One tiny thing . . .

Hey you!

Yes, you! What are you doing over there?

Just modeling the latest Cabled Chemo Cap!

It's been a busy summer - lots of little things means very little finished knitting. And definitely nothing for the State Fair! :(

But, I have picked up my crochet hook again - and yet another book to see if I can teach myself!

Also, this amazing little green gadget. Above, it's closed.

Here, it's open. It's an Ottlite Mini Flip! I got mine in green but there will be a pink one as a door prize at the next (August 16, 2011) Minnesota Knitters' Guild! Be there or squint . . . 

On the Saturday Seven front - things have been pretty slim pickings. Until Mr. Daisy cleaned out his closet. You just have to love a man who neatly packs up all his old dress shirts to give away!

On the non-knitting front, I've been listening to lots of "Harry Potter" audio books, sewing skirts for my daughters and getting Youngest Daughter ready to go off to college. 

I've enjoyed having them all home from college but it is definitely time for them to find their entertainment elsewhere. I just spent a raucous lunch hour with them, trying to explain the plot line of "Baby Island," This book by Carol Ryrie Brink was one of their absolute favorites when they were little but they didn't remember it at all. 

When I got to the part about milking the goats, Youngest Daughter said, "You milk my goats, I eat your baby!" Not the audience the author was looking for!

I'll be AWOL from blogging later this month when we start the Traditional Parental Migration. We are road tripping from Minnesota to Pennsylvania, visiting relatives and dropping one daughter's college gear off then taking off for Maryland for Youngest Daughter's move-in day. Then back to Pennsylvania where we bid adieu to Middle Daughter.

Then back to  Minnesota where we will welcome the Fabulous Miss H. (a longtime family friend) who is coming to Macalester College for her Freshman year. Then, our own Oldest Daughter starts her senior year (and we move her into her new dorm!) and then, finally, Youngest Child starts third grade. Whew! 

I sense a run on Vodka Tonics starting about September 6th!

Blue skies ahead . . .

watch out for the scouts!

Yep, when the rain finally cleared out this weekend, I spent Sunday biking around Minneapolis with Mr. Daisy, Youngest Child and his Bear pack or den or whatever they call it. Thankfully, everyone came home alive.

Although I've been still working on the "2-at-a-time" sleeves of my Turn of the Glass cardigan, I've progressed the most on my second Cabled Chemo Hat for the Minnesota Knitters' Guild.

Since I can't clean my children's rooms (they would notice!) or get them to clean their rooms, the Saturday Sevens have really slowed down. Just wait until they leave for college again, heh heh.

Trying something a little new is always hard!

I should have been spinning today but, really, I've been spending my last day of Youngest Child freedom walking the dog, reading a book and  - trying to make this button.

Just because. If you see it on the side of the blog, then I've succeeded. If not - the dog needed walking again on this lovely day!

From zombies to college

Any week that starts with zombies might be a bad one - unless they are made from delicious cake!

It's been a busy week at Chez Daisy - and it all started with a lovely wedding and some tasty CAKE! I didn't get a piece of this one so I'm hoping they are using it for their anniversary cake.

Then, we moved onto hockey camp.

As I am not the one at camp - I thought I would get some time off. Actually, I've reffed more home patio hockey games this week than I could have imagined. And what with moving all the patio furniture and actually making goals out of drying racks and towels - I think I've done mothers everywhere proud!

Any of my own free time has been sucked into participating in the Tour de Fleece - and you know, my rear end really appreciates a well padded bike short right now. Those spinning stools just aren't as  comfortable as they could be.

But the results are coming along and I am dreaming of what I'll be knitting this fall out of the Mystery Shetland Fiber.

Youngest Daughter will going off to college in August - so there also has been a lot of college themed clothes shopping going on. It almost makes me long for the days of high school uniforms . . .

Busy, busy, busy . . . ah, summer!

A busy, busy weekend!

Well, Saturday was 96 degrees F. and humid -  but luckily that all blew in after Youngest Child's Big Day at the Lake Nokomis Miracle Kids Triathlon.

Hanging out on the beach before his wave is pretty much his speed. He loves the music, making friends with the other kids and doesn't have any problem with the training. That's really all you can ask of an 8 year old!

There he goes!

The sun finally came out afterward and we were glad to go home. This week? Hockey camp will be the perfect place to be to beat the heat.

As for me, I'm making waves, no stripes.

I'm not going to have enough Cascade Fixation in green to make a second hat so GFMelissa gave me some of her leftovers and I'm making a striped chemo hat for the MKG service committee.

And I'm spinning up a storm of "Mystery Fiber - probably Merino" for the Tour de Fleece. 

The only problem is that my spinning stool is killing me! I seriously need a cushion or something - there is a reason wooden stools went out of fashion!

