Little Projects

We returned from Beaverton on Monday, taking the alternate route, which goes through/by Eugene. We had a lovely view of Mt. Washington as we came over Santiam Pass.

We got lucky with the weather, as you can see from the photo taken at the pass, the place where we were most likely to encounter snow and ice. It was just wet.

Billy went along for fittings, and I finished his new sweater during the trip home.

Here it is after blocking.

It's made to go over the doll's head. Usually doll sweaters open completely down the back. This style of sweater has a large opening at the neck, so the back neck can be closed. The back still has an opening below the neck to facilitate getting the arms into the sleeves, though. This works well.

The pattern is Jacqueline Gibb's 42 Shawl Neck Sweater and Cap. I knit it as-written, except that I went down a needle size to get a slimmer fit, worked the sleeves in the round rather than flat and worked 8 extra rounds for the sleeves. It's still big in the back, having been designed originally for American Girl dolls, who clearly haven't heard about Paleo or Keto...or even portion size. At any rate, I have found that fronts of patterns for American Girl dolls often fit fairly well, but the backs of pants, shirts and sweaters are too big.
I got 5.5 sts and 8 rows/rounds to 1" using 3mm needles. (The pattern gauge is 6 sts/in and 7 rows/in using 3.25 needles.) I plan to make this sweater again. When I do, I would like to take some of the excess bulk out of the back and make the collar all in one piece. The pattern is well-written, though, and is designed to be knit flat, a benefit for people intimidated by knitting in the round. (I'm not intimidated by knitting in the round, just by sewing up seams!)

I went on from there to make a cardigan for Mandy, who hasn't had anything new knitted for her for nearly a year unless she knitted it herself, which means she hasn't had anything new knitted for her. (Mandy is my knitter, but her knitting is just imaginary, so she needs some help.) This pattern was the Lavernia by Deb Denair. Again, I went down a needle size to get a slimmer fit.

This one was also a bit big in the back, but the ribbon sash brings it in, so the fit isn't too bad.

I worked the pattern as-written except for knitting the sleeves in-the-round and grafting the shoulders and collar instead of seaming them. I didn't add anything to the length of the sleeves, as I could see that they would still cover the elbow joint. I also didn't add to the waist length, so the waist falls above the natural waistline (if a vinyl body can be said to have a natural waistline), which I find flattering. The only thing I would do differently on this pattern is NOT to use the same yarn. It's Retrosaria João. The yarn is a lovely color that reminds me of a variety of lichen, and I like the varying thickness, but it broke easily and even came apart in my hands when I came to places in the yarn that were not sufficiently spun for the thinness of the yarn. This scrap that came off will give you an idea. You can see right through the yarn.

Finishing the cardigan required a lot of weaving in of loose ends where I had to join the yarn because of breakage. I think the project will stay together, though, because the knitting is tight enough, and it has been thoroughly blocked. The pattern was a delight to work with. I was warned of errata on the designer's project page, which I wrote in on my pattern.

Alister will be going to live with Zachary next month, so I'm trying to get him outfitted. I tried Billy's PJs on him. They seem to fit OK except for the sleeves, which are too long. That was not what I expected, because Alister's shoulders are bigger than Billy's, and I thought the extra length would be taken up by the shoulders. I can use the same pattern, though.

Alister, a Kidz n Cats doll, came with some very nice clothes, including hiking boots, and a jacket and hat, so he mostly just needs a sweater, spare pants and an extra shirt or two, along with a change of shoes. He also has a stuffed toy cat. He's fully jointed, making posing difficult for small children, but Zachary is old enough now that he should have no problem. This particular Alister is a survivor of Hurricane Harvey. I've been fostering him while waiting for his new dad to get a little older. Kidz n Cats dolls are no longer being produced, and Alister may be sold out worldwide.

We had some excitement Wednesday morning. The dogs alerted us to some unusual activity out in front of our house. Apparently a neighbor slipped on the ice and injured his ankle. Bend Fire and Rescue came to the...um...rescue. 

