Telling, not showing, or - "Out, out, damned digital camera!"

Well, I'd love to thrill you with another stunning digital photo of Andy's sweater, aka. "The Brown Blob", but someone has misplaced the camera. Not me, I swear! My daughters have taken it to produce photographic evidence of Computer Time Overuse - using the family computer during non-computer use hours - as a way to blackmail each other. Stupid but funny! Along the way, the camera has been misplaced.

As I inch long with the cable-heavy blob, I've been dreaming about another project. I do have Middle Daughter's rose-purple cardigan to work on but I too a page from another fiber blogger's journal and went to investigate my stash.

It wasn't as bad as I remembered. Along with various small projects half done and a variety of sock-able two skeins, I mostly need to work with 16 skeins of gorgeous Classic Elite Inca Alpaca (109 yds per skein) in a lovely soft turquoise blue, five skeins of the old-style Jamieson's Soft Shetland in Amethyst (100 yards per skein) and four skeins of Jamieson's Soft Shetland in Granny Smith green - all shades and yarns that I would love to do something with.

Add to all this my great buy on Rowen Yorkshire Tweed in Cheer (red?) and I have a burning need for patterns. PATTERNS, folks, right here in River City. What can I make with all this bounty? I know some boy babies who need attention and I could start a cardigan for myself in the Alpaca but . . . this needs some mulling over.

Brown sweater blues

I've been working steadily on Andy's brown sweater (made with Jamieson's DK yarn in Grouse) but photographing it has been another matter. The photographs just don't turn out. This was work from a few days ago - it may show you something - or it may just look like a string of really nasty brown lumps. Take your pick.

There's a reason why brown isn't most people's first choice for a sweater. Andy better wear this thing for years - 50th wedding anniversary kind of wearing.


Onward and upward.

Gone shop hopping

Last Thursday I convinced my husband and children that they really wanted to visit Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh in order to visit the one Pgh. yarn store I haven't been to. Knit One just opened last fall and my last visit into Pgh. was during the summer. Instead, I visited Pittsburgh Bead and Yarn store which is now closed.

Despite the fact that my favorite Western PA. yarn store, the Otter Creek Store in Mercer, was closed for vacation, my visit to Knit One was a great substitute. The staff was very helpful and the background conversations were a hoot. I seriously restrained myself and only bought some great Twisted Sisters alpaca sock yarn called Avarice. Oldest daughter came along and we had some fun with the Yarn Good Enough to Eat.

Afterwards we visited the world-renowned Pittsburgh tourist attraction, Giant Eagle!

Tour de Wisconsin - you should come too!

Not swimming, biking or running - just relaxing. That's been our trip to Pennsylvania - via the Wisconsin Dells. Everyone should experience a water park with their family at least once and ours was a doozy. After a lovely day at the park, we went into town for a tour on the famous Ducks - the part car/part boat that was used during WWII. Our tour guide really gave us an up-close-and-personal visit to the Wisconsin River - both in and out of it. Needless to say, the boys were thrilled. I was thrilled to just sit and enjoy the scenery without having to swim/bike/run through it. Maybe next time.

One down, one to go?

I successfully finished the Minneman Triathlon on Saturday, July 1 with a total time of 1:37:32! The whole race was held up because of rain and thunder but after a 45 minute delay - everything cleared up. By the time I was biking, it was a gorgeous day!

I finished 275 of about 450 people and 14 out of 22 in my age group. The swim was a little frantic because of all the flailing arms at the beginning so it wasn't my best time but it was okay at 11:05 minutes. My Transistion 1 was 5:03 - much better than I anticipated - and the bike ride was a lovely 46:10. I was actually passing people and loving the rolling hills. When I finally learn to take turns better and not worry about going downhill fast (the whole point, really, of bike racing) - this is going to be my favorite part!

The run - enh, not that good but not too bad, either. 32:24 minutes. Three minutes slower than my best time but then, I'd never biked and swum before a 5k before, either!

