HighFiber: May 2021

Monday, May 31, 2021

Exhausting Recreation

What a busy week! We had a great camping trip, leaving Monday and returning on Thursday. This was our setting:

The white 5th wheel is ours. The other RV belongs to Charlie's brother, Jim.

We found the stroller to be very useful for Rocky, although he surprised us by walking 1 1/4 miles with no problem. He isn't very fast, so if we wanted to move faster, we used the stroller.

We camped with some friends from the Meet-up group here in Bend. It was a very relaxing trip. Cooking and cleanup was minimal, because we ate homemade TV dinners, sandwiches, cereal and boiled eggs.

Rocky needed help to get up onto the bed, but he really enjoyed it.

The issues we had were few. First was the discovery of a leak around one of the vents on the roof, which Charlie fixed. We found it when I discovered the bed was wet. It had rained the night before we left. I put the bedding over the two picnic tables when we arrived at the campsite, and it was all dry within a couple of hours. The other issue was learning that one of the two batteries for the trailer was not very good. It wouldn't hold a charge. The low temperature Tuesday night was 32.2º, which was pretty cold for sleeping in the trailer without turning on the heat, but with two humans and two canines all under the covers, it wasn't too bad.

The pups enjoyed access to the water, although we had to keep them from wading in too far because of the current.

The two ladies who participated in the camping event each bought one of my books. (I had brought two along.)

I got some knitting in. Here's my progress on the Kevät sweater.

I just added the stitch markers between the pattern repeats, because it's getting more difficult to tell where the chart starts and ends, now that I've finished the first colorwork section. The yarn for my Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl was delivered the day we arrived home.

Our son and DIL arrived Friday evening for the long weekend. (They are still here.) Their canine family member dug up one of the marigolds in the newly planted vegetable garden, so Charlie had to do some repair. Fortunately, he had plenty of marigolds still needing planting.

We walked to the playground on Saturday, so the boys could play and run off some energy. They are going home today.

While our son was here, we moved my loom down from my workroom to the living room, where there is an empty corner with two windows. He helped us put it together. Years of Lego building put to good use. I had written down the order in which I had taken it apart, and I had taken photos of each step. Each set of hardware went into a bag labeled which which part they went to. It was still a challenge to put together. We (or better, they) persisted, and success came at last.

I plan to make some rag rugs for the house and the trailer, but I think our son deserves one, too.

We had some great meals while the kids were here. DDIL is a great cook, and they brought their veggie share with them. We played "I Spy" and "Guess the Animal" during dinner.

While the kids were visiting a friend here in Bend, we Zoomed with our daughter. She had lots of news about what they and the kids have been up to.

I'll have to whip up another story this week. Part of my cushion of prescheduled stories was used up with the activities of the past week taking over, and we go camping again next week. (!)

Where's my blog: As you may know, the entity that notifies people when a blog they follow posts will discontinue notifications in July. Those two things motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: The dish mat, the Brioche Shawl Feathers and the Kevät sweater. Progress on the dish mat and Kevät, but none on the Brioche project...yet.

What's on my sewing machine: Dust

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Wheels on the Court." Emil tells Jolena about his latest letter from Holly, in which she tells about playing wheelchair basketball.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer. Barely started.

What's in my wine glass: Empyrean Lyra Pinot Noir 2018 Yamhill-Carlton.

What's my tip of the week: If you bake salmon, skin-side-down on a piece of foil, don't use cooking spray. Just add a little oil and whatever seasonings you want to the top of it after you place it on the foil. Bake it for 10-12 minutes at 425º. When it's done, the salmon will come away from the foil and leave the skin behind.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby, Barnes & Noble 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.

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Monday, May 24, 2021

Did I Say "Spring?"

Opening note: If you follow this blog through Blogger, please see note at the bottom of the page, "Where's My Blog."

