Working for Santa

Thanksgiving cut into my play time this past week. However, I was able to get this doll sweater finished. 

The pattern is "Very Easy Cardigan for American Girl or 18" Doll" by Ceci Riehl. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll in "Dogwood Heather," left over from my Pink Monkey Socks. My Ravelry page for the project is here. I don't have the actual doll yet (probably tomorrow, delivery was delayed because of a blizzard...here), but this Madame Alexander 18" doll is the one coming for a visit. (Photo from Madame Alexander website.):

The name of the doll is "Let It Snow," appropriate for this time of year. She has a soft body and vinyl head, arms and legs, similar to the American Girl Dolls.

I'll be making her some clothes before sending her on to Miss Daphne (but shhhh...don't tell) for Christmas. I really enjoy making clothes for dolls, as I reported on in this blog post and this one. (Links go to Blogger, just to simplify things.) I spent some time during the week tearing my fiber studio apart, looking for my old doll patterns. I was successful in finding all my doll patterns, but it left my studio in a mess. This gives me a chance to reorganize. I also spent some time reading posts in the American Girl Knitters Ravelry group, which features discussions about various 18" dolls, not just American Girl dolls, and clothing, both knitted and sewn. One of the nice things about sewing and knitting for dolls (or babies, for that matter) is that you can finish a project quickly, so it's almost instant gratification. I bought some shoes and other goodies for the doll at Michaels. You can make shoes for these dolls, but the shoes made for dolls this size will fit nicely, and I'm trying to save some time.

Watch for photos of more doll clothes next week. (Wish me luck!)

We also had no minigroup meeting last week because the day we meet is Thursday, and everyone was otherwise occupied. DGD1, my BIL, DH and our next-door neighbor enjoyed a nice dinner on Thanksgiving. Cleanup was easier this year because I used dishes that could go into the dishwasher. It helps that some family members are more than happy to do the pre-wash on the dishes, and pots and pans. Here's a photo of my pre-wash specialists, resting up from all their hard work getting the plates ready to wash.

DGD1 left us about 5:30 PM to work all night for "Black Friday." She has been working at two fashion retail outlets at the local outlet mall, but will start next week working at another one full time with benefits for more pay. With luck, I should be able to get my car back. Someday my guest room, too.

What's on my needles:  Still hand-quilting the Delectable Pathways (aka "Peggy's Sistine Chapel"), knitting the Trickle Brick Socks and dishcloths, no progress this week, but almost finished.

What's on my Featherweight: Kaleidoscope Quilt, still two blocks to go, as I didn’t get any quilting done this past week.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch, a Deal of the Day from Audible. Then listened to Georgette Heyer’s first Inspector Hemingway mystery, No Wind of Blame. Both were excellent, but very different. Now I’m listening to Signature Kill by David Levien, another Audible Deal of the Day. It’s a crime novel. Seems good so far. Still reading The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson, a murder mystery set in 1920s-era England on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Columbia Crest’s Horse Heaven Hills (H3) 2009 Merlot. Yum! One of my new favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you find your back, shoulders, neck or arms get tired while knitting or doing embroidery or appliqué, try using a small pillow in your lap to hold your work. This is takes the strain off muscles during hand work.

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.

Bright and Cheerful

It was another busy week in the mountains of Utah. The leaves are turning and Park City Singers has begun practicing again.

Practice was Tuesday evening, the same day as out 50th wedding anniversary. DH picked me up early at practice, and we went out to dinner. Several people knew it was our anniversary and called out good wishes. My answer: "Throw rice."

Common Threads was cancelled because Joanie and I were the only ones available besides the host, but we managed to meet at Joanie's on Friday afternoon. Joanie's helper, Anna, had crocheted a little sheep for Joanie last week.

(I think this may be the pattern.) This week a little mouse joined the sheep. 

I found this pattern on Ravelry. It might be the right one, or at least similar.

August is always a hard month for our groups, with so many people traveling. Watch this space for more inspiration, though. There will be other meetings soon, and the quilt retreat coming in October.

My "Hermione's Not-So-Everyday Socks" are finished and ready to wear. 

This is the pattern I used, Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder. The yarn is Stroll sock yarn in "Dandelion." 

I couldn't wait to CO a new pair of socks. I've been petting and admiring this yarn as I finished up the yellow socks. It's Stroll Brights in Pucker. I'm calling the new socks "Pucker Up," in honor of our 50th wedding anniversary.

The pattern is "Wanida" from Cookie A's book, Sock Innovation. 

I found this in my mail box this week, just like this, with this side up. I think I'm in love!

I want to order some of it as soon as I figure out what my design will be and how much I need. The fabric line is Kaleidoscope from Connecting Threads. I want to make a quilt with these fabrics and a white background. Any suggestions?

