!

Oh sweet, sweet Steph...welcome to Lifestyles of University Students. Our ingenuity and ability to find multiple uses for everything on this Earth makes up for our lack of funds. So go ahead and knit from the stash for a while; you'll be amazed at the incredible uses you'll find for those random skeins. I knit an eye pillow once, made out of stash yarn, and filled it with some cotton I found growing beside the highway and some dried lavender I had left over from my herb garden the year before.

Plus this way you'll feel less guilty buying more when you do finally get some moolah.

OK, I know this was about the stove, but I really love your backsplash! Did you do it yourself?

After our last stove troubles, I went the opposite direction, and bought a 1950s Wedgewood -- my theory was that if it hadn't broken yet, it was unlikely to anytime in the near future. I also find that, while most people hate pilot lights, they're really great for making bread rise in the winter.

Please please post with pictures of the Men With Experience getting the stove in the house?

As a (heat-hating) Floridian, I was going to scoff at whatever temperature you considered hot, but I have to confess that you win at disgustingly warm weather. It's pretty nasty here in Gainesville (the armpit of the state), but it's even hotter where you are. Yuck!

Good luck with the stove. Perhaps the deliverymen are actually wizards?

I kind of hope you're still having a gas stovetop, even if you've got so many other electric bells and whistle. I learned how to cook on gas and I missed it when we moved and there was no way for my parents to put in gas in the new kitchen. I still miss the gas, 10 years later.

I had to read this post a couple of times so distracted was I by your tiles. Gorgeous!!

You'll get excited when the new stove is in. When we bought our washer and dryer (my very first big appliances that belong to me) I had to restrain myself from dancing around the delivery guys as they set them up for me, I was so excited. Over a washing maching no less!

Pretty socks, btw.

Man, that's a pretty sock. And thanks for the C to F addition; we appreciate it. ;) I can guesstimate kilometers vs. miles, but C/F and centimeters/inches - gack. But yikes on that kind of temp this early!

Best of luck with the stove vs. doors. I can empathize. When my late husband and I moved into this apt., we had a 7-foot couch. Our apt. door (up one flight of stairs, oh joy), is in a corner of the landing, and inside there's a little foyer area about 4'x4' square. And y'know, the couch just didn't bend that way. We had to get the sucker in over the balcony. Humping a 7-foot couch up to a 2nd-floor balcony and through the sliding glass door...with no ropes or anything...was-- Interesting. Luckily we found some of our new neighbors were interested in free beer, 'cause it took 5 guys to manage it!

So, Stephanie, what you're trying to tell us is that you bought a new backyard barbeque? :)

Hope you don't have to knock down a wall to get the new one in there. _And_ I also hope the new stove covers the same area as the old one, or you're going to have backsplash issues!

109?!?! How can you knit? The needles would slide right out of my sweaty hands!

"Dpns size 1" - what is that in Canadian? :-)

The tile work around your stove/counter is beautiful! Good luck with that new stove. The one time I got to buy a new stove with all the bells and whistles I could afford I had to leave it in the house when I was put out by the sale of said house....oh well.

Did they have Garanimals in Canada? If not, (or if a reader is under 30) this might make no sense. It was a kids clothing line where there was a group of tops and pants and shorts and skirts that were all coordinated, and you knew this because they all had the same tag. The pink tulip set might have a giraffe, and the blue sailboat set might have a gorilla. If you got the pink t-shirt with the giraffe you knew it would match the pink in the trim of the skirt with the giraffe. Like that. Anyway, the yarn mis-matching post got me to wondering about how fun a sock yarn line would be where colorways could be coordinated (the toes and heels solid, with a tag that indicates they match a couple of the variegated ones.) But, now that I think about it, your two skeins would have had the same "hippo" tag anyway, so it wouldn't have saved any confusion. Oh, well.

Hope you have good air conditioning. That is one very good reason why I do not miss the Midwest. Yea for the Rocky Mountains!!

Appliance delivery and removal practically causes me to take to my bed with a cold compress. I have purchased appliances from a company that routinely would send one guy to lug and install stoves, dishwashers, etc. up multiple flights of stairs. (And this is a MAJOR appliance dealer in our area.) I would beg them to send two guys so that I wouldn't spend the morning obsessing about a single installer lying crushed at the bottom of the stairs under my defunct harvest gold dishwasher. It sends shivers up my spine. Good luck with those 5 or 10 extra centimeters...

We had to remove the porch railing and front door to get our refrigerator in! And...fridge, stove and dryer all died within 3 months! I feel your pain.

New appliances be it kitchen or laundry really hurt the old pocket don't they? I would love a new fridge as the inside of mine is held up with bits of wire, 2 part apoxy and little pieces of wood. It keeps things cold and frozen where it needs to so until it quits....I just keep little bits of wire and glue handy.
My remedy for the temp. differences is plus or minus 66 depending on what side of the border I am traveling on. Close enough is my motto.
Well, except in swatching of course.

Awww! Too bad you aren't in WI. I just tried to rummage my old stove for 10$. Then you could have had a working stove AND more yarn. Ah well. It's hot here too but not as hot as by you the lake (Michigan) cools us down quite a bit. I have to say though (back to the stove) I love my new stove it's all shiny and cooks wonderfully. You and the new guy will get acquainted and all will be fine.

I can't believe it's actually hotter there than here in tropical-swamp-passing-itself-off-as-a-city Washington, DC. Our "feels like" temp today is only 100F. You have my sympathy.

I'm also a practical girl who tends to make do, and I have a hard time coping when a major appliance gives up the ghost. Bottom loading freezers, front loading washers...I can't handle these types of decisions. Good luck with the new one. May it bring you as many years of faithful service as Sir Washee. And really, when you factor in the typical amount of years it will probably serve you, the sticker shock doesn't sting as much.

Upon helping my mom shop for a new range (blue flames issued forth from her old one during that last big thunderstorm) we discovered that self cleaning ovens are better insulated than standard ovens, and are therefore more energy efficient! Went against my better judgment, but there you go.

I am with you on the heat, and on the C/F confusion. I worked for several years at a provincial park close to the border in SW Ontario, and it was inevitable that at least every year someone would roll by with skis on the roof and ask how far they would have to go to hit the slopes...

Wow, I love the tile you have above the counter in your kitchen!

My Loksins! sock is also one that Miss TMW wouldn't use to knit socks, and it wouldn't be my normal choice either :) I'm glad we're helping the pattern learn new color choices!

The new sock is lovely! Beautiful color.
Can't wait for photos of Appliance Guys trying to shove 76cm of stove through less than 76cm of space. ;) But they're Professionals, right???
My new stove is 2" (5cm) deeper than my old stove so consequently the drawer under the counter, perpendicular to the stove, no longer opens more than 4" (10cm). It bumps the stove. So I'm screwed. It seems all the stoves are at least that depth these days, so, that drawer, (one of only 3!!!) no longer gets used. And one of the others is broken! No, I'm not bitter. Not one bit. Can you tell??
Maybe it's time for a kitchen remodel........

Our old stove was very, very basic too. She also had only one temperature and since her door didn't completely seal it took lots of time to cook things. I kept her until she started trying to burn our house down by scorching the cabinets that had kept her company for many years. I can only assume she was going through menopause and suffered temporary insanity. I felt for her, truly I did, but it was time we parted company. (I hope my husband doesn't repeat these words I'm typing some day.) Anywho, the new stove has all the bells and whistles but even after living with us for some months I've still not learned how to operate them all. Not even the convection oven which was the most enchanting option she offered and the reason for bringing her home. Which was quite the ordeal as well since the old stove was apartment sized and the new stove is normal sized. Part of the walls leading into the kitchen had to be destructed to get her through and into her new spot which is not anywhere near the cabinets the old stove scorched. You know, just in case the cabinets did something to make the old stove angry. Don't laugh. It could've happened.

