The Winter Drags On

Janet brought her completed block to Common Threads this week.

You may remember from last week, the blocks are from a free BOM from Buttermilk Basin. She was trying to use tissue paper as a guide for the embroidery, but she switched to Press 'n Seal on the advice of other people who are making this block, which has background fabric too thick to see through with the light box.

Karan has been learning how to do machine embroidery with cutwork.

The piece above was done using a wash-away product. The butterfly below is also cut away, but using a technique that leaves most of the fabric intact.

Here are some more of her projects using these techniques.

This tree is fun, and the ovals are cut to create little areas of pile. She said she actually liked it better before it was cut.

Janet is knitting the Mountain Cozy Cowl by Cathy Miller for a relative. The yarn is Juniper Moon Farm "Moonshine" worsted. She's getting close to finishing.

Ginny had finished her needlepoint picture of the three dogs. She plans to make a pillow. The ribbon she's holding up next to her project will outline the picture.

Now she's working on this interesting design. I think it looks like a doll's rug. Hmmmm....

Speaking of dolls, You may remember the shipment of goodies the Götz girls received not too long ago...the one with all the rain boots? There was also a package of Götz panties/knickers labeled with the days of the week. Mandy picked "Monday" because at first she thought it said "Mandy," but she loves them anyway. (The sulky face is because I told her to go put on some warmer clothes.)

We received another shipment, this time from Götz USA. Three pairs of shoes. This website doesn't have a huge selection, but they do have a few dolls, and the shoes are much more reasonable than the same ones on Amazon, the only other source in the USA that I know about. Mandy had been wanting the white Mary Janes with the flowers across the strap, and they were almost $45 with the shipping on Amazon, as opposed to $13 plus shipping at Götz USA. Because I was getting two more pairs of shoes, the shipping worked out to about $2/pair. If you order $40, the shipping is free.

I'm working on the front bands of my Norwegian cardigan pattern for Mandy. The body and sleeves are done. Here's the back.

The front is hard to photograph, because of the center front steek, which sticks up, making shadows. I'm putting the body aside for now, because I'm knitting the sleeves together in one piece with steeks between them, from the bottom up, rather than picking up the stitches around the armhole. The sheep motif is being used with permission from the designer, Elizabeth Lovick from Northern Lace. She had used it in her pattern March of the Fibres Sweater, which I also plan to knit.

We were expecting a major snowstorm over the weekend, so on Friday, while it was...well, not exactly nice, but not especially cold and windy, we took the pups to Run-A-Muk Dog Park. Rocky had a good run. Dusty ran and ran and ran, especially when he met up with other dogs that liked to run and play. DH and I had a nice hike.

What's on my needles: Mandy's Norwegian Cardigan.

What's on my Featherweight: Pants and skirts.

What's in my hoop: The Spring Flowers Quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Listening to The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry. This was a good read, with a lot of dark humor, so added more titles by this author to my wish list at Audible. Then listened to La Danse de la Folie by Sherwood Smith. Now listening to The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf. On my Kindle app I'm still reading Miss Braithwait’s Secret by G. G. Vandagriff.

What's in my wine glass: Just finishing up the House Wine Original Red. Very acceptable.

What's my tip of the week: If you’re knitting a sweater, cowl or other garment in the round and want to try it on to see if it’s long enough (or wide enough), if you put half of the sts on another circular needle, it will be easier to try on.

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.

Time Marches On

Let's cut to the chase: Common Threads.

We met at Karan's on Thursday. Margareth came fully equipped to draft some patterns.

Georgette had just started this needlepoint project.

Ginny has made some progress on this needlepoint design.

Karan had finished this redwork quilt before Christmas.

I showed off my finished "Peggy's Sistine Chapel," which this group hadn't seen yet. I was working on a pullover for Vroni for her birthday. Lynda was knitting a sock, but she frogged it before I could get a photo.

Mandy came along to supervise me and to show off the slacks I made to go with the pullover for Vroni. (Mandy was my model, so as not to spoil the surprise.) The sweater she's wearing is my "Wonderland Turtle," not the surprise pullover.

I had to alter a pattern, so did a dry run with a different fabric. I discovered that I couldn't just fold the fabric over, cut out through two layers and then be able to match up the pattern (stripes). However, the fit looked good.

When I used the fabric I planned on, I was able to get the stripes to match fairly closely by cutting out one pattern piece at a time, rather than two layers, then matching the second one to first before cutting it out. Here's an example of what I did (with different fabric). You can just barely see the paper pattern (I use freezer paper) under the first piece I cut.

I turned the fabric over to cut out the second one. This is important because the stripes may not always be symmetrical, and with this fabric it was even more important, because it was a brushed cotton, so the sides of the fabric were not the same. (If your fabric is the same on both sides, make sure when you sew the pocket facings on the fronts that you aren't making two identical pieces. I did that once. You want mirror images.)

In the photos it looks black and white, but there is a little strand of turquoise running through it.

The pattern for the pullover was Cataddict's Steampunk Blouse. (Not a download, but I could copy and paste.) Here's how Vroni looked in the finished outfit, with her birthday shoes and necklace. (The necklace was made from an orphaned earring, some chain, rings and clasp from Michael's.)

I wrote a little story about Vroni's birthday party (photojournalism). I won't take up time/space here, but you can find the whole story here. One of Vroni's presents was a picture book, which the girls read and discussed. (How do you discuss a picture book? Maybe they were discussing why Matti gave Vroni a book called Puppy Love.)

To reward Mandy for doing such a great job helping me by acting as my model, I made her a pair of slacks on Saturday, using the same pattern. I also have the same pullover on the needles for her, but in Turmeric, sort of a soft gold. It will look good with the colors in her slacks.

