Inside Out

It was a short week, due mostly to a medical procedure, part of my preventative care. (That's the "inside" part.) However, that's over, and all is well.

Matti’s wardrobe is finished. As you may remember from last week's post, I made him the boy's version of the Cabbagetown Jacket (just shorter and without the flaring at the waist). Most of his wardrobe was purchased on sale from Silly Monkey, but his puppy, Goldie, came from Emily Rose Doll Clothes. Matti will be going to Therapy Animals of Utah soon to help them with their next silent auction. (The auction isn't for a while, but I'll be handing him over, because I'm leaving and didn't want to have to ship him.) Here are a couple of the outfits he will take with him. Dressy casual....

Of course, a boy needs pajamas.

He has an assortment of summer and winter, "dressy" and casual, and of course, Goldie. He's hoping she will have the right temperament to be a therapy dog, so he's being diligent with her basic training.

I picked up a couple of items for Jolena in the Silly Monkey sale, because she was unexpected (like my youngest child). My favorite is this outfit, especially the T-shirt with the butterflies.

The girls and I have been participating in a "Picture a Day in June" activity in the American Girl group on Ravelry. (They allow foreign-born dolls to participate.) Each day we get a prompt, and we're supposed to post a photo (or some photos) and say something about it/them. I try to make a little story out of each post.

For instance, June is a traditional month for weddings, so one day we needed to come up with something having to do with weddings. Here's what I did:

It's Mandy's turn to teach Jolena about her new family. Today's lesson is about Jolena's new parents' wedding.

Mandy started out with Vroni's Powerpoint presentation: 

"...and this is when they cut the cake at the reception..."

A Powerpoint presentation isn't really Mandy's thing. "I'll tell you what," she said. "Let's go cuddle in a chair with the old-fashioned photo album." That's cozier.

The chair was roomy with just two girls.

"They look like dolls," Jolena pointed out. "Pretty. They don't look like that now."

"Well, that was 52 years ago, Jolena," Mandy explained. "Human beings wear out as they get older, even if no one plays with them."

Jolena thought about that for a moment or two. "52! How much is that in doll years?"

Jolena's Viipuri Dress is finished.

I've been making corrections to the pattern, and I hope I've found all the errors. I'm making a new dress for Lotte, because her Russian Dress was the first one I did, and it wasn't small enough around the waist. It's a good way to check the pattern.

My sister-in-law's sewing machine has been serviced. I had planned to sell it, because I won't have room for it and its cabinet at our new place, but our younger daughter-in-law wants it, so we're taking it along to Bend and then will bring it to her when we visit next, as they only live a few hours away.

I think my sister-in-law would have loved for her to have it. She was very close to all our kids, having none of her own, but our youngest (husband of the DIL who wants the machine) lived with them for a time right after finishing college while he looked for a job, so they had a special relationship.

My girls were intrigued with the machine, especially Vroni. It formed the foundation for another little story, where they all cooperate to get the machine threaded and ready to use.

I'll be using it until we get moved, as my beloved Featherweight is in one of the U-haul boxes packed for the move. (I think those boxes have made it as far as Salt Lake City, but they will be on their way when we say we're ready for them to go. In my mind, they are on their way to Bend.)

Manuel, our music director at St. Luke's, and his family have gone to visit his mother in Argentina, so our little choir and our wonderful pianist are just providing basic service music, but Pam, our harpist, and Mary, an accomplished pianist herself, and the golden-voiced Felicia, are providing special music for services.

I managed to get the pups to Run-A-Muk Dog Park. I will miss that place, even though Bend has some great trails and dog parks.

We had a couple of warm days, and then it turned cool for about 24 hours. It's supposed to be warm again today.

We managed to sell a few more big pieces of furniture this past week. I think we're going to see what the local ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) will take, and then give St. Lawrence Thrift Shop a call. Both will pick up furniture.

The people we gave our piano to came and worked for a couple of hours bringing brush and other debris from our backyard to our dumpster. They are very grateful to have the piano, and we're happy not to have to move it.

I feel lighter, inside and out.

What's on my needles: Still the Coastal Skies, and a second Viipuri Dress for Lotte, so I can test the rewrite of the pattern.

What's on my Featherweight: On its way to Bend.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress done this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz. It’s really good. Wish I had time to listen to it straight through.