The whole site was hectic but exciting. Here's a shot of the transistion site before the race to give you an idea of what's going on.



If I can find an another sprint tri with an open spot this summer, I'll be there in a heartbeat! Of course, the "One to go", however, is Andy's blue sweater. I am into the complicated Lt/Rt ribbing with tiny cables right now and ruing the day I picked it. I can't believe I am saying things like "I can't wait to get to the body work of cables - they'll be so easy!" Inching onward and upward, that's my motto right now!

What a great smile!

A month or so ago, I finally finished a baby sweater for a book club friend's baby, Juliana, and I just can't keep her smile to myself. The sweater, just really so so but the baby, priceless! I keep one of these photos on my fridge for continuing inspiration. She's just a little rosebud!

Not a lake.

I had hoped to show you a photo of lovely Lake Harriet in Minneapolis along with a photo of a beaming Ellen and friends emerging victoriously from their race.

Unfortunately, once we arrived at 9 a.m., we found out that race day registrations had closed at about 7 a.m. So, after a little standing around in the light rain, Terry, Pat and I went home. The next day, a friend who did register in time told us that there were openings at the last minute because of no-shows, but alas, by then, I was at home, cleaning.

So, instead of a lake photo, I give you a glimpse of my one real score of the day - 15 on-sale balls of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed dk yarn in Cheer. Oldest daughter decided to knit a shawl andk, in the course of her yarn store visit, I found out that Yorkshire Tweed has been discontinued. So I decided to horde what I could. This is bad. This is not a behavior that your want to model for your children. So I asked Kate to turn around and not tell Dad.

While I am committed to finishing Andy's sweater on time (when that time is, I haven't really said!), I have been sorting through all my yarn catalogues and knitting magazines looking for a more modern type of cardigan with a knitting gauge of 5 stitches to the inch. Recommendations for patterns gratefully accepted.

Good night sweet blue sweater and flights of angels sing thee to your rest!

Every blue sweater needs a nap after a long day of being knitted. And while this might not be the best picture - it is just a top down bulky sweater after all - it is far more likely to be used as a blanket than to be worn when the temperature is 80 degrees F.

Hey baby, want to ride a bike?

Happy Father's Day, Andy!

So this is a day late but . . . we were too busy picnicking and biking and (in my case) swimming on a lovely summer's day to worry about posting.

There actually was a bit of knitting where I ripped apart Andy's aran sweater that I started two years ago and began casting on again. I took an Aran Knitting class at the Yarnery in Saint Paul and started a River Grass Gansey from Jamieson's Shetland Knitting Book #2. I really meant to finish it but - I became distracted by the Brocade Wrap in Soft Shetland and finished that last summer. This time, I plan to use all the tricks I learned at Annie Modesitt's feet last April and get it done in record time. Lots and lots of cabling without a needle!

Really. I mean it. See, now I said it on the Internet so it must be true!

If Annie can do, why can't I?

Okay, knitting here at Chez Daisy are going a little slow. The Big Blue Sweater (I feel like there should be a Muppet 'specially designed to wear this) is done. I will post pictures. Aaah. So good to be done. The Little Green Sock (there also could be a Muppet wearing this - he would be the BBS' buddy and shenanigans would occur) is getting kind of dull. Not enough cables to be truly interesting and not enough plain work to go quickly.

So, following in the steps of Annie Modesitt, I am posting a picture of my cute knitting related mugs. That's right. Coffee Mugs. I know, she's a tea person but we are CAFFEINE ADDICTS. Tea good, Coffee better! So, the mugs - they are lovely - I got one at Yarnover 2006 here in Saint Paul and the other at Shepherd's Harvest 2006. The one with the spindle is my Oldest Daughter's mug - she uses a drop spindle - and the ball of yarn mug is mine. As far as I know, the artist, Jennie Lanners, doesn't have a website yet. She appears to travel throughout western Wisconsin and Minnesota.