Hope you learn to love your new stove as much as I'm learing to love mine. :-)

I just found out about this Air Quality Index website for downtown Toronto.
It is kind of dangerous information - I want to check it hourly but I don't really want to know how bad the results are.
http://www.airqualityontario.com/reports/today.cfm?sites=31103
stay cool!

Gee, 43 degrees and knitting, I'm impressed. Well, I've got a bummer stove story: our new gas stove top's ignition ticked and ticked; it would start up in the middle of the night! Eventually we turned yanked the ignition and now light each burner as we need it.

Your backsplash is very beautiful, nice glow to it. I love love the blue yarn.

I hope it all goes ok. We once had to hire an upholsterer to take the arm off a couch - move the couch to the room for which it was intended, then re-attach the arm.

If we ever sell the house, the couch will just have to stay!

I love the color of that yarn combined with the pattern. I also like the tiled backsplash that runs all the way around the counter. :)

Ah, but Mr. Washie is still going strong, right? You'll love the self-cleaning - lord knows I do, especially after our apartment building's Thansgiving dinner. (The men of my building do not seem to understand that you don't baste the turkeys by dripping juices all over my oven.)

It's 94 in Philadelphia (Fahrenheit - about 35 Celsius). I'm knitting wool too - spending my summer knitting sweaters. Just cast on one for my honey modeled after a sweater from a Highlander episode, and I'm praying that the pattern I've created will turn out like that sweater, since I couldn't find a pattern for it. And also praying that the wool won't make me pass out from heat exhaustion . . .

I'm completely blown away by the gorgeous mosaic behind your stove! Don't tell me you're a world-class knitter AND a mosaic artist to boot???

Well, dear Stephanie! So sorry about the server and the stove and the socks. Should you be avoiding "s" items?? There are alot of knitted items that start with "S"---could limit you to hats for awhile!

Seriously, I was so glad to learn that you were not a victim of a yarn avalanche---and mighty impressed with the way you described "server". Now I think I know what one is. Do question the use of your new cedar closet for storing lowly shirts. Don't you have enough yarn to fill it?? If you need subscribers, contributors, or adreaders, feel free to charge us in some way. I just don't think I could live without you---deductible medical expense for me!

Look forward to Knitty Gritty on the 29th. Hint for those who do not have the DIY network. Here in southern Ohio, TimeWarner cable channel-shares with HGTV in the mornings. Knitty Gritty is on HGTV here at 7am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

On subject of stove, why get a new one. I have a terrific set of plans to turn one into a planter and cease all that unnecessary cooking---not joking here! Or, if you cleaned it really well, more yarn storage. Do love that backsplash tile and am very certain that it's your creation---you artsy, talented Harlot.

Lovely new sockie! I'm working on a shawl, a baby blanket, afghan rectangles, and socks (depending on the heat). I try not to follow any humidity index. It just seems to make me feel hotter. On the Ohio River, the only time it is not humid is when it rains---go figure. Ignorance is bliss!!

Please, please, please---pictures of the clever men who will wedge the new stove into your kitchen without demolishing your house.

I'm now feeling lucky it only feels like 38 here in Philadelphia. (See how I did the conversion for you?)

Now, I have to disagree about the new stove. Mine runs hot, and I have a thermometer hanging inside to see the real temperature. Also, I am all about kitchen gadgets (do you know anyone with a food dehydrator?) If I could have a shmancy new stove (self-cleaning!) I would be hard-pressed not to start using it, even in the heat.

Mama's gotta do what mama's got to do. As you said the other yarns have already been purchased, so nothing you can do about it. Nothing wrong with stash diving, I manage to find some great stuff in my stash! The Loksins are looking great, that color is beautiful.

I hear hinges on the roof is all the rage. Just pop the top and you can arrange all your furniture just like you would a doll's house! Makes installing major appliances a snap! ;D

Do you think this means Mr. Washie will sulk? I mean, he's lost a fellow appliance. Man down! And now this newcomer with all the newfangled features....

So, I don't see any reference to the size of the old stove. Hopefully the opening for the stove will accommodate the 76 cm stove? Just asking.

Please enjoy the new stove anyway, at least for me. The only way my husband will replace anything is if it breaks,and sometimes not even then.When the center four number buttons on our microwave died,we had to get creative with timing too. Cooking things for 31 seconds, 61 seconds and so on.We did that for 3 years. It was my sister who took pity on us and gave us her old one.And don't get me started on the 13inch t.v. that my husband had since middle school(read 20 years ago) and was our family t.v. up until his parents bought us a new one for Christmas two years ago.He is a wonderful man and were it not for his stingy ways, I would not be able be a stay at home mom,however.. I am currently desperate for our stove to break,and considering helping it along. The sock is lovely by the way, and are you enjoying the KnitPicks needles? I have fallen in love with them myself, and they've been great for the Frost Flowers and Leaves lace shawl I'm working on.

Great tiled backsplash!... oh yeah... the socks are nice too.

Um, you get a few extra inches if you take the door down and rip out the frame. Just saying. Ask me how I know that. Good luck, and you'll probably love the new stove!

What is the protocol when you get rid of a non-working appliance? How well do you have to clean it?

Wow! I just yesterday posted pictures of the stoves in my kitchen and the hole they go in.

We've also been without a stove for a month since our old stove failed creatively and catastrophically. We've had two stoves sitting in our kitchen for a week. All I need to do is get the propane company to come out and get the things hooked up.

I have mixed feelings, actually. It's a pain to have to boil three kettles to fix tea and cocoa for five people, but less time spent cooking means more time spent knitting, and that's got to be a good thing.

I own a very large and very silver fridge that charmed it's way into my heart by being found significantly discounted in a scratch 'n dent sale, with no perceptible evidence of either.

It's purchase necessitated removing a pantry cupboard, an overhead cupboard, rerouting the access to the newly opened space from the hall to the kitchen, removal of the frame of the dining room door, and removal of the *whole* assembly of patio door and side windows from the dining room to the garden.

It had better last several times it's guaranteed life, as the house will have to go before it does.

But still, I grow misty-eyed when I think of it. It dispenses cold water, ice and crushed ice right through it's door. *sigh* Today, we are best friends.

I got a new stove a little over a year ago. I really enjoy using some of the fancier features. My husband laughs at me because I didn't want to spend the money on them. He did my job (accountant) and discussed their cost if amortized over the life of the stove.

Soon, you'll wonder how you lived without the stuff that didn't work as well as all the new features.

Your old stove has been serving you faithfully for years.
When we built our kitchen 2 years ago (yes, we bought a 145 year old house that had NO kitchen), we researched and agonized and discussed and comparison shopped and discussed more, and shopped again and searched the web for MONTHS for all the appliances we were putting in. We got a Jenn Aire cooktop, a really nice (and EXPENSIVE) double oven with convection on the top and the largest capacity non commercial oven on the bottom (at least twice a year we do a 25 lb turkey). We bought the high end, stainless steel dishwasher... and we put our old fridge in because it was only 3 years old.

Sears comes out twice a year to fix the Jenn Aire cooktop-- the igniters go regularly and now the finish on the top is bubbling. The dishwasher has been totally replaced twice under warranty-- and I think it's going to have to go again. And the really nice, convection oven quit doing convection with my bread in it on Sunday because the 4th door switch has broken. The old fridge keeps trucking on, however. Had to get out the socket wrench and tighten the door after we moved it... and had to clean out the freezer and put in a new light bulb.

You'd have probably been better off just fixing the old stove. It would have gone on for another 15 years. Unlike the new appliances, which are DESIGNED to fail after 5. Yes, I'm unhappy with the quality of Jenn Aire, GE and Kenmore.

Good luck, and enjoy having tempertures again... for as long as they last...

After visiting PHX in 43+ degree weather for a number of summers, I can relate. I was told to sit still and try not to move (or breathe, right?).

BTW, love the backsplash, at least what I can see of it. Any chance of getting a closer view?

