Uncle Leona's Day Camp

Opening Day, 2008!

Flashback to Indians Home Opener, 2007. It's April.

Back to the present day, and it's time for the Home Opener again. In March. It's forecasted to be in the 50-60 degree range, without a snowflake in sight. OK, so rain is in the forecast for this evening. I'll make sure to wear the Goretex. Go Tribe!!!

Just finished off being on call all weekend. The basketball games were boring, for the most part, so some serious knitting could be accomplished. The Queen of the Waves shawl is being blocked:

It's a lovely thing, but I won't wear it. And to think I have another shawl in the queue! This process knitter stuff can be very annoying sometimes. Satisfying, but annoying.

Yesterday, I couldn't decide what to start on. Spring is in the air, but it is Cleveland (see previous photo of ballpark in April), so I could feasibly whip up another wool project. I do have summer yarn in Ikealand, however, which will be nice to work with even if it's snowing outside. At least in my hands I'd feel spring! So, with that conundrum, I decided to whip up a kit I just purchased:

It's a funky soon-to-be-felted sheep. I love these patterns--it's so clever how the animals get shaped. And I didn't screw it up and have to frog a short row row! That's so not me. Anyhow, I think this one may wind up at work if it looks good after the run through the washer. We'll see.

And I am now looking forward to my next trip:

Yep, it's time to think about Stitches Midwest! The show has been moved out to Schaumburg, Illinois this year (free parking and a local Ikea....life is good). There are a few classes that are intriguing me so far, but I have only started to study the schedule. Class reservations don't start until next week, so there's lots of time.

Time to start stashing cash for that market...

It's GAA--reat!!

Yep, I'm back from Houston. The weather was beautiful, the beer was plentiful, and my golf game was pitiful. Pretty much exactly what I expected. The golf game was actually more pathetic than it has been in a long time. Looks like me and the range are going to become good buddies over the next month or so.

Either that, or I take up bowling.

On the trip, I brought along a project to flounder away on whilst flying. This is the Queen of the Waves shawl:

I'm using some sock yarn I found online--the colors are very waterish. Will I wear it? Probably not. I'm playing process knitter on this one. Maybe my niece would like it.

The big knitting news around here is the finishing steps on the GAA. I decided to go with 20 squares instead of 25. Why?

1. I like a rectangular afghan.
2. I don't want to order any more yarn.
3. I don't like two of the remaining squares.
4. I'm too lazy to do the other three.

That being said, here's where things stand at the moment:

I'm pretty pleased with the color combos so far. Those of you with great memories may point out that the cat square has changed color. I redid it: the square was far too big when placed amidst the rest of the squares (Lorette, you were right on on this!). I also thought the darker brown stuck out like a sore thumb. So, I dropped a needle size and used the lighter brown, and I'm far more pleased.

As for the border, I chose a heathered shade from KnitPicks Swish which ties everything together quite nicely. Now if I could only come up with the right way to join the squares! I have a theory in my head (from my embroidery days--the stitch is decorative, flat, and stretchy), but I'll take any other suggestions.

Something tells me Grady doesn't necessarily find the cat block his favorite.

Personally, I think he's fond of the crab.

Loose ends to tie up...or weave in, if you prefer

I wore the Kauni to work yesterday to rave reviews. The first reviewer was me, of course--I put that sweater on and looked in the mirror, and a large, snarky grin came across my face. All of my adjustments to the pattern worked like a charm, and it looked mahvelous. The greatest thing, though, was that the non-knitters I work with (and there's a lot of them) were very interested in why I said this sweater was relatively easy, compared to Glen Albyn, for example. I pointed out the color progressions, and they were fascinated!

It won't inspire any of them to start knitting, but you gotta give me props for trying.

The most compliments, of course, went to the buttons:

Aren't they a hoot? I found them at JoAnn's (yes, guild gals, I found non-sucky buttons at JoAnn's....it happens!). I don't have a clue as to who the little guy is, but I'm guessing it's some ancient hieroglyph representing the coming of spring. Or a god of fertility. Who knows? The shape was the selling point, of course, and it works perfectly.