Well, spring didn't last long, did it? Pretty much the whole week has been cold and overcast, and "Overcast" is coincidentally the name of the color I'm using for my second dish mat. This is the pattern I used, but I'm holding the yarn double, using larger needles and will continue increasing until 78 stitches are on the needle before starting the decreases. I almost chose "Yellow." Next time I will, but wouldn't it have been nice if the color name had been "Sunshine?"

We had some rain, too, for a couple of days. We need it, but Tuesday was the last day we were able to take walks.

I did manage to get more done on my whole-cloth quilt. It may be hard to tell from the photo, but I moved the hoop several times during the week, which means I got four hoop-length sections of cross-hatching done each time. I'm almost down to the corner, but there are still a few sections of cross-hatching to do across the full length of the quilt.

It was actually last week that I finished my Rewilding Shawl, but I couldn't show it, because it was a birthday gift for DDIL1, whose birthday was yesterday. Here it is (was), blocking.

I named it the "Covid-19 Rewilding Shawl," because I started knitting on it the beginning of the pandemic. I didn't care for the tassels, so I left them off. Here it is, all blocked.

I used this yarn in the color "KWA." It has stellina in it. It's hard to see in a photo, but here's a closeup. The sparkle shows up much better in person.

You may remember my Kivät kit I ordered during the Yarn Crawl.

I needed something entertaining to work on while we're camping this week, so I'm ready to CO the project. Here's the lovely yarn, all caked up. (I'm taking an assortment of needles, because I may have to make some adjustments if I don't get gauge.)

Here's an update on the Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl project: I ordered another 200g, 100 of each color, and it's on its way. Now I have to decide (since I have so much yarn) if I want to do another pattern repeat. Or two. Here's how it looks now.

I would have to wing it, but that's appropriate for a shawl with a feather motif, right?

Tuesday I received this lovely Mothers' Day card. (It was mailed on May 3rd and arrived the 18th. The hummingbird could have flown here alone in less time!) It was nice to have an extra Mothers' Day, though, so the delay didn't matter. I'm just glad he didn't send flowers or something else actually alive.

Rocky saw the animal ophthalmologist on Wednesday. The ulcer in his left eye has completely healed, which is good––and unexpected––but he has more blisters in that eye, so she's having us increase the number of times a day that eye is treated with sodium chloride drops to six, whenever possible. We are with him pretty much all day every day, so that's what we're doing.

A small group of choir members met again Wednesday evening, masked and distanced. This week the Zoom arrangement worked properly, so those members who were participating from home could benefit. I think the plan is to record the eight of us together (masked and distanced) and record the others individually, then put the whole thing together. We are going to perform Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth," which I've done several times before, but not since we left Utah. Sunday I got to go to church in person because I was one of the lay readers. I got to read Romans 8: 22-27 in German for Pentecost and sang with the regular singers, all of us masked and distanced.

The stories are scheduled through June 18th. I'm trying to think of something interesting to do to celebrate three years of continuous weekly stories. I'm thinking of posting a link to stories that have run before on Facebook on Thursdays, as well as Tuesdays as I have been doing. I would start over again at the beginning again with the Thursday stories. They are always available, but I haven't posted the links as a rerun in a long time. The ones that appear on Tuesdays are only a year behind the new ones. I have figured out how to schedule a post, so maybe it won't be so difficult.

We are leaving to go camping today, and I should be able to report with some photos in next week's blog.

Where's my blog: The entity that notifies people when a blog they follow posts will discontinue notifications in July. This has motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog and want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: By the time you read this, my Kivät sweater, I hope, but also the "Going to the Mat" dish mat for mindless knitting.

What's on my sewing machine: Nothing right now, but I picked up some little girl socks to make Pippa a bathing suit. If it works out, I'll make one for Daphne's Rebekah, too. They are size S to fit shoe size 5 1/2 - 8 1/2, and I'm assuming those are children's sizes. They look about right. My directions for the larger Happy Kidz are here, but I will have to decrease the measurements to 80% for Pippa and Rebekah.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A lot more progress this week, but with the camping trip I may not get back to it until after my next blog post.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "When Dolls Sleep." Pippa is frightened by a nightmare.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: No progress on The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer. It was a busy week. We don't have a long drive, so I doubt we'll listen to a whole novel together while driving.