It's not quite that hot in Chicago, but yesterday was very humid and our power went off for a good six hours. Too hot to knit, and nothing turned on! I was frantic until the sun went down and it was cool enough to sit on the porch and knit.

When I was in university, the oven in my best friend's apartment only went up to about 98F (36C). We used to joke that on really hot summer days we could turn on his oven and climb in for a bit of relief.

Experience counts.

When we got a new refrigerator, the delivery guys quickly took the entry door off its hinges so they could squeeze in the new appliance. Brilliant. :) Everything was going well until the crew leader realized the big ass hinge on the fridge meant it was never going to fit into its custom-built space, on the 2nd floor.

It went right back onto the truck, and we had to start appliance shopping all over again. :(

I thought the heat was bad here in western Mass. but it's worse in Toronto! So take a break from the stove saga and the heat and have a laugh about blogging etiquette. Here you go . . .

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n50/fiatabarth/kitten2.jpg

Lovely socks, lovely backsplash.

One I can probably have. The other, not so much...

Hope you're not left looking at ONLY the backsplash for long!

Your mosaic backspash is fabulous! I've been wanting something colorful like that for years... I'll have to show the pics to my hubby for inspiration. Great sock too!

The motherboard on our fancy-electronics double oven fried after six years, and just the part to replace it was $480. We found someone else who was remodelling who was throwing out their perfectly good double oven (same brand, no fancy schmancies), took theirs to their great relief that it would go to good use, and have been happy ever since. I think that what that all adds up to, is, be careful to close the oven door gently, in general. I think that'll help prolong its life.

on the subject of americans being unable to switch to the metric system, in the words of paula poundstone (from her legendary pop tarts video):

"we can't. we tried. we're stupid."

maybe some day...

Wow...you've got us beat by a couple of degrees! And if I had to choose, I'd take the dry heat!

The sock looks C-O-O-L and refreshed hanging out there by the clematis or whatever that is.

Good luck with the stove installation. (Weren't the floor finishing guys 'experienced' too? Hopefully no fires or frightening electrical shortcuts this time!)

I had a very similar stove to your albatross and made the switch a few years ago. It took about 40 seconds to fall in love with the temperature controls for the oven. The self-cleaning was equally easy to enjoy.
Happy heat wave!

I completely understand the reluctance about the new stove. My stove is a circa 1947 Gaffers and Sattler range that my grandmother bought brand-new. I love it so much that I paid a fortune to have it shipped from Los Angeles to Boston. Only about half of it functions properly, but I'll choose that half over a new one any day!

Okay, from a very proud American - I like our measuring system. I know how big an inch is, I know how much 3 yards is. I know how cold -15 degrees is, as well as how warm 90 degrees is! This is how all of America grew up - when I cook, I know how much a teaspoon is and how much a Tablespoon is. It is comfortable for me. It is ingrained inside me - our "odd" measuring system. When I go for a walk, I know how much a mile is, I know how many square feet are in an acre - this is logical to me. However, as an American, I am more than capable of going to one of the numerous metric conversion tools that abound on the internet and translate the temperature. While we may be the only group that still uses this method of measuring - we are a fairly large group! I hope I don't sound to bitchy - it is not meant that way at all. Truly!! Okay, I am off my measuring soap box and back to my regularly scheduled knitting!

I will be interested in seeing how they will get a stove that is 4 inches wider than your hall into your kitchen!! This should provide for an interesting afternoon at your house!!

awesome backsplash.

I love the tiling behind the sink and I am thinking that I need to start my own new sock...that pattern looks lovely.

OH! I guess you weren't doing the monkeys in green. And, its a blue wool. Must get this loose marble in my head fixed...... soon! Love that pattern as well. I printed out the monkey pattern yesterday and even though I have three pairs of socks going right now, in the Harlot fashion, I will be starting another. Good thing you told us to buy all those sets of dpns! :)

I love what I learn about Canada from your blog. I have learned that you have very cold winters (colder than I could ever imagine) and very hot summers.

Here in the UK, we're having odd weather (again). I know not to expect it to feel like summer yet over here - summer happens in September when all the children are back at school, and it lasts for a fortnight if we're lucky, but the flooding that parts of the country are experiencing right now is startling.

Self cleaning oven? I bet it doesn't! Mine doesn't anyway. It's meant to, but it doesn't. So that's one new feature you won't have to get used to!

Whoa...it's hotter in Canada than in Texas? Wonky. (I wish I could knit. I have sock envy. *sigh*)

Well crap on toast and all that..... I get properly cranked out when having to purchase anything that is not FUN (in all caps) and stove's definitely fall into that category. Especially with such poor timing. I must admit I am madly in love with my stove, it is just too darn bad that I very infrequently cook with it. Well, there IS frozen pizza but I don't think that qualifies.

Keep us posted on whether or not the stove makes the tight passages into the house, I bet it is going to be one whale of a grand story.

That is the teeniest cabinet and drawer ever - whatever do they house?

Summer here in Seattle is odd, after living in the Midwest all of my life. It seldom gets above the mid 80s (probably somewhere in the 20 C range, wish we'd have gone metric when I was little) and there's not a lot of humidity. In fact, the concept of humidity is so very different from what I'm used to that sometimes a native Washingtonian will say "it sure is humid today" and I kind of chuckle inwardly because it hasn't even registered on my scale.

Supposed to be in the mid 70s today. So far this summer I've been able to sleep quite comfortably through the night with my windows closed.

Enjoy the new stove - rather try to - but note (please) that when using the self-clean option, please remove your racks. The finish on them can be ruined in the intense heat.

I guess in truth they should be called 85% self cleaning...
(I'm envious for even that, as my stove is newer, but 100% Kelly cleaning ;)

Looking forward to the pictures of the Miracle Movers.

When I got a washer and dryer (after decades of hauling stuff to the laundramat) I got out the pre-digital camera and took pictures from the moment the truck pulled in to the moment it drove away empty.

At first the two appliance-moving guys were a bit befuddled, but they soon got into the spirit of the thing. They smiled at the camera. They paused at exciting moments. They pulled their pants up.

I really love your tiled/mosaic backsplash. Hope the delivery people don't try and make your house a different shape to get the stove in. We had movers that tried that once. Luckily, we were renting at the time. ;)

109 degrees Farenheit? Uugh. And I thought that 99 degrees F in Central VA in June was bad. I don't envy you.

We bought a new stove a few years ago. Luckily, we had a honker big sliding glass door to get that thing through, or it would STILL be out on the patio. Good luck, and hopefully the "it'll be okay" from the sales gerbil didn't mean that they would be rearranging your walls to get the stove in. :)

We're hovering around 45, but with zero humidity. I can't imagine Canada at that temp. It can't last long though, right? My mentor, who is German, is the one who teases me the most about my love for wool. He knows knitting is an art, but the simple fact that no one needs wool in Arizona provides him with lots of oppurtunites to make fun. "That stockpile of socks will be great when we have a nuclear holocaust."

Your stove broke? How lucky can one woman get!!

Hopefully they'll get your stove in. When our couch was delivered, the delivery men couldn't get it into our apartment from the stairwell of our triplex. We ended up bringing over a few family members to help us hoist it up to our third floor balcony using the fire escape. I shudder thinking about how we're going to get the damn thing out!

The age old tiger-by-the-tail: Love getting new things, but have to pay for said new things. I generally fall on the side of loving the getting!!

I know what you mean---I've got the hubbies new "big screen" TV to pay for. No wool and no new fabric.... :>(

My oven decided to quit one night while I had dinner cooking in it. Thankfully, hubby was able to fix it with a new element although it took him about two weeks.

I've been struggling to knit a sweater in the sweltering heat (it's about the same here in Ottawa as in TO. Today, I'm caving. The Loksins pattern is calling my name so I'm off to visit TMW and then do some stash raiding. It's too hot to drive to the yarn shop.