Time to run the race - again!

Youngest Child is at it again - he's racing in the Miracle Kids Triathlon on this Saturday, July 16 at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, MN. 

This is a kids triathlon where he'll be swimming 100 yards, biking three miles and running 1/2 half mile. He's racing in the name of Collin, 12 year old who is in treatment for B-cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoblastic Lymphoma.

This race (and its sister race in August at Lake Ann) is a fundraiser for the Miracles of Mitch Foundation and its theme is: Kids Racing for Kids Who Can’t. 

One proud Dad!

Because they spent a lot of time and effort describing MoMF, we took this explanation from their website:

"Daily Miracles … in the Spirit of Mitch

 The Miracles of Mitch are the daily good works inspired by 9-year-old Mitch Chepokas to help the families of children battling cancer in Minnesota. Sealed with a pinky swear between Mitch and his father, Steve, The Miracles of Mitch Foundation (MOMF) was created to honor Mitch’s desire to support these families during a stressful time in their lives.

Before he died in 2003, Mitch Chepokas used his own money to donate to other kids with cancer and convinced his parents, MOMF founders, Becky and Steve Chepokas, to continue helping these families after he was gone, easing families' financial burden so they can enjoy their time together.

MOMF assists families of pediatric cancer patients by: making mortgage/rent and car payments, purchasing groceries, hosting a five-day summer camp for current and past pediatric cancer patients and their siblings, hosting Minnesota Miracle weekend getaways, and creating specially-tailored quality-of-life initiatives for kids with an advanced stage of cancer."

My family and I hope you will visit our MOMF fundraising page here and make a donation to help this organization.  Youngest Child is  pretty excited about this hard work - if you go to http://www.miraclekidstriathlon.org  (the Miracle Kids Triathlon website), you can see what all the excitement is about!

Time to run!

Mystery solved!

As part of the Tour de Fleece, I picked up a bag of "mystery rolags" to work on from out of my stash.

(You must admit that not knowing what kind of fleece or when, exactly, you turned it into rolags is a sign that I should be spinning more!)

After working on it for a while, I decided to run the rolags through my carder (the rolags were pretty flat by now) and, lo and behold, when I pulled out the carder, I found a large bag of shetland fleece.

Three flat batts of Shetland

Possibly the first fleece that Mr. Daisy ever bought me at Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival!

The "un-rolaged" bag is 10 ounces and the (now carded and spun up a bit) bag of rolags is 4 ounces.

Here's the former rolags carded up into batts.

So, I've pretty much got the rest of the Tour de Fleece laid out before me. Shetland fleece, good to go!

I was going to call this post "Why you shouldn't knit at the movies."

The knife is strictly for effect!

I started this on the ride home from Mount Rushmore but then, I finished it at the movies. 

Unfortunately, when I got home, I discovered that I had made a mistake. A big one so, time to frog it back. 

A Fistful of

BFL!

First off, I hope you had a Happy Fourth of July. Lovely hot weather here topped off with a great fireworks display on the river.

Things were busy around here with a sci-fi convention for my daughters (and me, I confess. I went for the Torchwood and Dr. Who panels), one heck of a lot of spinning for Tour de Fleece (8 oz BFL spun and plied) and hat knitting.

It's not terribly fine spinning but I've been using the bulky head for my Lendrum and I'm not that familiar with its weight and ratio.

The skein on the far right is the biggest - I decided to spin two full smaller bobbins into one. I haven't counted the yards yet.

I finished my service project hat for the MKG. This was my trip knitting project along with 

this teeny tiny Splish Splash washcloth from Evelyn A. Clark.

I finally took three shopping bags of Saturday Seven clothes from Oldest Daughter over to the local rummage sale. I didn't photograph or count but it was way over seven items! How does she get that much extra stuff in her room?

Like you all have time on your hands . . .

Yes, it's 95 degrees F. outside right now and that is limiting our free time options. Until the weather breaks, it's time to explore inside entertainment options.

Knitting? Check.
Spinning? Check.
Playing games? Check (especially if  you are playing Dominoes or Dutch Blitz! We love these both!)
Playing on-line games? CHECK!!

Yes, I'm a sharing a big time sink of a game with you. The Floating City.

This is a free game based on the music of Thomas Dolby. Yes, the "Blinded by Science" guy. He has done lots of other things and this online game is the latest. Basically, it is a post-apocalyptic scenario in that time has gone awry, the magnetic poles are shifting and everyone is escaping by boat.

It is a slow but steady, "trading for supplies to get ahead" kind of game. It's oddly satisfying to check in every few hours to see if any of your trades have been accepted. And it is free so, that's something!

You can sign up at this link HERE.

Now, back to  your regularly scheduled knitting . . .

Tour de Fleece 201

Remember this beauty? Time to spin it up!

