Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Here we go again....WOO HOOOOOOO!!!

Once again, those of us in Ohio are going to be glued to the TV on Monday for a National Championship. This time, it's basketball. That team drives me absolutely nuts, but I love 'em anyhow. So, without further adieu....

Now for some sad news. The Sea Oats Cardigan ran short on yarn. I'm about 40 rows short on a sleeve, and the crocheted trim probably won't be covered either. Thankfully, the folks out at Autumn House Farms graciously are sending out enough string to complete the cardigan. However, that left me without a sweater to mindlessly knit this weekend. So, I started up on the Fiber Trends Weekend Vest:

That's the La Boheme I got out in New Mexico. The colors are bright and cheery, but the blue and green come off on the fingers. I have an email out to Fiesta Yarns to make sure that a rinse of the vest in cold water won't bleed the blue into that yellow. That would truly suck. Now, this is fairly mindless knitting, but I needed to get even more mindless so that I didn't have to watch my knitting while watching the Buckeyes (those two strands in the La Boheme can get separated if you're not anal about knitting them). So, I started something else today.

This is the Split Neck Pullover from Knitting Pure and Simple. I'm using a petal pink shade of Cascade Sierra, which is a wool cotton blend that knits up like cotton, but less harsh on the paws. It also goes real quick, even if you're screaming at the second half clock to go faster when OSU has the lead. I figure I could get this thing to the sleeve splits by this evening.

Gonna grab a glass of wine first and enjoy tonight's victory first.

Some days, I just kill myself

Since basketball is back in gear, and I have been tied to the pager this weekend, I have been a diligent little Sea Oats knitter. Sadly, that cotton lumpy stuff is killing my fingers. So, I took another break to knit something small and completely different. Here's a few clues:

1. Mythbusters was running their Pirate Special this weekend, me hearty

2. I have this "I Love Pirates" reputation amongst the guys on my golf board

3. I have this golf outing coming up in June with said guys

4. My Browns headcover is wearing out

You guessed it, I went a little nuts.

You don't need to look inside and see how long some of the carries are. It's the outside that matters. As for a pattern, it's pretty much my own, with some inspiration from other skull patterns out there in internet land. For anyone who's interested, here's my pattern:

Leona's Pirate Lover Cover

Supplies:
Size 6 and 7 needles (whatever you use for tube knitting...I use a single 40" circular)
Worsted weight yarn in two colors (you don't need much)
Pom Pom maker of choice

Gauge: 5 stitches to the inch on larger needle

The Specifics:
With size 6 needles, cast on 36 stitches. Join in circle.
Use K2 P2 ribbing for however long you desire.
On last row, increase 6 stitches evenly around (42 total).
Change to size 7 needles, and knit Skull Charrrrrrt completely.

Work decreases
K2 rows even
*K4 K2tog* repeat betw ** one round
K 1 row even
*K3 K2tog* one round
*K2 k2tog* one round
*K1 K2tog* one round
*K2 tog* one round
Thread yarn through 7 remaining stitches and tie off.
Add pom pom
Impress your friends.

There you go. You too can drive like a pirate.

Make sure you hit the ball farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And for heaven's sake, don't try to make money off of this pattern. That's piracy.

Welcome to the Day Camp! We got fun and games!

With all due respect to Guns N Roses, of course. Now I challenge you to get Axl's screaming out of your head...

Fun and games abound around here of late. Or should I say "rebound?" It's March Madness, my favorite sporting time of the year. I have basically been hunkered down in front of the TV watching hundreds of young men dribble their hearts out. I was winning my bracket pool, too, until Texas blew it against USC. Well, it ain't over yet! I still have a chance!

OK, back to reality for you non-sports folks out there. What March Madness also means is that I've been doing a lot of knitting while watching basketball.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention I took two days off last week to do taxes and watch the games. I have been a bum, let me tell you.

Back to the needles. I have made some serious progress on the Sea Oats Cardigan. The back is done:

That's actually the second back. I did the wrong yarn with the stripes on the first back. I was distracted by dunking. The cardigan is a bit short and wide, but I'm figuring by blocking the snot out of it, that will all work out. Here's a few looks at the details:

The stripes:

The trim:

It's a nice little pattern, even though it took a while to figure out the mistake in it for the lace. The chart printer forgot to mark where the lace repeat started and ended, so I was a stitch off starting out. No errata are out there, and no one else online has made this kit, so I had to figure it out on my own.