It's as if I know what I'm doing. Imagine that.

I also finished up a vest yesterday out of stash. It was started when I was held up on the Kauni because of a lack of a 16" size 4 for the sleeves. The pattern is the Dineh Blanket Vest from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Vests, and it represents a knitted variation of a traditional Navajo blanket pattern.

All that is left is to sew on the buttons after it dries, then it's wearable. And yes, the buttons are cool. And from JoAnn's. Go figure.

As for the Folk Vests book, I will be making at least one more, maybe two, maybe three from it. The patterns are beautiful, and quite varied in style. As it is, I still have several skeins of the red left that I used in this vest, but not enough now for the pullover it was supposed to be for. I feel another red vest coming someday...

Tomorrow, I head off to Texas to prove that I need to play golf year-round to be any good. Hopefully, the plumber has properly fixed my hot water tank (it died over the weekend...the last two showers have not been fun). I need to be in the shower for more than thirty seconds to get my legs shaved. No one needs to see them in their winter condition.

Now, where did I put my machete?

I will be warm in a week, but until then....

See the road? Me neither.

I'll need hip waders to get to the woodpile.

At least the grill is covered. Could feasibly barbeque some chicken later. Like July.

I had the driveway cleared last night. This has all fallen in the last 10 hours.

So much for getting a few swings in at the driving range this weekend. Or any time soon. Oh well! At least it will be warm on the golf course next week. That's something.

Look what's blocking!!

Woo hoo!! All I need to do is to tack down the facings and put on the buttons, and the Kauni is done. I figure I'll go out and get the buttons this afternoon...

...once I get Grady hooked up to the sled.

CNN kept alluding to a little weather issue in Ohio...little my ass

Ohio was a weather mess yesterday--I'm still amazed at the numbers of people who got to the polls, and you will too when you see what we had to deal with. After yesterday was all said and done, this is what we in Northeast Ohio had to break out of this morning:

The snow didn't start until after midnight--we have about four new inches of it on top of what fell from the sky first:

See all those lovely icicles? That's from freezing rain and ice, which were falling from the sky all day long. In order to drive right now, your car needs skates. Here's a look at my trees:

It works out that there's about a 1/4" deep coat of ice on every branch of tree in my yard. I was a little concerned last night when the wind was gusting--the trees sounded like the largest collection of 70's door beads you've ever heard. Kept waiting to see if Greg Brady came through them. Thanks to the ice, my neighborhood was also without power for about 2 1/2 hours. When it came back on, I realized the house hadn't lost a degree of heat!

My replacement windows rock!!!! OK, the coating of ice on the front side of the house probably helped insulate a little, too.

This weather played havoc on our elections, but it's also playing big time havoc on my Mom. She got admitted to the hospital early yesterday with a gallstone--had some tests done, and is still sitting in the bed, without food for about a day and a half, waiting for the doc to show up to tell her what is going to be done to fix her! She's managing fine at the moment, but I think she's going to kill my Dad--he wandered into her room today with a McDonald's sack in tow. Hopefully, they'll get that stone out of there and get her home soon. If not, they'll need an extra bed for Dad when Mom finally knocks him out to get to that Big Mac.

After the lights came back on last night, I got to work on the final stages of the Kauni:

It's at the agonal corrugated rib trim stage. There is absolutely no way to do this thing quickly, of that I have no doubt. There's also no way to match anything unless I get another skein, but I ain't worrying about that at all. The sleeves, as you can see, turned out fine--I like the funky, unmatched look just fine. Anyhow, all I have left is that trim and the buttons, and the sweater is done! Woo hoo!

I reached a point on the GAA where I had to wait on some yarn to get the last 9 blocks done. This is the latest:

At the moment, the Kauni is taking over my knitting at home. It must get done!! Why? Well, I got my income tax refund, and there have been a few items added to Ikealand.

I am so freakin' weak.