Ice is a problem, because we've had warmer days lately, so the snow melts, but then it gets cold at night, so the water freezes. The spot where he fell is right where the sidewalk slopes down to the driveway. We had trimmed that fir tree to the left in the photo, because its branches were blocking the sidewalk. We have now treated this area with snow-melt salt. We're hoping that it will keep the sidewalk free from ice.

The snow is starting to melt at the dog park. Nice weather brought out the crowds. You can see Rocky in the foreground in front of the lady with the grey sweater on. (He's also wearing a sweater.) Dusty is at the far right, playing with a scottie dog. 

I will have to go back today, because the dogs get groomed at lunchtime, and they are happier if they have had some playtime first. I usually try to keep them clean for a few days after grooming anyway.

I made naan in the bread machine to have with some Indian dal stew. This was the first time we had used the griddle that fits over an oval burner in the middle of our stovetop.

It worked out very well. The Irish soda bread I made yesterday was a greater challenge. I had to use baking powder instead of soda, and the recipe I used didn't have enough liquid. 


What's on my needles: Finished Billy's sweater, then made one for Mandy. Still working on the Coastal Skies Shawl with a few more rows done. I hope to finish the Kisu Takki cardigan this week.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Alister, repairs to family clothes.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt. I hope to get back to it soon.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: What Dreams May Come. Billy has a nightmare and seeks answers from Veronika.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Music in the Hills by D. E. Stevenson. It's the third in the Drumberley series. If you want to read the series in order, start with Vittoria Cottage, then Winter and Rough Weather. I read them out of order, but I had read them before, and the surprise is not so much about what but about how anyway. Now listening to her The Four Graces. Stevenson's novels are like visiting mid-20th-Century England and/or Scotland and staying with colorful, natural characters for a nice visit with lots of tea and toast.

What's in my wine glass: Farmhouse Red Blend from David Hill Winery in Forest Grove, Oregon.

What's my tip of the week: Most bread machine manufacturers recommend not leaving water in the pan too long for cleaning and not immersing it for long. It wears out the silicone seal. I've found that letting it dry out completely makes it easy to just wipe the remnants of dough out, and you can scrape any dried dough off the shaft with your fingernail. However, if you do ruin the seal, causing the pan to leak, it can be replaced like this.

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.

The Last Push Begins

We closed on our house on Friday.

Our shipments (United and U-haul boxes) are still in Salt Lake City. We're tentatively scheduled to receive the main bulk of stuff in 2-3 weeks, although we have a guest bed and mattress coming today or tomorrow. In the meantime, we have had a nice place to stay at DBIL's, while we work on the "new" house. We went there on Friday afternoon. Rocky (his blackness barely visible at the base of the stairs by the hot tub) and Dusty explored the backyard. Most of the trees are huge junipers, loaded with berries (good for making gin, if you like that, but also an ingredient in Sauerbraten, which I could make with faux meat). Dusty hasn't figured out the dog door yet, but Rocky rejoiced in it, being familiar with it from his puppyhood. He went in and out. The pups played in the backyard, rolling around in the grass, something they couldn't do in our old backyard.

I spent a good part of Saturday removing the childproofing latches on the kitchen drawers and cabinets.

I found two more I had missed after I took the above photo. Many of the drawers had two latches. Here's a photo as proof, looking down into the drawer.

There must have been a Houdini wannabe living in this house at some time.

Our younger DIL said we may have removed the latches 1-2 years too early, but I disagreed, as we have recently purchased a taser from Amazon. (Just kidding.) If Johan wants to get into my spices and herbs, he will find them less interesting than some of the "herbs" you can buy here in Oregon.

I brought the girls with me on Saturday, and they are the first "beings" in the family to stay there overnight. They look nice on the windowsill in the kitchen eating area, although they will have less trouble getting up there once the bench from our former dining room is along that wall.