What's in my wine glass: Crystal Range 2017 Zinfandel. One I love!

What's my tip of the week: I had to clean and dust on Friday, which triggered my allergies early Saturday morning. I woke up with a runny nose and eye, and needing to sneeze frequently. On went the mask, which I wore all day (with my plastic bracket underneath) except when I needed to eat or drink. I slept with it on that night. It really does make a difference.

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Monday, May 17, 2021

Spring. Finally!

Things are waking up at last. The lilacs are in full bud, with a few blossoms beginning to open.

My in-house gardener has begun to accumulate plants for outdoors. Chard is one of my favorite vegetables, and the marigolds are lovely. The other plants are zucchinis, a staple at our house.

We've actually had these hanging baskets for several weeks. DH brought them into the house when it was cold. Now they can stay out all night.

We did SIX WALKS this week! DH joined us when I could get him out of the garden. Dusty runs along beside the stroller. It's much easier to keep him going, maybe because he likes running next to something that rolls, sort of like chasing a ball. When we go on the trail, I let Rocky out of the stroller in a few places to sniff around and stretch his legs, and then when we get within 1/4 mile of home, he can walk the rest of the way. If we go around the block, We just keep moving.

You may remember my Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl is in hibernation because I lost a game of yarn chicken. I tried to contact the company twice to see if they would sell me a smaller amount but never heard back, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered two new skeins of the yarn. It will probably be several weeks before I can knit the last few rows of the project, and I will have a lot of yarn left over, but I'm sure I can find a use for it.

Needing something to knit while I'm waiting, I cast on a dress for Pippa. I used a pattern I've used before, Top Down Trio by Jacqueline Gibb, a pattern designed for 18-19" dolls with a choice of three different skirt options. Pippa is much smaller, but I used thinner yarn and smaller needles and got it to work. Anyone interested in doing the same thing can find my modifications here.

It was part of a KAL in the Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry, Formal Garden Party. We are making dresses.

She's very patient when she has to model for photos. I think she looks cute with her bear, though.

I needed something to knit (again), so I CO another dish mat, like the red one I made, but this time in grey.

Unlike the case with the red cone, I was able to get the cone out of the center of this one so I'm using one strand from the inside and one from the outside. This way the leftovers will be all in one continuous strand. I got rid of the tangle that came out of the middle, so now I'm working on this only when I need something portable and mindless to work on.

We had choir practice in-person on Wednesday. We could only have eight people, vaccinated, masked and distanced, to rehearse indoors with windows and doors open. It was lovely singing in-person with a group, even with masks on. Saturday I went in for an appointment to be recorded for our piece for Pentecost Sunday next week. Then I went to the library. We have learned that vaccinated people will not be required to wear masks in our state, except under crowded conditions, as per the new CDC guidelines. The librarians were still masked, however, when I stopped in there. The person I talked with said she was vaccinated, but they are still bound by OSHA protocols for now.

Daphne had her birthday on Friday. She knew she was getting a doll, but it's always a surprise finding out who the doll is.

She told her mother to hurry and untie her, so she wouldn't suffocate. (I wonder where she gets her imagination.)

Saturday, she went shopping at Target, where she bought some accessories for Lotta, now renamed Rebekah after Daphne's friend.

Rebekah probably thinks she has struck it rich! (The orange thing is a neck pillow on top of a carry-on case full of doll activities to use during a flight. Planning ahead, because the family will come here for Christmas.)

They also went to B&N to use her gift card from her prize in the writing contest. (See how the proud grandma threw that in? Oh, and she also has learned that she will be dancing in Ballet La Crosse's production of Heidi.)

