Uncle Leona's Day Camp

There's a reason I blew off golf today

Yes. I blew off golf. Partly because the weather was yucky (it rained all day yesterday, then the temperatures dropped into the 50's today...not fun to hack around in that). But mostly, I skipped the links because I was pooped after putting this together:

Mom, Dad, and I spent a solid 4+ hours putting a frame together (that was mostly Dad), leveling it, and filling it with about 2 yards of dirt, peat, and compost. Afterwards, my feet were screaming at me and the back was beginning to chat. I figured a cold round on the links would be miserable, so I'm kicking back and getting some rest.

My irons could use a little more tinkering anyhow.

But most importantly, my garden is ready to go! Now I have to wait for Mother Nature to give the go signal. I doubt another frost is in our future, but it's Northeast Ohio.

You never know.

Knitting with cotton

Well, spring has sprung, the grass hasn't rizz, and I don't wonder too much where the flowers is (they're looking lovely in the local garden center greenhouses). Here, it's still nippy. I'm five days out from the Indians Home Opener, and I still think my face is partially frozen. Rain, wind, and 42 degrees will do that to you...as well as 4 innings and two hours of a four hour rain delay. Ugh. Tomorrow, however, the weather pundits are telling us sunny and mid-50's.

I'll believe it when I'm at the driving range and the parka and mukluks are still in the Jeep.

Ah, the Jeep. I love that car. Still. I don't think I have had a human relationship this strong. A cat, perhaps, but not a human. It gets its first long highway trek this weekend when I head out to visit my brother in Toledo--I can tell already that it's excited. I think it's more yellow.

So, the weather has sorta made it difficult to get my act together with my pre-planting preparations for the new garden. After last year's tomatillo success story, I decided to shift the garden to another area of the backyard that is more sunny. I also moved a wood pile to increase the size of the puppy.

I don't know about you, but I see a bumper crop of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatillos. Maybe even some squash. All I need is a little more (like a truckful) of dirt, one of those big floppy straw hats, and a pair of flowered overalls with "Garden Hoe" on it.

Until that time arrives, I have been feverishly working through some of the stuff I got out in Arizona and Pittsburgh. Must be prepared for the warm weather when it finally arrives. The Cat Claw Vest is done:

I decided to finish with a simple I-cord tie. Less to hit the toddlers with when I'm pinning them down to look at their ears.

The rainbow stuff is all knitted up and waiting to be sewn together:

Yes, it's that bright. I'm guessing a small row of single crochet around the neck in the blue will tone it down a tad. You know, one step below thermonuclear.

Speaking of bright...

Just need to sew in the sleeves and a few buttons on the front band, and it's done. Not quite sure about the skirt thing, but the yellow is bright enough to make people not think about much else.

I do have a new longer sleeve option ready to wear, though.

This is a simple lace cardigan from a pattern from Fine Points in Cleveland. They call it the Looking Good Sweater. It's done on size 19's, which makes it go really fast. It's also knit with five yarns held together. That was the biggest problem for me--I had several stash skeins I could use, but it took a while to come up with the combo that looked right. Up close, this is what I settled upon:

And this is what you're left with:

OK, one of those cylinders is an empty peanut tin. The rest are pretty much novelty yarn tubes. Thankfully, I was able to get all the yarn from the stash, eBay, or on sale--for regular price, this cardigan would cost a ton.

While at Fine Points, I also got a kit for the Abstract Cardigan from AlterKnits. It's another stash buster, but I didn't feel like working that hard. So far, I have finished the back:

It's primarily Rowan Summer Tweed with a mohair novelty yarn at the bottom. Here's the left front so far:

This is made from Rowan Damask with a panel of a generic mohair lace yarn and a ribbed panel of a rayon metallic from Great Adirondack Yarns. The other front will have a different set of panels, and the sleeves are another completely different yarn. The neckline is also a different set of yarns. The pattern doesn't call for any finishing along the front edge other than a slip stitch edging worked as you knit, which looked like crap with the Damask yarn. I'm probably going to do something once I get things all sewn up and see how it looks--I can't see that I'm going to be able to block out the Damask to give me a decent edge, but we'll find out. I like the pattern a lot, though--very simple, and the variety of yarns keeps it interesting.

And it's not going to require anyone I'm near to pull out their Ray-Bans.