I have been knitting squares of the lizard ridge afghan out of Noro Kureyon for the last couple of weeks. I've had plenty of people, knitters and muggles alike tell me that I'm out of my mind. I already knew that about myself so I'm continuing to knit happily with wool. It's only a square, what's the big deal?

Good luck with the new stove. You'll love being able to set the temperature.

The next post or two should be a great read. Good luck.

Yay to the teenage daughter who likes the not quite matched socks! They were beautiful, just the way they are!

Tell Meghan that she's got "Dobbie Socks" like from Harry Potter. Dobbie always wore unmatched socks. It's the perfect thing for one sock syndromes....

Have a great day.
Terry-Jo
The Novelty Yarn Ho from Seattle

Since I know you are a renovator extra oridnaire, and I know you can handle it, I will tell you the secret. In a pinch, they can take out the back window. Or door. No, not just the pane of glass. It can go right back to the framing of the house by taking off baseboards, cutting off screws and shims that hold said thingy in place, and moving window out of framing,take out old stove, insert new stove to kitchen, reinstall window. It may be a worst case scenario, it may take someone carpenterish to do it for you, but one way or another you can and will get that stove in there.

Call me been there, renovated it.

Love the backslpash almost as much as the knitting.

Fantastic back splash!!!

We ended up having to take the doors off the new fridge to fit it through the THREE doorways required to pass into the kitchen.

Now, the freezer door opens every time you shut the fridge. I can't decide if the seal hates me for taking it away from the door or if both doors have something against me.

Enjoy the new stove.

That is hilarious... the ultimate fraternal socks. I love it. Good luck with the stove. Appliance shopping, buying, installing, cleaning, all sucks. (pardon my language :) But then we are just left with fire in a pit. darn civilization.

right now we are thinking that we are lucky it is only 112 degrees F.

It was 115 last week and is predicted that this is going to be a very hot summer.

But it's a dry heat.... (yeah, like your new oven is going to put out)

Stoves are tricksy. One day while wiping down the stove top, I turned on each one of the burners and all worked as expected. Later that day when trying to make dinner, only one small burner worked. Two days later the other small burner decided to work also. Now a month later one of the big burners decided to work but it likes to get hotter as I use it so I have to keep turning it down. I refuse to look at a new stove, or more accurately my budget refuses. If only one burner works then that is what I'll use. People say I am stubborn, but I refuse to let this appliance be the boss of me.

I've been looking at the furniture in my late mom's house, wondering how some of it is going to come out of the house. Fortunately, all the appliances except the fridge are built-ins and the big freezer is in the garage.

Still, that couch and love seat look problematical. I mean, I know they came in through a single door, but that's still not entirely reassuring. My houses have double doors and big sliders, so I've never had to worry about this before.

I just read through some of the replies to your blog about the new range. I think there is a book in there somewhere???? Who would have thought there were that many stories about appliances. I do love that tile behind the range-if you could blog about that I would love it. Minnesota has been having a heat wave also this June - cannot figure out where all these 90 degree days are coming from. We've decided that nothing is normal weather anymore - something has shifted in the universe.

I just bought a fridge, stove and diswasher yesterday...had to, don't have any of the aforementioned appliances. In any case, I'm kind of excited about it. Especially about the dishwasher. Love your cupboards by the way.

When my boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment together, we celebrated with the purchase of a new, gorgeous Pottery Barn couch. The only problem with this gorgeous couch was that it was about 10 ft. long, very wide, and needed to travel 3 floors up to our elevator-less apartment. The delivery men hated us that day, but in spite of the fact that the couch was about 3 inches wider than the door on either side, they got it in there. I just don't know that we'll ever get it out.

Reward them with a tall glass of ice water, whatever you do. A nice tip seemed to keep ours friendly, too. Though I'm not sure that movers get gleeful about gifts of yarn. :)

Good luck with the new stove. I recommend celebrating its arrival by cooking something sumptuous. :)

I once knew some people who special ordered a new stove - covection oven and regular oven, gas burners, all the bells and whistles of course, the problem wasn't getting it into the house, but they forgot to measure the space where it was to replace the old stove in the kitchen. Needless to say, it was about 4-6 inches too big, so they hooked it up, turned it sideways and it sat in the middle of the kitchen for several years. They had to find someone to rework antique metal cabinets in order to match the other cabinets. We thought they should have just taken the cabinet next to it out and built something like a butcher block, but that would have been too simple and not given us all something to talk and laugh about.

Ya know, if you'd sell those green socks you stepped out for knitty gritty, you could pay for the stove and a new microwave!

I always hate bleeding money for something big that I didn't really want in the first place. Still, when you start baking those cherry pies you will love, love, love the self cleaning oven.

Once upon a time, twenty-six years ago, we moved into an upstairs apartment and moved a couch up a ladder, over the front porch roof, and in through an upstairs window. We now have a fond laugh over our youth and exuberance and mark it as one of our "Great Moments in Family History!" (---cue the trumpets---)

Please show us how they get that stove in there!

I don't understand why they make appliances and furniture that won't fit through doorways. I know older homes like ours have narrower doorways, but still.... We bought a new leather couch for the family room. It was the right colour and just the right couchiness, you know? I sat and knit on it in the store to be sure! And they delivered it and it wouldn't go through the back door, which seems a normal size to me. So back we went and bought something I still don't really like. They did fit it in, but the colour isn't right, and it isn't couchie at all. Jams my head forward too far or something. So I asked if we could return it. Yeah, we could. But it would cost 25% of the price of the thing for them to restock it. REally!???? $500.00 to take the silly thing back?! So I still have a couch the colour and couchiness of which I do not approve. Hope your stove works out better for you! And Megan saw a great pair of socks and spoke up. I was going to, but she got there first. :O)samm

That tiling/mosaic is completely wonderful!

LOL - 30 years ago when I was in elementary school, we had to learn the metric system because America was on the verge of converting. We seem to be running a bit behind here.

My husband is an auto mechanic and virtually everything he deals with is in metric... yet we still measure our fabric and fiber with yards and our children still learn to measure their pencils with inches.

Oh... and wool socks... I live in So Cal where non-knitters have absolutely no appreciation for handknit socks. Zippo.

Stay cool!

Lucky! I dream of a new stove. My albatross is thirty years old and my landlord won't pay for a new one (even though said said hunk o'junk does not cook evenly and may leak a little). And I have to knit from stash either way. Pity party over.
Perfect color for perfect lacy socks!

Hah! Please take pictures of the stove delivery, it sounds like it promises to be entertaining! (Though I do of course hope it is successful, for your sake.)

You know, I think Alton Brown (from the Food Network show Good Eats) said in one of his books that he uses the insane heat of the oven's self cleaning cycle to heat up bricks or something, which he then uses to bake stuff. Seems like a good way to get some extra use out of all than energy!

Well. Crap. stupid stove. Doesn't it know you've had a kind of crappy week? May I suggest alternative cooking methods just in case? Healthy raw food diet? Solar cooking? Buddy burner? (google it- a girl-scout thing;) Microwave? bbq? Corner shop Poutine? Worst case: McDonald's for a lifetime? (*gags*) Anyway, those are my suggestions in case the whole stove shrinking thing doesn't work.

Hope you take pics if windows have to go....kidding- hope the install is smooth.

Ditto the comments on the tiling, quite nice.

Loksins are perfect. nice in the blue too;)

It's hotter in To than in Co! I am having to translate F to C, though some nice roadside clock/thermometres have both!
Hey, maybe you'll end up having to knit the sockyarn I sent you ;-)
Love the splashback, and the loksins, especially int hat duck eggy colour. Thanks for warning us that when we do our kitchen up back at home, we might not be able to get the stove of our dreams in.

Will you name the new stove?

It's hot? I've been sitting in front of the air-conditioner knitting, so I didn't really notice. Good luck with the stove by the way. Maybe the delivery guys can do magic and sorta shrink the stove to make it fit, or POOF! and the stove is in the kitchen? Although, now that I think about it the POOF! and it fits thing never seems to work with knitting gauge either.