Not easy to do when one is screaming at Ohio State to play a little zone for a change.

But it did get figured out, and I'm zooming along on a front now. There would have been a lot more done if my fingers hadn't been screaming about using that cotton blend lumpy stuff that is quite hard on the hands to knit. I had to start something else to give the thumb and index fingers a break. Thank goodness for Ikealand...

After rooting around in there looking for something soft, I found some handpainted mohair. Just a simple feather and fan scarf that will probably go to my cousin at Christmas when she announces I have her in the gift exchange.

She fell in love with her sister's scarf from last year and warned me that the fix was in.

Here's a closer look:

It's the perfect thing to do while dissecting a full court man-to-man press. Only one row requires any attention, while the other three in the pattern are all knit or purl. Mindless knitting. The colors are beautiful, though. She'll love it.

I was asked by a few folks if Grady was eating any bad food. You'll be happy to know that thanks to her frugality, Grady's Mommy feeds him nothing but name brand dry food. He's chowing down on Kit and Kaboodle at the moment and looking good.

He thinks that bag is his bed. Who am I to tell him he's wrong?

The Sultan of Swing

I got a few comments a while back along the lines of "What the hell is a swing needle?" Thanks to my genetics, I am feeling the need to teach a little bit. So, without further adieu, I bring you:

Leona's Treatise on the Swing Needle

(Cue dorky craft music)

The swing needle technique eliminates the pooling that occurs frequently when knitting hand-dyed yarn. It is a creation, I believe, of a knitter who doesn't like to swim.

(rim shot)

Please follow along with our visual aids, and you too will soon understand the magic that is the swing needle. You will need the goofy-looking sticks with balls, and two skeins of hand-dyed yarn. Oh, and perhaps a pattern for something nice.

Swing needle technique basically follows a four-step pattern. You could do twelve steps, but that would be "Swing Needle Anonymous" now, wouldn't it?

(another rim shot)

Step One: Knit with your first color

Nothing complicated so far, right?

Step Two: Marvel at your work

Pretty. But I don't want any pooling! Whatever can I do??

Step Three: Find someone in an Ohio State sweatshirt to play with your ball

This is the trick. By moving that little ball, you have maintained the same side for another row, but this time, you use another skein of the hand-dyed stuff.

(crowd goes "ooooohhhhh...")

Step Four--Knit another same side row

As you see, your old yarn is just laying on the left, while the new, happy-to-be-here yarn is ready to be knit on the right. After finishing that row, you turn your work and start back at Step One with Yarn 1.

It's so easy, even a caveman can do it.

(canned laughter)

So, now you can try your hand at swing needles without fear. Next week, we'll show you how to find that little ball once your cat gets a hold of it.

(crescendo of dorky craft music)

The End

Have I knit on the swing needles recently? No. I needed to get the last winter project knit and done, which was accomplished late last night.

This is the Anasazi Lace pattern from a Brown Sheep leaflet. It's done is some Peace Fleece I have had languishing in Ikealand for several years. The detailing is very nice on this sweater. The edge is based on an Anasazi tribal pattern honoring the small black catfoot:

I could block it, but I gave up blocking for Lent. The neckline and cuffs have a simple k2tog, yo lace pattern that also adds a nice touch.

The black fur trim is removeable.

I love Peace Fleece, by the way. It knits up so nice and soft, and the color flecks are subtle and beautiful. This sweater will match just about anything. Thanks to Mother Fudgin' Nature, I'll probably be donning it in the not-so-distant future. Despite 70-plus degree temps yesterday, she feels it necessary to have it snow here on St. Patty's Day. I hate that woman.

Next on the needles, it's springtime!!

Yes, this went on for a while. I'm procrastinating about doing my taxes.

