Happy April Fool's Day!

I took this photo at about 5:30 p.m. today. Since then, we've had three more inches. Please, no snow days ever again this year!

Hopefully, I'll have some other, less tricky photos tomorrow.

A short splash and then . . .

Yesterday, Youngest Child tripped over my IBook's power cord, pulling it out of my machine and into the dog's water dish. Although he did say, "Oops!" I managed to keep him from trying to plug it back in. After a long session of drip-drying in a sunny window, I think it has recovered. For the time being.

So, now that we are pretending it is Saturday, here's a shot of what I've been working on. The Paws to Remember scarf. Remember that I was planning on doing a repeat a day? Well, I have been for the last week and it is really moving along. I apologize for the color - my cellphone does funny things to yarn color.



The pattern has been easy to work on but, if you are really interested in a television show, there are a few places where you can get mixed up. I've been watching past episodes of "Bones" on my laptop (there's a great site called Fancast.com that allows you to view full television episodes over the internet) but it is harder on the old eyes AND harder to keep track of your pattern.



Youngest Child asked if it was his shawl and has been very disappointed.



The Saturday Seven was from Youngest Child. What is it about boys and their hoodies? I had to pry this "way too small" hooded sweat shirts away under the guise of doing laundry. They joined a pair of outgrown snow pants, two tee shirts, a pair of boxers/shorts and a pirate sword that someone left on our porch last Halloween. Its eyes glow and it talks when you press a button so Youngest has been avoiding it like the plague. Avast!

Not yet Sunday . . .

'Twas Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees
Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Oh, if only. Well, we'll just to have to pretend.



I've been spending some of my extra time today working through some of the current projects. The blue sock is halfway down the foot - the rest of the project will be okay. I am not, repeat NOT making a short row toe. Forget it.



I finished the Lenten Hat and blocked it. It is a very large hat! However, I made the biggest size for the pattern and I figure that sailors can have big heads too. I'll pop that in the mail next week

Alban's Big Sweater is still in one piece - I just didn't get to it today. I am looking forward to spending some time cutting it apart on Sunday.



Finally, I spent some more time tonight on the red Paws scarf. I know I said that I would do a repeat a day but . . . somehow I've slipped. I'm hoping to spend more time next week - it's a really tidy repeat to memorize. We were watching "The Chronicles of Narnia" again tonight and it was easy to knit and watch at the same time.



The Saturday Seven came out of my chidren's dressers - four teeshirts, a pair of boy's pants, a scarf and a race car driver's costume. The shirts and scarf will go on to a rummage sale but the pants and Halloween costume will go to Baby Karl. I saw him the other night - he was wearing "Cars" pajamas - so I think he'll put these to good use!

By the way, this was all written last night but my computer was not letting me upload anything. Very annoying. Happy Easter to you all!

Give Lenten Hat a Chance.

Not many people are hoping for Lent to continue . . . but I could really use a little extra time for this hat. I've been fighting with Dobby's Sock - I don't care what people say, short row heels are NOT easier! - late into the evening every night this week. That's when I get my "grotto" time. Unfortunately, finishing up past midnight AND realizing I would have to rip it out again does nothing for me. My children are in school this week but we all have tomorrow off and I am hoping to sleep past 7 a.m.

I finished the short row heel and will complete the pair but just to say that I've done short row heels. Give me Evelyn A. Clark and a good ole' flap heel any day!

So, I've been trying to remember to work on the Lenten Hat - and failing. It's a lovely washable wool but I'm only knitting with size 4 needles. Slow going. Forgive the blue-ish tint to this photo. I had a few minutes outside school today and I actually had my phone charged so that I could take a photo.

I just need to buckle down to the Lenten Hat knitting tonight and tomorrow. I need to cheer up about it too - infusing my knitting with regrets doesn't make it much of a Lenten project!

The kindness of strangers

I definitely have had to rely on the kindness of others recently, since my camera went to my daughters' dance a few weeks ago - and was dropped in the parking lot. So, until I get a new camera, I'll be using cell phone photos on the blog. This lovely thing (can't you imagine her singing, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President!") was at a doll meet I went to on Saturday. Youngest Daughter is very much into creating and collecting dolls right now and she is saving like crazy for a "dollfie" type of doll. We got to see lots of beautiful dolls and costumes. YD is hoping I'll take up doll clothes knitting very soon.



I am actually almost done with Alban's sweater but I haven't photographed it recently. I'll be stitching and cutting the front steek this weekend. Until then, I'm still working on a Amigurumi Teddy Bear and a pair of socks.

Spring again and my mind must be elsewhere!