On the triathalon front - I had my first outdoor swim of the year with the Minnesota Triathlon Club at Lake Lavon in Burnsville last Tuesday. Lots of weeds and people in skimpy clothing but - I was so glad to see lots of healthy sized people and I was a pretty good open water person. I'm thinking of doing an open water swim in two weeks so that makes me feel much more reassured. Some day I will have a picture of me wearing my trishorts and top but not today!

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Not much knitting has been going on at Chez Belle. The end of the school year, final exams, beautiful weather for biking have all competed with the last darn little bit of Oldest Daughter's Blue Sweater. Just in time for 80 degree F. weather - a beautiful wool sweater!

I have been using my brand new Mother's Day gift of a carding machine but not spinning very much at all.

My husband and I have been exploring the Bruce Vento and Gateway Trails here in Minnesota and they are so cool! I am still brought up short sometime by my fear of falling off the bike but since I'm not working for speed anyway - lazy knitting has corrupted other parts of my life - I figure how bad could be road rash be?

Thunder and rain are interrupting my David Letterman viewing so - off to bed.

Biking -not blogging

Although not attractive, I am not falling down while in this race. This was at the Melpomene Institute 5K earlier in the month.



Yes, today I almost fell off my bike in public TWICE! I am so glad I picked this sport. The next embarrassing thing - buying a wet suit! I've also been reading a great book called "The slow fat triathelete - live your athletic dreams in the body you have now" by Jayne Williams. So far, she is right on topic for me. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to fall off her bike much.

Today was the joy of biking and then the grind of cleaning bathrooms and cleaning the porch. New porch furniture, however, makes for a much more pleasant Sunday of knitting and iced tea sipping. Perhaps a photo is in order. Socks, blue sweater and shawl could all make an appearance.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

For me, knitting is never all that serious.

I just got around to listening to the knitting related pod casts that I downloaded from I Tunes. I've been listening to Knitcast with Marie Irshad for a long time. She is humorous and really dedicated to knitting. I have never been disappointed in one of her pod casts. Now, Marie has a big set of shoes to step into (not literally, of course, Marie sounds like a lovely petite woman on the radio. I actually do not know what she looks like) for a budding pod caster. However, some of the ones I've been listening to sound awfully serious. Knitting is a craft, usually a hobby and sometimes a business but it should never be SERIOUS!

Maybe relaxed knitting is not a syndrome but a symptom. I thought I was just an extremely loose knitter who loved knitting but not all the work that goes into it. Perhaps, unlike all these "you should teach this way, hold your needles this way, use patterns this way” bloggers, I am just not a serious person.

I don't think I have ever been disappointed in a blogger - after all, everyone has something to share and I have learned a lot but LIGHTEN UP, FOLKS!

Now, back to my regularly scheduled knitting . . .

After putting away Oldest Daughter's blue sweater for a long time - not that I didn't want to knit it but the scarf, the socks, the shawl all pulled me into their lairs - I am finally drawing to a close. Inch by inch. While I learned a lot from this sweater, I have since learned about Combination Knitting from Annie Modesitt and every stitch has been an admission of failure.

Change, Baby, Change! or Change is Good!

Unfortunately, the stitch change would change the gauge. So, no changes. But I can't wait to start the next sweater!!


Now this is serious knitting!

Baseball or blogging?

My weekend started off with a bang at the Saint Paul Saints "Sip, Stitch and Knit" night at Midway Stadium. Although the Saint Paul Saints didn't win (they lost 6 to 1), it was only their second loss of the year and the Yarn themed entertainment was excellent. The giant pig mascot knitted a scarf, they had a knit-off, the cheesy lounge singer sang Weezer's "The Sweater Song" and there were lots and lots of knitters!!

