See you tomorrow!

Yep, I'm on the advertising committee for the Minnesota Knitters' Guild and our own LOCAL Knit Out is tomorrow, Sunday, October 7th at Brookdale Center. We'll be knitting up a storm from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in the center of the mall. I just listened to the "Cast On" podcast and Brenda Dayne (Sound of angelic trumpets plays HERE!) mentioned our event. She is so great! I might bring along my sad Pink Sock, just to get some professional knitting help.

I've been knitting along on the "Back to School" vest but not getting very far. I've joined a Masters Swim club and the extra workouts are killing my wrists and ankles! I am just not very flexible any more. My husband saw me stretching my hands this morning and asked if I was knitting in my sleep again. Yes, I have dreamed of knitting and awakened with very stiff wrists!

This reminder of Time and Tide (plus my extra spinning this week) cut my knitting output in half. Ah, well, at least I'm getting excercise.




This week's Saturday Seven are spare paperback books, a kitchen knife and a case for Treo 650 phone. My husband got a new phone and doesn't need the case any more so, off to Freecycle. The knife is being donated to my church's kitchen. The books are going into more "To any soldier" boxes - they are kind of addictive!

Staying up late with the Dyers

I've been on the search for some new fibers to spin but I thought I'd better get my current crop out the way. So, I finished up some Punta roving that I bought from Paradise Fibers. It was very soft and a little hard to manage but I THINK that the final product wasn't too bad.



I love the orange color. I am still having trouble with tieing the dyer's knots just right - I am getting some color changing there but I can probably cut out spots of the yarn while knitting. Yes, I do cut yarn when I have to. I think I'm going to use the orange for a wrist and waistline stripe on a blue sweater. Or as part of Fair Isle yoke. Youngest Child would like a hoodie but I've already done one of those for him.



I divied the total up into a couple of skeins after I finished spinning it but I began the dyeing process a little too late for comfort. I ended up staying up to to 1 a.m. with the green and orange skeins. Sometimes, waiting for that dye bath to exhaust is exhausting! I made the yellow skein this morning and hung the whole lot out to dry on the line. Thank goodness for sunshine - it's been horribly rainy and yucky this fall.



Tonight, I spent some time taking it from skeins and turning into center pull balls. Once I get the purple vest going, I'll spend some time coming up with a pattern. Cheerful colors - they'll make it easy to spot Youngest Child in a crowd!

Nice day to stay at home and knit . . .

So I am. I am up to the basket weave portion of the bodice in my "Back to School" vest and I've gone out and bought fabric for a matching skirt. We'll see how that goes. I don't mind sewing but it just means . . . less knitting!



With my digital camera still in the middle of either a mid-life crisis or a death march, the photos of my Saturday Seven barely turned out. Basically, I weeded out the DVD shelves. I never liked the movie "Antz" - those ants are all way too sassy for my four year old - and the others are DVDs that just needed to live elsewhere. A friend told me about sending them overseas to military personnel - I find it hard to imagine how many of those guys are "Men who Knit" but perhaps someone is looking for a new hobby?

On a fun note, my copy of Crazy Aunt Purl's "Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split" arrived today. She will be visiting the Twin Cities on her signing tour and I will be there! I really enjoy when people take something like knitting and use it to change their lives. It just makes change seem more possible. After all, taking up marathon running or ballroom dancing to change your life seems . . . too much like work. Knitting is one step away from taking a nap on the couch. It's nice to know it can shape your future. I wonder what the unfinished Poor Pink Sock will say about my life?

Laurie Perry - a Confirmed Stop!

Thursday, October 25, 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
118 E. Broadway, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN

When it all changes . . .

So I'm a big geek - want to make something of it? Weekends are back to being my favorite part of the week. You know, when you're in school and the weekend is prime goof off time? Not that I'm really breaking any rules or anything but . . . I do enjoy being left alone (or at least with a group of people who know enough to talk ONLY during the commercials!) to watch my favorite shows.

Usually, I just end up Tivo-ing them and watching them late at night so what happens at Torchwood stays at Torchwood! it is a bit more adult than plain old Dr. Who. Thanks to my daughter's technical advice, I've already watched all of Season One on YouTube but the episodes have been removed now and I'll just have to bite the bullet and watch them week by week again. I've also been to the online Torchwood lab AND figured out how I can make my own "Giant Torchwood T" window cling. See, you can learn a thing or two from Starfleet University!

