Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Photomania 2006

Lots of stuff to show today. You may want to go pour yourself a beverage. First and foremost, look what arrived today:

The end is now firmly in sight. One toilet, one vanity, trim, and a threshold. I can't wait; I'm getting tired of using my bedroom bath all of the time.

As for the booty at the Fiber Festival, here we go:

Pastel striped roving

Cochineal dyed roving for a sweater

Who knew bugs could be so pretty? Michigan Man liked the color, too, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

A cardigan kit

This is going to be very pretty--two different cotton blends, both with a little color and texture. Yum.

Then there's that mystery craft. There was a ton of felting stuff at the MFF, but only a couple of vendors showed off Nuno felting. For those of you who are clueless about this technique, it's a way to layer fibers via felting. Here's my first attempt:

First, you open the bag:

The kit came with several ounces of merino, and scattered smidgens of other wools, silks, and glitz. It also came with a length of woven silk and a large piece of netting. I bought the roll of bubble wrap.

The scarf is laid out:

This is where the layering begins. You start with bubble wrap (bubble side down), then a layer of netting, then the silk. I wet everything down slightly to keep everything from slipping around. At this stage, all water used is cold.

Design time:

The merino is first put down wisp by wisp. You then add your other design elements. It helps to put wispy wisps of merino on top of the other elements to help them "stick" better. The glitz definitely needs to be wisped down; it doesn't stay.

Now, you sandwich everything

Before I put the netting on top, I misted the piece again to hold things in place. After the netting is folded over, you use a little soap (I used dishwashing liquid...too much of it) and pat down the project to get it damp and a bit soapy. You then roll it up:

At this point, you roll, roll, roll until the thing starts to felt (we're looking at a good 20 minutes...remember, it's aerobic). After you decide the felting is underway enough (i.e. nothing is coming off when you rub it), you rinse out the piece in hot water. You then full the scarf by slamming it into a hard surface (I used my sink) 25 times, rinsing again, slamming again, etc, until the piece has shrunk to your liking. After all of that physical activity, you have a piece that looks like this:

The merino fibers felt in between the weaving of the silk--it's like painting on a canvas; the stuff ain't coming off. The next time I do this, I will use more merino for the base and be a bit more anal about wisping down the other fibers (although the 3-D aspects of the piece are pretty cool). What will the next project be?

I think the bathroom will need some decor.

Kato is now officially spent:

A sauna with sheep

It was a nice weekend. I did make it up to Michigan for the Fiber Festival. Woke up at the crack of the crack of dawn to hit the road Saturday at 7 AM. Drove through rain the entire time, which was a bit disconcerting since I didn't have back up shoes other than my sandals, nor did I have any rain gear.

I spent the last hour of the drive trying to figure out if my golf shoes would look too gay with a t-shirt and shorts. At least I knew I had those in the back of the car.

Thankfully, Mother Nature stopped the deluge once I reached Allegan, Michigan. Sadly, the moisture wasn't done. The humidity had to be around 3000%. Maybe 3001%. Whatever it was, it made for a lovely three hours of wandering around wool.

My Mom had joked that I was going to be out there bonding with the Earth Mothers. She wasn't kidding! I felt left out without dousing myself in patchouli. The dude playing the dulcimer wasn't bad, though, and the gay guy in Dutch wooden shoes looked sorta liked he fit in... The majority of folks out there were just crazed knitters like me looking for ways to fire up the credit card.

I did manage to find a few things to play with; I'll post photos later on. One of the items is a new craft I'm dying to try--I may just do it today if this clown from the state unemployment office audits me quickly today (I paid them their money, but you all know how those tax people are....).

Speaking of things to play with, I did see my Michigan man Saturday and Sunday. Dinner on Saturday was nice--he took me to a restaurant on a lake near Grand Rapids. It was a beautiful night, and I was functional right up to the moment he dropped me back off at the hotel. Then, I crashed. It's amazing how fast you can fall asleep when you've driven 4 1/2 hours in the rain, spent 3 hours bonding with sheep, and spent another four hours on a date. The following morning, at 9:15, he picked me back up to play 18 holes of golf.

