We're buying a house!

I haven't posted anything in the past few weeks - I went to visit my parents for a week and that threw everything off.  I haven't knitted anything new, though I think I'll go online and try to find a pattern for something I can knit with the yarn I already have.  I did paint two paintings, but they're pretty ugly so I don't really want to post them.  I am also working on another project, an anime-inspired fleece hat, but I am stuck on that one because no one around here carries black fleece (that's the main color for the hat).

But I do have some exciting news - Kevin and I are finally buying a house!  It's not as big as we would have liked and it costs more than we had hoped, but it's cute and fairly new.  We are going through all the inspection and appraisal stuff right now, so we will hopefully be moving in late April.  We can't wait!  No more sharing walls with neighbors, no more people parking in my spot, no more going to the post office every day (because they won't deliver mail to our apartment!), and no more landlords telling us "You can't put nails in the walls!" or "You can't have pets!" or "You can't put up a satellite dish!"  I know that owning a home has its own problems, but I think they'll be outweighed by its advantages.  Yay!

Knitted Pillow Covers

Project Name: Diagonally Knit Pillow Covers
Time Taken to Finish: 2 weeks
Type of Yarn Used: Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick in Periwinkle and Basil
Amount of Yarn Used: 6 skeins, 3 of each color
Needles Used: US size 11 needles
What I Liked About the Project: Easy garter stitch knitting.  Since it was knit diagonally, I didn't have to worry about calculating how many stitches to cast on.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: They took way longer to knit than I had originally thought.

Here's what I did to knit them:

Cast on 3 stitches.  Knit them (row 1).

Row 2 - Increase first stitch, knit second stitch, increase last stitch.

Row 3 - Knit back across without increasing.

Row 4 - Increase first stitch, knit middle stitches, increase last stitch.

Row 5 - Knit back across without increasing.

Rows 6 and onward - For even rows: increase the first stitch, knit the middle stitches, and increase the last stitch.  For odd rows: knit across without increasing.  Continue knitting until the triangle created is wide enough to cover half the pillow (make sure there is a little extra for a seam).

When the knitting is the correct size, note the number of stitches on the needle (I had 59 stitches).  Now, begin decreasing the first and last stitches on the even rows.  Continue knitting all stitches on the odd rows.

Knit until there are only 3 stitches left on the needle.  Bind off these stitches. 

The knitting will now be a square big enough to cover one side of the pillow.  Repeat the above instructions to create a second square (be sure to increase to the same number of stitches noted in the first square).  When finished, stitch the sides together and insert a pillow form.