Now, if I can only convince my husband that watching Torchwood = Happy Ms. Daisy just like watching racing = Happy Mr. Daisy . . .



Also on the home front - strenuous knitting on the "Back to School" Vest. I even took it to the Minnesota Opera on Tuesday - yes, I CAN knit in the dark - and sat knitting in the interval while the rest of my Opera Group went out for a drink. Foolish non-knitters! Unfortunately, my camera battery is winding down right now and it's affected the color. Think purple, not burgundy.



Minnesota-wise, I'm part of the planning crew for the Minnesota Knitters' Guild's Fourth Annual Knit Out on Sunday, October 7, 2007. It's been great fun sending out press releases to newspapers and magazines but even more fund sending them out to knitting Podcasters! We are listed on the Stash and Burn Podcast website and I got a reply from Guido at It's a Purl, Man, but we actually were discussed on Sticks & String! That David Reidy - what a gentleman for helping us out AND it turns out he's a big fan of Garrison Keillor and "A Prairie Home Companion." Yea!

Just in case you were needing to know more . . .

The Minnesota Knitters' Guild's very own annual fall Knit-Out, a day of knitting outreach and just plain fun, takes place this year at Brookdale Center on Sunday Oct. 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Come for free knitting lessons, door prizes, hourly fashion shows, a fastest-knitter contest, and community-service knitting projects — not to mention the offerings of local yarn shops and expert knitters. This is the MKG's own event, not to be confused with the national Craft Yarn Council's winter "Knit-Out" (see Feb. 16–17, 2008). We've held it every fall since 2004!

See Here for directions to the mall. We welcome knitters of all skills!

See you 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. at Brookdale Center on October 7!

Pumpkin, pumpkin, who gots the pumpkin?

I finally got around to adding the leaves and segment lines to my Giant Felted Pumpkin. Not quite sure if I did the lines the right way but they look okay - and I love the leaves and vines. I was working on my BTS Vest while watching Elizabeth Zimmerman's "The Knitter's Almanac" dvd but my eyes kept closing . . . must . . . stay . . . awake.

Well, I lost that battle for awhile but since my daughters are at a school dance tonight, I'll have to knit awhile while I wait for them to come home. Yep, we're those kinds of parents.



The Saturday Seven was a mixed bag. Some patterns and needles that I'm sending on to the Interim House Knitting Ladies, as well as some pants and a turtleneck that just didn't work out and a yoga mat bag. That really sucked because I spent about $20 on it but it just didn't hang right. I just ended up carrying my own mat to the Y. Ah, well, back to watching "The Phantom of the Opera."

"Back to School" for me!

Not too long ago, I picked up the "Fitted Knits" by Stefanie Japel because I had "favorited" quite a few of her designs on the web and on Ravelry. I even bought the yarn just in case I fought my way through some of the remaining "on needle" projects in my bag. Well, I gave up on the other projects. The pink sock sucks. It just looks bad and I think I might rip it back to above the gusset - that's where it's gone spectacularly wrong. Not just ugly but wrong! The bag - eh, it gets knit a few lines here and a few lines there. I might even break down and buy the really large Options needles for that project. The current needles are so blunt that it's like knitting with sausages. Brats, even.

So, I gave up and began the "Back to School" vest. Just a few rows into it and it is so soothing. Not dull or boring - just easy and NOT WRONG.

I spent a little time today with a recent Netflix choice - "Venus" with Peter O'Toole. His character is refered to in the past tense as in "He was a gorgeous man!" and yet, in a bony sort of way, he stll is. Now, it's the kind of good looking that looks better clothed but . . . most of us fit in that category! A good knitting movie.

Yep, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day . . . again!

So, what did YOU do to celebrate? I don't think reading, shopping and knitting really make the list but perhaps quaffing an adult beverage or two with a loved one counts as a celebration?

More than enough for a pie . . .

I finally got a move on and felted my giant pumpkin. I was a little hesitant because I have a front loading washing machine and they don't always work well for felting. A lot of the techniques for felting in a machine (pausing the routine with a full drum of hot water, draining but not spinning the drum) just don't work with a front loader. But, it's only knitting so I just threw caution to the wind (and the pumpkin in a zippered pillow cover) and went ahead with the load. I sent it through twice with a break in between to shape and poke and that seemed fine. After spending an hour or so stuffing it through the teeny tiny hole in the bottom (plenty of time to watch "Torchwood!"), I sewed up the pumpkin and left it to dry. Once it is dry, I'll put on the leaf and vines as well as the traditional pumpkin "score lines." I think I'll skip the Jack O'Lantern grin, however.