Lovin' the tilework, very nice! Could we get a close up on the counter top? It looks very familiar......(btw, I'm with Rachel H. on this one, you'll love it, fancy pants bells and whistles..and the winking).
I love Lisa's yarns, with a passion I do.
Can't wait to hear about the entertainment.

I'm soooooooo sorry about the heat. I hate heat. I hate cooking in the heat, but I can knit in the heat... inside where it's cool.

I do wish though, that after I spent untold amount of money on children and book pimping this month, that you would stop showing me things I'd like to buy. Nevermind. Forget I said that...with all those colors, i would have found my way back to Lisa Souza eventually. (I met her at Stitches this year...sweetest person!)

Well, be sure to take some pictures when they send the physicists to bend time and space to get the new stove in - wouldn't want to miss that!

I cannot tell by the photo of your kitchen, but keep in mind that if you do not have an over-the-range fan that vents outside, you will have smoky fumes if you run a self cleaning cycle. We bought a new stove last fall, but have not been able to run the cleaning yet since we cannot afford a new fan and venting after buying the stove! Hahaha... Love the new stove anyhow, it is amazing how cool it is to have something actually work.

the socks from the other day reminds me of kids from my high school class buying converse tennis shoes, and then switching with a friend so they would each have a mismatched pair. love the old socks and the new.. sounds like an interesting challenge.. after years of watching my parents build their own house, i can appreciate watching someone else struggle with the stove, and not have to figure it out...

Yeah, our 'experienced' stove guys managed to take off the trim in the door (no big deal, but they didn't even notice!), and the stove is NOT wider than the doorway!

The weather's too hot? Come to Scotland where it's 13 degrees C and raining. I'll have any mismatched socks of yours that Meg doesn't want!
Seriously though, I'd rather have cool temperatures and rain than 43 and humidity. I wilt above 22.Good luck with the new stove and I hope the temperature drops to what you consider bearable.

may, many, many years ago my mom turned several shades of red when I asked when it'd be time to "turn" the muffins at a friend's house. The playdate had been going swimingly (with snacks nearly out of the oven) when I learned that not everyone has to rotate the pan in order to avoid both under AND over cooking at the same time. It was a hard lesson to learn, and sometimes I still (reflexively) set a timer and rotate the pan.

Congrats on the new stove - may it's introduction to your kitchen be without too much damage...

Wow! That's hot - it's only 40 C here in Tucson, AZ - and I thought that was bad. We had nearly 43 a couple days ago - but it's a dry heat. :)

Don't ya just hate it when life screws up our plans? Particularly when there is a necessary purchase that messes with our fiber plans!!!! Wonder if the person who bought the mismatched yarn will notice. New socks look great. Very sweet.

I send my love to Sir Washie...he needs to know he is loved just as he is.

Appliances can be a pain in the rear. I can imagine today it is really difficult to care that you are unable to produce a hot meal from a traditional oven/stove.

It's 43 C...in Canada??? It's only 31 C in Houston TX (88 F). We are usually that hot by now, but it's been relatively cool down here. Yea, I'm an American who can (sorta) do conversions. I cheated and used a F to C converter website.

Love the tile work in your kitchen, adn trust me, you will get used to the new stove. I did have to figure out a Celsius stove when we lived overseas, so the first time I went on a home visit, I bought an oven thermometer in Farenheit. Of course, the guy at the meat counter in the US looked at me funny when I asked for a quarter kilo of turkey.

Looks like the stove wasn't the same lot as Sir Washie! It should be interesting how they figure to get a stove larger than the doorway into the kitchen. Perhaps one of them can bend space and time? The socks look wonderful! How could anyone not love that color?

And I totally get why you single out us Americans for the Farenheit gauge. The people in charge are stubborn and refuse to change to the rest of the world. If you hadn't put in the 109 degree conversion, I would have followed it was hot, but wouldn't have understood how UNHOLY HOT it is in your part of the world today. My condolances!

I concur that the backsplash is jawdroppingly gorgeous. Can you put one in my house? :) I also concur that it is friggin' hot up here right now (I'm up in Markham, ON). But to be fair, it was gorgeous, sunny, and cool not two days ago. In NC, where I moved from, the humidity was outrageous and stayed outrageous for, oh, three months in the summer. Thunderstorms did absolutely nothing to help, unlike up here.

Of course, right now, a thunderstorm would be most welcome. Good luck with that stove!

I would like to say that it's just absurd it's that hot up in Toronto. I live in Texas, where we're USED to it being that hot for good chunks of the summer, and so far I think we haven't even broken 100F yet. ABSURD. I will trade you weathers.

Today is so hot (even up here in Sudbury) that looking at wool made me break a sweat.

Today is so hot that scrolling through this blog made me dizzy with heat exhaustion.

Best of luck with not melting...

My oven died 3 weeks ago, the repair guy who came promptly the next day promised it would be fixed in 3 days. (I have food allergies so I do all my own baking and depend on my oven) He said it was the only part that could go wrong on a gas oven. However the repair shop office didn't appear to know that, and it has taken them 3 weeks to figure out what part I need. I'm hoping it will be fixed tomorrow, sometime between 8 and 5 (at least that's what they tell me)
Oh yes, I bought a bread maker.
I love my bread maker!
Hope they didn't have to take out a window to get it in :)

Beautiful sock and awesome backsplash. I once had a stove with one temperature-the melting point of aluminum, and the oven used randomly self-selected temperatures. But hey, you're cooking with gas now! At least with the ungodly heat you can serve sandiches for dinner so the house doesn't get any hotter.

The new stove will get thru the door somehow, some way. Now just a stupid question. Is your old stove also 76 cm wide? Wouldn't want you having to tear up cabinets to fit it in.

Lovely sock. 43 C is terribly hot. Any relief in site? (We hit 38 C in Denver the other day and it was awful, but dry. I'm "bilingual" BTW.) Do you have AC?

At least you are young enough, dear Harlot, that you don't have to deal with hot flashes just at the mere thought of yarn touching your skin. (Ask me how I know about that.)

The Bahamas still uses Fahrenheit and the English system (i.e. miles, etc). I know I lived there.

Singapore is so metric they sell eggs by the 10 instead of the dozen!!

Jill

Ugh, I sympathize - it's awfully humid in Buffalo too, though not quite as hot. You could always knit with cotton or bamboo while it's this miserable out?

My gas range will no longer light UNLESS! There is a repairman on site. I'm serious. The @*^&@ing thing WILL. NOT. LIGHT. - until I call a guy who charges $50 to grace me with his presence, at which point it INSTANTLY lights right up. "What, me? Oh no, sir, I work just fine...the woman is crazy, sir, that's the real problem...too stupid to fiddle the knobs, that's right..."

ARGH.

I can't WAIT to hear how they solved the entry issues. And what-all names they come up with to describe their feelings toward the sales guy who so glibly assured you they were "experienced" at shrinking appliances...

I love that colour yarn. (note I am using the proper Canadian spelling, to be a polite guest in your virtual cedar closet) Seeing all the magnificent socks hanging around here (and a lot of other blogs lately) is starting to make me want to try a first sock - again.

So sorry Mr Heatie isn't in the same league with Sir Washie. May your new stove never scorch.

And thanks for translating C to F for retrograde Americans like me. I hope the heat lifts in time for Canada Day.

Which I now celebrate... mostly because of you.

Can you post a better picture of the backsplash? Are you going to share your old stove's creative demise, or just tease us about it? Could I point out to "dez" that not all of us were ALIVE during the 70's, let alone in school, and some of us have never had a chance to use Celsius, however much sense it might make, and are mathematically challenged enough to appreciate when someone converts to Fahrenheit for us? Thank-you for doing that. If I wanted to do math I could work in science or computers or MATH! I only tolerate the minimal math that knitting requires because the rewards are so great. Very pretty socks, but that seems like an unusual color for you to be using. Nice, but not usual.

