Seams About Right

Things are coming together at our house, starting with the least-used room in the house.

The guest room. Joanie left me the quilt we made together years ago, along with the Pine Tree Quilt we made with friends.

We plan to hang it in the guest room, which is now totally decorated in her palette. 

The bathroom remodel is almost done. 

I just need to make some curtains for the window, and we have some touching up to do to the paint here and there. The tub and enclosure are spotless. We also need to hang the little framed Navajo sheep rug, also a final gift from my dear friend.

The new toilet, hardly ever used.

This (see if you can find the iPad in the photo...or anything for that matter):

has turned into this:

Once the rug is shampooed, I'll set up Stanzi over by the bear house and move the little rocking chair into the room. (This used to be where my loom was.)

I've used the Elna for a few projects. It's a nice machine. I'm sure my DIL will enjoy having it, along with the cabinet. You may remember that I gave away my Kenmore and was planning on replacing the Elna with an inexpensive zigzag machine after we got moved, because I didn't think I'd have room for the cabinet. I had been busy researching the inexpensive new machines that are available and hadn't found one I knew I wanted until the latest Connecting Threads catalog arrived.

The girls, especially Vroni, my quilter, pointed out that Connecting Threads sells sewing machines. Among the selections was this gem.

The Eversewn Sparrow 15. It's a totally mechanical sewing machine, designed by Swiss engineers and made in China (of course), but it seems to be a nice little machine, and I don't think Connecting Threads would offer it if it weren't pretty good. I read the reviews, watched the YouTube video demonstrations and read the online version of the manual cover to cover (if an eBook can have a cover). I also learned that Bernina dealers and some quilt shops are selling the machines. I decided this was the one for me, as soon as we moved.

Then DH (ever darling and ever husband) pointed out that tariffs on Chinese goods are likely to make the price go up, so I had better order from existing stock. (Can we spell e-n-a-b-l-e-r?) So I did. My new baby is due to arrive today, but now I'm almost broke.

I plan to write a review after I've had a chance to try her out. She has a lot of features that sound and look good. I'll describe those when I write my review. I wanted a mechanical machine for economy, both of initial price and potential repairs. EverSewn has a whole line of Sparrow sewing machines, but this is the only mechanical one. They all seem to be highly rated.

Since I had finished the Viipuri Dress I was working on, I cast on the Kisu Takki cardigan, based on the Stavanger Cardigan. Here's my progress on the body.

Kisu is Finnish for kitty. It will have salivating kitties at the top, and the fish, as you can see, around the hem. I'm using a dark green as the contrast color at the hems. I wanted to test the pattern so I could make it available for a KAL (knit-a-long) on Ravelry in the fall.

Also begun is my weekly blog post of children's stories, The Doll Storybook. The first story is "Little Miss Crocker and the Spider." It came out on Friday. So far, people seem to be enjoying it, especially our grandchildren.

Daphne said she liked it because it shows you don't have to be afraid of spiders if you know they aren't poisonous, and that lets you play outdoors and have fun.

The next story is in the works. They will come out every Friday at 2:00 Pacific Time.

What's on my needles: The Kisu Cardigan for Jolena. I thought I had packed the Coastal Skies shawl, but I found it with clothes I had packed for the summer. Great almost-mindless knitting.

What's on my Featherweight: Still on its way to Bend or in storage somewhere.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress done this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Rondo Allegro by Sherwood Smith. Great story. Now listening to The Secret, Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams. Interesting so far.

What's in my wine glass: Concha Y Toro Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2016, the big bottle. Not bad for a cheap wine.

What's my tip of the week: When cooking dried beans in the crockpot, add a piece of kombu (dried seaweed) to the pot. It helps the process of softening the beans. It doesn’t have to be removed after cooking, as it’s entirely edible.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.