They also liked the TV niche over the gas fireplace. It's like a little living room. (I didn't have the heart to tell them that DH is thinking of buying a new 50" TV for that spot.)

I think the house and grounds offer a lot of opportunities for illustrating the dolls' stories. I'm still working on getting a boy.

Many lights were burned out or (as in the case with the refrigerator) simply not there. The last or some former occupants had used bulbs with a wattage unsuitable (as in too high) for the fixtures in some places, and there were signs of shorts (the electrical kind, not the kind you wear) and perhaps the start of a fire...or two. Some light bulbs were missing the glass bulb part, and the part you screw in was still in place. It's a good thing I married the son of an electrician. He knew to turn off the circuit before using my quilting hemostat to grab the base of the now-non-existent bulb and unscrew it enough to finish by hand.

Then there was the extra hinge we found...which was missing from the master bedroom door,  the one with the broken lock. (I sense a story there.)

There was no toilet paper, of course. (We left toilet paper and hand soap in our Utah home when we left, as well as an appropriate light bulb in every fixture.)

Kitchen cabinets were all either wonky on their hinges or drawers were falling off their rails. The pantry (shudder) was a mess. The pull-out drawers didn't pull out, or were askew or warped. DH worked all day Saturday and most of Sunday to get the cabinets fixed enough to be useable. By late Sunday, I was able to put away the unopened shelf-stable food we had with us in the trailer, brought from our pantry in Utah. Whoo-hoo! (We still have stuff in our shipment. I hope not too much to fit.)

I think there will be room for everything else, because, other than the tea cabinet, we had no upper cabinets in our Summit Park home, only open shelves, as you can tell from this photo from our old place:

The items we still have left from the decorative stuff on the top shelf in the Utah photo (we gave a lot away) can go on top of the cabinets in the new house, and maybe the canisters of beans and things as well. 

Ah, the cabinets! We have come to the conclusion that the only hope for them is to have them professionally painted. We are certain that the parents of the Houdini wannabe were Mr. and Mrs. Jellyfingers, because every cabinet door was sticky. We also think that they had a flood at the sink at one time (based on damage to floor and sink cabinets). Every one of the cabinets also had the finish removed in places and/or gouges in the wood. The shelf-support pegs were missing in almost every cabinet that had a shelf. I don't think they make that size anymore.

One quickly dashed ray of hope came when we thought we had found the manuals for the appliances.

"Quickly dashed" because the fridge is a GE, not a Frigidaire, and the installation instructions aren't much use after the microwave has been installed. However...I'm looking forward to the GE microwave manual as my bedtime reading for a night or two. We don't have Internet yet at the new house, but manuals are pretty much all available online these days. We will download manuals for the other appliances as we can. The stove has about 1/8" of grease on the grates, with hair and possibly paper fibers stuck here and there. I'll have to take them to the tub upstairs to give them a good soak and then have a go with a steel-wool soap pad (or two or three). The oven doesn't look too bad, I appeared as if the self-cleaning cycle had been run. I hope it keeps the right temperature.

We bought a tall kitchen ladder, which we needed to change the light bulbs, and raise and lower the shades downstairs (Levelor cellular cordless). The hook thingy you use to raise and lower the shades above your reach by putting it through the hole in the tab at the center of the shade, was surprisingly missing, and apparently they don't make them any more. We're going to have to make one from a long dowel and a cup hook. Why don't we need the ladder for the window coverings upstairs? There are no window coverings upstairs. Nada! Well, there were some blinds in what will be our guest room upstairs, but there was no way to raise or lower them, as someone (probably that Houdini wannabe) practiced their macrame with the cords, so we took them down. We still have some packing paper from our move, so I can cover the front windows until we can get some shades put up. I don't think anyone can see into the windows from the back of the house because of all the evergreen trees.

The house will be a lot of work, but we could tell that when we walked in for the first time. Our offer reflected the cost of what we knew we needed to do to it and what else we suspected might be needed. I think it will be nice when we get done, and we will love it more for having had to do the work. I wouldn't have put in all that carpet, but at least what they chose is tasteful and almost practical.

