Francy, if you want to start a new "first sock", go ahead. But I will tell you that, using double points or one long circular (majic loop method, my favorite way), it still takes me about that much time to do an inch. We took a trip on the turnpike one time, DH driving and me knitting. I put a marker in the place I was when we got on, and checked the time stamp on the turnpike ticket when we got off. I put another marker at that place on the sock. When we got home, I measured that distance between markers, measured a sock I had previously made, and figured that a simple sock with about two inches of ribbing for the cuff and the rest of the sock in stockinette stitch, it took me 20-25 hours to knit one pair of socks. So don't get discouraged that it takes you so long to do it. I've been knitting socks for about 8 years. You really aren't much slower than I am! You might get the hang of dbl pts faster with the bigger needles and yarn, and get a good rythm going with them, then go back to the size 2 (which is what I use) and find it works just fine. And, yes, put the already started sock on some waste/stray yarn and put the needles away so one doesn't get lost or broken. Let us know how you do. Oh, and the ladders with lessen with practice! Just tug the first couple of sts a bit tighter than usual as you start the next needle, that will help with the ladders. You will still have small ones, but they will relax into the sock when it is finished. Tami

I think that your instincts are excellent! I like the inspiration pic - I forgot that grout lines can add a bit of 'cooler' tones. Good idea with something behind the stove. Maybe something raised, like the cord style in the pic. I also like laying the solid colour tile in a brick pattern. Gives the sense of a pattern without adding another colour. I'd avoid too many colours in the tile, so as to not compete with your counters.

Check the colors against your furniture and such. If you are starting with the walls first then I suggest you do like I did. After painting my 25"walls by myself, yeah really scary up there, I did the following: We purchased a rug that had all our favorite colors and put it in our family room as the anchor. I went to store and picked one of those pallet cards that gives a group of colors that go together. Mine are the Biltmore Estate colors. All my favorites are there with even a few I would never have thought of. And it turns out all the colors in the pallet are actually in the rug we got. It took a few months before we realized that there were colonial blue areas in the rug that actually matched the blue we used in one room. I used the neutral tan for my entry and stairwell, used a lighter version of the tan for my kitchen, family and hallways. I used the red in my livingroom, hunter green in dining and the blue in my upstairs bonus room. I just did my guest bath using the same blue in the rug andthe bonus room and it is actually my unexpected color in the house. It matches all the other colors but you would never really think to see it. But together they all match really well. I carry my colors in my purse and use them all the time when I am out and about and tempted to get something for the house. So pick that tan and find a pallet that goes with it, it really helped me a lot.

I own two silk (all silk) rugs I bought when travelling in Turkey. I bought them whilst with a colleague who grew up there, and who took me "where his Mom shopped". Mom was doing okay, it seems. : ) This was a very high end shop, and I had thought id get some great bargain. I fell in love with a small silk prayer rug that was way over what I'd planned to spend. I agonized and decided to splurge. Then, I also bought a larger, 8X10 rug, too... The credit card slip could not fit all of the digits, because the exchange rate was 240,000 turkish Lira to the dollar, so the transaction was in the billions of Lira. Crazy. At any rate, I was told it was best to hang them up and NOT use them on the floor. So, of course, I used one in my entry hall for several years, and the little one I now have in front of my pedestal tub. I have had no issue getting them cleaned, but have done so only twice for the large one, and never for the small one (more on that in a bit). A tipsy guest spilled red wine on the large rug once, and it came out. One of my kids tipped over their bottle another time, and, that stain did not come out 100%. You can see it in certain light. Recently there was a mysterious leak in my BA and my small silk rug was drenched through. I was on my way out the door for a school trip w one of the kids, so I asked DH to try to address it. This rug is one of my fave posessions so I was so distraught. I was so delighted when I came home and it was in place, perfect, looking especially clean and new. I was so delighted with DH! I asked him how he did it. "I hung it up, it dried". The same leak occurred a few weeks later. The rug once again was fine once it dried. Short answer: get it, enjoy it, be a little careful. PS Make sure everyone puts the "telephone" back the right way on tub hardware. The cleaning person would use the hand sprayer to rinse the tub, and replace it horizontally, causing it to drip onto the floor.