Farewells and Goodbye

We said goodbye to the Knitting Community yesterday. And my page:

I have such fond memories of the years on the Knitting Community and special friends, some of whom I have no way of communicating with again (Susan, Marty, Judith), as well as some I'm still in touch with even daily.

On the bright side, we have The Frog Prince and His Knitting Community Orphans, which is now in full swing.

I spent a good part of Saturday on the Knitting Community copying photos I thought I might not have elsewhere. I had already copied half of them, but the past couple of weeks has been very busy with extra practices for Beethoven’s Ninth, with our first performance this coming Sunday. I had a deadline and priorities.

I did get a few other things done this week, though. I had been waiting for my contact person at the Winter Sports School to tell me what they wanted on the label for the back of the quilt commemorating the life of Sam Jackenthal, the young skier who died after an accident in Australia. I finally wrote up something and got an OK on it. Here’s what it looks like, including the names of all the quilters who donated their efforts.

Here’s a photo of the finished quilt. The blocks were painted by students at the school who knew Sam. I think it was therapeutic for them to say goodbye in this way, and will be therapeutic as well when they see the quilt. (The Winter Sports School is for young athletes who participate in winter sports, which they practice during the winter. The school allows them to go to school during the seasons when there are no winter sports.)

The quilt will be on display at the school and once the students who knew Sam have graduated, it will go to Sam's family.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in producing it.

I delivered it after church on Sunday, before dropping by to visit my friend Joanie, who needs to have her current knitting project restarted after she made a mistake and had to frog back to the CO.

I managed to get more spinning and knitting done during the week, but not enough to show much difference, so watch for an update next week. I managed to organize my squares for Johan’s I-spy quilt, and got a few cut to size. And (Ta-da!) Dolly finally got her slip.

This was the pattern I made for it, similar to the one I used for the dirndl to go with the Red Ridinghood outfit.

The line on the skirt pattern shows where I had to cut it to make it short enough. If anyone wants the pattern, I plan on making a better copy, one that will fit on an 8.5” X 11” piece of paper, which will require a fold in the middle of the bodice. Send me a personal message if you want one, either on Quilt With Us or on Ravelry, but if you’re in a real hurry, you can just copy this and blow up the photo so that the 1” marks on my portable cutting mat are 1”.  You will see that the tops of the shoulders are placed on the fold, and one side of the skirt is also on the fold.

I use freezer paper for my doll patterns if I make them myself. Then I can press them onto the cloth, maybe put in one pin, and cut carefully without separating the fold underneath. I wanted a decorative trim down the front, so I placed that on first.

I used a pin to hold it in place. Then I folded the entire piece with the wrong sides together, pinned in several places and sewed (quilters: “chain-pieced") up the left back, around the left armhole, around the neck, around the right armhole and finally down the right back, not cutting the thread at the tops of the shoulders. As you can see, I trimmed the seams, trimmed the corners and clipped the curves.

Then I turned it right-side out and pressed.

Next, I took the skirt, folded over the two back edges 1/4” and then 1/4” again, and sewed them down. I ran a row of stay-stitching around the waist, just inside 1/4”, and then clipped to the stitching.

Right sides together, I sewed the right side of the bodice to the skirt. (If you don’t care if you have raw edges or want to serge or zig-zag the raw edges, you can just sew both right side and lining to the skirt.)

I pressed under the raw edge of the lining to line up with the seam. This was what it looked like from the outside:

Then I made a row of top stitching over the seam and another row about 1/8” above that, to hold the lining in place. (Here you could make a nice finish by sewing the lining down by hand, but I was in a hurry to get the doll clothes sent off.)

To cover up my (ahem) irregular stitching, I put another piece of decorative trim over the stitching and sewed it down.

I tried it on Dolly (with her cooperation) for length and to determine how to sew the shoulders together. A very thin strap might have fit OK just sewing them together straight across, but I found I got a better fit at the shoulders by overlapping the shoulders and sewing them at an angle. (I might try not having shoulder sections at all next time and using ribbon in place of them.) I cut off the excess fabric at the hem and turned it up, adding a lace trim to hide the stitching. The final step was to sew small pieces of velcro on the back edges at the top, waist and hem. The same pattern would make a great summer dress.