Felting the leaf was really fun as well. I simply got it wet and soapy and then put it in a zip top baggie. After that, I carried it around and massaged it. Then I walked on it. Then I put it on the floor of my car (we had to go to the mall) and rubbed it with my foot as we drove around town. I think the ribbed rubber car mat did most of the work. Although, it did look a bit like someone's forgotten lunch . . .



The Saturday Seven continued the Halloween theme - to some extent. Five of the items are hand-me-downs from my daughters and, in the past, these always went from daughter to daughter. From large to medium to small - there was always a spot for outgrown clothing. Now, the girls aren't outgrowing anything but their tastes are definitely different. When one daughter wants to get rid of something, there isn't always a willing person to take it. So, off go the swim suit, polo shirts and tees to a local rummage sale. I've had the two "gold" necklaces since I was in college but I haven't used them in recent years except for Halloween costume duty. And, since we don't really trick-or-treat anymore - off they go to become part of some other little girl's Halloween costume. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for little girls dressed up as gypsy fortunetellers. Or mermaids. Or robots. Or cats. Now, I am living in the Boy Costume World of race car drivers and Spiderman. Sigh.

By the way, I hope all you out there in Blog Land have visited Knittymama's blog and read about her contest to raise money for the flood stricken organic farmers in southern Minnesota. She has only three steps for contest entrants:

"1. Make a donation to Sow the Seeds. You can donate online or send a check. If you are in the region you can can also donate at your local co-op. Donate $5 or $100, any amount will help!!

2. Send (her) an e-mail (knittymama AT yahoo DOT com) letting (her) know your donation amount so (she) can keep track of how much we knitters are collecting for the farmers.

3. Create a link on your blog to this flood relief contest so we can let others know about the need for help.

4. If you do the above three steps, you will, of course, be entered in a random drawing for yarn. (You knew there was yarn coming, didn’t you?)"

Her contest has been slow but steady and there is still much to do. The rewards (for the contest winners) are Fleece Artist and Spunky Eclectic Tough Sock yarns. Knittymama is also posting a running total so it's worthwhile to stop by her contest site and see how things are going. With regards to the work Sow the Seeds is doing with local farmers, check out their website for more information. Peace Coffee is also creating a "Sow the Seeds Blend" coffee as a fundraiser for their flood relief work.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Ignore the wrinkles - it wore beautifully!

I had the Flower Basket Shawl all stretched and beautiful and ready to photograph . . . but I had to go to a party. A surprise 40th birthday party for a friend on a cool fall night - I needed that shawl! Luckily, it went great with a brown long sleeved shirt - the brown flecks in the blue yarn were a perfect match. So, the official Shawl Photo is draped on the wall - framed a little crookedly - and wrinkled. But I enjoyed it!



Team Lurid Yellow had to bail out of the Saint Paul Bike Classic on Sunday - with a crash. Oldest Daughter wiped out at about the 3/4 mark - pretty much the farthest point from the Start/Finish line - and since her scrapes were pretty uncomfortable, we rode the sag wagon back to the Ramsey Hill rest stop and visited the nurse. Her tights, jackets and gloves kept her from the worst but she has a pretty big owie on her knee as well as a few other scrapes. Next year, we are having lessons in crashing (keep your arms and knees in tight, hands on handlebars and let your thighs and arms take the brunt) as well as listening to your mother - "Slow down going around that corner, dear!"

Knitting wise - I went all Yarn Harlot and cast on for a Back to School U-neck Vest in Cascade 220 in a heathered purple. This pattern from Stefanie Japel's "Fitted Knits" just called to me from Ravelry - so I broke down and bought the book and the yarn. I'm also thinking of the Cozy V-Neck Pullover."

Saturday sights and sounds . . .

Pretty boring. It was a lovely afternoon but I didn't do anything besides run errands and clean house. I used to have a rule that all cleaning needed to be done on Friday afternoon so we all had a relaxing weekend but, now that the girls are all teens, we just can't fit it in. I hope that tomorrow allows for more knitting time.