All six of us went to the game and Youngest Child (or Boy, as he could be called) was enthralled. Wiggly, but enthralled. He was terribly excited when he got a hat and a jersey. I think he was in Boy Heaven when someone gave him their inflatable rally bat! The next day at 7 a.m., he was in our bedroom asking for his hat and "Where is my baseball coat, Mommy?" Andy had to get up early and play ball for a while just to get him calmed down. The rest of the family was entertained - after all, what could go wrong when the weather is lovely and there is cotton candy? - but not overcome by the idea of baseball. Seemed like too much work for them. It was a little hard to knit with small needles and keep track of the score.

As for me, the reality of all those hotdogs, cheese curds and cotton candy hit the next day when I had to bike and run for a Brick workout. Bleah! Not the food of champions.

Exhaustion - or creating a Wrap of Many Colors in under 36 hours.

Some time ago I mentioned purchasing a Shepherd's Choice competition bag of various fleeces at the 2005 Shepherd's Harvest Lamb and Wool Show.

Well, I cleaned the wool some time ago - the Lincoln was absolutely the pits to clean - and then promptly forgot all about it. About two weeks ago, I suddenly remembered the competition and began spinning like a demon. (There must be more yarn, there must be more yarn! - shades of "The Rocking Horse Winner.") Then, I changed my mind about knitting an afghan and suddenly, the colors were all wrong. Back to the dyepot. Still not quite right? How about adding in some Kidsilk Haze? Well, after a long night of knitting on Thursday and an even longer night on Friday, I turned in my scarf on Saturday and - lost. I enjoyed the results but no gift certificates for me.

Here's a peek of the Wrap. The edge stripe of purple is Jacob wool dyed violet, the yellow is Southdown dyed with lemon jello and knitted with Kidsilk Haze, the green is Border Leicester, the golden rose is Lincoln, the turquoise knitted with Kidsilk Haze is Suffolk, the gold is Polypay, the red-purple is a mix of Ramboullet/Border Leicester/Corridown and the final pink stripe is Ramboullet. The other picture is of Oldest Daughter modeling the Wrap as Scarf along with her fabulous Giant Leg. Breaking a leg plus surgery for a plate/screw combination equals giant leg wrap and a wheelchair. Tomorrow we find out about getting a cast. She was especially bummed because rainy weather made the fair grounds too wet for using crutches or a wheelchair so she couldn't go to Shepherd's Harvest. Next year, grasshopper!

Big to small

Sometimes a project gets so large that it works against itself. Oldest Daughter's blue sweater is now complete except for one sleeve and that makes it just too large to carry around. Perfect for lounge knitting on the couch, watching "MI5: Spooks" from the BBC. Hmm, that Tom Quinn looks so earnest. Too bad he's a SPY! But the blue sweater is not able to come in the car (gets in the coffee), be knitted at the piano lesson (his pugs try to sleep on it), go to track meets (grass stains) - not even to church. Yes, I'm a church knitter. Too Big!

So, I've picked up a couple of other space filling patterns so I have something to carry around. I actually have three knitting bags. The blue sweater overflows from one very large bag. My blue felted bag has a lovely scarf pattern called "Dainty Bess" from Kristmen's Design Studio and cream colored yarn from Blackwater Abbey Yarns. I like that pattern a lot but I'm not crazy about the stiffness of the yarn. I bought the pattern last summer at the Blackwater Abbey Yarn booth at Stitches Midwest and then returned and bought the yarn after, joy of joys, I won a gift certificate as a door prize. Unfortunately, I had just bought $100 worth of yarn and Beth Brown Reisel patterns but the $20 was a good thing too!

In the mesh bag, I've started a pair of Cable Rib Socks from Interweave Knits magazine, spring 2005. I've never knit socks on size 1 and 0 needles before so it's slow going but - fun.

On the outside world, it's lovely and springy here in Minnesota. I'm still running, swimming and (slowly) mastering biking. In fact, I've bought a new road bike. A Jamis Satellite. A great value for the money and a good introduction to road biking. So far, that's all I'm looking for. Aside from falling off my bike today - IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, GETTING ON! - I've been enjoying riding the bike. Mostly because I don't think anyone saw me fall off. At least knitting isn't a spectator sport.