I just had to show off this really cute sock yarn - and I'd love to tell you where I got it . But I can't. Yep, at some time in the past month I have bought beautiful sock yarn and forgotten all about it. It might have been at Borealis Yarns in Saint Paul. Or Knit'n from the Heart in Woodbury. Or Three Kittens in Lilydale. Sock yarn amnesia hasn't struck me before but I can see how it might become an intervention kind of situation! It's Great Adirondack Silky Sock in Nightshade. It's a a 70% Merino Superwash Wool/20% Silk/10% Nylon yarn with 360 yards per skein. In the meantime, I'll have to make some special plans for this yarn. Maybe a Baby Surprise jacket . . . maybe some socks for me . . .



The Saturday Seven for this week consists of a mixed bag. Two too-small turtlenecks from Youngest Child, a pair of gloves which he claims feel "sandy" and four old pairs of eyeglasses. The glasses are going on to the Third World Eye Care Society in Canada. There are actually many groups that do this kind of collecting but I've heard about this group before and they do great work. Look them up and give it a go!

Give me the grotto!

Every once and a while, you just need some time alone. One of the places I used to work at had a grotto out in the gardens. The outside was rough and ugly but the inside was beautifully painted and peaceful. It was used for meditation and time alone.

Today, while most of the family was out and all the chores done, I got to pretend I had my own little knitting grotto. Just me, a comfy chair, some dvds and lots of knitting. Lots. I really need to visit my own grotto more often. Unfortunately, the camera has not been returned to me after my daughters' dance last evening (believe me, they were lovely!) but that just gives me more time to knit. I've been working on a sailor's watch cap in Sandnesgarn's Smart washable wool in a kind of Cadet Blue and I took the red baby sweater up to the shoulders. Lovely.



Once again, I turned to my daughters' drawers for this weeks Saturday Seven. Seven hockey camp, girl scout and work teeshirts went to the rummage sale. I used to go to that rummage sale - they had great vintage knitting needles and craft items - but I am now afraid that I would bring home one of my own donations.

Creaking along . . . or Same Old, Same Old

Well, even though my own knitting has been anything but inspirational (crocheting teddy bear arms and legs, baby sweater body, and a repeat or two on the Paws scarf) - mainly because we have all been sniffly and sore here at Chez Daisy - I thought I would direct your attention to a really great project.



Jeanette over at The Knit before Christmas, the blog of the Seamen’s Church Institute’s volunteer knitting program, Christmas at Sea, has come up with the idea of 4,000 Hats in 40 Days. Although she writes that she heard of a similar project elsewhere, her goal is to have people (herself included!) knit as part of their Lenten Discipline.

Now, I have a friend who gave up buying knitting items for Lent and I have talked to another who gave up the actual act of knitting (she'll need your prayers!) as well. I think this idea is a better one. They are collecting the 4,000 hand-knit or crocheted hats for mariners working in the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Her organization will distribute these hats as Christmas gifts, along with other items as part of the 2008 Christmas on the River Program.

So, if you are a knitter (and, with the exception of Mrs. Stephanie, you would have to be lost if you were here for any other reason), spread the word to your other knitting and crocheting friends and help SCI raise 4,000 hats.

The finished items should be sent by March 30th to:

The Seamen’s Church Institute
241 Water Street
New York, NY 10038

Attn: Jeanette DeVita

This organization, the SCI is a long-standing agency for mariners and does some amazing work. Stop by their website to see what they are accomplishing without much fanfare.

Back to the same old, same old here. With the exception of a hat on the needles, nothing new here. I've been faithfully sorting out the Saturday Sevens - so much so that I am actually ahead for a few weeks.

But, the sun is shining and the weather is promising to get warmer (10 degrees F. today) and spring is in sight.

Sundays must be as good as Saturdays

Between illness, GS Cookie arriving and Crochet Insanity, I have very little to report this week. However, Youngest Child and I did a little sorting (we were actually looking for a lost toy) and I was able to pry these out of his little hands. I did have some fun trying to make a little tableau of them but, aside from the Mutant Turtle threatening Tinkerbell, I couldn't come up with much.

I now have another crochet head waiting for its crochet body - whew, is that stressful! And I have two sleeves and a body on the little red baby sweater - next up is the multi-colored yoke. Oh, and the lack of pictures is because my camera (which did return from Rome) needs a new battery. Until then, we'll do what we can at Chez Daisy with a cellphone camera. I promise to try harder next week!

On a lighter note - have you tried streaming audio yet? Or am I the last person to try this on my computer? I've been doing a little housekeeping on my computer today and listening to WYEP (or 91.3 FM) - a community supported radio station in Pittsburgh, PA. I used to listen to this when I lived in Pennsylvania and it is still great. We are members there despite living in Minnesota for 14 years.