Today's seven was mostly leftover books, some misplaced baby clothes and a tee shirt I just never liked. I gave away the girl-related books to GFM - she's got a daughter and she'll probably find a good use for the information.



Knitting-wise, I'm waiting for the Flower Basket Shawl to finish blocking and whiling away the time working on a little shopping bag as a gift. I have to admit, this Red Bag (Oat Couture's Stow Away Shopping Bag) is the second attempt. I tried it with another pattern and some linen and almost lost my mind! I think it's just the very blunt needles needed for the large gauge. It's like knitting with sausages.

I would love to find a pointy version of circular 15 and 1/2 size needles. Any ideas? I might see if the Knit Picks Options come in such a large size - I like the smaller sizes a lot.

I didn't like knitting with linen, either. This Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece is about as coarse as I am willing to go. I am such a wool yarn kind of girl!

Here's hoping the nice weather holds for tomorrow - it's the St. Paul Classic Bike Tour - and Oldest Daughter and I are skipping church to cycle the city. If it starts to rain, I'm pretty sure that there will be some praying going on!

Hallelujah, I'm done!

It won't be ready to wear for a little while and it isn't perfect - but I like it! I am going to have to sneak some peaks at similar shawls on Ravelry to see how mine measures up.

I didn't mention this the other day but my "unexpected knitting time" was the result of Youngest Child's first visit to the emergency room. He woke up at 4 a.m. with an incredibly stiff neck and was just miserable. So, while I was driving the other children to school, Mr. Daisy drove Youngest Child into the emergency room.

It turned out to be just a strained muscle in his neck but he was not a happy boy! Especially because he missed the first day of school. But, he is fine now and we have heard about a virus/cold? going around that includes a sore neck.

I just hope I don't need any more trips to the ER in order to finish the Poor Pink Socks!

Birthday noises can be good

Squee!



Tuesday was Youngest Daughter's birthday and this photo shows off two of her birthday surprises - a manicure and an ipod. She also got some sewing related gifts as well - sewing is her latest craft passion - so she can turn out lots more of these . .



I'm not so "doll oriented" of a sewer as she is (I do curtains and clothing) but she's made quite a collection. Her aim is to get good enough so she can sell her dolls and buy - guess what? - a doll. A Super Dollfie from Volks.



I was able to use some unexpected knitting time today to finish my Flower Basket Shawl. I couldn't wait to block it before I took the photo so I used a nearby schoolgirl to model it for me. I'll get better, blocked photos later this week. That's my spinning wheel on top of the television cabinet - it looks funny there but it keeps it away from the dog!

Fair Child

We spent most of Labor Day at the MN Renaissance Fair and part of the fun was seeing things through the eyes of Youngest Child. He was amazed by everything and spent part of our visit stalking three costumed visitors (dressed in matching blue doublets and swords) whom he was sure were the Three Musketeers. We listen to a lot of "stories on tape" by Jim Weiss so he knew all about what musketeers wear! He wore the face paint to school today to meet his new teacher. While it was quite pleasant, I still missed the knitting time. I am down to the lace edging on my shawl - can't wait to see the finished project spread out flat!

One last time . . .

I cleaned out my bookcase this weekend as part of my big Labor Day cleanout. It's funny but it always seems to be the best weekend for a good cleaning. I can remember cleaning and moving my living room furniture around the weekend that Princess Diana died. I actually didn't have much to remove but I did find a few items to weed out. Every one was a good read but it's time to pass them on. They'll be going off to the St. John the Evangelist big sale. It's lucky that they do this sale twice a year!

The rest of tonight I'll be watching "Breach" with DH and knitting on the Flower Basket Shawl. It's time to get that finished as well.

Birthdays, nonsense and socks - Oh, My!

Happy Birthday to my Two-Headed Valentine!

Yep, today is my husband's birthday. After a lovely dinner and strawberry shortcake outside on the patio, he opened his presents - one of which is a bust of Winston Churchill. Andy's a big fan of Winston and decided that he could ride around on his shoulder. The rest of the gifts were great as well (One daughter gave him a "Nunchuks" - a little gun that shoots tiny nuns across the room!) but I know he'll be having some long talks with Winston.



Despite the festivities, I've been alternating work on my Flower Garden Shawl and the Poor Pink Socks. Nothing I do makes them look any better - I can only hope that steaming/blocking the heck out them will make them seem like a decent pair of socks. I did the first 2 1/2 inches with #2 needles and switched to #1 needles for the rest of the sock. It gives them a bit of definition at the lower calf and lots of room at the top. I've read a bit about this technique and I think I'd like to try it on the foot as well - but that will have to be another pair of socks and another story.