What's on my needles: The "Pucker Up" (Wanida) Socks. Still hoping to CO the March of the Fiber Animals Cardigan for DH. Finished a few more hexagons for the Busy Bee Throw.

What's on my Featherweight: First Ladies Quilt. Still.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen. Now listening to Under Different Stars, both on the Audible app. Still reading Blood Red from the library, an actual book. It's turning out to be a good story.

What's in my wine glass: Liberty Creek Pinot Noir. Yum!

What's my tip of the week: Book Bub offers eBooks from many publishers for minimal cost, often free. Some of the low-cost or free books on Amazon (Kindle app) have an associated WhisperSync version (Audible app) for less than buying the book on Audible. You can sign up to get suggestions, personalized for you, in daily emails.


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.

Passing of Time

The Fair Isle Flower Socks are finished and on my feet.

Thanks to Raveler Blackberryb for the inspiration. You can see her socks here. The pattern is Fair Isle Flower Socks by Candice DeWitt. The yarn is Lang Jawoll Aktion and Stroll Sock Yarn "White."

I couldn't resist casting on more socks, partly because my Stroll Dandelion was calling to me, and partly because...why not?

I wanted something semi-mindless to work on. Also, I was inspired by this great sunflower, here juxtaposed in front of the tar buckets DH is using to refinish our driveway before the snow comes.

Vintage Stitchers didn't meet this week, because so many people were out of town, but some of us showed up at Joanie's on Friday to keep her company and knit some, so I now have this:

The pattern is Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder, but with this bright color, I'm calling mine Hermione's Not-So-Everyday Socks. 

Sunny's diet has been paying off. She's about the right weight now, all thanks to smaller portion sizes, ladies. Here's a glamor shot of her:

The hiking is still good, but most of the hummingbirds have left and the leaves are starting to turn. With a week to go until the Autumnal Equinox, the sun has moved noticeably to the south and is making its appearance later each day. Here's what Sunday's sunrise looked like.

Enjoy the nice weather while you can. We will be!

Finally, Happy 50th anniversary to my adorable DH tomorrow, September 15th.

What's on my needles: Hermione's Not-So-Everyday Socks. Still hoping to CO the March of the Fiber Animals Cardigan for DH. Finished a few more hexagons for the Busy Bee Throw.

What's on my Featherweight: First Ladies Quilt. Still.

What's on my wheel: Languishing, but I have some yummy spinning fiber to inspire me.

What's on my loom: Multi-scrap scarf, no progress since before the trip.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Jodi Taylor's A Trail Through Time, on Audible, then L. A. Meyer's My Bonny Light Horseman from the library on the Overdrive app. Now listening to Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen on the Audible app. Good so far. Read Mistaken Kiss by Kathleen Baldwin on the Kindle app. Humorous and fun. Now reading Blood Red from the library, an actual book. I think it will be a good read without the narrator.

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Merlot. A good value if you like merlot, and we do.

What's my tip of the week: If you need to remove a label or sticker, the easiest way is to use your hair dryer to heat it up. Usually it will peel right off. (Just make sure you don't melt the item you want to keep nice if its plastic.) Any adhesive residue can usually be removed by using the sticker itself or some tape to stick and pull off repeatedly over the spot.

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.

Love's Labors Found

This week Common Threads met at Janet's. She asked us to bring suggestions for gifts to make for neighbors or friends. Julie brought this book, Gifts from the Kitchen by Debbie G. Harman. It includes a CD with tags you can print out.

It's full of cookie recipes and other gifts suitable for neighbors, such as bean soup mix in a jar, which Karan also recommended. She made a bunch of these, with the jars all lines up on the counter. She said she felt like a chemist. Janet was making lace lid covers like this.

I brought the pattern for the scrubbie I like to crochet out of nylon net, nicely paired with a knitted washcloth.

We also had show-and-tell. Bernadette brought us this finished crocheted alphabet baby blanket.

Janet had finished another pair of convertible mitts.

Carol was working on this great embroidered chicken for a quilt wall hanging.

My Pink Monkey Socks are finished. Here they are on the blockers:

And on my feet:

They were a fun project. The pattern was Cookie A's Monkey Socks. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll fingering yarn in "Dogwood Heather."

We had a great hike with the pups on Rocky's birthday, and I took them on another hike on Friday, because DH wanted to take the car to get the oil changed instead of going to Silver Sneakers. 

Happy Labor Day! Hope you can spend it doing something you like.

What's on my needles: Fair Isle Flower Socks. Still hoping to CO the March of the Fiber Animals Cardigan soon for DH. 

What's on my Featherweight: First Ladies Quilt. Still.

