Busy, Busy!

Here's how my project for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along looked after Clue #2. I haven't started Clue #3 yet.

I've been busy working on projects for a knit/crochet along in the Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry. We decided to focus on the designer Sugar Grove South. Everyone picks a pattern by this designer and makes it. We'll have a drawing for a prize of a free pattern from the same designer. I wanted to make some of the designs designed to fit Götz Happy Kidz and make the for Pippa, who is only 80% of the size. She doesn't have much in the way of clothes yet, and it's an interesting puzzle to figure out how to make it smaller. I started out with the pattern "Blank Canvas," so named because it can be a starting place for something fancy, if the knitter likes. I just made the plain version, but I used some leftover yarn that has a bit of sparkle in it. I used The Farmer's Daughter Fibers "Moon Sisters" sock yarn in "Blue." It has stellina in it for a touch of bling.

That worked out, so I went on to "Cold Winter Winds," also for Pippa. The pattern has you knit the body down to the bottom of the sleeves, then knit the sleeves and sew them up before moving on. I really hate to seam things, so I decided to join the body as you would after finishing the sleeves, then knit the sleeves in the found after finishing the body. Here's what I had after finishing the body. I was happy with the fit.

I was really involved with my audiobook, so I forgot I would have to reverse to P to make the garter stitch edging at the top of the sleeve...until I had finished the navy blue part of the sleeve, so down to the cuff. Looking at it, I thought it really did need the added texture at the top of the sleeves, so I picked out the end of the red yarn and pulled it out. After reknitting those rounds, I grafted the navy part of the sleeve back on and then finished the cuff.

I still need to make the hat. This buttons down the back. I'll show the whole thing when I have the hat made.

My sourdough starter has become very effective for making bread. I'm really happy with the result. I'm also making more kimchi (which you can see in the background) and sprouts of various kinds.

I decided to try air frying regular extra-firm tofu. I found this recipe. It made a nice, crispy, addition to stir-fry with home-grown bean sprouts and stir-fried fresh vegetables.

I think I'll try this with tempeh when I have some.

I've been trying to figure out how the royalties from my book, Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, would go directly to St. Jude, rather than coming to me first. I had three reasons to want to do this.

1) I didn't want to have to pay taxes on money coming into my account if I'm just sending it out again.

2) I didn't want a lot of bookkeeping to do.

3) I'm hoping this project will be around after I'm gone, and I didn't want my heirs to have to deal with it.

The solution was fairly simple. The publisher will send a check directly to St. Jude periodically. We aren't talking a lot of money. It works out to about $3.30 per book, but it's nice to know that every time someone buys one of my books, that amount is set aside for St. Jude. I don't know how many have been sold so far, but I expect to get a report about March 1st.

If you don't want to buy the book but want to give directly to St. Jude, I have a fundraising page here. I hope to be able to do something more with it soon. In the meantime, if someone orders a signed copy from me directly, and they decide to pay me more than the cost of the book and the shipping, I transfer the money to the fundraising page. I think that's all that's there right now.

We've been walking almost every day. We don't go too far. Long distances are getting difficult for Rocky, and we want him to enjoy himself. We use WoofTrax's Walk for a Dog app, so every walk we make over 1/4 mile using it provides a donation to Best Friends Animal Society. The app gives you a map of where you walked, how long it took and when you walked.

The pups sleep well at night.

What's on my needles: The Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery KAL and a dress for Pippa.

What's on my sewing machine: Waiting.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Still more progress this week, but not as much because of the other projects with a time limit.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Sorry! Jolena learns that it's best to confess when you do something that hurts someone, and you feel better after you apologize.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I finished Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. It was a good listen and enlightening. Now listening to A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen. It's interesting to notice a similar theme in both books, which I would think are totally unrelated.

What's in my wine glass: Atico Monastrell Estate Bottled 2019, from Spain.

What's my tip of the week: We will get our second dose of the vaccine on the 18th. We have heard that people often have a more severe reaction to the second dose than the first one. Some people even get sick from it. We will plan to not have anything important to do for a few days after we get the second dose, just in case. 

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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.