Back in the saddle again

This was the work week from hell, plain and simple. I should have predicted it. Out in New Mexico, there was a full moon AND a lunar eclipse. Combine that with the panic of parents wanting their kids healthy for their Iowa testing this coming week, and you have a pediatrician seeing close to 100 kids in four days (about 8 were healthy). Toss onto that a generalized crankitude because the snow still hasn't melted, and it makes for a lot of fun.

That's why God invented vodka. The cosmos were quite good when I got home from work.

Now, the weather is starting to turn. We're on day 2 of temperatures in the 50's, and the snow is quickly disappearing. That is, except for the stuff near my front door, where I believe the temperature is still about 25 thanks to the shade and its northern facing. There may be hope for spring yet. We need it bad.

I promised a few photos from New Mexico. Here's a start:

This is the tram I took to the top of the Sandia Mountains (a little over 11,000 feet):

After that second tower you see at the top, there's a 1.3 mile stretch of cable that takes you all the way up. It's up there, let me tell you. No one with a fear of heights would make it, that's a given.

Here's a look at the view from just about everywhere I went (this time, it's the golf course):

And here's the Tutti Frutti booti I got from the Fiesta Yarns Outlet Store:

The outlet store is barely a store, for those who are interested. There's a lot of beautiful yarn, but only about a wall and a half of it. If you wanted to make a scarf, you'd have a good choice, but, of course, I'm in there looking for a big project. This will be a gorgeous spring vest. I was really hoping I could find enough of their non-La Boheme, though, to make a sweater, but I guess I'll manage. I'm flexible.

And this is a photo from the road on the way to the airport. I had to get a picture of one of the mesas out there.

Pretty dang cool. For historical purposes, you should know that one of the tribes out in New Mexico used to live at the top of one of the mesas out there. They could only get there by ladder. Kept the enemies at bay. Pretty smart, but it made shopping a little difficult.

OK, I added that last part.

Reality Bites

Well, I'm back from New Mexico. I'll save the photos for later, but suffice it to say, it was a sweet little break from the snot-nosed reality I was thrust back into today. I lost count of kids--I think it was 24 or so. At least I didn't get to hear the "I don't ever want you to go on vacation again" commentary I always get from a mom when I come home. That was nice.

The flight out to NM was, well, fun. I woke up at the crack of dawn and checked my email to discover that my 7 AM flight to Minneapolis had been canceled. After a half hour on the phone with Northwest Airlines, I found out I had been rebooked to the 9:15 AM flight. Seems as if there was a touch of weather in Minneapolis.

You know...the kind that requires sled dogs.

Anyhow, after a rather harrowing landing in the blizzard in the Twin Cities (people in the back of the plane actually applauded), I entered the airport to discover that my flight to Albuquerque was delayed two more hours. Thankfully, there's beer. And pizza. I considered myself lucky since about half of the flights out of Minneapolis were canceled; thankfully, the aircraft we were using was coming in from Bozeman, Montana.

It knew snow.

So, I got out to New Mexico with a half hour to spare before the Fiesta Yarns outlet closed. I managed to shock my host with the cost of the La Boheme to make a spring vest, then was whisked to a tram to climb the Sandias Mountains. It was pretty cool.

About 12 degrees cool at the top of the mountain. Thankfully, at the top, there's beer. Inside. Where there was heat.

After that, the weekend pretty much consisted of golf, shopping, golf, eating hot food at the Firey Foods Festival (word to the wise: stay away from any hot sauce named "Hazmat." You'll thank me for it), and hitting a wine dinner that was out on an open air patio in 40 degree weather with limited heaters working.

Did I mention it was cold? We teed off on Friday and Saturday mornings before the thermometer read 35. Fahrenheit. I looked like the kid in A Christmas Story with a 4 iron. Surprisingly, I played pretty well given the weather and the fact I hadn't swung a club since Labor Day. However, the take-home moment of the golf weekend was the potty after 9 holes on Saturday. After relieving my bladder of the hot chocolate from the 3rd hole, I flushed. I saw some bubbling, but the shade of the water didn't seem to change.

That would be because I was looking at the liquid that was UNDER the ice layer.

Did I mention it was cold? I think I should consider myself lucky that my ass didn't stick to the toilet seat.

It was a very nice break, though. Next time, I go in August.