Earlier in the week, we had ordered a new bread machine, because we left our our old one behind. It needed a new pan, which is an expensive fix or time-consuming DIY. Amazon sent us a lovely new machine, but we couldn't get it to work, so we sent it back. We think it was a fault in the function that allows the machine to remember where it was if there is a power failure (not too important for us, since all I use is the dough cycle) and then start up again when the power comes back on. After we sent it back, we ordered another one (different brand). It was supposed to arrive on Thursday (noted "out for delivery"), and we're still waiting. They have no idea where it went. Neither, apparently, does Amazon...or UPS. (Too much weed for the delivery guy?)

We are enjoying the parks and trails here, though. Here's a gathering in the small-dog section of the dog park at Ponderosa Park.

We also can get on the Larkspur Trail from our "new" house that goes all the way to the base of Pilot Butte. (This hike was from DBIL's house.) The green pin indicates where we started, and the red pin indicates where we stopped, at DBIL's house. On the map, our house is located on the right-hand side of the loop that shows that we took the trail on the way out but walked back along the street so we could check out our new neighborhood. Ponderosa Park, where the dog park is, is that patch of green at SE Wilson Ave., just a couple of blocks from the trail.

Some day we might take a picnic and go all the way to the top of Pilot Butte. It should be easy, compared with what we've been doing.

It's surprisingly easy to register to vote in Oregon. They use your Social Security number if you don't have a driver's license yet. I'm sure they let Utah know I wouldn't be voting there this time. My registration card came in the mail.

DH can ski again this winter. I gave him the senior locals' pass for his birthday. He didn't ski the last two years we were in Park City, because Vail had taken over the ski areas and raised the price on passes, doing away with the seniors' discount for locals. For the amount of time he likes to spend skiing, it was no longer worth it.

Now I'm trying to figure out how I will be doing my sewing my sewing room. I'm thinking of a Mod Squad corner sewing table (for my Sparrow 15) and another Mod Squad cabinet next to it for my Featherweight. These two pieces should fit in the alcove in my new fiber studio.

I think I can add a compatible cutting surface on the other side of the corner unit, using a stock bathroom vanity with my 3/4" frosted plexiglass panel and my cutting mat (being brought by United)  but it will be higher, of course, to allow for cutting comfortably while standing. DH will have to build a shelf to hold the lights I will use when I need to use it as a light table by removing the cutting mat.

I think I'm going to need a plastic mat to go under my desk chair, as it will be hard to roll around on the carpet.

If anyone has had experience with the Mod Squad pieces from Connecting Threads I'm considering, I would love feedback.

Did I mention we have lost our "parts box" somehow. It's where we put all the screws, shelf pegs, keys and remotes (!) from our move. I hope it shows up, or we have several hundred dollars of locksmith and remote-replacement expenses ahead of us.

This will look good in my autobiography someday. It will be fun to look back on it...instead of still anticipating a lot of it.

What's on my needles: A couple more rows on the Coastal Skies Shawl. Not much time to do anything.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Now sitting in my new sewing room, waiting to have something to sit on for now, perhaps the craft table we use for our trailer.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, a little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Being Little, the second episode with Mariah. (Mariah is a smart biscuit.) I'm scheduled through October 12th, with the next one after that in the writing stage. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. I've made a little more progress with the story.

What's in my wine glass: Block Red Shiraz in the 3-litre box, vintage ?. Not the Apothic Red, my favorite, but still nice. Available in Trader Joe's in Oregon in the wine/beer/pot aisle. (Just kidding about the pot.)

What's my tip of the week: When you remove those child-proofing latches from a drawer or cupboard, you only need to remove the front (hook) part of the latch. That's the part that keeps the drawer or cupboard from opening. The other (inside) part of the latch is much harder to remove because of the location, and unless you plan to using or selling the latches, they don't need to come out.

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.