Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Voila!

For all intents and purposes, the bathroom remodeling is complete!

Before:

After:

Another angle:

As you can see in that second photo, the mirror has yet to be hung. I'm still trying to decide if I want to spray paint the edges or leave it dark brown (I'm leaning toward the paint--it's far more complicated...the way I like it).

That toilet is the coolest piece of plumbing I've ever seen. It's an American Standard model with an overengineered flush mechanism. According to the video on their web site, you can flush a couple dozen golf balls down it without clogging.

In case my game really sucks, I guess I know how to dispose of my equipment now.

With blocking comes completion...finally

That crazy blocking system is doing a great job of eliminating the collection of pieces parts that have been cluttering my living room for months. Take, for example, the forever languishing Cables and Lace Cardigan, which has been off of the needles for months waiting for me to fix its crazy lumpy edges. It ain't languishing no more:

It turned out quite nice, and the fact that it's machine wash and dry with that denim yarn is a plus. It is as heavy as a denim jacket, though, so it'll have to wait for colder weather.

Looking at the forecast, that could be this week.

The latest project was begun yesterday and completed today. I was asked to whip up a pair of fairway wood covers by one of the guys on the golf board from Texas. Thanks to a great deal of scrap yarn, these were completed pretty quickly:

They are in honor of the Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jackets. I'm pretty pleased with them--hopefully, he will be happy, too! Not a bad way for me to make some coin, though, and to rid myself of some Lamb's Pride.

Next on the needles? Not sure yet...I was pretty gung ho on using the cochineal wool, but when I opened Ikealand, I found some stuff I forgot about that I think will be getting the call. Film at 11.

A quick catch-up on the job thing: January 1st is the target date for my employment with the Cleveland Clinic Health System. I meet with the hospital dude on Tuesday to talk money and contracts. Fun, fun, fun. At least I'll have more of an idea what to say to the nurses. Maybe.

Because I'm anticipating a large amount of insanity as this all unfolds, I booked a trip out to San Francisco from November 8-11. The itinerary consists of wine, crab, and shopping, not necessarily in that order. I haven't been out that way since 1999, when my mornings were all tied up in a medical meeting. Since I have all my time to myself this time, the opportunity to take an all-day wine tour has opened up. Now I just have to figure out which one.

Any ideas out there?

Pass me the helmet...I'll block

My eBay foam blocks score from earlier in the week was sitting on my doorstep when I got home from work. Seeing as there was absolutely nothing worth watching on TV, I had no excuse but to put my new contraption to work on things that have been languishing on my loveseat for months.

First off, the alpaca cabled vest and the denim cables and lace cardigan body get straightened out:

The vest will get clasped, then it's ready to wear next week when the bottom starts dropping out of our thermometer. The denim cardigan will likely need blocking of its front edges once the bottom is done, then I get to sew in some buttons and these sleeves:

Doesn't that look just too clean? I must admit this is one snazzy way to block out sweater pieces. Mad props to Lorette for the idea!

And yes, I got the blocks in purple. As if there were any question (right, Cassy?). And Kato has been locked up for the evening so that she doesn't barf all over my hard work (and she would). Grady is to be on his best behavior, or else.

God Bless Us, Everyone, Especially if You're a Welder

Like a tiny cane in the corner of Bob Cratchit's cottage, I now have this little package in Ikealand. The wrapping is my doing--a little extra quilt fabric and about an hour's worth of screwing around, and I had a package to fill up with this:

More closely,

I have taken the lead of the lovely Lorette and put together my own set of blocking wires, courtesy of the guys at Cleveland Welding. For $5 (50 cents each), I now have 11 stainless steel 1/16" diameter 36 inch long welding rods.

Before all you mathheads get on my case, the guy threw one rod in for free because I was wearing an Arizona State sweatshirt. It pays to dress for success.

Anyhow, these are perfect blocking rods. I'm now awaiting my blocking board, which I got off of eBay. Once again, I followed Lorette's lead, and got a deal on this:

Mine is gray and purple....big deal, as long as it takes T pins, I'm golden! It's supposed to be here by Friday, so this week, I get to block a few things. One item that will need some serious blocking is this:

Yep, I'm now in sleeve purgatory for the Buckeye Cardigan. The red and light gray yarn, however, is dwindling. I may be cutting it pretty close. Stay tuned.

As for the job, the wheels are now turning a bit. I talked to all of the docs next door last week, and they seem to be pretty amenable to the idea of my joining them. Now it's up to the hospital to decide whether they want me or not. I love business deals. Ugh.

