Well, the partying continues.

Okay, maybe not partying. Activity-ing? An award banquet and dinner out with my husband and, again, people coming to my house. It's a school parent activity that I put off for far too long and now - the big day will be here Friday.

Pie and coffee - what could be more Minnesotan?

This isn't so Minnesotan - I call it Oriental Pizza and boy, has it been good. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Luckily, it has some vegetables.

Since I've been keeping up my strength - I've been getting some knitting in here and there.

I actually have a few more inches right now but the pattern doesn't change until I get to the heel.

The week I develop a social life

So, after a long dry spell of knit, knit, knitting - last week I had a social life. Monday - book club. Tuesday - opera. (I was supposed to go hear Franklin Habit speak at the Minnesota Knitters' Guild but the opera tickets were too hard to change. Sob.) Wednesday - swimming. Thursday - meeting at school. Friday - church group meeting at my house. Tonight - friends coming over to play Dutch Blitz. (Yes, I know that sounds like a drinking game but it's not. At least not yet.)

In the midst of all this fun and frivolity, I realized I never really showed how the Neck Down Wrap Cardigan turned out. I finished it the night before Yarnover last week and wore it to the event. 

It is warm and very comfortable - my only concern is how to stop from snagging the sweater when I brush my hair. I think I've done it six times so far - just running a brush through my hair but continuing over to my shoulder and snagging the yarn. 

The side ties are okay - very easy to use but I'm wondering, "What to do with them if I want to wear the sweater open?"

I like the waist definition the tie belt gives - just not so crazy about my options.

I have been wearing it around the house quite a bit - I even wore it to a meeting last night when I wasn't sure it went with my check pants - so I think it's a successful sweater!

I didn't buy any yarn at Yarnover - shocked, aren't you? - although I did buy some buttons, some great cedar soap and a pattern.

The new/old Elizabeth Zimmerman Green Sweater. Perhaps this Aisha Cecilia yarn "Vivian?" Or perhaps this 

Lana Grossa Royal Tweed? Decisions, decisions. 

This Saturday Seven was no decision whatsoever. Sweaters, teeshirts, boy clothes and a pencil case. Off to the Huge Sale collection at St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church  in Saint Paul. (It's next Saturday, May 1, from  9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. - I believe there is a special "Things from Humbledaisy" section!")

Now, back to pondering that yarn . . . 

Fun, fun, fun!

My photography class at Yarnover was very informative. I have lots of photographs - some good and some not-so-good - to experiment with now!

So glad I learned what the macro setting was for!

Midweek cleanout!

If you can't be at Yarnover this Saturday,  the next best place to be would

 be the

 

I did a mid-week Saturday Seven and cleaned out my yarn stash. That was a humbling experience - I have way too much yarn! I realized that I don't really need any more yarn but I do need some patterns for what I have. 

However, I managed to weed out this:

Seven bags of yarn - some are full skeins and some are collections - plus some needles and a bag or two. Hopefully, I'll be able to get over to the preview sale on Friday ($25 donation at the door) because I want to check out their deals in spinning and weaving equipment.

Maybe I'll see you at Yarnover!

Round the bend

Very little knitting has been going on this week and what there was, was pretty boring. Round and round - knit row, purl row. But I'm on the sleeves now and, miracle of miracle, this seems to fit! 

I love the cross over front - I was a little worried about picking up so many stitches in such a visible spot.  There are a few iffy parts but, luckily, they are on the underside flap. I'd like to have a more definitive guide to how to pick up stitches, though.

The left side is good - the right side, a bit wonky. Maybe when I block it with steam?

On the weaving front, I've been working on a new pattern. It's not very fancy - a 3/1 window pane pattern - but I like the change from plain weave.

More on this when it's actually a complete towel.

This week's Saturday Seven was a mixed "bag." Hmm, puns. Anyway, a bag, two books, two pairs of winter gloves, a hat and a sweater. Must be spring cleaning . . .

Now it's time to get my bike out and play!

Almost feels like Easter

Youngest Child had a particularly great day today, playing outside and helping Dad work on his "club house." Think tree house only minus the tree. 

After dinner we played some raucous hands of Dutch Blitz and then went out to Konnie's Kones. Ah, bliss. 

But for Youngest Child, coloring the Easter Eggs and putting out our Easter baskets was the best part. 

He talked about which colors to dye the eggs, who got what basket and what color their Easter basket grass would be. 

Somehow, we've lost two baskets so Mr. Daisy and I opted for bowls. 

We talked about whether it was a real bunny or not (he voted for a real one!) and then, at bedtime, we read some stories about how using your imagination can  help you to see things in the real world 

(The "Seven Year Old Wonder Book" - still a great set of stories. Ours is inscribed "To (Oldest Daughter) on her 7th birthday. Happy Reading! Love, Mom and Dad." She is 20 now and still loves reading.We read through this book with each of the girls and they each loved a different part of it.)

The best thing for me was coming downstairs and finding Mr. Daisy completely absorbed in making pies for tomorrow. He found as much joy in that as Youngest Child found in arranging the Easter baskets. Ah, bliss.

Today's Saturday Seven was from my own closet and the Youngest Child's as well. Two pairs of shoes that I liked but never wore because they hurt my feet. The mattress pad, pair of pajamas and three pairs of socks came from YC. It's amazing what we keep around sometimes. 

Priorities

I've been checking out some family living/frugal lifestyle/careful consumption blogs and I ran across this quote over at Consumption Rebellion:

“Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I'll tell you what they are.” - James W. Frick

What do we have a lot of?

Education, right off the bat.  Grad school for me and my husband, two girls through twelve years of private  school and, now, college. One more still in high school.

A house. If the teens can't get together living in one house - how could they live in apartment? We are lucky! And a yard - a great place for impromptu games of Quidditch.

Yarn, of course, and the accompanying tools. Books - everyone's rooms are full of books. We love games, too. Card games, board games, video gams and computer games.

Cars and car parts are another big part of our storage situation as well. Not so many drivers in the bunch, either!

Health care - luckily, Mr. Daisy works for a great employer. :)

What we don't have a lot of probably isn't important.