I had shopped for some accessories, too, but I used the Maplea website, for some items I knew I would be needing for upcoming stories. The delivery came this week. The sports equipment was on sale. (I bought two rackets, so they can actually play.) Their stuff is excellent quality, and the details are very realistic.

Here's the rest of what I got.

Daphne tried to read the story that came out on Friday. I received a text that she couldn't view the story. She had received a deceptive website warning. It said the blog was charged with suspect malware and/or computer virus. I checked on it and got the same thing: a bright red screen with a warning that the website I was trying to visit may be involved in phishing. I reported it to blogger. Then I called Apple to see if they could help me straighten out the problem. They had me go back in to the website, but the warning was gone. I didn't know if the warning was down because I reported to them that there was nothing "phishy" in my story or if it was something website-wide, as it also affected this blog. Sunday morning I discovered (buried among spam emails) two emails from Blogger, first saying they had taken down the post "The Survey," for breaking their guidelines, specifically for attempted phishing, etc. It warned that if I violated their guidelines again, my whole blog could be shut down. The second email (which I found first) said they had reviewed the blog post and found nothing objectionable, so they had returned it to my blog. I had to republish it, but it published with the original date of March 5th. Anyway, it got straightened out. I suspect that someone who was trying to make trouble for me filed a complaint.

We Zoomed on Sunday. It was just the Wisconsin family and us. It was good catching up. (Look! I'm working on my quilt!)

Sunday afternoon we took our ballots (school board and other local administrative races) to the drop box in the Old Mill District, so we could walk along the river with the stroller. We clocked 1 1/3 miles, with Rocky walking about 1/4 mile. He got out of the stroller to dip his toes in the water, as it was warm. This was a good spot under a bridge.

Dusty trotted along, but he stayed out of the water. We made a point to end up at the dog park, though, and he got to run and play with a couple of terriers. (Rocky wandered around a bit.)

It was a taste of summer, as it was quite warm. We saw lots of people wearing bathing suits.

I received my updated report from Book Baby this week: 161 books have been sold so far, either through their store or through other vendors. That means over 200, if you count the 40 books I have sold from home, given to friends and grandkids, or donated. This is only through January 31st, because the reports run three months behind. I think it's selling well enough to make it worth getting the next book ready to go.

Where's my blog: As you may know if you've been on Quilt With Us, the venerable social media platform has closed down. As you may not know, the entity that notifies followers when this blog posts will discontinue notifications in July. Those two things motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog and want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Another dish mat, and the Brioche Shawl Feathers Shawl is hibernating until I get more yarn.

What's on my sewing machine: Sleep mask for Pippa and some other items.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Actually a little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Work in the Workroom." The dolls couldn't stand the mess in the fiber studio anymore, so while DH and I were out for a few hours, they tidied up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor on Audible. This writer is so funny at times, I would read her novels even if the plots weren't any good, but they are. And the characters. Zara Ramm is an excellent narrator, too. It makes it easy to keep straight who's talking. Now listening to The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on Chirp.

What's in my wine glass: Madroña El Tinto. A favorite.

What's my tip of the week: Ask your local library to carry Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, so children in your town can read it, too. If they buy it from Book Baby, nearly half of the price goes to St. Jude, so that's the best place to buy from, unless they get a discount somewhere else or free shipping.

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Monday, May 10, 2021

Unfinished Business

You have watched me work on the Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl from this pattern by Anna Kyllenen ever since March 24th. This week I lost my game of yarn chicken.

I have 1g left of each color. It takes 2g to go across one row with one color. I have 3 rows to go of the dark color and 2 rows to go of the light. Then there's the bind off. You don't have to use a calculator to do the math required to realize that I don't have enough yarn. I'm trying to get more, but it will probably take several weeks to get it, as it comes from an indie dyer. I'm not worried about dye lots, because there's enough variation in the color across the shawl that it shouldn't be jarring. I think the cost of the shawl just doubled, however, unless they will sell me smaller amounts. Still, I can probably do something with the leftover yarn, such as make a hat to match. Or some socks.