An Easter celebration starts early

Just a few moments of hilarity in my kitchen - the still not done but looking much better kitchen - in preparation for Easter. Not all are here right now - Oldest Daughter is actually at the Minnesota Opera's production of 'Orazi & Curiazi' - but we are enjoying last minute re-adoption of old Easter habits. Now that my girls are older, we don't actually have any Easter baskets or Easter basket grass. Youngest Child, however, is all ready for the whole Easter experience.

My celebration extends to my new shawl - all finished and ready to wear in the morning. I really enjoyed this pattern and commend Polly at All Tangled Up for her work. The leaf pattern is especially nice!

Two down, one to go!

Okay, I finished the green Kiri Shawl! I didn't get it done quite on my schedule - this is Lazy Knitting, after all, and the weather was great this weekend! However, I did get a little surprise - I don't know what I was thinking but the edging that I thought I was knitting was actually the top of the shawl. I kept wondering - how did they get that great pointed design? - and now I know!

Unfortunately, with sunny skies and 70 degrees F. outside, I don't think that Oldest Daughter will be wearing her blue sweater any time soon.

Onward and Upward!

Endings . . . and beginnings!

Last night I finally bound off on the last baby sweater I was working on (Cottage Creations' Babies and Bears Sweater)
and I realized that, after I sew the buttons on, it will be done. And I am down to the edging on my green shawl. And I am finishing the arms on Oldest Daughter's sweater.

I may actually be done with all my current knitting projects this week. I have a heady sense of approaching freedom! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I have a serious case of spring fever - knitting fever! What will I do next? How about socks? (I already have yarn for a dark pair for my husband.) A sweater? (Middle daughter picked out a pattern and yarn back in November.) Slippers? The Puggy Shruggy? Already have the yarn. Should I actually finish the aran sweater I started last fall for my husband? How about the cardigan kit I got last summer at Stitches Midwest? And what about my friend Melissa's new baby? He is seriously under-knitted for!

Ah, the deliciously heady feeling of starting anew!

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of the two most recent baby sweaters I've completed. The red one is for my own son and the pink Cashsoft DK is for a friend's baby girl. Both are Cottage Creation sweaters. I probably would do the hoody one all in stockinette stitch next time. The hood is in garter stitch and it's just too floppy.

Disaster averted! Woman swoons and carpets are sent to the cleaners!

I don't have my camera handy which doesn't really matter because there isn't much to see right now. Big sigh of relief. My life must be really boring because this has been affecting my whole day.

This morning while I was "incommunicado" (as we say in my house) - otherwise known as "in the bathroom" - my three-year old son opened the gate to the front stairs, walked all the way upstairs, down the hall and down the back stairs into the kitchen. At this point, he opened the refrigerator, pulled out a full bottle of maple syrup, and reversing his steps, walked all the way back to the living room.

Now, the good stuff happens. He opens the bottle, sprinkles syrup on the furniture, the sofa and the rug. Lots on the rug. Lots and lots on the area rug - the most expensive thing/piece of furniture we've ever bought.

What really gave me a start (besides the fact that he opened and closed the supposedly-child proof gates) was that this all happened next to my knitting bag! With Oldest Daughter's almost finished blue sweater in it! I've been putting off finishing this sweater because it got a little boring but this would have been awful - what do you do to get maple syrup out of wool?!

After rushing the bag out of the room, settling Boy down for a time out on the bottom stair and getting out the bucket and cloths - I had plenty of time to think over the "ick" factor while cleaning up. Plenty of time because I get stepping in sticky patches and tracking the stuff around. Now, the rug guys came to pick up the area rug for cleaning (expensive cleaning) and I'm off to run at the gym. Working off the stress, I guess.