All my eggs in one basket.

Yes, even on vacation, I gave things away this week.

Eggs.

My sister in law raises chickens and gave me about three dozen eggs. Well, we were leaving for Saint Paul and hadn't finished them so I gave the rest of them to my mother. About two dozen - which should have kept me for about two Saturday Sevens - but then I visited her and we made egg salad.

I guess it doesn't count for giving away if You actually ate them!



We were very hungry because earlier that day, we went swimming at a beautiful state park in Pennsylvania, Morraine State Park. It is a man made lake built in the 1960s and would be the perfect place for a triathlon, if I say so myself. Nicely kept bike trails which open to some lovely country roads, a flat walking path for a run and a great (and very shallow) lake for swimming in.



It was a little chilly for swimming in so Mr. Daisy and the Youngest Child played on the beach while I swam laps in the swimming area. But what were the teens doing? I think they gave their cell phones a work out!

Unfortunately, the pool is closed at our hotel so we couldn't do laps tonight. Instead we had an impromptu pajama/popcorn party! Minnesota by tomorrow - yea!

Wednesdays on the road

No, we weren't lost. But our vacation in Western PA has ranged from the woods . . .



to the city. Pittsburgh has some great views! This was from the top of Mount Washington after we rode the Washington incline up from Station Square.



I eventually ripped out the bonnet portion of Lillie's Little Sweater and reknit it on size 5 needles. This is a much better gauge!




I've also been carrying around Mr. Daisy's Gentleman Socks - this pattern has an enormous heel but it fits his very large foot very well. I'm not so sure I like the two needle technique but I'm giving it the old school try.

I only have a few Cool Wednesday sites. According to our friend Alex T., I must be one of three knit bloggers in the world (HA!) but the other two probably want to know about:

Companion Gardening.



When I had a larger garden, I found this technique worked very well.

Also, Yarntini (a Western Pennsylvania favorite!) has an update going out on July 12 over at her Etsy store. I love her color ways! Who wouldn't want a Lemon Drop or a Mimosa?

Well, time to beat back the clouds and collect my family for a trip to Moraine State Park.

Hope you are enjoying your vacation as much as we are!

Road trip for yarn

Stopped by this cute yarn shop in Hudson, Ohio, to get smaller needles for re-knitting Littlie's Little Sweater. Had to buy some yarn just to make me feel better!

Now, off for some lunch . . .

Satellite Saturday Seven

Just in case you were wondering what I collected this week:



Packing a little boy's suitcase gives you time to weed out the outgrown clothing and boots. I imagine Good Friend Melissa's little one will enjoy these!

I brought along my spinning wheel so I'm hoping to do a little spinning today and work a bit more on the Lillie's Little Sweater.



Happy Fourth of July!

Vactioning on the first Friday in July

Hey, I'm on vacation. Watch this and enjoy. It's a little slice of the past!



I am part way through a several state long car trip with two teens and the Youngest Boy. I don't think I was ever so happy to see Indiana before.



It took almost three hours to get through Chicago!

After finally getting to where our hotel for the night is, we had a late dinner. Right next door was this store:



Classy.

We'll be dong nothing more exciting on the rest of our vacation than a trip to the dirt track races and a brass band concert on the 5th of July. Hope your summer is turning out well!

Cooler than usual

Okay, maybe I'm referring to the weather. This week's items are pretty neat - not at all knitting related - and thrifty. I've collected a few low-cost Cool Wednesday items in an effort to stretch your dollars.

So, I've heard that "beer is an affordable luxury." Sales of craft or small brewery beers are up something like 6% in the last year.

If you are looking for a something special to sip, I'd recommend you include Farm Girl Beer in your Fourth of July celebrations. It's from the Lift Bridge Brewery in Stillwater, MN and Farm Girl Saison is a golden, Belgian-influenced ale. Very easy to drink and it's local too! You'll feel so green!

Another cool option for your holiday dollars - charity. Yes, I'd recommend donating to Portion for Orphans. I only know what they've done in the past - please, conduct your own due diligence! - but their work raising money for Hope Foster Home in China is a really good thing.

And if you are really cutting back this holiday, I'd recommend watching That Dean Girl's venture into Knitting Humor.

Knitter: Salvation - or Yarn: Overload

Okay, can you tell I've been watching a lot of summer blockbuster movies? But it's true about how it never rains but it pours.

Yesterday, I got not one but two packages of yarn in the mail!

First of all, the Fiber Fix saved my bacon big time in that I found a skein of Pagewood Farm Yukon sock yarn in Bird of Paradise on their site on Saturday, placed an order and it arrived yesterday.



A very good match. I plan on ripping back to the start of the final lace border and knitting again using the new skein. The rest of the skein - I'm thinking socks for me (since the shawl isn't for me) or some fingerless gloves.

In the very same post came a package from Scout's Swag! My sock club skein came! I have the last one earmarked for a baby surprise jacket but this one might make a pair of socks for me.



I'm backed up on the projects and Older Sister just asked if I've remade her 1824 Cotton sweater yet. No, not yet!

Oh, and one more thing. Some people (who already have entirely too much yarn! You know who you are, Guinifer!), wanted to know where I got my Spud & Chloe yarn. I bought it up in White Bear Lake at the Sheepy Yarn Shoppe. I think they are getting ready for a big Spud & Chloe yarn opening later this month but they had it there and were happy to sell it to me last week!

I'm not a big fan of knitting with cotton but I'm liking the Spud & Chloe so far. No photos because it's just a lot of garter stitch right now but I'll post something when it gets interesting.

Right - now, off to do something with all that yarn!

Saturday - so you say!

I found this Saturday Seven in a pile on my sewing room floor. "You can get rid of those," said Middle Daughter nonchalantly as I passed her in the kitchen. Oh, can I? Three tee shirts and four pairs of bottoms. Remind me never to take this daughter to Target again!

On the yarn hunt front, the local store's yarn just didn't match up enough to use. I have since broadened my search to the Internet - one online store claimed to have it but didn't actually have one to ship - and another is shipping a skein as you read this.

In the meantime, I am still working on the heel of Mr. Daisy's Gentleman Sock



and . . .



I cast on for a Lillie's Little Sweater.

Now the countdown for the Swallowtail Shawl begins!