Preoccupied

Since returning from Rhinebeck, I haven't been paying much attention to the blog, or even to knitting for that matter. We returned on a Monday, and on Tuesday morning, as I was walking down the street on my way to do some shopping, an acquaintance who rents a lot of parking spaces in the neighbourhood (remember, this part of town was laid out before cars, so most homes don't have attached parking) stopped me and asked if Bill and I were still looking for a house. We weren't actively looking, I said, just keeping our eyes and ears open. Well, I was told, parking tenants of hers were about to put their house on the market. In fact, it was next door to the one we'd made the offer on a couple of months ago. (Remember the one that needed a complete makeover?) Would I like the owners' phone number? Yes, I said. When I got home, I called and a voice with an English accent answered. She and her husband, a Queen's professor, were about to list their house, but Bill and I could have a look before they did. Wow, we thought when we saw it. The next day we made an unconditional offer, which was accepted, and as soon as everything was firm we put our house up for sale. Within 24 hours, we had a contract on our house too. It's being bought by a young female doctor and her engineer husband.
First, the good news. The new house is three floors of gorgeousness--four bedrooms, two and a half baths, plus a library with floor to ceiling bookshelves. It has the feel of a London townhouse, done up with impeccable taste. There's also a small but lovely garden backing onto a vine-covered wall. The limestone building was constructed in 1842 when the city was the booming new capital of the United Provinces. You've seen it on this blog, although when I first took photos, I had no idea I'd own it someday.
                                                                   

The professor and his wife are moving to a country property with (gasp!) eight fireplaces. 
Now the bad news. The move is to take place in the middle of February. Wait--I just remembered someone saying that you could get good deals with moving companies in the middle of winter, so maybe it's not so bad after all.
So, between keeping our house in an unnatural state of tidiness and cleanliness, and feeling a wee bit anxious during the negotiations, inspections, etc., I haven't done much knitting. The knitting I have done has been of the mindless variety. Example:

Sock knitted while sitting in a local coffeeshop waiting for purchasers' inspection to be over (unlike in DC, here the sellers do NOT attend). It's Lang's Jawoll, but I've lost the ball band so I have no idea what colourway it is, but it looks great with jeans. Right now, I'm celebrating the conclusion of this entire episode by leaving dirty dishes on the kitchen counter and wet towels on the bathroom hooks.

P.S. I'll be teaching this coming Saturday at Knit Traders here in Kingston. I'll be helping the class get started on my Diamanda Mitts, while demonstrating one- and two-handed stranded knitting on dpns. See you there, if you're signed up. Drop by and say hello if you're not.