Just for fun!

Have I been in the kitchen too long?



A final look at the Paws to Remember scarf - time to box it up and send it out. Oh, and I've got another, secret project on my needles too! Remember that fabulous blue yarn? Look for it in the not-so-distant future!

Sliding in sideways, with a cup of coffee in one hand and knitting in the other . . .

This has been one heck of a weekend - not actually busy but very full. From early on Saturday morning to late Sunday night, from snow to sunny, kids working, driving places - jampacked is the only word.



I finally fought my way through the button bands on Baby Alban's sweater. My advice to you is don't do the extra six stitches in the ribbing and just do regular picked up button bands. I ended up knitting the button bands about six times total and ended up stretching the one side - the left, button hole side - out. I think that this will fix up in the blocking. Tomorrow, blocking and sewing on buttons.



Not too crazy about the buttonholes, either. By the way, my daughter picked these bluebells on the way home from the park today - right after it began to snow again.



I finished the lace border on the Paws to Remember scarf. I think it will be more of a "Paws to Remember" shawl when it is blocked but, luckily, the recipient is tall!



The Saturday Seven was all sock related. My husband finally gave up four pairs plus my Halloween socks and two pairs of Ironman socks I got in goodie bags at races. I hate these socks - they are slippery and feel very artificial. Give me a plain old cotton pair any day! I have one more week to get things over to Saint John the Evangelist for their big sale. I recommend it.

I also recommend attending "Stitch, bitch and die!" over at the Bryant Lake Bowl. It was very silly - but fun is fun and the beer was great. Try "It's Greek to Me!" for dinner - it's great, too.

Go Faster, Mommy!

Courtesy of high gas prices, I've been biking with Youngest Child to his school every morning. Usually, I bike pulling our old Burley bike trailer and he rides his two wheeler with training wheels. It takes us 45 minutes to get to school! After walking him into his class, I put his bike in the Burley and take it home. Then, he rides the bus home at lunchtime.

Today I said, "Please, will you ride in the Burley?" and he agreed although he worried that his friends would think he was a baby.

He changed his mind when I was able to go at a normal biking rate of speed - nothing too fast and helmets all around! - and he got a taste for speed . . .

All I heard on the way to school was, "Faster, Mom, faster! Go faster!" Oh, and it took five minutes. We were at school EARLY!

I foresee more morning bike rides in my future. Although, I really wish the older ones could bike to school. Oldest Daughter does every once and a while but she can't take her backpack (panniers help but there are a lot of hills!) and it takes an hour and 15 minutes each way. Her one trip isn't really saving us any gas money - but she does sleep well that night!

The Burley is a double child version and it is old! I got it originally for walking with all three daughters in there and it must be 16 years old by now. The bike is my old (14 years old?) hybrid-around-town bike and it's just fine for running errands. I even biked to the yarn store yesterday!



In this picture, you can really tell how cruddy the Burley is. Plenty of room for three little girls and a passel of Barbies! The bikes behind it are Oldest Daughter's Specialized Sequoia road bike and Mr. Daisy's Nova Satellite road bike.

My real bike (sister bike to A's: a female version of the Nova Satellite) is still down in the basement on my trainer. I have to change its tires before riding outside and I've been putting that off. Kind of like my husband's sports cars - I'm saving it for really good occasions!

My eyes! My eyes!

Your eyes may be watering right now - this is three skeins of brilliant color! I've been searching for a lovely deep rose or red but this blue caught my attention. Luckily, The Yarnery is having a sale and it wasn't too dear. It should look nice next to a blue coat, don't you think? Now, back to your regularly scheduled viewing . . .

I'll be slowing down later . . .

Once again, cleaning out Youngest Child's room leads to seven sad items that need a new home. Tomorrow, I'll have more time to discuss knitting and the latest projects . . .

In the meantime, try checking out this great interview with Evelyn A. Clark over at Franklin's The Panopticon . . .

Traveling music with Jeanne Rylander

I hope you can watch this - Jeanne is a lovely person and a beautiful musician. She is a member of my church and we have been very fortunate to have her play during services. Perhaps I can get her to post some "knitting music" . . .

Socks for the New Year - a little late!

Dobby's Socks from Charmed Knits - I thought they would be easy but the short row heels and toes were a big pain. Youngest Child will be wearing them next year - the short row toe wraps around the foot and makes it longer than I would have thought. That Darn Row Gauge again!

The book is the one I won on Saturday - I only have one or two books about stitches so I am looking forward to browsing through it.

On to the eggs!

