Uncle Leona's Day Camp

What one does on an island when it rains

This weekend's weather blew chunks. I had planned a lovely weekend of R & R up on Kelleys Island, ideally with my body outside soaking in sunlight and a nice breeze.

It was 58 degrees, raining, and putrid.

So, having planned ahead, I plowed along on the Corn Shell (figured I knitted about 9 hours on Saturday), and on Sunday, I had this:

Boy, is this a nice little project! That corn yarn just knits up beautifully--the shell is soft and drapey, yet thanks to the armhole design, it doesn't droop. Here's the trim up close:

It's worked in what the pattern calls "open star border." It's an easy pattern, but the finished result looks really hard.

My kind of pattern.

So, now that this is done, I have my little outfit for the Grand Rapids golf outing. And it being sleeveless guarantees one thing:

I'm packing a parka.

Shirley, this one's for you

I admit, I tend to be a blog slug when the weather perks up. I'll either be out in the yard doing some work, drinking a malt beverage or two on a patio somewhere, or smacking a golf ball or ten around. It's a long winter around here; you get out when you can. Despite my excuses, I was called to task this evening at my knitting guild by one of my fans, Shirley. I need to write more, she says!

Here's the problem:

1. I'm in mid-project on the corn shell. The back is done, but it's boring.
2. I don't have any regularly scheduled forays to Michigan for three weeks (although, in our last phone call, he did allude to being a bit more flexible for travel this summer when his son goes to visit his mom...he mentioned Cedar Point....film at 11)
3. I got rained out at league last week, so I don't even have great golf stuff to comment on.

So, with that notwithstanding, I'm left to wonder...what can I put in this little post for my friend Shirley? I posed that question to a very helpful associate.

He said he'll sleep on it.

I need mindless. Lost is on.

I have yet to cast on for glove #2. Too much going on at the moment, and when I'm at home, I need to focus.

Yep. Lost is finishing up, and I'm lost. As usual.

Anyhow, I got started on a shell this past week. After much consternation and frogination, I think I'm on my way. This is my latest creation:

As you can see, it's a Maggie's Rags Rose Garden Sleeveless Top. And Grady. Up close, you'll see a little more.

The stripes are alternating garter stitch and a K1/K into stitch below pattern. Easy, but very elegant looking with this particular yarn. I'm working with a fiber I have never used before. No, I haven't gone acrylic! Are you mad?? Hover your mouse pointer over one of the photos for a clue.

I'll wait.

Yep. That shell is made from 100% CORN, baby!! It's Kollage Cornucopia (which really should be "Kornucopia," but I digress), which is a soft, beautiful ribbon yarn that feels like a rayon/cotton blend, yet is completely machine washable and dryable!

Who said we can't rely on corn for our energy needs? Look how cool the yarn is!

The color is absolutely beautiful, by the way. Very rosey pink. Great to knit with, too. An Uncle Leona Thumbs Way Up!

Hopefully, I can get this shell done by the time I go to the golf board's outing in Grand Rapids in three weeks. Just in case it warms up to go sleeveless--I'm sure this will look lovely if me and the guys go out to dinner.

Someone has to show those animals some style.

Just in time for spring

Glove #1 is now finito:

Things I have learned from this little project:

1. I enjoy Fair Isle
2. But not for gloves

My biggest issue is dealing with the carries, especially on the fingers. No matter how hard one tries, there are problems with even short carries across those double points. Tugging seems to be inevitable. I figure blocking will take care of a few problems.

The glove is pretty snazzy, though. I will finish the left one, but I think I'll be working on something mindless this evening while watching the end of Survivor.

Plodding along

I've been trudging along on several projects for a while now. Just can't focus on finishing anything.

I may need Knitalin.

Well, I did manage to finish something today that has been collecting dust on my couch for about a week or so. After checking out all of the really local LYS's for a skein of Galway I shorted myself, I realized I had to use some of that gold-plated gasoline in my tank to head out to the not-so-local LYS where I bought it in the first place. After I got home, I got to work finishing up the knitting and sewing, then it was time to go all Home Depot on my knitting.

I decided against the porcupine look.

After a little bit of felting (Galway felts great, by the way...very quick), I had clogs:

I'm letting them dry for now. There may be a little more felting ahead if they're too clownish. As for the beads, they all managed to survive the felting save one, which broke in half. That's why there's superglue.

I have also been working on Karen's gloves for that KAL. I'm not going to show off what I did, because after several inches of work, I decided the colors sucked. I'm now working on Karen's Gloves 2.0:

Before all you Buckeye fanatics get on my case, those aren't Michigan shades--the blue is too light. Whatever the case, the contrast is much betterer. The yarns are a handpainted sock yarn that was sitting in Ikealand and a Jameson's shetland that was just hanging around. Gotta love that stash.

This past week, I was given the assignment to show Flat Stanley a good time at the Tribe game. For those of you without access to grade schoolers, Flat Stanley is a laminated paper doll that a kid ships out to people he knows who will take him on adventures. It's a cute concept, and gives grownups kids a chance to use their imaginations. One of the gals at work has a grandson who is doing the project, so I volunteered to take him to the game last week. I forgot to mention that my friend and I always meet up at a local...er...eatery prior to the game. Stanley got into it.

Maybe too much.

I thought he could handle one beer....