Re metrics - the only problem I have with metrics for temperature is that they are less exact without adding decimals. If I put my ac thermostat on metric, I can't set my ac for 74. I can set it for 73 or 75 .... but not 76 or 78. And yes, I dinged my thermostat up a year ago and now it only talks metric and annoys me.

Besides - gumble, grumble - ounces and pounds and quarts and pints are British and even though *they* have abandoned their heritage on this ...

Besides, "gimme a pint" will never be replaced by "gimme .473 liter".

Your sock is such a gorgeous color!

Somehow, the hot and humid Florida panhandle suddenly seems so much more bearable. Lace is the only thing I want to knit in this weather. The humidity makes it stick nicely to the needles, too - no dropped stitches, but it can be kinda tough to move (shove) that (shove) stitch (shove) along! Whew!

I, too, drool over the fantastic tile backsplash. You should like the new stove once you have trained it to obey, although the staid predictability of actually getting the oven temp you ask for will get a bit wearing after a while.

I love having a self cleaning oven-but turning it to clean scares me to death-the whole stove gets so hot I refuse to leave the area while it is on, but it leaves only a pile of ashes on the bottom which the vacuum hose sucks up nicely.
I have a hand stenciled sign on the dining room wall which says" I don't even butter my bread, I consider that cooking". Since the kiddies have moved on I have tried to aspire to that philosophy so self cleaning is rarely needed!!!
And, the tile in your kitchen is very gorgeous.

Just be careful; it seems like when one appliance goes, several follow. Maybe that's just MY house imploding. We had a lovely little plumbing adventure here over Father's Day and then the dryer went.

It's hot as hell here in Austin (I believe "hot as hell" is the same in both C/F.) but I am knitting my wool socks anyway. About to finish my third pair --woohoo.

We all finally learned the metric system when Lance Armstrong started winning the Tour de France on a regular basis. It was as good a reason as any --and now you can't get all the hobby cyclists in Austin to talk in any other terms other than kilometers and Celsius. (You know, there are truly a LARGE number of cyclists here. They should get organized and REPRESENT! Steph, you could tell them how! We could join forces and all put baskets on our bikes...)

Heat addled,
Barb

The socks are lovely and I think socks are a great hot weather project, they aren't big enough to lop all over your lap and if you knit them now, you're all ready for cooler weather when it hits.

I hope the new stove works out great for you.

Now let's get to the important comment. I love love love your tile backsplash. How beautiful and unique!

Every time they tell me what the temperature "feels like with the humidity" I refuse to listen. Just tell me what the temperature really is. I know what it feels like with humidity. There's always humidity. I'm in Michigan. If I hear some other number, my brain think that's the actual temperature and then thinks it feels like that temperature with humidity, i.e., hotter.

That said, as soon as I read 43 degrees, I thought holy crap, that's hot! Even though I think of temperatures mostly in Fahrenheit, I know 37 Celsius is human body temperature, so if it's hotter than that, and by several degrees no less, well, that's not fit for humans.

Funny thing is, when I was in school they assumed we all knew the "English" system so they only taught it to us once, one day in second grade. I was absent that day. Metric on the other hand, they viewed as new and exotic, so they taught it to us every year, even though nothing could be easier. So yeah, I know metric even if I don't use it daily, but I don't have a clue how many cups are in a gallon or how many square feet are in an acre. I use inches, feet, yards, and miles, ounces and pounds, teaspoons and tablespoons, cups, degrees Fahrenheit...and that's about it. The rest of the system's (if you can call it that) units stump me and I always have to look them up. How many whatsits in a whosit? Aw, crap, I can't remember... I was absent that day!

Appliances rarely die gracefully. I await the saga of the stove delivery.

Oh. My. God. Steph, the backsplash in your kitchen is amazing. I mean, WOW.

PS--> Sorry about your old stove, but I think you will like the new one once you get used to it. :-)

New stuff always creates a hiccup in life, even if it's a good new thing. I'm struggling to adjust to my new laptop which I got before the old one died... which means I have some stuff on one and some on the other. I understand about simple appliances... I miss microwaves with a dial.

As far as turquoise, you know I'm all about that color. My wedding dress was turquoise silk (and much more intense than Turqua, in my own ColorJoy way). Great choice.

So when I checked Google Reader it said you were the most recent poster of my several dozen blogs I have marked. There were almost 150 comments. You rock, my friend.

Oh, and thanks for making sure I know that Lansing is not as hot as it *could* be... it only got up to 91F/33C today. Time for iced tea or mint juleps.

Your old stove looks a lot like my current stove. totally understand about the temp thing. I got a oven thermometer to be able to tell the temp of the oven. I too have to knit from the stash for a while but mine is due to the money going through my pipes. At least the plumber is having a nice summer vacation on me! Love the socks.

The stove dilemma reminds me of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (by Douglas Adams) when Richard tried to get the sofa up the stairs, but got it stuck.

Hope that doesn't happen. As I remember, that sofa was there for most of the story.

I too will be watching the stove-getting-in saga with interest, and will be taking notes as we have a "how did that tank get in there, and if we replace it, that means it has to come out, no?" dilemma for the bathroom. Running close second is the "they wouldn't have built the closet around it, surely" discussion about the said tank. I think ceilings, walls and doors will fall in the quest for a better bathroom. Hope the same does not happen around your stove.

I, too, love your mosaic tile work. Stunning!

It was down to 4 Celsius where I live last night! Cold, but great weather for knitting.

Can't wait to read your blog tomorrow to hear how the stove moved in. I'm not laughing already - not really!

Ooooh, yummy yummy turquoise sock! I'm in the process of knitting turquoise socks, too. Maybe it'll be some kind of knitblog meme thing? Naaah...

Glad someone liked the Mismatches Monkeys (which I think is a great name for a band)! Yay for new socks and new stoves!

I never imagined it could get that hot up that way!? You guys usually send the artcic winds down to us in Chicago. Heck, now that I'm in California it's not even 109F (yet)!

I would however do anything for a new stove, so if you don't need it... ;)

I find that no matter what the light object you're knitting, in the heat it doesn't matter, it's HOT work.

I, for one, am so glad that you give us the Fahrenheit temps since I can't quite convert in my head. I so wish the U.S. would change its system but I doubt that will happen in my lifetime.

I'm quite curious how the delivery guys will shrink your stove too. BTW, I love the tilework on your kitchen wall!

I may have to rethink my dreams of moving to Toronto! Having lived in other countries, I can handle weight and distance in metric, but for some reason I can't wrap my brain around temperature. (Except that 0=32.) So, I thank you for giving Fahrenheit to us backwards Americans!

Seems to be that kind of month... My washer _and_ dryer broke, one after the other, dryer: Friday, washer: Saturday. 700 Euros and a week later I had them both replaced and honestly I feel just like you. My dryer has a light inside (and is made out of stainless steel. Talk about blinding glare when you open that baby). And about a million different settings. My old one had a timer that went up to 120 min and that was it.
Same with the washer, a million settings and some extra buttons you can use additionally. I can even pick how fast the spin cycle goes, but it hasn't got a light inside (which would have freaked me out anyway.)

Those socks are awesome! Love the color and the pattern.

I like metric math - it's so easy to multiply & divide by 1000s. I just that I just can't visualize the metric units as easily as I can the feet and yards and quarts and gallons that I grew up using.
Metric temps? Only one I can keep in my head is 82F = 28C! So, here in central Oklahoma USA it's been hitting slightly more than 28C every day for the past 2 or 3 weeks, along with this atypical daily monsoon. We had more rain today than we get some entire summers!
Hmmm. Weeks. Does the whole world use "weeks"?
And then there's that weird UK money thing, with pounds and guineas and farthings or whatever.

