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.

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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