High Fiber--Jumping the Rails

I had to take time out from the Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan this week to make pajamas for a pair of dolls:

The dolls are the Bitty Twins from American Girl. You can buy them a variety of races, hair/eye color and either or both genders. I decided on one each, boy and girl, Caucasian with brown hair and eyes. A book on sharing is included. They come with matching casual outfits, but I thought they needed pajamas so our granddaughter Daphne could put them to bed. The pattern is Simplicity 4268, which includes, besides the pajamas, a couple of play outfits and a dressy outfit for boy and girl. I haven't made doll clothes since our older granddaughter was little, and she will be 20 next month!

The dolls needed sweaters, too, because they will meet Daphne in the winter, so I have been making these:

The pink sweater is finished. It's for the girl, of course. I used Swish Worsted in "Lotus" and matching grosgrain ribbon to keep the edges from rolling. The boy's sweater is in progress, as you can see. The yarn for his is Swish Worsted in "Serrano." I improvised the pattern. I have decided not to put buttons on the sweaters, as Daphne's baby brother might bite them off!

I'm planning to make one more outfit for the girl. The boy has another play outfit I bought during Cyber Monday.

The remodel is coming along. The newly-enlarged hatch to the attic was finished just in time for our new insulation, which we hope will keep down our utility bills this winter. It was fun watching the insulation go through the tube and through the hatch!

I painted the ceiling in the hallway leading to the bathroom and into the bedroom. If the sun ever comes out, I will be able to see whether I have to paint the entire bedroom ceiling. One more coat, and I can take off the painters' tape.

I still have the ceiling and wall in the main hallway (the hallway pictured in the insulation photo) to paint.

DH has been busy putting the knobs and pulls on the vanity in the master bath. These match the ones we used when we remodeled our kitchen.

The linen cabinet has knobs only on the bins and the big cabinet with shelves. We should be able to unpack those boxes and move stuff into the bathroom now. (It was hard to open the doors and drawers before without breaking a fingernail.)

Another big event this week was the opening of our very own Trader Joe's in Salt Lake City. DH, my friend Ellen and I went on opening day, which was Friday. They don't carry wine or full-strength beer or wine because of state liquor laws (are beer and wine really liquor?), but they have all our favorite grocery items. The place was mobbed, but the checkout was very efficient, so we didn't have to wait in line long. We spent less than $100 because we still have a few things we picked up in Beaverton last summer, and now we can go whenever we want instead of stocking up.

Saturday, Sunny and I attended in Therapy Animals of Utah's annual holiday event. Each year we go to a different nursing home. As many teams as possible participate. This year's location was a nursing home in Draper. Besides the human/dog teams, we had several human/cat teams. They met in a different room with the residents who preferred cats. Sunny gave kisses to people who wanted them. She got lots of petting and scratching, which she loves!

In family news, Zachary can walk holding on. He likes to walk around the house holding on to a car that has a handle made for the purpose. It will be fun to see what kind of mischief he can get into at our house when they come to visit for Christmas!

What's on my needles: Doll Sweater, Dogwood Blossoms, which has the first sleeve pinned in. The second sleeve needs finishing, about 2 1/2 inches.
What's on my wheel: My spinning fingers are getting itchy, but I have to finish Christmas and house things first.
What's on my iPad: Still House of the Deer by D. E. Stevenson from Audible and Odd Interlude by Dean Koontz on iBooks.
What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw (Two-buck Chuck) Shiraz. Still my favorite.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.