Yes, I’m still a Rainey Sister. I know it’s been ages since I’ve posted. Poor Susan has been left to do it all while I moved and then recovered (somewhat). A few of you have asked how the move went — what we did right, what we did wrong, what we learned. I’m not sure yet how I’d grade our decisions but I do have a few thoughts.
One thing we did right was to start going through our belongings months ahead of time. We got rid of a LOT of stuff’; we’d been in our house for 20 years and things were stashed everywhere. Sorting became our version of Swedish Death Cleaning, in which you rid yourself of possessions so your heirs don’t have to. Even so, we still had a lot of boxes to move. We could have gotten rid of more.
We chose to move to Boulder before we put our house in DC on the market. We did that so we wouldn’t have to be there while it was being shown. I didn’t want the stress of last minute showings (and constant cleaning), the invasion of privacy, or worrying about small items going missing during an open house. .
It was the right decision for us, but has a few downsides. We are renting, and therefore we know we’ll be moving again. It would have been more fun or exciting to go directly into a new “final” home. We have boxes and boxes of belongings that we don’t want to bother to unpack. I can’t find things when I want them. (I do know where my yarn is.) We don’t feel “settled.” ‘Cause we’re not. On the other hand, renting here gives us time to learn neighborhoods and understand the market here before we look for a new house.
The move itself was very hard. I sobbed when I left our house in DC for the last time. I loved that house. Still do. It was, however, too big for just the two of us. We were too far away from our kids. We could have stayed put and been perfectly happy, but it felt as if it was the right time to make a change. We wanted to move when it was our decision and when we could still enjoy the outdoor life offered by Boulder.
Now that we’ve been here for a few weeks, the upsides are very real. I see my daughter every few days instead of once or twice a year. I’m closer to my son — it will be a short flight to see him on Christmas instead of a full day’s trip. Within six months to a year, when we’ve found a house and gotten into a routine, we’ll be even happier that we’re here.
I just took a walk. Within 5 minutes, I was in the foothills. I even ran into a herd of mule deer.
In the meantime, I have been doing some knitting. I just finished a sweater – – Carol Sunday’s lovely Milkweed Pullover. Some of you may remember that I started her cardigan version of this design years ago. It is beautiful, but it wasn’t flattering on me. I loved the stitch pattern, but set it aside. I was thrilled when she re-worked the central design into a pullover. It’s a much better look on me.
I made very few changes. I reworked the start of the sleeves so that the ribbing flowed into the braided cable. I also put a decorative button at each side of the split hem. I have more of the buttons; I’m trying to decide whether to add a second one. Opinions welcome.
The yarn is Carol Sunday’s Angelic 5-ply, which is heavenly (pun intended). I knit it in the color Bone. The yarn has a lovely halo after blocking and it’s wonderfully soft.