Dolly was a big help with fitting the slip and making sure it was going to work. She didn’t get to keep it long, though, because it got shipped off in the package for Miss Daphne’s birthday, coming up May 14th, to be worn by Daphne Jr..

Here are Daphne Jr.’s duds, furniture and bedding packed and ready to ship. We needed a big box, because the mattress had a stiff piece of board at the bottom, so Daphne Jr. won’t sink into the depression in the lid of the storage box that is her bed. (We can’t have her sinking into a depression, can we?) That made the mattress too big to fit flat in the box. I could have had DD buy a comparable storage container there, but the mattress still would have been a problem.

DH filled the rest of the box with air pillows, and styrofoam peanuts, and when he ran out of those, plastic bags. He carried it for me to the Post office. It wasn’t that heavy, but it was bulky. (I held the doors.) Here he is at the Post Office.

(I love the sign on the wall that says “PACKED WITH HEART.” So true.)

With all the goodbyes, I’m glad I don’t have to say goodbye to my Knitting Community friends and fellow "orphans." Activities in the Ravelry forum are moving along. We even have plans for a special Spin-in during the Tour de Fleece, starting July 2 and runs through the 24th, so pretty much the whole month of July. The Tour de Fleece coincides every year with the Tour de France. (You might have heard of it. Bicycles are involved. We’re spinning. Get it?)

This year we will be spinning fiber prepared for us by Christina/AlohaBlu. She also does hand-dyed yarn, but we’re going to be spinning from her fiber. She’s even making two special colorways just for us (although we can use any colorway we like for the Spin-in). The special colorways are based on our logo photos, first The Frog Prince:

…and then His Knitting Community Orphans.

I plan on a braid of each, along with some Waimea Rooster.

I would give you a link to the Waimea Rooster colorway in a braid, but we bought it all up, so there’s no more in the shoppe. In fact, she’s dyeing more for us. If you really like it, I'm sure she'll make more.

What's on my needles: Still hand-quilting the “Delectable Pathways” quilt. Working on the the Vicenza Lace Shawl. Progress on both Still have Aran sweater for Daphne Jr. and socks on needles.

What's on my Featherweight: Johan’s I-spy quilt. Ready to start on Dolly’s Regency outfit when I get a chance.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving, in "Fawn," still, almost done with second bobbin (out of two...whoo-hoo!)

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listing to the Beethoven’s Ninth choral practice recording is still cutting into my audiobook time. Reading A Love That Never Tires by Allyson Jeleyne on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Lindeman’s Cawarra. The big bottle. Not that I drink the whole thing by myself at one sitting.

What's my tip of the week: Keep backups of the photos you really don’t want to lose on CDs, well-labeled. I lost some photos that were on my hard drive when my old laptop died. I lost more that were on Flickr when I had to give up my Yahoo account because it was repeatedly hacked. I could have lost even more photos that I had on the Knitting Community, if I hadn’t copied them to CD, especially the ones from before I got my new computer. I also have an external hard drive as a backup for my MacBook. 

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.

It’s a Whirl

Last weekend’s Spin Along resulted in some interesting yarn:

The roving (fiber) was AlohaBlu’s Targhee "Saturated Spring,” 2 oz. The result is more or less DK-worsted. I got 108 yds, Navajo-plied to show off the colors. I used a Kromski Sonata wheel equipped with WooLee Winder.

Here’s what the singles looked like. I used long-draw or modified long-draw drafting method:

I'll post another photo after it's washed.

We’ve had a “new addition” to the doll family. This is Gabi:

She's the Tonner "My Imagination" Starter Redhead.

There are a few slight differences, though, from other 18" dolls. I measured her, and this is what I got: 

chest, 10 5/8” 

waist, 10” 

hips, 11” 

thigh, 5 3/4” 

calf, 5 1/8” 

upper arm, 5 1/2” 

full body around shoulders, 13 3/4” 

arm length from shoulder, 5 1/2” 

inseam, 6” 

head (about where a hat would rest), 12” 

height: 18” (without shoes)

She can wear most clothes made for other 18" play dolls, such as American Girl. She will be the foundation for a new set of fashions to be set aside for the next doll to give Miss Daphne. (I'm trying to spread them apart a bit.)