Love the mosaic. Good luck with the kitchen range.

Hope the new stove fits. I bought wool for more socks today! i wish i could knit 3 pairs at once.

talking bout 43F, here in Tassie we are lucky to get 10 degree celsius lately. At least it is great knitting weather!

I don't like very hot weather, but am very tempted to move to Canada right now. Here in Lincolnshire it is cool and overcast and the Yorkshire/Lincs/Midlands region generally had 2 months' rain in one day on Monday, leading to floods. As my OH has just started a 4 week holiday (his firm has a sabbatical scheme), he would like some sunshine please.
Re metric/imperial: you shouldn't go away thinking the UK has really converted either. The bright young things may be au fait with cm, ml &c, but people my age (43) were confused by being "sort of" taught in both systems. As I result, I flip flop from one system to another depending on how I feel. With temperature for example, I like it to "sound" as cold as it is in winter i.e. minus 2 celsius, and as hot as it is in summer i.e. 70 F (I wish!)
Older people are pretty resolutely non-metric - we the people had to have a big argument with the Govt/EU about shop keepers being allowed to sell produce in lb & oz, which is what most of us still ask for - a pound of apples, 2lb of potatoes &c. At one point, shopkeepers could use both scales, but there was an edict that they had to stop displaying imperial or even mentioning it. (We the people won. Eventually. Last month in fact.)
The aforementioned OH, despite being a scientist, is quite fond of imperial and says it makes more sense as an everyday system as it is more suited to what we actually use measurement for every day. Metric is TOO accurate - when was the last time you held a gramme of anything? Why do we want to know a door is 500mm wide, when we can probably visualise 20in? Also, the top joint of your thumb is roughly an inch and your arm a yard. (I was pretty much quoting there; I don't think that deeply about such things.)
Anyway, good luck with getting the new cooker installed. And send a bit of that warm weather this way, will you? Thanks.

My blog friend gave me a hint on your socks in progress: Knitting world is really small - my grandmother tought me this pattern and I wrote the pattern down (here: uhoavagnu.blogspot.com/2007/03/kerttu-sukat-kerttu-socks.html ). It's not exactly the same but pretty close ;)

I love the mosaic!

Heh. It snowed here today. LOVE those 'Loksins', and the Turqua colour is gorgeous. Oh, and I'm green with envy. I hate my stove with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns, and I desperately want a new one. But then i also want a new house. And car. Oh, well.

Don't tell me about the heat. I got a research grant half a year later than it was announced so I guess I'm bound to go to Italy to do the research in July or August since it has to be spent before I graduate which is sometime in September. Yuck.
Another yuck goes to my kitchen. New floor tiles, new stove and awful old kitchen counter. abut it sort of works and I'll rather buy some books and yarn instead.

It's very hot here too. Socks are the knitting mainstay here.
Appliances and vehicles have an uncanny knack for dipping into yarn stash money. Just when a knitter "needs" more yarn! My old stove was 17 yrs old when it decided to go, one week before Thanksgiving. Being a basic kind of gal, I opted for the basic stove. Only requirement? Big enough for a large turkey and capable of canning. You'd be surprised how many stoves cannot handle canning food. I had a lot of trouble "bonding" with the new stove. My old one baked a lot of bread and cookies with my kids helping. I know, I'm a bit eccentric but there were a lot of memories with that stove. Just like memories with yarn and needles........LOL Good luck getting that stove in the door. We bought bunk beds for the boys and had to saw them in half to get them in the house on a cold sub zero day 2 days before Christmas.

I just moved and had to sell my old stove which was antique, it was the first of the auto pilot light and you had to push a button to light it. The oven was hot or hotter and forget making souffles. I now have a flat top, self cleaning, wonder. I actually love it!!! Now if I only knew to use it. For years I remember the US trying to change to the metric system and everyone revolted. Me included, no one could understand it and it was hard? Now being a shop owner and weighing fiber, it is so easy to figure out vs. the US way. It's all in 10 and even I can add by 10's. I am older and learning it!!! We should try again!!!

Bah, I think your broken stove mojo has passed its way onto me as my oven decided to crap out last night. :/ I, unlike you, do not have love for my old oven, however I have learned to appreciate it while pricing out new ones online last night. I shall miss the self-cleaning feature, even though I only used it about once a year because I'm not sure it functioned properly. And of course I prefer the price of the old one: ie it was included with our home when we bought it.

LOVE the new socks!

Did your stove talk to mine? Mine died on Monday as I was attempting to cook tacos. Love the socks! Stay Cool!!!

I wonder what the melting point for wool is.

I was doing just fine with the wool sweater I am trying to knit up for my husband before our baby arrives this winter... but now that I have the bottom, and the two sleeves joined it just seems so warm and big. Thank goodness for air conditioning or else this sweater may never have shoulders and a neckline.

I thought Canadians were Americans too, oh, and for that matter, what about South America? Aren't we all Americans?

Love the sock!

I'm so glad you mentioned the temperature conversion. I'm from the US, but despite years living abroad, I cannot ever remember what temperatures in Celsius mean. Like, not even a vague idea. Its ironic that I work as a translator, but no matter how many times I try to learn it, the temperature thing just steadfastly refuses to translate.

The US is frustratingly backwards in its measurements, but I do think there's something poetic and easy to remember about 100 degrees being the threshold for "very hot."

Not everyone uses sock yarn for socks so the person who bought the other two skeins may be happy with the mismatch.

She probably should do something to pair them since I would have made the same mistake :P

It is fun to watch delivery guys. They had to take our front door off to get our refrigerator in. My house is notoriously non-standard in some of it's measurements.

"...with an emphasis and creativity that was completely behaviour unbecoming a faithful appliance."
I laughed my arse off. It must have been spectacular!
The heat is too much. I count myself among the spoiled and overprivileged who have AC and invite my not so lucky neighbours over regularly (knitting is encouraged but optional). Can't wait for the storm.

Oh, and we had to get Garfield, the "special" delivery guy to get my washer in the basement... after two tries by the regular dudes. Houdini, I call him.

Hi, Stephanie -- Ten years ago, my stove, washer, and dryer all died in the two months after my daughter was born. I'm surprised I didn't end up ordering a snowmobile instead, I was so groggy. Good luck with today's installation -- we ended up with a very weird dryer because of that stair/appliance size mismatch. Also -- if you reach the bottom of your stash and the sock yarn is all gone (which, I know, will indicate that there's a blizzard in July) please contact me. I have plenty to tide you over!

We just had a similar experience with a side-by-side refirgerator. The installers were so excited because it looks like our house has double entry doors. . . but the 2nd one is a fake! They were sad when I told them. . . and my fridge came into my house in pieces. It appears to be working, though, so rest easy!

Good luck with the new stove and the whole 'stove delivery drama'. When it doesn't work, and you find the salesman blatantly lied to you about how 76 cm items will fit through 66 cm doorways, be heartened that here in the deserts of Southern New Mexico, where we have swamp coolers and not central air conditioning, we would sooner stick needles in our eyes than turn the stove on between May 31st and Sept 1st. You'd be astonished to discover all the things you can cook on a barbecue grill. If you grease the pizza pan, and close the lid on the grill, you can even roast a frozen pizza out there and it comes out all nice and smoky flavored.

Yippeee for new stoves! Imagine being able to bake instead of burn! ;)

(I tried to email you but I think it got lost in your email problems. I have a favor to ask.)

Actually, the United States has been OFFICIALLY on the metric system for the past 200 years; it's just that nobody's ever implemented it. Really! It's sort of like changing to one- or two-dollar coins - we won't make the change because it would cost the manufacturers money to re-tool (both for metric measurements and for the vending machine & laundromat people).

I guess I'm just saying the Canadians are better at something else again - they've changed to metric and eliminated $1 and $2 bills within the past generation - all while having a National Health Care system that really works.

Stephanie? Would you please ask your mother to adopt me so I can move to a civilized country? Thanks.

