Days of the Walking Dead

Well, we had a nice visit with family during the week, except the unwanted visitors who stowed away on board two of the visitors. See if you can guess which two people in this photo had just come down with a serious respiratory virus (not Covid). Hint: Dusty doesn't count.

We postponed our Thanksgiving dinner until Friday. On Wednesday, Charlie came down with what I suspect is a respiratory flu, unless it is the Head Cold from Hell, the virus brought to us by loving family members. I started feeling sick on Thanksgiving Day. We had had our flu shots, but this probably wasn’t included in the cocktail. We’re still recovering. We both tested negative for Covid. I even tested myself twice, because someone at the bazaar on Saturday a week ago had later tested positive. We got lucky again, if you can call what we got "lucky." Our dinner was easy to fix, because we already had everything cooked for the day before. (One person in this photo was not feeling as well as he looks.)

The cucumber salad was delightful, as usual.

The cranberry sauce was also quite tasty.

The sweet potatoes were similar to the roasted ones I've made recently, except with more herbs, and was a delicious recipe. We had the usual stuffing, rutabaga casserole and turkey (faux chicken, in my case). Dessert was pumpkin pie. We have stuff left over.

Dusty really enjoyed the early morning walks/runs with Louis and one or both of Louis' "parents."

Soren and I did a lot of reading. He always wants me to read him several of my stories. Johan helped me take the photos for the week's story. One of his dolls participated. His Lily is the one in the green shirt. She needs help on the stairs, because her knees don't bend.

I managed to work in a little knitting. I CO my Talvinen sweater. Alexa and I are both making it. I decided to make mine a cardigan. That meant I had to switch the BOR from the center back to the center front and place a marker at the "pretend" BOR in the center back, so I would have it to refer to when following the pattern.

Since I was unable to go to the LYS on Saturday for Shop Small, I ordered from them online for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery KAL. This was what I picked for the MC….

and for the CC….

Then, on Sunday, just because we weren't completely out of energy and hadn't died, "we" decided the tarp needed to go over the trailer, because it was supposed to snow. There was a lot of bad language and gnashing of teeth involved. It's never easy, but this time it seemed impossible. The tarp is longer than wide, and the longer side has to go the length of the trailer, or it won't do any good, and of course, it was the wrong way first. Trying to rotate it after you open it is never easy. It's heavy, and it catches on the protrusions on the roof. It was cold and starting to rain (not snow) by the time we got it on, about two hours later, and Charlie was ready to attach the shock cord. 

Now I should go lie down again. Everyone stay well.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's. Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of our other books, Emil and Mariah, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Still the Hinterland Pullover (some more progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating), Pauly's Wonderland Turtle and the Talvinen.

What's on my loom, sewing machine, hoop: Same as last week, although the sewing machine got some use fixing one of Son Peter's pants pockets.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: A Dolls' Thanksgiving. The dolls got to experience Thanksgiving dinner with us, although at different times, because of the plague. Jolena had taken photos of everything we were eating, so she showed them to the other dolls, so they could pretend to eat them.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

What's in my wine glass: Cough medicine. I didn't check the label for vintage.

What's my tip of the week: Any head cabbage will last a long time in the fridge if you carefully remove leaves and chop them up, rather than cutting into it. The cut edges get brown and will eventually get moldy. You can cut off that part, but by just harvesting the outer leaves, you can avoid having too many broken/cut edges. Of course, this wouldn't work if you were going to stuff the leaves.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less. 

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.

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Hello, 2021!

I spent my birthday plotting out a new chart for a smaller doll sweater. I've been knitting it this week. I'm already almost to the neck.

It should have been easy to plot, because it's so small, which means I can make it bigger on the screen. The problem was to get the motifs to work on the smaller area. It's for Pippa, and she has a smaller chest.

Here's the more or less finished chart. 

I ran out of free charts with the body, so instead of using a separate chart for the sleeve, I drew the outline of the sleeve on the body with magenta, so the motifs fall in the right places. I really should do this with the others charts, so I can make more charts with Stitch Fiddle without having to delete any. I could do more, but I would have to pay, and I don't make enough of these charts to make it worth paying.

I had this yarn left over from last year's Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along. It's Magpie Fibers Swanky Sock yarn in Hell S Bells and Alloy. I really like working with it, and it has a very nice drape. It would have been a shame to have wasted this nice yarn. I'm surprised how well it shows the stitches.