Pay no attention to the corn dog behind the curtain . . .

Sure, I'd like to say that I made good food choices at the State Fair but . . . I'd be lying. Yep, we had trips to the malted booth, the Pronto Pups, the mini-doughnuts and the free Cheetos. And chinese food. But we did walk all over the grounds (no one would let me visit the Sheep booth!) and had a lovely time so maybe, they actually balanced each other out. Right . . .



We also stopped by to visit my green Kiri shawl at the Textile Center display. No, I didn't enter it in the Fair (I knitted it for the Knitting Olympics and it had a few mistakes!) but I love it and they needed items from the Mn. Knitters' Guild for the display. Stop by and wave at it! GFMelissa has a cute little felted hat (with needle felted flowers) on display as well. Later on, I stopped by the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers booth for some great Rosemary soap and a yarn-decorated bowl from Jennie the Potter. I hesitated over the yarn for quite some time but I'm still spinning quite a bit and until I make something with it, I'm feeling a little guilty.



Obviously, I didn't feel guilty enough. On Friday, I read on the TC Knit Yahoo list that Creative Fibers in Minneapolis was going to be closing at the end of September. Everything is currently 25% off. That is the store where I took my first spinning class and I feel so sad. Someone - buy that store!

So GFM and I bundled up all the kids and drove over to check things out. I bought another skein of All Things Heather sock yarn in Mustard Yellow and some Mohair/Wool spinning fiber. I was hoping to score some more Red Star Rovings but it was all gone. So, I really used up my State Fair self-allocated yarn allowance before I got there.




This week's Saturday Seven went right to someone who could use them. Someone posted a "Wanted" request for cloth diapers on Freecycle this week and I was able to give them the end of my diaper stash - nine diapers and four covers. Yes, we used cloth diapers until they wouldn't stay on Youngest Child's bottom any more. Then, we moved into disposables and training pants. Not me, personally, I've been trained for years! The Royal/Group "We." So, I bundled them up for the recipient and they were picked up yesterday. I could have kept them for cleaning cloths but they were really nice diapers!

Read This Or Else! (a.k.a. Revenge of the Giant Pumpkin)

Here I am, shuffling along with my Giant Mistake of a Pumpkin, and this guy is putting me to shame. He started this Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark in SeaSilk just about the same time as I started my blue shawl and it is gorgeous. And then - he gave it away. Yes (well, he is a guy and it might look funny on him) - off it went. I would have a hard time giving away anything so pretty.

This Boy Knits: Heh, my bad

Oh - here's the flat version of my pumpkin. I loved making the leaf and vines but the pumpkin - eh, not so much. It was just too big. The pattern was great, however, and I recommend it to others. Just give up your social life as it will soon revolve around giant squash.

Just a little something - something

So, today I finally finished the stem on my Giant Felted Mistake of a Pumpkin. The sad part was that I had to beg Good Friend Melissa to give me her left-over bits of green yarn as I didn't have any. She (Also known as "Muy Great Stasher of Cascade 220") had the tab/butt ends of three different green yarns on hand and I used Knit Picks Yarn of the Andes in Evergreen. Now, I just need to knit the leaves and twirly vine (I need to get out some different needles) and I'll be done.

Unfortuntely, I don't have a top loading washing machine any more so I'll have to visit my local laundremat to get it felted.

Tonight, I took the Lousy Pink Sock to the MN Knitters' Guild meeting. It got a little air before I was lost in the Maggie Jackson designs shown in the fall fashion show. My sister (the one with the baggy 1824 seater) has expressed interest in "a little something" for her cold shoulders and I think the Maggi Knits might just have the answer.



And I bought "Romantic Knits" by Annie Modesitt. I think they might be a little too young for me but I expect to change my mind after some bedtime reading.

Oh and Sunday's results?

Bib number: 509
age: 42
gender: F
location: Saint Paul, MN
overall place: 350 out of 400
division place: 20 out of 25
gender place: 161 out of 197
time: 1:43:40
swim: 17:33
trn1: 3:42
bike: 46:15
trn2: 2:16
run: 33:56

So I ran faster but biked slower. Hopefully, I beat the 80 yr. old man. He's the Twin Cities triathlon standby - anouncers like to mention him when he's racing. Unfortunately, once, I came in right behind him. Now, we are in waves and I probably started after him BUT . . . I can only hope he doesn't knit socks.