What's on my wheel: Languishing, but I have some yummy spinning fiber to inspire me.

What's on my loom: Multi-scrap scarf, no progress since before the trip.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I gave up on Mercedes Lackey's Blood Red and returned it to Audible. The narrator was butchering the German language on the few words she needed for almost every other sentence. In its place, I downloaded her Steadfast, which was excellent. The main characters in Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters series are almost always repressed by other characters in some way, but this was the first one about an abused wife. Fascinating. Just started Jodi Taylor's A Trail Through Time, the next in the "Chronicles of St. Mary's" series, funny, full of adventure, all about historians who time travel. Finished Restless Hearts by Mona Ingram on the Kindle app. It was excellent, too, about a young woman who must survive in San Francisco's early days. Just started Mistaken Kiss by Kathleen Baldwin, also on the Kindle app. Good so far. (I plan to get Blood Red from the library. I think it will be a good read without the narrator.)

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw Shiraz (aka "Two-buck Chuck" or "Three-buck Chuck," depending on where you buy it, because it's produced in California, and shipping costs to locations outside the state affect the price), one of our all-time favorites.

What's my tip of the week: When I have a series of regular decreases on a knitting project that are supposed to end with a given number of stitches, I put a stitch marker right where I'm supposed to stop, so I don't have to keep counting sts. When I get to the last stitch (or a few sts before, if there's a vertical row or two of sts before it that are included in the final st count), I have to move the marker, but by then it's easy to keep track.

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.

Basking in the Sun

We were getting ready to leave for a camping trip, when I received this in the mail:


Stroll Sock yarn in White, Dogwood Heather and Dandelion, and Stroll Brights in Pucker for our trip this summer. Kookaburra Wool Wash and the 2 oz bottle of the same to take on our flight for washing clothes out, so we don't need to carry as much. Also the book Classic Color Pattern Collection, Fair Isle patterns. I was afraid this order would come while we were gone, so it was a pleasant surprise. I needed the white for these socks. I want to take the white ones and the navy ones (Kai-Mei, see below) with me this summer, so they are a priority.

Our trip to Moab was great, although I didn't get much knitting done. Between the hiking and cleaning the trailer, which I had to do because it was the first time out for the season, my time was pretty much taken up. We had some great hikes, though, enjoyed the lovely scenery of southern Utah and got to spend some quality time with DGD1 when no one was working or busy with normal activities.

DGD1 took this photo of me during our Mill Creek Trail hike on Monday. (Notice the camera in my hands.)

I got this one of DH playing with the pups. It was a bit cold for them to swim for long.

It was too bad the water was cold. It would have been fun to play in the waterfall.

I snapped this picture of DGD1 during our four-mile hike at Dead Horse Point State Park on Wednesday.

There were some lovely windflowers. My favorite was this cactus flower.

It snowed the night before we left home. It was great to leave it behind, even though the snow was very light this year.

I did get some knitting done in the back seat of our tow vehicle as we drove down there and back, and we all got to listen to the audiobook together. Here's a photo of the first of DH's Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks, finished except for weaving in the ends the night before we left:



Details of pattern and yarn are here.

And progress on the first Kai-Mei sock:



Details here. In the photo, you can see the beginnings of the panel that wraps around the foot.

For this week's cuteness, I thought you would appreciate how Zachary looks after his first haircut (other than Dad snipping curls from his head while Mom cried).



What's on my needles: The Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks for DH, second sock started and moving along. Ready to CO his March of the Fibres cardi when I get a chance. Also the Kai-Mei socks, first sock at the gusset.

What's on my Featherweight: The third block for the First Ladies Quilt. I missed the class while we were camping, so I didn't get very far with it.

What's on my wheel: Still Full Circle spinning fiber in Pigeon.

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listened to Mars Rover Curiosity, an Inside Account From Curiosity's Chief Engineer, by Rob Manning and William L. Simon from Audible, the story of the development and deployment of the Mars Rover. I then went on to Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer (one of her mysteries) from the library on the Overdrive app. Finished Rediculous by D. L. Carter on the Kindle app. I don't know when I've laughed so much over a book I couldn't put down. (Caution: some explicit sex, but it wasn't excessive, fit the story and lacked the corny euphemisms I find so silly.) Now reading Marie Astor's To Catch a Bad Guy from iBooks.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, 2013, always good value.

What's my tip of the week: Remember the finger lights I talked about in my blog post of last June 16th? During our trip back from Moab, it came in handy. I was sitting with the pups in the back seat of the pickup, trying to knit on my dark navy Kai-Mei sock, but not able to see the K3P3 ribbing, because there wasn't enough light. I dug this out of my knitting notions box, and voilà!



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.