It's fairly slick, so I'm somewhat concerned about cutting the steek, but once I've sewn the stitches down on each side, it should stay put...I think.

I got a package with a birthday present and a Christmas present. I don't know which is which, but it doesn't matter, since my birthday is the day after Christmas. 

The fabric is all fat quarters, perfect for quilting. Some of the cute motifs make me think the boys might have had some input into the choices. There are also some batiks, which I love, and some pretty prints. They could all go into one quilt, but there's no reason some of them couldn't serve as a focus fabric for their own color scheme.

The yarn is lovely. It's Cedar House Yarns' Sapling Sock in a soft adobe pink with shades of brown. The colorway is called "Painted Hills." 

I immediately thought of the upcoming Mystery Knit Along for the Rose City Yarn Crawl. I'm unlikely to be going, since it will be in March, but it could happen, and there's no reason I can't participate in the KAL. The pattern, Meditations, calls for two colors. Variegated is not recommended, because the stitches need to stand out. The uneven coloration in hand-dyed or kettle-dyed yarns is good, though. The two colorways should have good contrast, just like in a quilt. I gave Knotty Lamb a call, since that's where my yarn came from, and asked them if their "Bark" from the same line of yarn would look OK with "Painted Hills." The person I talked with, who put down her knitting to help me, thought it would be a good choice, so it's on its way to me. Here's how it looked on their website.

As you know, we ended 2020 this past week. I was never so glad to get rid of a year as I was to kiss 2020 goodbye. I had some good times, but the virus hanging over us every time we needed to go anywhere took away a lot of the fun. I feel so lucky, though. DH and I are introverts. We have each other. We have two dogs. We are not alone. My heart goes out to people who are extroverts and have no one living with them. That must be difficult.

I decided the problem with 2020 was that we hadn't eaten enough black-eyed peas on January 1, 2020. This year I made a bigger pot of the tasty legumes. They were yummy, and we ate as many as we could fit.

As you may know, we're supposed to have one day of good luck for every black-eyed pea we eat on New Year's Day. It's a tradition. I'm hoping there were 365 of them in that bowl I ate. 

Rocky needed an infected wound cleaned out and sewed up right before Christmas. He wasn't coping well with the plastic cone they sent him home with, and he wasn't biting or licking his stitches, so we took it off. At the vet's check on Monday, however, we were told that he had been rubbing his eye and needed a cone, but maybe a smaller one. I made him one that afternoon, using the same blue fleece fabric as his lightweight jacket. I lined it with another color fleece fabric, because I didn't have enough of the blue. I used a heavyweight interfacing to give it some body. Stylish, no?

He has gradually learned to get around, eat and drink while wearing the cone. It really needs washing now, though.

The story on Friday was about remembering what had happened during the year. The dolls had lots of happy memories (not being subject to a virus) and talked about their favorite memories in "Eight Favorite Things."

Next year, they will be doing this the day before New Year's Eve. Follow the stories here.

What's on my needles: A Fair Isle sweater for Pippa, pattern in development.

What's on my sewing machine: My Eversewn Sparrow 15 did a great job sewing through the thick interfacing. It's calling to me, though.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Getting close to the first corner on the swag.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Eight Favorite Things. The dolls sit around the fire on New Year's Eve and discuss the past year. Each doll has a favorite memory.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still Elsewhere by Dean Koontz. It's riveting.

What's in my wine glass: Mildiani Family Winery's RKATSITELI White Dry 2018, product of Georgia. Not that Georgia; the other one. It's quite nice.

What's my tip of the week: I plan to get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as we're eligible. I won't jump in front of healthcare workers, however. They need it more than I do, so I'll wait my turn. 

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment.

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.

This Is Our New Life

I finished the masks for family members, and they have gone to their new homes. Our granddaughter's birthday doll arrived in Wisconsin on Saturday. About Wednesday I began making them for the hospital.

Fortunately, the hospital has enough for right now, but we aren't scheduled to reach our peak until the 26th, so they will be needing them soon. I do a lot of the cutting first. That way, I don't have to keep looking at the measurements but have them in my head. 

Then I chain-piece the steps I can, like doing all the hems at once. (I can do this if I have a lot of masks that can use the same color thread.

Then I cut out more, and change the thread as needed.

The tutorial I made for myself and others is here.

I communicated by text with our DIL's friend, who is a surgeon at our local hospital. She will pick up the masks on her way to work. When they have enough there, I'll continue to make them for the local police.

