Quote Originally Posted by Segev View Post
Another poster already said this, but it bears repeating: Prestidigitation specifies that YOU can perform EFFECTS, not that it is cast upon a target.
You're putting to much emphasis on the word effects and are ignoring a lot of other text in the spell description. You can perform effects simply means that the spell can do more than one thing. Effects, plural = more than one effect can be achieved by this spell. It does not mean that one casting of the spell can achieve everything described as being possible, nor that it can achieve multiple instances of the single effect chosen in a single casting.

Quote Originally Posted by Prestidigitation
The effects are minor and have severe limitations. A prestidigitation can slowly lift 1 pound of material.
Slowly lifting one pound is a "severe limitation." There's nothing in the spell which suggests that you can lift that one pound object, leave it hanging in the air which is still that one pound object being lifted even if it is no longer being moved, and then lift another one pound object as well. The "one pound" is a set limit called out quite clearly in the spell description, and also backed up by the general limitation of being a minor effect with severe limitations.

So, no. You can't get your cloud of floating daggers. That is a direct violation of the limitations described right in the spell description. At best you can lift one pound at a time, moving one object and then another, but not having more than one pound under the effect of the spell at any time. The one pound limit is a limit which cannot be exceeded, per the RAW. And I still don't think that a DM who rules that the spell can only move the one pound of material initially selected, or who rules that the 1-foot cube area for cleaning, dying, or soiling items is fixed in place as per the RAW for spell Area and requires the caster or others to move items into and out of for the spell to effect items beyond those which were originally in that 1-foot cube area is out of line with their interpretation of the RAW. "Minor effects with severe limitations" gives the DM all the leeway to limit the effect of Prestidigitation that she needs.