I had to have something on the needles to work on during meetings and church, so I cast on a dress for Pippa. (Shhhhhh! It helps me pay attention better.) The Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry is having a Formal Garden Party KAL (knit along) for any size doll. Actually, it's a "Join Along," because sewn or crocheted outfits are permitted. I'm using the Top Down Trio pattern by Jacqueline Gibb. I've used this pattern once before. It's designed for DK yarn and 3.25mm and 3.75mm needles for a larger doll, but I'm using fingering/4-ply yarn and 1.25mm and 1.5mm needles, so it will be proportioned the same but will be much smaller to fit Pippa.

I started out with one size larger needles, but after a few rows, I realized it was going to be too big, so I frogged it and went down a needle size. The fit is better now.

I don't usually get presents for Mothers' Day, but DH gave me this trio of socks with images of delightful animals and a small bag, which would be a great project bag for small projects or useful for packing small items (like socks) for travel. They are all from the World Wildlife Fund.

Our older son texted me Sunday morning to say I have something coming from him. It was supposed to come Saturday, but got delayed. I have no idea what it is, but I'm touched. I had greetings from all three of my children for Mothers' Day!

Rocky's stroller came on Tuesday. We put it together and tried it out the next day. DH wanted to see if it would go over rocks, so we had to off-road it. Rocky was a good sport. We used to have a car seat for him, and I think this was similar enough that he wasn't anxious. It went over the rocks OK, but I think Rocky enjoyed the ride more on the graded trail or going around the block on the sidewalk.

We take Rocky out of the stroller a couple of times each trip, so he can walk on his own for a bit knowing he isn't going to have to walk the whole way. I don't take him out if we're just going around the block without DH. Rocky seems to enjoy it the most when we're moving along quickly. He looks around and seems to be smiling.

We went to the dog park before the stroller came to make up for missing the activity on Dusty's birthday when it rained. Rocky enjoys walking around and checking out the other people and dogs, but when he's had enough, he goes to the gate. I'm hoping he'll feel comfortable enough in the stroller that he will lie down in it and relax when he's had enough activity.

The AeroGarden lettuce has turned into a tree. It's the variety. I pick a few leaves for each salad and add it to the lettuce from the store. It's great in sandwiches, too.

When DH said he had a lettuce tree, I thought he was producing another kind of "lettuce."

We will be having visitors! Our son and DIL who live a few hours away will be coming over Memorial Day weekend, as long as no one is sick. Both parents are fully vaccinated now, and the boys, who are too young to be vaccinated yet, have been back in school with protocols in place for some time with no illnesses. We haven't seen them for more than a year.

The end of August, our daughter will fly here for a visit. Our son-in-law is going to visit his parents in June, and she will stay home with the kids, who also aren't old enough to be vaccinated. He'll babysit the kids when she comes here.

We may get both families for Christmas. I'm hoping so.

What's on my needles: The Brioche Shawl Feathers Shawl is in hibernation until I get more yarn. Pippa's dress from the Top Down Trio pattern is coming along.

What's on my sewing machine: Costumes for an upcoming photo shoot.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. I didn't get anything done on it this week..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week's story in The Doll's Storybook was Fasting and feeding. Pippa learns why Mariah hasn't been eating lunch with the other dolls and helps her put together a packet of food for someone in need.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor. Laugh-out-loud funny in places.

What's in my wine glass: Montevina Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. One of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: When we were training Rocky, we used a hand command as well as a voice command and always used them together. After he learned the command, we would use one or both, depending on what was easier, but he always knew what they meant. He started to lose his hearing before his vision as he got older, so it was especially useful. He still hears out of one ear, and I don't know how much he sees, but we don't really have to give him commands anymore. He can't see the ball if it's very far away and the light is bad, but he still likes to go after it. We're glad he's had a good life and hope we'll still have more time with him. If we get another puppy, we will do the same thing.

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