The Egg and I

I had a great time at Yarnover today and learned a lot about Bohus Stickning from Susanna Hansson. I feel exhausted despite just sitting in a chair all day. Outside of class, I won a book, met some bloggers and saw some lovely knitted goods. Just about a perfect weekend!



The colors are just lovely - really rich and deep. I am seriously thinking about one of these on my "to do" list.



After we worked on our wristlets, we got a chance to show them off and see how different needles gave different gauge.



This Saturday Seven was a simple bookcase purge. Two book club books, some gifts and a school book from Youngest Daughter - I need the room for other things. Bye!

My favorite thing I worked on this weekend - however - wasn't the wristlet but this . . .





A Happy Egg from Amigurumi World by Ana Paula Rimoli.

And watch out for Bambi!

Stephanie Pearl McPhee and I discussing the merits of April snow and socks.

This year, we managed to get to the Harlot before she melted into puddles of tiredness. She was an awesome speaker - I'll be reading her book this weekend - and Very Funny. Her story about walking through the wilderness for Beer and Toilet Paper was even better than reading it on her blog. Some people have a fear of Bambi . . .

Of course, we drove through a slush/snow storm to get there and Oldest Daughter's track meet was cancelled just after she succumbed to the Dread Flu. Coughing kept her up all last night - and me, too. When you hear someone clanking through your kitchen at 3 a.m. - let's just say that I wasn't thinking it my daughter. Lucky for her I didn't have my baseball bat handy!

Unfortunately, the bummer of the day was that I lost the pendant I am wearing in the picture above. When I got home, I had the broken chain around my neck but no pendant. I have no idea where I lost it and, with the snow, never may find it. Rats! The necklace was silver and Roman glass - I got it as a present and loved it.

Just an FYI - the online knitting magazine - Mag Knits - has gone out of business and their patterns are in server limbo. I had someone contact me today about whether I still had one of the patterns and I've been searching online for some of the ones I wanted. Try searching Ravelry for some of the links - what a bummer for all involved!

The Name is Harlot, Yarn Harlot that is!

She's back! And with a new book! Ooh! Of course, I'll be dashing though the snow (in April? She'll never come back again, now!) but GF Melissa and I are off to see the Harlot.



I may take along the Paws to Remember Scarf as I am officially on the edging right now. Last night I wound it around my neck and took a good look. It's not narrow enough to loop at the neck so I think I'll just make it long enough to tuck inside a dress coat. And the intended recipient is tall, so what's too long for my neck will be just right for hers.



More likely, I'll take along the second Dobby Sock. I'm on the mindless foot knitting right now - I did the short row heel on Tuesday while waiting at track practice for Oldest Daughter - and I wouldn't get to the toe in just one evening. That will require another long thinking session - I absolutely do not agree that this is an easier sock heel or toe. I don't think it's prettier or even neater. I also have on large hole at the instep that I never get anymore since I've started making Evelyn A. Clark's sock patterns. Grrr.

It's also going to be a big knitting weekend again as this is the Minnesota Knitters' Guild annual Yarnover. I am taking a class about Bohus Stickning and I am really looking forward to it! I love the Bohus patterns and look - but not the fuzzy yarn. And there will be shopping, of course! The location is at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Mn. All though Western Suburban knitters out there (you know who you are!) need to stop by Yarnover marketplace which will be open to all - even if you don't take a class!

Saving the world, one box of cookies at a time!

Naruto Uzumaki - my son's favorite character!

No pictures of knitting today - my phone camera is in need of changing. I did meet this young fellow today.

My daughters' Girl Scout Troop spent the day selling cookies at a booth sale at Anime Detour, a Minnesota convention dedicated to Anime, Manga, and Japanese culture. We sold nearly everything we brought and had a great time but, am I beat!



This Saturday Seven is really only a Saturday Three in this picture. The red sweater tee, a black knitted scarf and a tie all came from Oldest Daughter when she actually cleaned her room! The missing items are all in the wash right now - a red backback, a boy's shirt, underwear and socks. I found this bag of clothes (I suspect it was an "extras" bag for Youngest Child) out in the garage but it had a few up-close encounters with mice and now it's getting washed. Everything is too small now, of course.

Looking for sheep in all the wrong places . . .

When I pulled out my completed Dobby Sock (I am already on sock two, neverfear!), I found this little guy nestled in for a nap.



I think he must have wandered over from This Boy Knits. Michael has been having an infestation of Wee Ones over there.



I wouldn't have minded except he decided to start munching on the merchandise.



After gently shooing him away, here is Sock #1. I did do the short row toe as well - it wasn't as bad as the heel but it made the whole sock much longer. I'm a row gauge failure, you know.

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.