Chickens in the city . . .

or boys in the barn! Youngest Child decided that the chicken roost was just right for him. 

After a long but fun day at the Minnesota Zoo on Friday with Youngest Child and his classmates,  I came home to find this . . .

a lovely package and a kind note. What was inside?

 Jane over at Not Plain Jane had a little comment contest a while back and it turned out I won a skein of Spirit Trail Fiberworks Orihime in "Shoreline." It is a merino/cashmere blend and it is very soft!

The green/gray colors bring the rocks edging a lake to mind. I'm  hoping to get my first open water swim in this weekend so you can see where my mind is!

As part of my Memorial Day cleanup (we're having a guest - Hi, Kim!), I weeded out these games and crafts. Six board games and one plate craft. Sad to say - this was only one of several sets of Candyland. 

I'm trying to get the older girls to play a game tonight since we are all home. Carcassonne or Dutch Blitz perhaps?

Hot, hot, hot!

87 degrees F. today but I finished a pair of wool socks. No blocking here - just basic sockage! And this was my very first sock set from my homemade "Sock of the month" kit - remember this?

Bag #1 - Pagewood Farm Yukon Hand Dyed Sock Yarn/Prism for use with Twilight socks. Just say, "Checking it off!"

Until it cools off, I am working on a small hat for charity and perhaps a washcloth. When it gets cooler - I have a shrug for Oldest Daughter and the dreaded Brown Sweater to resume. Let's just say, I have some issues there that we'll discuss another day. 

Felting for fun

I spent the morning with some first graders at my son's school teaching them to make felt pictures. Since I couldn't take pictures there, I took photographs of my practice felting. Basically, I used the instructions for making flat felt in a plastic bag from “The Art of Feltmaking” by Anne Einset Vickrey.

I brought all kinds of fleece to choose from - colored scraps as well as natural colors.

Here I laid out a fleece picture on a small piece of bubble wrap - kind of like a tray to work on. I cut the bubble wrap to fit inside a ziplock bag. After the picture was ready, I slid it inside the bag. After I added some hot water and a squirt of dish soap, I zipped it up and massaged it until it felted. Here's where the bubble wrap helps with the felting process!

Emptying the cooling water and switching back and forth between cold and hot water made this take longer. I only added hot and cold water twice for the kids - I was trying to keep down the spilling! 

I did let them rub their bags of felt on a wash board to help it felt more quickly. What was funny is that they (mostly) didn't know what a wash board was!

At home, I made three sheets of flat felt as examples.

One I framed as a picture, one I made into a card and one I cut and beaded and turned into a flower pin.

Each child took home a sheet of felt in a bag and the instructions for how to rinse and dry it. It was quite fun - I think you could do this as a craft at a birthday party.  If you do, let me know how it turns out!

S'awright!

I've been spending time this week working on my 2-at-a-time Twilight socks. This pair actually went very smoothly - no gaps at the points where you switch needles - but the pair is a bit hard to photograph.

It actually reminded me of a bit of a sock puppet! Perhaps Lambchop?

I can probably get an inch or two more done tonight.

This Saturday's Seven is a pretty random batch:

A plastic lid, a pink hoodie, a pair of boy shorts, a mini-hockey stick, a pair of boots, a stuffed bear and a  commemorative bowl from Avon. I would have kept the bowl for Oldest Daughter's new apartment but - silly thing - it's marked "not safe for food use." So, what would I use a bowl for?

While you're pondering that thought, I thought you'd like this glimpse at another set of hand puppets. Senor Wences and his pals Pedro and Johnny. And a chicken.

 

There was a dance, some wool, a little rain and now, a sore throat.

Saturday night was Spring Formal night at Youngest Daughter's school and I rushed back from Shepherd's Harvest with some last minute straps for the strapless gown. And a little sweater because it was so cold!

I couldn't get them to merely hook on so I sewed them on - maybe too tight! YD said they eventually broke at the sew-on point - luckily, no big "Boing" moment for YD. Her dress had great boning and she still wore a strapless bra underneath the whole thing. Without the sweater, it looked very like John Sargent's "Madame X."

Sunday - well, that was quite a different story. Lovely weather, cheerful sheep and goats and some great Kettle Korn.

And a goofy boy!

He was quite taken by the folk music - if it's got a  beat, he's on it!

I picked up a sweaters worth of Briar Rose's Abundance yarn in a vibrant orangey-red color. I'm think a Mr. GreenJeans.

And, just in case you thought I was slacking off -

A raincoat and six teeshirts. What good is a rain coat if it fits absolutely no one?

Rain or shine - there will be wool!

It's time for the 13th Annual

 SHEPHERD'S HARVEST

Sheep and Wool Festival

May 8 and 9,  2010 

9:00 a.m - 5:00 p.m. Saturday 

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Sunday

Cold and rainy it may be but GF Melissa and I will brave the weather. This is always a busy weekend - it's Spring Formal weekend at my daughter's school so that means a panty hose and hair product run to Target, a quick trip out to Shepherd's Harvest and then back for photographs. 

Friday, we'll be standing in line here again.

The Friends School Plant Sale

State Fair’s Grandstand Building

Friday, May 7, from 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Saturday, May 8, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sunday, May 9, from 12 noon-4 pm. Sunday is half price.

They have great plants at very good prices but be prepared to bring your own cart and stand in line.

Just like last year's haul, I'll probably be hanging around the herbs and dye plants. Maybe a few tomatos as well.

As for Sunday's Mothers Day - think I could get one of these as a present?

Yes, it's back to Shepherd's Harvest with the family. Youngest Daughter may be sleeping in, though!

See you there!

Time out for a quick recipe

Okay, so someone wanted to know what was in my version of Oriental Pizza.

Ta, da!

Oriental Pizza from Chez Daisy

2 Tbsp. lite soy sauce
1 Tbsp. orange marmalade
1 Tbsp. honey
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 chicken breasts - skinless and cooked. Chopped.
(Enough homemade Pizza dough for two 8-slice pizzas) * recipe below
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese - (4 ounce)
6 x green onions sliced
3 x mushrooms sliced
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese


Mix first first 4 ingredients together in a bowl. Stir in cooked, shredded chicken (great for leftovers!); cover and refrigerate while making up crust and shredding cheese - about 15 minutes.

Drain chicken and discard marinade.

Place each pizza crust on an oiled baking sheet; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Top with chicken, the sliced green onions and mushrooms and Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 450 degrees for 8 to 10 min.

This recipe yields 6 - 8 servings per pizza crust.

Home made Pizza Dough

I've set this up in the order I use for my bread machine.

1 cup water
1 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 T. honey
3 C. flour
1 packet quick rise yeast

I assemble this in my bread machine and use it on the quick dough recipe.
Before I had a machine, I made it in my mixer with a bread hook. Only that way, you have to proof or partially rise the yeast in the warm water. Either way, it makes a lovely, crisp pizza dough.

 I also use it for calzones, bread sticks, home make pretzels, etc. Very versatile! You can use molasses and whole wheat flour for a heartier taste as well.

As for this Saturday Seven - tee shirts, sweatshirts and a blouse. Good to go!

Well, the partying continues.

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

Pie and coffee - what could be more Minnesotan?

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

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

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

The week I develop a social life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lana Grossa Royal Tweed? Decisions, decisions. 

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

Now, back to pondering that yarn . . . 

Fun, fun, fun!

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

So glad I learned what the macro setting was for!

Midweek cleanout!

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

 be the

 

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

However, I managed to weed out this:

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

Maybe I'll see you at Yarnover!

Round the bend

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Almost feels like Easter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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