I finished the knitting on my Bend in the Road Beanie. Just the ends to weave in and then blocking. I'm planning to make one for DH, only using a different pattern.

I had another story out on Friday, but I also added this to The Doll's Storybook's Facebook page. Emil was wondering if the birds that hatch from these eggs were going to be pretty colors like the eggs.

Friday morning I went to Fred Meyer (Kroger Co.) to pick up my grocery order. I filled up the tank with gas while I was there. I had my mask on but the attendant didn't have one. He took the card from me, rather than keeping his distance. When I got the card back, I sprayed it with alcohol and wiped it off before putting it away. Fortunately, it's unlikely that he's carrying the virus, as none of our county's cases originated in Bend. This is good practice, even if the risk is low.

Getting the groceries went better. I parked in one of the Click List stalls, called the store to let them know I was there, then opened the back of the car. The woman brought the bags and put them into the back while I stood 6' away. Then I closed the door. I cleaned everything when I got home, including everything I touched on the car.

Holy Week services were entirely online. I found them just as satisfying as in-person services. (Yes, those are bunny ears on our priest. He always greets the children first.) We were able to greet each other and make comments during the service without disturbing anyone. There were only six people in the church, and they had the service choreographed so they didn't come within six feet of each other.

Maybe the sense that we're going through the experience of having to remain isolated and sharing it with all humankind has added more than what not being there in person takes away, if that makes sense. The Easter service was inspiring. The sermon related the experience of the disciples and friends of Jesus with what we're going through together. (It was available on YouTube and on Facebook. The link is to YouTube.)

The family had its weekly Zoom party after church. Our niece and our adult granddaughter joined us this week for the first time. It was good hearing what everyone was up to and to know that they are all well and coping with their situations. Our older son, his daughter (our oldest grandchild) and our niece's husband are all still working in essential jobs, so they are having to take precautions to protect themselves.

We try to walk every couple of days. We see other people out, but we keep our distance. Each entrance to the Larkspur Trail has a sign telling people what the new rules are for using the trail. Most people seem to be cooperating.

Everyone stay safe. We will get through this if we work together.

What's on my needles: The Bend in the Road (The Roadside Beanie) is technically off the needles, but I need to weave in the ends. This one didn't have a steek, so I can't hope to hide the ends with a facing or anything.

What's on my sewing machine: Masks, masks, masks!

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Making Do. The car has broken down, and each doll has to figure out what to give Mandy for her birthday without going out to shop.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Bridge to Belle Island by Julie Klassen and now listening to Spring Magic by D. E. Stevenson, one of my favorite authors.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, a staple in our wine cellar.

What's my tip of the week: To make ties for these masks, I save a little time and trouble by inserting pins a few inches apart into my ironing-board cover, putting the pins through the fabric cover once and then again about the distance apart I want the tie to be with the edges folded over, in this case 3/4". I insert the fabric under first one pin and then the other. Then I put the iron down on the space between the pins and leave it down as I pull the tie through, guiding the edges of the fabric so they are about equal in size. (Please excuse the discolored cover.)

I need to fold it over again, so without removing the tie from under the pins, I fold it over and then put the iron back in place. I use a spray bottle with water if needed, but if you have water in your iron you wouldn't need to.

Bonus tip: If you have a spare spray bottle or can get one, you can put rubbing alcohol in it and use that with paper towels as a substitute for disinfecting wipes, which are hard to find right now. I had a couple of spray cleaner bottles, neither of which was full, so I consolidated the cleaner into one bottle, washed the other and put my alcohol in it. I labeled it, so I knew which bottle to use for disinfecting.

This is our new life for a while.

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.

Dangerous Liaisons

Look! A quilt!

Thursday we took off to go to the Portland area to visit family and for the Rose City Yarn Crawl. DDIL2 and I spent the evening at a fund raiser for Fact Oregon (Families And Communities Together.) The organization provides support and guidance for families that experience disabilities. The quilt was part of the silent auction.
Executive Director Roberta Dunn spoke to the crowd before the live auction about what was going on with the organization.

We had some delicious food, and the live auction was entertaining. I bought a bottle of wine in a paper bag (unseen). It cost $20, but I figured that even a cheap bottle of wine and my nice dinner would be worth it. I haven't tasted the wine yet, but I'm sure it's going to be good.

Friday morning I packed up my knitting and Mandy, and we headed out to visit the yarn shops. (It was raining. Mandy didn't want to get silver eye, so she wore a plastic bag.) 