What's in my wine glass: Lost Angel Mischief Red Wine 2016. “Naughty wines for naughty times.” On the back of the bottle it says, “Lost Angel’s wines are for people who appreciate bold, edgy and iconoclastic. They are as different and exciting as you’d like to be. As the old saying goes, ‘If you only live once, make it count. If you live more than once, then who the hell cares.’”

What's my tip of the week: There's no need to buy hummingbird feed with all that red food coloring. Just mix 1/2 C sugar with 1C boiling water. When it's dissolved, add 1C room-temperature water to cool it off. Store unused portion in the fridge.

Also, there is no reason to buy Gatorade or Pedialyte for electrolyte replacement. Unlike hummingbirds, I can't have regular sugar. I learned that if you mix 1/4 teaspoon sea salt per cup of water, you have the same thing. You can sweeten and flavor with honey, lemon juice, ginger or whatever, if you like. (If I get to be very old, I will have learned a lot of stuff.)

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.

Sunny Days

This week started off with the usual activities, mostly indoor because we’ve been getting a lot of rain. Toward the end of the week, we noticed that Sunny seemed to be breathing harder than usual. By Saturday, it had worsened so much that we took her to the vet. An X-ray showed a lot of fluid in her chest, but not in her lungs. The vet sent us to an animal emergency hospital in Salt Lake. She was kept in an oxygen cage, while we discussed the possible diagnoses, none of which were very good. Saturday evening they put a drainage tube in and gave her a transfusion, and she was able to breath better. Sunday it became clear she probably wouldn’t make it through until Monday, so, with our permission, they went ahead with the surgery. She made it through surgery, although they had to resuscitate her four times. We lost her during the post-op period. We waged a hard battle to keep her with us physically, although I know she will be with us forever. Saying goodbye is hard.

I want to say a few words about Sunny, but first I want to thank all my friends and others who don't know me all that well for your thoughts and prayers. The outpouring of love and concern has been overwhelming. Thank you for being there for me, Sunny and my family. I think the prayers were answered, just not the way we had hoped. I believe it's because this is what was right for her.

Sunny was sassy from the time she was born. After she came to live with us, she ruled Rocky and tried to rule us. But only at home. Whenever we went anywhere, she would look up at me, and I could read her thoughts: "You can be the alpha for now."

It was that willingness to be well behaved while out and about that made her a good therapy dog. And she was good at it.

We visited Federal Heights Nursing Home for several years, sometimes entertaining a group of people in the rec room; sometimes visiting people in their rooms. She always knew which people needed kisses and which didn't want them. There was only one person she wanted to give kisses to who didn't want them, and that was a person who really wanted her kisses but was allergic to dog saliva. Sunny would sit with her back to the woman and look over her shoulder at her to prevent the tongue from coming out accidentally.

Several times patients who were anxiously awaiting pain medication found they didn't need it after Sunny sat with them for a while and accepted their stroking. One lady with Alzheimer's or dementia (I never received information on their diagnoses) used to yell at me when I came in, clearly believing I was someone from her past. I would put Sunny up on the bed, take the woman's hand and put it on Sunny's back. She would look at Sunny and start petting her. Then she would ask me my dog's name and say she was pretty and soft, or something else clearly connected with reality. Then she would drift off again, but for those few minutes she was living in the present. Another woman just out of a coma laughed when Sunny licked her fingers. There were many situations like that. Sunny loved her work, but would sleep the rest of the afternoon after we came home.

We also visited Camp Hobe and had planned to go again this year. She entertained the kids with her tricks and let them hug and pet her.

Sunny was athletic. She could run like the wind. 

She loved camping. 

Sunny was a great hiker and snowshoer.

She was an excellent mouser when we needed one. She was smarter than most people. She leaves behind a big hole in our lives.

I feel honored to have been her friend/mom/companion for 9 years and 8 months.

I'm glad we did everything we could to save her. At least we know we gave it our best shot.

My regular blog post will return next week.

Moving Along

I’m finally making progress on my “Delectable Pathways” quilt. (I’m calling it “Peggy’s Sistine Chapel.)

However, I took time out this week for a doll dress for Dolly for the April KAL, “Sisters,” in the Götz Doll group on Ravelry.

The project page on Ravelry is here.