For the slacks, I started out with the Pixie Faire's Boot Cut Jeans pattern. It's designed for American Girl dolls, so it's a bit too big for Götz dolls, like Vroni and Mandy. Also, the legs were flared, and I wanted them straight. I discovered that I could use the pattern for the front and front pockets exactly as it was designed, but I could remove the flare in the leg and some of the width in the...um...bottom...by making a new pattern piece for the back. The original pattern also had a top-stitched fold and back pockets, which I didn't think I needed, so I accounted for those as well, and the center-back seam had a strange kink in it, required by dolls with...um...stuffed bodies. I ended up with this. (Grid lines are 1".)

Feel free to use my "pattern," and the waistband is also smaller. In case you can't read it, you cut a piece on the bias, 11" X 2". Then follow the directions in the original Pixie Faire pattern.

Another person on Ravelry, "Weavespinner," made my first Fair Isle cardigan pattern. We had a few chats on the phone, so she would feel certain of what I meant in my instructions. Then she cut the steeks, knit the neck band, button band buttonhole bands, then picked up and knitted the sleeves. On Saturday, she posted this photo.

It's very exciting* for me to see my little designs show up from time to time, but the steeking project is special, because I know each person who makes one of these doll sweaters has learned a new skill (if they've never steeked before). She used colors similar to the sweater I made for Vroni, and I think she did a wonderful job, rating the famous "Steeking Badge," made for me when I made my first steek, by NoKnitSherlock on Ravelry. (Steeking badges? We don't need no steeking badges!)

But I did.

We visited Run-A-Muk Dog Park twice this past week, and when we were down in Salt Lake City to visit the upholsterer, we took the pups to Big Cottonwood Park, where they ran and played on grass with other dogs. Run-A-Muk doesn't have much grass right now, but it isn't covered with snow, either. More like slush and mud, so Run-A-Muk lived up to its name. I guess it will be a short winter for us.

Oh, and we probably will have to refinance our home to get the reupholstering done...on two Finnish armchairs. Watch for them about March.

*Seriously, this is really exciting for me.

What's on my needles: ZickZack Scarf, but I think I'm going to frog it. I'm finding it takes more concentration than I can handle without having lots of stuff going on (ADD issue). Also Mandy's Steampunk Blouse pullover.

What's on my Featherweight: Doll pants, shirts and skirts.

What's on my loom: Scarf to use up last of the warp.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is hiding under the bed.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens, a Deal of the Day from Audible. Now listening to Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose.

What's in my wine glass: Twisted Old Vine Zinfandel 2014. Appropriate for drinking while spinning. (Maybe that's why Stanzi is under the bed?)

What's my tip of the week: It will be easier to get seams to match if the seam allowance that’s on top goes toward the needle as you sew and the bottom seam allowance goes away from the needle. With quilting, you can't always do it this way, but if you can't, a pin will help. Being aware that the seams nestle together better that way helps know when you need pins. This also goes for any sewing project (like doll clothes) where you don't press the seams open. (That's a whole other story.)

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.

Cozy, Comfortable Crafting

My long-term quilting project, "Peggy's Sistine Chapel," is done.

I bought this pattern, Delectable Pathways by Mary Sorensen, in 2004, when I took a class in needle-turn appliqué from the designer. I elected to use paper piecing for the "Delectable Mountain" blocks, so I would be prepared for my Pine Burr quilt, long hanging on my dining-room wall. I bought the background fabric (three shades of "cheddar") from my friend Julie when she was closing out her quilt shop. My plan was to put it on the wall over my stairs, with the lightest background the furthest away from the window.

I enjoyed the needleturn appliqué, and later the hand-quilting. However, during that time period I also took up hand spinning and then weaving.

When it became clear, however, that we would be leaving this house in a few months, I made it a goal to finish the quilting so I could see it on the wall where it was intended.

Now it's ready to put up on the wall, when we can figure out how to put something up that high over the stairs. (I'll post a photo when it's up.)

I was working on my "Sistine Chapel" on Thursday, when we met at Georgette's for Common Threads.

Georgette is a master needlepointer. She had finished several projects, including the pillow above. This seemed to be "needlepoint Thursday," as we were also treated to these:

Lynda had finished her brioche projects, the reversible scarf...

...and the hat.

She had also finished this shawl (not brioche, but still stunning).

Our part-timer, Susan, was working on this scarf, the ZickZack Scarf.

I had grown discontented with the shawl pattern I was working on (Frozen Skies) and had decided to frog it. Susan said this pattern was almost mindless, but still interesting. I decided that would be perfect for my special yarn, so I frogged the shawl and CO for the scarf.

So far, I'm enjoying it.

I also CO another Faire Isle doll sweater to try to perfect the pattern. (I'm finding mistakes.)

This time I'm using a solid and a self-striping yarn. It will eliminate changing colors every couple of rounds, but I had recommended it to people as an option, so I thought I would give it a try.

My adorable boys went to the groomer this past week....

...so of course it snowed!

Good weather to stay inside and knit or quilt.

What's on my needles: ZickZack Scarf, Fair Isle doll sweater.

What's on my Featherweight: Still waiting for more doll clothes.

What's on my loom: Scarf to use up last of the warp.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Sixth Window by Rachel Abbott, another of her creepy endings. Once I get into her books, I can’t stop listening. Now listening to Dean Koontz’ Midnight. I think I read it years ago, but it was a Deal of the Day from Audible, so I couldn’t resist. Still waiting for something on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Lindemann’s Cawarra Shiraz Cabernet 2015. Nice and smooth.

What's my tip of the week: If you’re going to hand-quilt your quilt, consider not prewashing your fabrics and using 100% cotton batting. When you’re finished with the quilting, wash it in hot water and run it through the dryer. The slight amount of shrinkage will be enough to make your stitches look smaller and more even. Sneaky!

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.