Ahhhhhh ... now you know why nobody in the state of Florida knits - except for moi, and I am a throwback to the Northeast. Although there was a time in the eighties when I was the only person in the entire metropolitan New York area knitting on the subway. People who did not know me knew my knitting.

This past week we were in Arkansas for the ATA World Championship Taekwando Competition. We make a pilgrimage to Little Rock every year for that purpose, as son and husband like to compete. Me, I'm a purple-soon-to-be-blue belt, and I NEVER compete. I am a professional cheerleader. And - I knit.

I was the ONLY person at the ATA Worlds who was knitting! What's THAT all about? After all, there is an absolutely splendid Hobby Lobby there - part of my vacation plans ... and while the selection of double pointed needles is less than impressive, I can make do and knock out some grand socks and dishclothes-cum-afghan squares.

By the way, I picked up a great Socks the Cat toy that meows convincingly, and a tee-shirt that proclaims, "I Miss Bill." And I do, I really do.

Stephanie, when are you taking your act on the road to Florida? Hint: the nicest time of year is around October. Pass it on.

What was up with your blog this morning. First it wasn't findable and then when I tried again later it came up blank. I was happy that the 3rd time (yet later again) was a charm and there you were.

I got to watch the we can install an appliance that is wider than the hallway when I bought a new fridge a couple of years ago. It was entertaining but also nervewracking when I thought they weren't going to get it in.

Of course, the 'other knitter' who bought the mismatched skeins can still make a matching pair of socks by simply stranding the two skeins while knitting-- I do this all the time with hand dyed yarns- even if they are supposed to be all the same color!

Good luck with the stove thing-- we are counting down the days until our dishwaher dies, and then we'll have to do the same maneuvers- in a very small condo kitchen!

I moved into a condo with new appliances in April and still can't figure them out--too many settings and features. I do like self-cleaning ovens though and would not like to do without that feature. And I do like the ice water and ice dispensed through the refrigerator door. The recent move did involve several problems with getting things out of the old place and into the new place. This was the first time I used professional movers vs. friends and family, and the pros did have a number of tricks for manuvering larger objects through smaller doorways. But after the fun of reading your posts about the floor sanders during the master bedroom redo, I'll be disappointed if the "men with experience" just slip the new stove right in place. Just kidding! I realize that the experience of being there during the floorsanding and sawdust bonfire was not that funny, even if reading about it was! Oh, and during the recent move, the remote control to the TV went missing and we had to change channels by actually getting up and walking over to the TV and pressing the buttons. Makes you realize all the stupid things we have automated. (Yes, my children in the olden days grandpa actually had to walk over to the set to change the channel!!)

Sorry you had to get a new stove, but cool backsplash!

So sorry about the recent demise of your stove. I'm on board with the others who would like to see video of the "experienced" movers who can get a big fat square peg through a tiny rectangular hole. HA! And I'm also greenish with envy about the backsplash. WAY beautiful.
I'd never have noticed the sock color differences if you hadn't pointed them out. But then, I wore a blue shoe and a green shoe to work one day and didn't notice til I got back home.

The weirdest thing about stoves now is this - it you want to get one that doesn't have any sort of electronic readout or computer in it, you have to pay 6 times as much and get a Viking or such like. Seriously - in my NYC apartment I have a Wolf range my parents got me and it has no computerized anything - and NO self-clean option! And it cost thousands...super powerful burners though. And when I moved out of its original home my movers moved it too - the door frame and the kitchen floor have the dings to prove it. I'm sure your delivery guys will get yours in, somehow. And the first time you make something in the oven and can set the temperature and the timer and walk away knowing it will come out fine, you'll think you died and went to kitchen heaven.

This is totally unrelated to kitchen appliances and magical movers with delusions of shrinking said appliances grandeur, but I simply wanted to give a little appreciative greeting. Found your blog through a bit of osmosis, if you will. Was doing some late night Amazon.com searching for bargain pattern books (I can't always bring myself to drop all of my money on them, especially when I've practically spent my son's college fund on the yarn in the first place), and happened upon some very positive reviews on your books. (Which weren't the pattern books I was originally there for, but brilliant nonetheless). I'd like to say I'm more than a beginner, but then there are the times I get completely ahead of myself that land me falling back to Earth from the yarn heavens with a slight thud. So glad to see this blog, really, I'm delighted to know I'm not some freak of nature.

Hi from humid south GA (USA, not Russia...) where all my friends look at me like I'm nuts for knitting wool socks anytime of the year...I was knitting Saturday while camping at a state park near me, and a visitor commented, "How can you be knitting wool socks when it's over 90 degrees F?!!!!!" Good luck with the new stove...bought a sofa last week that was too big for the door, and my visiting nephew from college figured out how to get it in the house....I never learned that sort of stuff in college.

Why would Americans switch to metric just to be cohesive with the rest of the world? I mean the whole country BEGAN with a bunch of rebels ;-). I must say I do wish I had paid a little more attention to that equation we learned in elementary school.

Will your old stove get some sort of "Mr. Stovie" award? Like Mr./Sir Washie?
My stove is as old as I am. HA!! That's what I get for buying an old house.
Maybe someday I'll get a new one.

Your old stove looks just like my current (18 yr old) stove, which has recently been pulled out so we could paint behind it. Just far enough down the wall, though, like your wonderful tile. I love the gas stove, because I can cook during power failures, after lighting the burner with a match.

I have a tendancy to become attached to things sitting that have been sitting in my house for ten years or longer no matter how dysfunctional they are.
Seriously, when I explained your mismatched sock colorways to my daughter she gave me "that look" and said, "Really, I don't see the problem."

Ah, a new stove. I'm envious. My current oven, unlike yours, WILL do different temperatures. Unevenly, but it will theoretically heat to different temps. However, the led display won't tell you what the temp is! You just have to trust that you punched in the correct numbers and the correct time on the timer. It operates on faith.

Sounds like now you will be expected to cook and it sounds way too hot to cook.

When I saw the picture, I thought that your old stove was your new stove because it's so clean!! You clearly could be putting more time into your knitting... :)

(New site loads much faster for me -- thanks!!)

Forget the stove, you have an excellent backsplash! The multicolored mosaic looks great! Any chance you or someone you love made it? (And the new stove looks nice, too.)

you call the stove bruce
you close up the house
go to a cool place for the weekend
or at least soak you head under the
garden hose and cool off if it works
if we do not here from you we will
know the house will not let you back in
this one has a mind of its own they do you know
it is so hot and humid here in floirda
try knitting with a lovely ribbon yarn

I am in love with the mosaic behind the stove. Could you post some more pictures of that? It is gorgeous. It is gorgeiosity personified!

Forget the sock and the stove, I keep staring and appreciating your mosaic back splash thingy. Love it. And metric vs. imperial - when are we going to learn?

I simply I adored the your site!
Your blog is beautiful!
I should like of knowing if you could sent over receipts of dots year around , with bow.
The books what I see what vc has , into the Brazil no exists.
Thank you immediately.
Simone

Ooh, you tricked me. I was sure from the first repeat it was Twisted Flower.

Oooh, I love your socks, and the color. Yeah, I'm thinking it won't take you long to start liking the new stove.

If it makes you feel any better about your hot day...a couple of weeks ago, my thermometer exploded. I thought that only happened in cartoons, but no, it was hot enough to break my thermometer! We guess it was at least 140 out (60C I think). And since the rains are here...I don't even want to think of the humidity...

Your canada alphabet making love in a canoe quote brings up the wonderful and definitive canadian joke, which I will proceed to tell you... except I am trying to re-phrase it without the rude word I usually use. Am I supposed to be careful of my language when I post a comment? I bet I am, but it is my first time, and I don't know. Well, I'll have to use asterisks: What does american beer have in common with having sex in a canoe? They're both f****** close to water!
Happy Canada Day!

I love, love, love your backsplash!!