The instructions were for knitting the dress parts in sections and sewing them together. Some of you knitters share my distaste for sewing up lots of extra seams, although doll clothes tend to have very small seams that go together quickly. I didn’t like the look of the side seams interrupting the pattern on the sides of the skirt, so for this project so I decided to have just one seam in the back. That led me to knitting part of the bodice (up to where it splits for the front opening and then the sleeve openings) in the round, as well as the sleeves. The only seams I ended up with was the back of the skirt, the two shoulder seams and setting in the sleeves. I need to make another one for the other “sister,” Gabi. I’m going to switch out the turquoise and green colors. (I’ve done the math, and I should have enough yarn.) This time, I’m going to try to work the skirt in the round and pick up the sleeves stitches to work down, rather than having that seam. That should take the seams down to just the shoulders. I didn't have any black yarn, so I used black sock yarn, held double.

We got more snow early in the week, but it’s almost all melted now.

Wednesday evening DH and I went out to dinner at Aristo’s Greek Restaurant in Salt Lake City, followed by a show at Pioneer Theater, “Cowgirls.” It was very entertaining, about six women who perform in a western bar. The three hired as a “cowgirl band” turned out to be classically trained, not “country.” They "made do." All of the characters evolve during the story. Fun, entertaining story and music.

The pups and I had a nice walk at a lower elevation on Saturday, and I didn’t even need a jacket. Spring is here...until the next snowstorm.

DGD1 did get the final paperwork signed and it’s official: She owns her own car. My car goes in today to have the interior cleaned and de-perfumed. No point in doing the outside until the winter weather is over. Just a regular carwash with the undercarriage sprayed clean will do for now.

Here’s an update on the new Ravelry group: "The Frog Prince and His Knitting Community Orphans:” We’re up to 42 members, as of the time I'm writing and scheduling this post, as more of our Knitting Community friends are finding us. It's so nice to have such a pleasant lily pad to land on.

There was no minigroup meeting this week because it was the fifth Thursday. Common Threads meets this week, though, so I should have some photos for next week’s blog.

Friday we went to the funeral for the husband of the amazing director of Park City Singers. He passed away just a few days after he performed in The Messiah Project on Palm Sunday evening. Most of us who participated in that performance came to sing two pieces from it, and our director, who is an amazing soprano, sang several songs of different origins. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. It was a very moving experience.

What's on my needles: Still hand-quilting the “Delectable Pathways” quilt and working on the second April “Sisters” KAL dress.

What's on my Featherweight: Making aprons for the dolls.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor and then A Lady at Willowgrove Hall by Sarah Ladd. Still reading A Lady of High Regard by Tracie Peterson on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Lindeman’s Bin 50 Shiraz 2015. Fruity and nice.

What's my tip of the week: Although yarn comes in some general sizes, there are some variations within a category, so it’s a good idea to knit a gauge swatch before starting a project. (A pocket lining or sleeve makes a good swatch; doll clothes and socks can be their own swatch, as long as you check your gauge after you have a few inches done.) If you don’t have the yarn called for in the pattern, you can usually substitute a similar weight. Ravelry and YarnSub are good resources for making substitutions. In a pinch, you can hold two strands of some yarns together, as I did with the black yarn for the Sisters dirndl dress for Dolly. Two strands of fingering, sock or 4-ply equal one strand of sport; two strands of sport equal one strand of worsted and two strands of worsted equal one strand of bulky.

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.

Spinning My Wheel or Spinning My Wheels?

My mother had an expression she used when she felt like she had worked all day and hadn't accomplished anything. She said she felt as if she were spinning her wheels (and not the kind of wheels that produce yarn. That's how my week has been.


However, I did get some work done on my First Ladies Quilt. The class at Davidene's was on Wednesday. I had missed the class in April because we were in Moab, and I wanted to have that lesson's blocks done before the next class, which was on Wednesday. Tuesday I cut out the pieces for both classes' blocks. (We make two of the same block each time, so it was a total of four blocks.) Then I pieced the blocks from the class I missed. Wednesday the pups went to the groomer and I had the next class. Some ladies were having a quilt retreat near us, and a bunch of them came in for a shopping spree. I was already pretty well along on my blocks when they arrived, so I didn't mind when my teacher left me to ring up their purchases. Some of them noticed that I was using the Bloc-Loc ruler (see below) to square up my quarter-square triangles and started asking about it. I did a little demo, showing them how to use it for half-square triangle units (for which it was designed) and quarter-square triangle units (for which it works just as well). Two of the ladies bought the ruler from Davidene's.