Oh, and my nurses caught me in the meeting Friday. Damn those windows anyhow. I came clean...no point in lying to them. I let them know that everything is still in ground level talks (which is true), but they're already panicking. Why they think I'm going to leave them high and dry with no warning is beyond me. They don't understand the snail's pace of business, I guess.

A snail may be a bad comparison. Too fast.

Football and knitting do mix

Maybe that's what the Browns should have been doing on Sunday...they sure weren't playing much football.

But knitting has been my timewaster during multiple football games this past weekend. The Buckeye Tweed cardigan is at the sleeve spot:

Here's a good look at the pattern:

It's a good view of the colors, too--go Bucks!

The bathroom has had a couple of updates. Nothing too dramatic, like a toilet, but a little fine tuning. First, the switchplate was spray painted:

Cool, huh? Then, I located a shower curtain on sale, no less:

The more I look at this curtain, the more I like it. There's a serious tropical look there that really appeals to the beach bum in me. Next, I attack the trim boards, which I'll need to get at Home Depot and stain (the old trim wasn't going to fly with a new vanity). Thankfully, I've had to match trim before, so I have the stain already--I feel like such a home improvement geek. Next, I think, will be the toidy, which is still hanging out in the garage. I'm sure it cannot wait to be defiled.

Long awaited news on the job front today...I finally was able to talk to the doc next door, and she seems pretty psyched to do this merger thing. She even started talking about breaking down a wall between the two offices--that would certainly save some time moving, I guess. Anyhow, more details as they become available, but suffice it to say I'm pretty encouraged at the moment.

I'm already relishing the possibility of one call weekend a month. Time to start dreaming about my next vacation...

New Mexico?
Oregon?
San Francisco?
Vegas?

Of course, it ain't gonna happen in snowtime. I have this little fear of flying thing, and de-icing a plane just makes it worse.

Labor Day Weekend should be longer

Just an observation. The "unofficial" end of summer needs to linger on for at least another day or two. I am in no mood to start thinking ahead to winter. No mood.

The island was wonderful, as always. The only snag in the weekend was the visit by the Dregs of Ernesto (nice title for something, isn't that?). Saturday was a washout, and the lake had churned up swells of 10-11 feet, so the ferry stopped running. My brother and his family were stuck on the other side until Sunday morning. We made the best of it, me and the folks. Mom quilted her little fingers off, Dad did geneology on his laptop for hours, and I spun all day. Lorette, you may wish to put the drool bucket on.

That's 33+ ounces of rich, raspberry goodness right there. Can't do anything now, though, because I started another project. I broke into the kit I got at Stitches West in February--it's a cardigan in one piece except the sleeves, so here's just a taste of where I am at the moment:

Yes, I started on Saturday, when Ohio State played their first game. Go Bucks! It's a very easy slip stitch knit--you are only working with one color at a time for two rows, then change over. It just looks complicated. The yarn is extra sweet--it's alpaca and wool, which is like the best feeling yarn ever, man.

Sorry...spent the weekend with teenagers...

Before I forget, I did take a photo of Charlotte II, which is now proudly sitting under a goose.

Much nicer than other stuff you'll find under a goose, that's for sure.

And here's what things looked like up there on Friday night.

Now you understand why I don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

Holiday weekend is here! Woo hoo!

Although judging by my blogsluggitude, one would surmise that I've been on break all week. No break, just a slug. For once, I don't have an update on the bathroom. It still has no toilet, but I do have one sitting in boxes in the garage waiting for me and Dad to install it. I'm guessing that'll be sometime next week. The cats will rejoice; a brand new water bowl!

Golf league ended on Wednesday. *sniff* It was a really nice year for me. Would have been nice if we didn't wind up playing in muck on our last night, but what can you do? I get to play a year-end outing next Friday, and the gals are all jonesin' to get out at least one more time before Mother Nature goes all bitchy on us. Then I put away the clubs and forget how to swing them.

It's as predictable as the seasons.

I have done a bit of spinning on the cochineal wool. The plied stuff is absotively gorgeous:

It is a rich raspberry with some variegation here and there. The sweater will be beautiful. Once I finish the one I'm on right now:

This is the back of the Sirdar Denim cabled pullover. It's an easy, fairly mindless knit. The yarn knits up nicely--light enough for fall, but it will be wonderful in the winter as well. I just have to not get bored with it.

Speaking of not getting bored, I located some beautiful dyed wool from Homestead Wool and Gift Farm. It arrived this week:

This, along with other scraps of roving I have around this place, will be part of my next Nuno project. I want to make a wallhanging for the bathroom. We'll see what happens...

Happy Labor Day, all!