Apres Moi - the deluge!

Yep, it is now pouring rain in Saint Paul. It was rainy yesterday and misty this morning but now - The Rain! The Wind!

I notice this because this morning I had my last triathlon of the year, the Saint Paul Triathlon at Lake Phalen. I've never had to worry about being too cold during a race but there's always something new. Usually, the water is the coldest part but today, it was the warmest! No attractive photos to follow - poor Andy had to find a sheltered spot or he would have looked like a drowned rat.

There were several of us from the YWCA of Saint Paul participating and I can't wait to find out how they're all feeling. I didn't linger in the rain to find out any of our race times.

So, now, after a hot bath, a grilled cheese sandwich and one viewing of "84 Charing Cross Road" later , I'm ready to reveal the contents of the Saturday Seven. Gold? Jewels? Household furniture? No. Just an odd assortment of hand-me-downs: four pairs of pants from Youngest Daughter, a paperback book "accidentally" left by a friend of Middle Daughter (she had to read it before throwing it out!) and two pairs of socks from Youngest Child. Off to the fall sale at Saint John the Evangelist.



Things will hopefully settle down this week - Monday is the first day of school for my teenagers (Youngest Child goes to school after Labor Day) and I am looking forward to some decent knitting time. Now, if I could only do it on my bike trainer!

What's on my needles? The Ever Increasing Pumpkin Effect (almost done), the pink Miss Violet sock (turned the heel) and my blue Flower Basket Shawl (another repeat) as well as a line or two of Andy's Brown Sweater. Someone should just lock me in my room with just ONE project and make me finish. But not right now, it's time for a nap.

All about the free or . . . how I was attacked by a zucchini and survived!

So, my Oldest Daughter and I were out biking this morning (I'm trying to get in some mileage before Sunday's Saint Paul Triathlon) when we ran across a lawn chair in some one's front yard with a "FREE Tomatoes and Zucchini" sign. And lots of great tomatoes and squash. So, we loaded up our bike jersey pockets with tomatoes (we looked like we had some odd case of tumors) but what to do with the squash?

As we biked along, I told OD that I really should be chasing her, zucchini in hand, yelling something like, "Take it back! Take it back!"



Here's the stash, minus the zucchini. I think we ate three already.

Sister Scores Big Time!

So, Oldest Daughter was at work recently and began discussing knitting with a co-worker. This older women mentioned that she was going to be moving and needed to get rid of her spinning wheel. Well, yesterday Oldest Daughter came home with the spinning wheel, an Ashford Single Drive Traditional wheel, and a big box of spindles, accessories and dyes. All for $50 cash!



She needs to get things adjusted and spend a little time restringing the wheel but then, she's good to go. What good fortune!



And, now I don't need to share my spinning wheel!

On the knitting front - I am still finishing up the Giant Pumpkin. This is moving from a "Fave" to an "Ugh" as they call it on Ravelry.

I may not be able to grow zuchinni but I will have the Pumpkin to beat all pumpkins!

Remember this?




Now, this is what it is becoming.




But it is STILL on the needles! This better be the best pumpkin I've ever seen. Or I forsee Pumpkin Pie on the menu.

As for the Saturday Seven - it was more of the same. The last collection of clothing for the Fairfield Children's Home went with a young lady from our church. She is going to study and work in Zimbabwe this fall and is collecting items for use in the home. I can only hope the shorts and teeshirts are what they are looking for.

This weekend is the Irish Festival in Saint Paul and we had the dickens of a time finding a parking spot near our designated biking spot. Despite this, we had a great ride up and down the Missippi River. It was just gorgeous! Sometimes, I miss Pennsylvania (my home state) but there just isn't the same attention to outdoor activities there. Very few bike trails. Not a whole lot of lakes to swim in. Cross country skiing? What's that? We are very lucky here in Minnesota.

Settling in for the long haul . . .

I've been spending more time than usual in Chez Daisy knitting and spinning but really, there isn't much movement. Things are slow. The spinning is more of the blue ("Blue Skies" is the colorway) for Youngest Child's sweater. It's lovely - blue with a bit of a sheen but I'm having a bit of trouble mastering my new plying head. Good thing the yarn is for a sweater.