Thursday I had my annual eye exam. Everything is fine, and I don't need new glasses, but I couldn't do anything much for the rest of the day because my eyes were dilated. I knew that would be the case, so I had dinner ready/planned for, and I had DGD1 drive me there, wait for me and drive me home.

Friday the pups went to the vet for their annual exam and shots. Like their "parents," DH and me, they are in good shape for their ages. Our vet is happy with them, and their only health issues are minor and under control.

I had planned to rethread the heddles on my loom and get it set up to weave, but while I had it folded up next to the wall, one of the bolts became bent. I couldn't fix it by myself or get it out to replace it. I had to wait for DH to help me. He worked on Saturday, when I was trying to fix it, and Sunday we had the opera (Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress," excellent), but he managed to get it unbent after we got home.

I managed to make some progress on my socks, though. Both the second Diagonal Cross-Rib sock (for DH; it really is bigger than it looks) and the second Kai-Mei sock are coming along.

Two more pattern repeats on DH's socks before starting the heel, and about an inch of the 3X3 ribbing on my socks before the heel.

For this week's cuteness, here are the two younger grandsons having their first trip to the farmers' market for the year, and Johan's first trip in the wagon.

I hope to have more time to work on my fun stuff this week, including "spinning my wheel."

What's on my needles: The Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks for DH, second sock moving along. Ready to CO his "March of the Fibres" cardi when I get a chance. (It didn't happen this week.) Also the Kai-Mei socks, progress on second sock.

What's on my Featherweight: Ready to start next month's blocks from First Ladies.

What's on my wheel: Still Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon." No progress there.

What's on my loom: Dust! But I hope to get it up and running this week, now that the problem has (maybe) been fixed.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Hidden Witch by Debra Geary from Audible. Now listening to Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson, also from Audible. Just finished reading Lady Fiasco by Kathleen Baldwin on the Kindle app. Entertaining story. NowI want to read the rest of this author's books. Now I'm reading Charming the Duke by Holly Bush. I like the story (mostly), but the typos keep interfering with my involvement. It's as if they used spell check or autocorrect, but no one proofread the book. Things like "woman" when they mean "women," and short words left out of sentences. Publishers: Please hire proofreaders!

What's in my wine glass: Lindeman's Cawarra Shiraz-Cabernet 2014. The big bottle, which I needed after a week of spinning my wheels.

What's my tip of the week: The Bloc-Loc ruler is a great quilting notion. It was a little more expensive than most rulers its size, but I suspect that's because of the added expense of making the groove that runs diagonally from one corner to the other. This groove is wide enough to fit over the seam allowance on a half-square triangle (HST), from the seam line to 1/4" away. Here's how the ruler works: You place the diagonal of the ruler on the seam. If he seam is pressed to the right, the groove will be to the right of the diagonal. If it goes to the left, you turn the Bloc-Loc ruler around so the width of the groove is to the left. You have to make sure the lines indicating the size you want your finished HST to be are all on top of fabric, not outside the fabric. Then you cut the two edges on each side of the corner. Next, you turn the ruler and the square around, line up the groove on the seam line, adjust so the lines indicating the size you want are right along the edges you have just cut, and then trim the other two edges. (If I have a bunch to trim, I stack them with the seam allowance all going the same way, trim the top edges of each one, then turn around the stack of HSTs and the ruler and trim the other edges.)


Note that in the photo, the arrow indicates the diagonal seam with he seam allowance pressed to the left.

This ruler does two things: First, it helps you find the exact location of the the seam before you trim, and second, the ruler stays put as you trim, because it can't slide around on the seam the way a flat ruler would tend to do, so you don't have to put as much pressure on the ruler.

To use it to trim quarter-square triangles (QSTs), turn the unit so the vertical seam allowance and the groove are on the same side, as with HSTs. Then adjust the position of the ruler so the horizontal seam meets the line that indicates the size you want your finished unit to be on each side. (In the photos below, the ruler is set to trim to 4".)


The arrow points to the 4" mark on one side of the horizontal seam. You will need to adjust the ruler so the other 4" mark is in the right position on the other end of the horizontal seam. (There's some distortion in this closeup due to the thickness of the ruler, but you will want the 4" line to come out right at the ends of the horizontal seam.)

When you have the ruler in position, trim the top two edges, rotate the unit 180° and make sure your finished size lines up before cutting again. (You may have to turn the ruler around for the second cut, depending on which side the seam allowance is on after you rotate your block.)

(Note: I don't receive any kind of remuneration for advocating this product.)


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.