I've been spinning for a few years but I've never participated in the Tour de Fleece. That's an online "contest" (maybe I should call it a "challenge?") that involves spinning every day the Tour de France riders ride, if possible.

That's Saturday July 2nd through Sunday July 24th. I've heard there are rest days (Monday July 11th and Monday July 18th) but I'm not sure how that works.

It's kind of fun in that on a day when something especially challenging is going on, you are supposed to spin something especially hard. That's Wednesday, July 20th, when the Tour has an intense mountain stage through five mountain passes.  I love going up hills on my bike (although, oddly, not going down) so I'm looking forward to that one!

This Lincoln Long Wool has always seemed challenging to spin.

Some people DVR the Tour to watch during their spinning but I think I'll be traveling with The Doctor. Dr. Who, that is!

All participants are supposed to wear yellow on Sunday, July 24,  to announce victory as yellow is the color of the race leader in the Tour. I'm not sure how that will go - I actually don't own anything yellow - but we'll see . . .  I'm much more of "polka-dot jersey" wearer as that signifies you are a climber.

Perhaps I'll start with these curly locks?

So, I invite you to join me in the fun! Maybe we'll take the break on July 18th to go see "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?"

"Travel broadens the mind"

but perhaps, it makes it taller?" Heightens the mind? I'm not really sure what the exact phrase is!

But we definitely have moved into "more rarified circles?" I'm not sure if I can keep this punning up much longer . . . 

Obviously, we are traveling out west - Colorado to be exact. Everyone is having a good time (which is a miracle indeed), I am knitting in the car and all is right with the world

Here's the prairies for good measure - Nebraska!

A photo montage for your inspection:

Pike's Peak

My daughter's photo of the US Air Force Academy - she was aiming for the "Air Force guys!"

Garden of the Guys, er, Gods!

Lovely!

"I thought I saw a Black Widow Spider - Classic Peg!"

I preferred this kind of bug.

People watching in Boulder on a Saturday morning was amazing. And so was my trip to Gypsy Wools - just a little yarn for the road.

More to come - perhaps a finished object even?

Transitions

This lovely young thing is now a high school graduate!

Youngest Daughter is officially out of high school and moving on to college in Maryland. 

I'm not sure where she'll end up but I'm sure there will be lots of books, dreams and feisty opinions.

I should find a graduation quote from Oscar Wilde (one of her favorite authors) but I'll pick one from a favorite of mine instead. 

“Life is my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honors.” 

--  Louisa May Alcott

Well done, m'dear!

Today, all that's left is the clean-up.

Tasty pies and . . . 

otherwise!

Good to go

Somewhere between the 103 degrees F. Monday and the 63 degree F. Thursday was a perfect summer day. 

Sure, I walked for the St. Paul Pioneer Press Summer of Walking but then I grabbed GFMelissa and went swimming!

We drove out to Square Lake and while GFM sat on the shore and provided emergency backup (she's a former collegiate level swimmer and a lifeguard as well as an excellent Girl Scout!), I did a little warming up for the swimming season.

No cute swimsuits for me - just the plain old racer suit and a swim cap. 

Got to get those goggles on just right!

Working on a high elbow stroke! 

Now, because GFM wasn't actually in the water with me or accompanying me in an escort boat, I swam inside the ropes. I have swum around the lake before but Wednesday it was back and forth, back and forth. Not very exciting but oh, so nice. 

My dream house will be on a swimming lake someday. Boating? Bleh. Fishing? So-so. Swimming? Ah!

We're getting ready for a graduation around here with an upcoming Senior Dinner, ceremony and party so at home, I'm mostly weeding and sweeping up those @%^& helicopter leaves! Swimming was a nice break in the chores.

Ah, the days of summer!

The Pioneer Press newspaper has started a Summer of Walking series and I've been walking along with them. They are also encouraging Tweeps to Twitter about their walks using the #pioneerwalk hashtag.

Yesterday, I forgot my camera but today was just glorious!

The flowers are bursting everywhere!

I walked this route this morning - ran into a lawyer I knew and two men whom I can only hope were a trainer and his client. They were doing a lot of close-up sweating!

Now that it's 90 degrees F., I'm really glad I walked early today.

I've moved on to the sleeves of my Turn of the Glass cardigan. I'm doing them two at a time because I think they go faster that way. 

The cuffs are seed stitch just like the collar of the jacket. 

On Friday, I stopped by Three Kittens Needle Arts to kill some time and came home with one of their lovely Grab Bags. 10 balls of yarn for $10 - mine all came in shades of white, black and gray and I'm looking forward to coming up for a use for them.

Only four items made this Saturday Seven photos (three hats and some soccer shoes) but the other two items already went to a neighbor boy - three work books for school.