Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Vegas, baby...please pass the chips

I have been back from Sin City for 5 days. In those days, I have come to grips with one thing:

I need to go back.

Why, you ask? Well, let's just say in two days, I managed to turn $40 into this:

I really love blackjack. As a matter-of-fact, you could probably tack on another $5-$7 to that total...the cocktail waitress was getting several $1 tips as the evenings wore on. If it weren't for a run of horrendous luck on the final night, I could have easily come home with more; but when you lose $110 in a one hour span, it takes a while to get it back. I did get it back, though, but I was so pooped (and stinking of cigarettes) by that time, I decided to quit while I was $5 ahead.

I mean, I had to wake up later that morning to go to my medical conference. You know, the reason I was in Vegas in the first place. The trip paid for by the hospital. You know, that conference. Yes, I went. Didn't learn too much new, but it never hurts to reinforce the knowledge I already have.

And it gave me ample opportunity to work on socks.

I'll have knitting photos later, but I do have some nice Vegas shots. First, the Monte Carlo, where I stayed and played:

I recommend this place highly. The rooms were nice (what I saw of them anyhow), the staff was friendly, and the folks gambling in the casino weren't frightening. If you need scary, meander through Imperial Palace. Eek.

I spent a good deal of time on Thursday walking the strip (OK, and I also bonded with two bartenders at Planet Hollywood at Caesar's...two free drinks and a lot of laughs). Here's a sampling of my touristesque photos:

Bellagio's fountains (very cool)

The outside of Caesar's Forum Shops

The Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas

The high roller area at Caesar's

Seeing as I wasn't betting more than $10 a hand, I didn't really qualify for entry. It looked nicer from here anyhow.

So, what have I done with the winnings, you ask? In Vegas, I was wandering around on Sunday after the conference and before Game 7,

(insert moment of silence for the Tribe here....and perhaps a soft rendering of taps...)

when I decided to wander back to Caesar's to see if my two buddies were working. They weren't, so after a couple of drinks, I window shopped. With a C note in my wallet that I had cashed in earlier in the day. The C note was spent on a new MP3 Walkman that came with a free 14 day Napster subscription! I have downloaded about 100 songs so far in five days. Life is good.

I think the rest of the booty will be spent on a new digital camera. Thanks to Mother Nature's continual downpours today, I think I need to make a road trip out to Best Buy.

After that, I need to figure out when I'm heading back to Vegas. I love that silly place.

It has been a nice Ohio weekend

For a Cleveland sports fan who is a graduate of both Miami University and Ohio State, it has been a lovely past couple of days. Both of my alma maters (almas mater??) won big yesterday, the Tribe managed to pull out Game 2 of the ALCS in 11 innings, and my beloved Brownies made it interesting, but still won by 10 this afternoon. It's going to be a happy Monday around these parts tomorrow.

Especially since I only work two days this week, then I head out to Vegas on Wednesday for a prolonged period of blackjack medical conference. It's going to be raining here this week. It's going to be sunny and in the 80's in Vegas.

Better pack the shades.

Anyhow, back to the recent baseball and football fun and frolic. Thanks to also being on call this weekend, I really didn't stray too far from the TV. So, the hands had to do something to keep from throwing stuff at the tube. First of all, the bulky pullover got done:

I wanted to put different buttons on it, but I couldn't find anything decent at JoAnn's. Then I remembered, "Hey, dummy, you took a closures class in Chicago! Make your own!" So I did.

Those are made by crocheting around plastic ring thingies. They do the job, don't you think?

Secondly, the fancy schmancy vest is done save the buttons:

I thought about making my own buttons for this, too, but I think it would look a little too over the top. I have two skeins of the Thick and Quick to take back to JoAnn's, so I'll check out their button supply again with the vest in tow. If I'm underwhelmed again, Becky Home-Ecky will raise her ugly head again and make more buttons.

It's dangerous to learn new skills.

So, where am I at on Glen Albyn, you ask? About six inches from the end of the second sleeve. The folks at Virtual Yarns were very gracious about selling me half skeins instead of full ones, AND they cut my shipping down. Good folks, those Scots. I'm now waiting for the yarn to swim across the Atlantic.

Of course, I needed to do something relatively mindless for all those sporting events. Large areas of stockinette without shaping were in order, so I pulled out a pattern for a minimally cabled cardigan, and found out that the gorgeous silk/mohair stuff I got from Artfibers in San Francisco last fall knit perfectly to gauge.

Not exciting, but it is awfully easy to do when fretting about the Tribe's bullpen. The front is far more interesting:

The cable will travel along a v-neck. There are also simple cables along the length of the sleeves. It's a very simple pattern, but the yarn makes it look elegant. And the yarn is just yummy to work with as well. Normally, I hate silk, but the mohair in it makes it feel great.

And I can't find it anywhere on the Artfibers web site. But there are plenty of beautiful fibers on that site to drool over. I highly recommend it.

YES!!!!!

On to the American League Championship Series!!!! WOO HOOOOO!!!

Midges. The Indians secret weapon.

October baseball in Cleveland is never without a quirk or two. Usually, that quirk is a prolonged slump by a stud or a pitching meltdown by an ace. In the 1997 World Series, it snowed. Last night, in the 8th inning, with my beloved Tribe down 1-0 to the Evil Empire (aka the Yankees), the heavens rained down with the Lake Erie equivalent of a plague of locusts.

OK, they were midges. Not exactly the terror of locusts, but they did the job. Thanks to our little friends from the lake, the Yankees' pitcher was annoyed, and Grady Sizemore managed to score thanks to a walk and two wild pitches. We won in the 11th. Life is good.

Nerve wracking, but good.

Speaking of nerve wracking, here's where Glen Albyn's second sleeve sits:

I think I have enough yarn to finish the last repeat, then I'll have to get some new stuff. Probably will only need a few yards of three colors, but will be stuck with getting full skeins and getting charged $20 for shipping from the UK. Ugh. What can ya do, right? At least it will be done. My hands will be happy.

I haven't sewn up the vest yet. I made one of the cable pieces that have to be sewn to the vest--it looks like crap. I may do a seed stitch shoulder, but I may just sew it up as is and do a crochet border and call it a day. The vest is too pretty to muck it up with the cables. I may finish it up during the Browns game tomorrow afternoon. They're playing New England. They're gonna get slaughtered. I'll be able to work without a problem.

Something I can't do during these Indians playoff games.

After last night's game, I did decide to get started on a quick project. I picked up several skeins of some 9 stitches to 4 inches on size 13's Wool-Ease Thick and Quick at JoAnn's the other day with the intention of making a top-down pullover with a front placket. Thought I had a pattern around here.

I thought wrong.

So, I did a little fudging. Here's the work in progress:

Not bad for using this pattern:

Hmmmm...

Yep, the math major does come in handy sometimes. I just figured, "hey, if it's double the gauge, I'll just cut the number of stitches in half!" Go figure. It worked. There are a couple of places where I had to round up or down on the number of stitches to cast on, but so far, things look pretty normal. The sleeves will have to be guessed on, but that shouldn't be too tough. I'm feeling pretty damn smug about this little project right now.

Grady isn't impressed.

He needs to recover from last night. Mommy's screaming messed up his nap.