I beat him. Badly. He lost 6 balls; I lost 0. He took it well, I think. I didn't gloat.

Well, not a lot anyhow....

And for those inquiring minds out there, no, no nooky this time.

Busy little me....

I've had a busy Sunday. First of all, after making rounds this morning, I scraped and primed that floor. While waiting for the stuff to dry, I finished this:

It's in dire need of a blocking and a closure, but, heck, the temperature is going to be in the 80's all week. I've got time.

Yes, that's the Pepto Pullover in the corner. It has one side seam left. I stopped progress on that to finish this:

Woo hoo!!!! Never mind that I have adhesive all over my hands, and I can't feel the tip of my right index finger thanks to pressing down on the utility knife too hard, the floor is finito!! Now all that's left is the easy stuff, but that will all be after I get the tub insert put in.

You just have no idea how much I'm looking forward to the end of Harvest Gold.

Shhhh....Don't tell Dad

Yep, it's out. Took me about five minutes to get the silly thing out of the bathroom (one of the bolts had slipped out of the toilet gasket on the floor, so the job was 50% over before I started). I have mopped the floor down and patched the concrete where necessary.

Tomorrow, I prime in the morning, then start tiling in the evening. I'm so pumped it's frightening.

Of course, Dad comes home from Kelleys Island tomorrow. I expect a thorough examination of the area. Hopefully, I will pass.

And for my next trick, I remove flooring without solvent!

As you know, this bathroom floor has been a bit of a challenge. No solvent I have tried has done more than soak that paper backing enough to scrape it off about halfway. Just enough for me to start chopping at it with a putty knife to mince what's left of it.

I'm a regular Iron Chef with a putty knife and glued down vinyl backing.

So, to save the solvent that sucked, I decided to just soak the backing with water instead. It's safer, cheaper, and easy. So, I soak the paper. An hour later, I have this:

The paper essentially peeled off of the concrete in chunks. Yes, the numbnut who installed this vinyl in the first place used a water soluble, clay based adhesive.

In a bathroom. Yeah. No water exposure there.

So, after a little bit of scrubbing, I'll have a clean concrete floor in need of toilet removal. I expect to look somewhat like this after I'm done:

If Swayze comes along with the clay, it's an added bonus.

You know something? It's a tad toasty out there.

And what does one do when the heat index is a bit on the steamy side? Why, knit with an alpaca/wool blend, thank you. I started work on a Mountain Colors Alpaca Cable Vest this past week.

No, I still haven't sewn up the Pepto Pullover. Maybe tomorrow.

Anyhow, the fronts are done, and the back is on the needles. Here's the progress:

And up close:

This thing is just zooming along. I can really get those needles going when it's a nice smooth yarn...makes me feel all talented and stuff. If I can keep up this pace, I may be able to finish this vest this week.

Good thing. I looked at the vendors for the Michigan Fiber Fest; there will be some carnage, that is a certainty.

The job front is on hold for the moment. I need to talk to the doc next door to see if she is OK with me coming on board--at the moment, she may just be on vacation. I'll keep an eye out on the parking lot.

As for the bathroom, I spent three quality hours (at least) scraping up what's left of the lower layer of vinyl on Saturday. I finally got feeling back in my fingertips sometime today. To top it off, the solvent that I was using didn't "solve" anything (other than giving me a few chemical burns by merely having my skin upwind from the vapors), so I was working with brute force alone. I have about a third of the mess left, which I think will be done tomorrow.

I may do a little acetone test this evening to see if that loosens anything up. If that works, I may need to air this place out for a week. I definitely won't light a match.

The storms are a'comin'

Thank God. It has been hotter than blazes for the past week or so. Everyone around town is crabby, sweaty, and (usually in front of me in the grocery line) stinky. I actually went out in the heat index of 105 last night and played golf. This is what's left:

What a world....what a world....

The Pepto Pullover needs side seams, then it's done. I did get started on another project for the fall. I'll post photos when I get some taken. It's looking pretty cool.