My poor pathetic pink sock. I didn't bother to reskein the yarn and steam out the kinks left by my last sock. Somehow, it seems ever sadder today. It's a good stop on the road to the last resort of knitting.



At least the giant pumpkin is still growing. I swore it would be done last week - I guess I'll have to give Rumplestilskin my first born child now. Or do I owe it to the witch who grows the rapunzel? Some fairy tale creature better show up and finish the pumpkin soon or I'll have to keep it in hibernation until next fall. Since I bought this yarn and patterns last year, I'm pretty sure my fall decorating will survive without it!



I've got some knitting company tonight - Die Kinder scattered as soon as we fed them ice cream (Ben & Jerry's "Steven Colbert's American Dream" Yum!) - but the Old Man and the Dog stuck around. Until the liver treats run out. Then, I'll be on my own.

What Albert said to Elizabeth

If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts.
- Albert Einstein, (attributed)
physicist (1879 - 1955)

I don't think Elizabeth Zimmerman ever met or even thought of meeting Albert Einstein but I think they both lived by this motto.

Today's heavy rain put the kibosh on my bike ride this afternoon (I am hoping to get a swim in instead) and after the weekend cleaning and shopping, I sat down with my soon-to-be-felted pumpkin and the DVD of EZ's "The Knitting Workshop."

As she teaches, Elisabeth obviously has strong ideas about how steps should be accomplished. However, she seems more than ready to toss out what doesn't work. If the pattern repeat doesn't fit - add in a few stitches in the underarm where no one will ever see. Too small of a cast on? Fudge it by increasing on either side of the waist. No seams for ease of folding? Phony Seams!

In other words, change the facts.

I have been working through my Works-in-Progress this summer with the end goal of having some extra time to make my own EZ percentage sweater this fall. It might be made of hand spun or I might use up my generous stash of Classic Elite Inca Alpaca. I haven't decided. But I have decided to change some facts. Like the fact that I already have one sweater on the needles right now.



This was a very poor photo of Andy's Brown Sweater last year. (Don't worry if you don't remember it - it's "hibernating" as they say on Ravelry - but I actually pick it up about once a week.) I am about belly button height right now.

I also have three other sweaters in my queue. BUT, no one is anxiously waiting for those sweaters, no one is actively wondering about the pattern. But I am pondering this every day - what wool, what size, what style - so I think it's time to toss out those facts and make my own. But first, this pumpkin has to go!

Saturday Seven was a motley lot: a briefcase, some extra plastic sheeting, an old fax machine go off to Freecycle and some little children's clothing for the Fairfield Children's Home.

Back to knitting - but if the sun pops out, I might have time for a ride!

"16 ways to make a stitch and every one is right!"

I've been spending a little free time today watching "Real Men Knit", a great documentary about men and knitting. One of the best parts is a "learn to knit a hat" segment with Eugene Bourgeois from Philosopher's Wool Company. I know how to knit a hat but his gentle and entertaining segment is excellent. That quote is from him and I believe it! I actually met him a few years ago at Stitches Midwest - their circular knitting patterns are famous - but I didn't have enough money to buy a sweater kit. Regrets! Regrets!

I won the DVD at the bag stuffing party for the "goody bags" at Stitch n' Pitch 2007 with the Minnesota Twins but I encourage people to buy it. It's a bit like knitting workshop or a Knit Night Out.

I've finally had my camera handy when I'm working on my Flower Basket Shawl. I keep it nearby but do only a line or two a day so it is moving along S L O W L Y! Not that hard, however.






Alas, unblocked, on-the-needles and with-life-lines-installed make it nearly impossible to photograph. Now, back to my travelling pair of socks (Miss V's Pink Ribbon yarn) and a pumpkin to be felted.

A big crack and then . . .

For many people in Minnesota, things are forever changed because of the collapse of the I-35W bridge on Wednesday. I read some terrible stories and heard some amazing things about happened. For me, I am rarely near this part of town but I was driving around Minneapolis yesterday morning so my daughter could pick up her "I passed Driver's Ed" certificate. Just picture stop-and-go "rushing hour" city traffic - and then toss in a collapsing bridge. Wow. Please keep the families involved in your thoughts.

I did get an email today that seemed to sum things up:

1. what seems permanent in this world is not, and

2. that there is a story in creation beyond what we can see, and

3. that there are worse things than death.