The first shop was Blizzard in Vancouver, just over the border, in Washington. It was early, and the shop wasn't too crowded, so Mandy came out to have her photo taken in the shop. She was wearing her Stavanger Cardigan, because her St. Patrick's Day Cardigan wasn't finished yet. (I worked on it while we drove from one shop to the next.)

I bought some stitch markers and some repositionable highlighter tape (already in use).

At Starlight Knitting Society I picked up the official Yarn Crawl tote bag. The bag I had my cardigan in was a little too small for it, so this was a good addition. (That's a bird's nest. The theme for the Crawl this year was "Birds of the Pacific Northwest.")

Later we stopped at Fiber Rhythm.

After that we stopped at Twisted Yarn Shop, where I bought a kit for Which Came First (a wrap), although there's a version of the pattern that makes a cowl. Here are the colors I selected:

I also picked up a skein of lace-weight yarn on the sale rack for 25% off. I picked this color because I thought it would go with my "So Not My Palette Cardigan," which probably should be named "My Palette After All."

We stopped in at Close Knit Portland.

Close Knit is aptly named. It was a tight fit for all the customers.

For Yarn's Sake had a lot of mini skeins. Too bad Mandy was in the car. She would have appreciated them.

I found a kit for a hat I absolutely had to have. It's called the Roadside Beanie. It has sheep on it, so I thought it was cute.

Also included on Thursday were Knitting Bee,  Northwest Wools and Pearl Fiber Arts. At each place, we opened the door with a sleeve, handed our passports in to be stamped, entered our names and email addresses, usually on a laptop or a tablet, after which we used hand sanitizer. Then, if we bought something, we sometimes had to hand over a credit card, then take it back, then sign on a tablet or using a pen. It was a relief when a place accepted ApplePay, because then I didn't have to touch anything other than my own phone. After making a purchase, I always used hand sanitizer. The rain continued off and on for the whole day, and the car was wet. I started to notice after several shops that the car door handle felt slimy. I figured out that the residue from the hand sanitizer was rehydrating when I got it wet. It was good to wash it off when we finished our tour for the day. Here we are at the last stop.

Saturday morning, we only had one shop left: the Knotty Lamb in Forest Grove. I brought Mandy in so I could shoot some more photos. She attracted a lot of attention. Several people commented on how beautiful she was and wondered about the cardigan. One lady wanted to look it up on Ravelry, and when she saw my name, she recognized it. She said that she had made my Everyday Play Dress, but as a top. She asked me to wait while she went to her car to get her doll, who was wearing the top, as well as some leggings based on EZ's Nethergarments, but with short rows across the bottom. The dolls seemed to enjoy getting acquainted.

I think her name is Tiffany. She is an American Girl doll.

Later on Saturday, we had lunch at DDIL's parents' home, which was very nice, followed by a trip to Laurel Ridge Winery. I brought Mandy along to the winery, because she had never been to one before. The woman who brought the wine for tasting looked just like a grownup version of Mandy. Mandy didn't even pretend to have wine, because she knows she's too young.

We had more rain, but not as much as Friday, and we got to see this rainbow from the winery.

We had a nice tasting and a nice visit.

Sunday we took the boys to the gym for Johan's gymnastics lesson and Soren's "Sensory Sunday" activity. 

I missed the lesson because my alarm went off after we were already on the way. That meant it was time for Rocky's medication which I had forgotten (an hour later by the clock than usual because of the #@$*! time change), and I had to go back to the house.

However, because I finished the Cables and Herringbones Cardigan for Mandy, I'm back at work on my Maine Memories Cardigan for me, adding the third color to the bottom of the sleeve.

I hope I get done with the cardigan before I get the new coronavirus.

What's on my needles: Maine Memories. Almost done with first sleeve.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away for now.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Water, Water...." The dolls figure out where water comes from.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still Amy Snow by Tracy Rees. Still enjoyable.

What's in my wine glass: Terra d'Oro Red Wine Blend 2014. Not bad.

What's my tip of the week: If you are roasting vegetables with a small amount of oil, you can save time and mess by lining your baking sheet with parchment paper, spreading the cut vegetables on it, add the seasonings and oil, then mix it by pulling up the edges of the paper so the vegetables pile up, then spread them around again with a spoon or spatula. Halfway through, they can be remixed by the same process. When you're done, the parchment paper can be thrown out, leaving the pans with a small greasy spot at most.

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.