Gabi has an all-vinyl body, not a soft body, like the Madame Alexander doll, Dolly, and the American Girl dolls that are so popular. However, like the American Girl dolls, Gabi has a wig. (Dolly has rooted hair.) Also possibly important, her eyes don’t close, so she needs a sleep mask to get any sleep. I found a sleep mask pattern on Karen, Mom of Three’s Craft blog, July 16, 2012.

Gabi makes a great Little "Red" Riding Hood. Here she is with the wolf pup she met on the way to Grandmother’s house:

I finished the “Time for Tea” dress, started last month, for her.

Here’s the Ravelry Project Page. The pattern can be found here. The yarn is Stroll Tweed "Bare" I had dyed with KoolAid.

Here’s the back:

A slip underneath the skirt gives it some flair.

I had some issues worth discussing. First of all, someone on Ravelry observed that hand-dyed yarn sometimes left color that was hard to remove from doll bodies. Remembering that KoolAid can dye protein (animal) fibers but not cotton or acrylic, I conducted a test using the bottom of the foot on each doll. The “dye’ applied to each foot didn’t leave a mark on either. I will be vigilant, however, when using commercially hand-dyed yarns for either doll.

Another issue was the blocking. I thought I could just wash the dress and hang it to dry, because it’s so small, but it stretched, making it too long and too big in the neck (Superwash wool will stretch) and very limp. I wet it down again and dried it using the hair dryer, with the skirt spread out in a circle, which worked better than putting it in the dryer, because I could choose the shape. With the slip underneath it was just right.

Dolly hasn’t been neglected. I managed to get some lycra on Thursday after Vintage Stitchers and on Friday sewed the leotard for Dolly’s ballet costume.

The leotard (actually the swimsuit from Best Doll Clothes Book by Joan Hinds) can be used for practice sessions and classes at the barre, as well as for the foundation of her performance costume, sort of a Mardi Gras style costume.

The embellishments to the costume are made with Patons Twister in “Fruit Loops.” A three-stitch I-cord goes around each armhole and the neck. The one at the waist has the addition of 12” sections of the same yarn attached at more or less equal intervals with a single crochet stitch, allowing equal tails to hang down over the skirt, which is made from three equal 7” strips across the width of fabric, gathered. The net is attached to a ribbon and tied at the waist. The I-cord is separate, so it can all come off for practice.

At Vintage Stitchers almost everyone was sewing binding on quilts you have seen before, but Barbara had this one you haven’t seen since June of 2014, and certainly not quilted yet then.

The blocks come together in the middle of each dark shape. Templates were used, but the curves are gentle, and piecing was done easily by machine. Many of the fabrics are by Kaffe Fassett.

We’ve had some nice, sunny days. It won’t last, though, so we got out with the pups for a hike in the snow. No snowshoes needed, because the trail was nicely packed down.

What's on my needles:  Striped dress for Dolly. The Trickle Socks, waiting.

What's on my Featherweight: Still doll socks, tights and undies. Will start on Regency outfit for Dolly soon.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished From a High Tower by Mercedes Lackey. Great story, narrator was fine except for pronunciation of German words. Now listening to The Watcher by Jo Robertson, a crime novel, another Audible “Deal of the Day.” Still reading A View to Die For by Richard Houston on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, a staple at our house.

What's my tip of the week: It’s easy to make gathers in fabric without any special equipment. Make two parallel rows of basting stitches along the edge where you want the gathers to be. Pull the bobbin threads from each end and adjust the gathers so they are evenly distributed along the edge and the piece is the width you want it to be. Then you can tie the bobbin threads together or wrap them around a pin at each end. If the basting stitches show below the seam after you have sewn the gathered material to the bodice, sash or whatever other piece you’re using, it is easy to remove. In fact, it’s easier to keep the gathers even if you allow one row of basting to show below the seam.

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.