Drive Slow!

Common Threads met at Karan’s. Remember this?

It was great to see Karan’s appliqué quilt on the wall.

Several people were leaving town for the first week in July, when we usually have our meetings, but we had a fifth Thursday, so we decided to meet. Karan is working on her Christmas appliqué quilt. Remember this?

Now she has also finished this snowman block.

And now she’s working on this one.

It was good to see everyone. It has been awhile. While there, I CO for Matty’s Layered Look pullover. It’s a quick knit, and now it’s done.

The yarn is Knit Picks Imagination in "Woodsman" (discontinued) and Palette in "Golden Heather." 

Next I made Matty a shirt and shorts set out of homespun from my stash.

For one final outfit, I sewed some long pants to go with Matty’s French Back-to-school Cardigan. The long-sleeve T-shirt is from this seller on eBay. It comes in a set of four: blue, lavender, orange and red.

When I ordered Matty, I also ordered some PJs for him from the company, so they should be there already. The clothes I made him are in the mail and could be delivered today, but Johan's birthday party is July 8th, so there's plenty of time. Now I’m working on a more or less identical Layered-look pullover for Carter to keep.

Matty and Carter are My Sibling/My Pal dolls. An internet friend who lives in the UK saw the photos of Carter and decided, after checking out the cost of shipping, to purchase one for herself. It will be fun to see what she makes for him.

It was making me hot to look at Mandy in her steampunk costume, so I changed her into something casual. Here she is, ready to go berry picking. I didn’t have the heart to tell her we don’t have berries yet.

I didn't notice as I was taking the photos, but the bright blue sky was reflected in Mandy's red hair, making it look the same color as her shirt, and the wood behind her is almost the same color as her hair.

I need to get busy on making clothes for Carter and the Habitat Girl. I’m looking at outfits a little more stylish than the basic patterns I used last year, so I’m doing some experimentation. I dove into my quilting stash and put together this outfit for Vroni (for now, then at Christmas, it will go to DGD2’s dolls).

I think it needs to be a little baggier, especially for the Creatology doll I’m expecting to be outfitting for Habitat’s silent auction. I picked up some fabric at the quilt shop because I have very little pink, and I wanted something to go with the pink and white striped leggings I got on sale awhile back.

The pups received their summer haircuts on Wednesday. We have so many burrs in the backyard and on the hiking trails now, it isn’t practical for them to be in something more poodle-ish. We went to Gorgoza Pond later that day, then to Run-A-Muk Dog Park on Friday. (You can just see his pink tongue as he runs down the stone walkway.)

On Saturday, it was Toll Canyon. We noticed a lot of new signage for the trails, so Basin Rec has been busy. The Fairy Tree had a couple of Barbies.This was something new. You never know what you're going to see hanging from the Fairy Tree.

I took a photo of my boys. (Guess which one hasn't had his summer haircut yet.)

We stopped at the “Watering Hole” on the way back. Dusty is getting much braver about getting into the water now. I’m hoping we’ll have him swimming this summer.

Rocky is back to his old trick of running ahead on the way back, and Dusty should have been worn out from tearing like mad up and down the trail, trying to keep track of all of us.

One of our grandkitties, Fluffy, had surgery on Tuesday to remove a mass from her mouth. It was scary, but she came through the surgery well. The biopsy came back on Thursday, and it was negative. Whew!

Tour de Fleece has started on Ravelry. I'm participating, but nothing much to show yet.

Happy anniversary to DS and DDIL2 today!

Lighted sign as you enter our neighborhood: "Drive Slow." I need to lose a few IQ points to be able to do that, but I'll happily drive slowly. Happy Independence Day to all you US Americans. Don't catch anything on fire, and drive slowly!

What's on my needles: Carter’s Layered-look Pullover, this time to keep.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is out and at work.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas is for the road. Listened to Mercedes Lackey’s Fortune’s Fool. Now listening to Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick, another of the Cobbled Court Quilts series. On the Kindle app, still reading Undeniable by Laura Stapleton.

What's in my wine glass: Frontera Cabernet Merlot in the big bottle.

What's my tip of the week: We all know tape is good for putting things together, but did you know it can be good for taking things apart? Fine cactus needles, splinters and insect stingers can be removed by applying tape (transparent, cellophane, masking or duct) gently to the affected area and pull off. Just be careful with insect stingers; some insects, like bees, leave behind the little sack with venom, and if you squeeze that, you can make matters worse. Tape can also be used to pull the tiny bits of threads away from a seam you’ve ripped. Also for lint or cat hair.

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.

There's No Place Like Home...Wherever That Is

Shortly after we left Oregon, DDIL2 took photos of the Kaleidoscope quilt.

What a joy to see it photographed with the quilting showing up so well!

After leaving Bend, we stopped overnight in Winnemucca, at the KOA, where we could count on having hookups so we could clean our little home and an off-leash enclosure for the pups, so Dusty could run.

I finished the snood, lace collar and mitts for the steampunk costume (more on that later), so with no knitting to do, I CO the French Back-to-school Cardigan for Matty (Johan's birthday present), who has arrived in Oregon as of this writing. It's a quick project, and I've done it a few times before. Carter is my model.

It took a couple of days, because I was busy cleaning the fifth wheel, then the house bathrooms and kitchen, as I awaited the appointed time to take the trailer back to its storage spot.

DH wanted more of the Tofu Chocolate Pudding I took on the trip.

It's so easy. Just put in the blender: 1 pkg silken tofu, 3/4 C cocoa powder, 1/4 C honey and 1/3 C milk (dairy or nondairy, skim OK). Blend until smooth and pour either into individual cups or a refrigerator container and chill at least 15 minutes. It will keep several days.

I also made some French bread. It's funny how not cooking for a couple of weeks can make me want to cook. I had to try out the olive oil and fig vinegar we bought at the last place we did wine-tasting.

I had made a bean/vegetable stew to go with the French bread. Gotta love slow-cookers when it's hot.

OK, finally to the steampunk costume for Mandy. (It will go on to Daphne's dolls at Christmas. Hope she likes steampunk.)

Mandy was glad to get some use out of her hat.

Mandy (a.k.a. Amanda Katherine von Götz, PhD) is in her lab, preparing for a lecture at the Royal Society of Engineers. Goggles are a must when working in the lab, to protect your eyes from chemicals and accidental dangerous projectiles. Even that test tube could explode at any moment.

Mandy found out that SCUBA masks could be made with your vision prescription built in, so she had her lab goggles made that way. That saves eye strain.

At the meeting, she will explain her discovery of a chemical reaction that will create steam without harming the environment or resorting to petrochemicals, because that’s what steampunk is all about. She says. She also says girls can be anything they want to be when they grow up.

She likes the human-size cork board in her lab, because she can find her notes easily.

Mandy had to go on vacation with us so she would be available for fittings. She's a great traveler. I never once heard her ask if we were there yet.

Details for the petticoat, corset, Braemar jacket and goggles are in the project notes on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PeggyStuart/three-steps-2. Everything else was improvised.

I think I need to go take a nap/

What's on my needles: Finished the the steampunk costume and a cardigan for Matty.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away for now.

What's on my loom: Still waiting, but dreaming about new digs. Like this maybe?

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Jodi Taylor’s A Symphony of Echoes again, with DH as we traveled. Then started Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas. I'm listening to Fortune's Food: Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey. Sounds interesting so far. On the Kindle app, still reading Undeniable by Laura Stapleton.

What's in my wine glass: Kirkland Cabernet Souvignon 2015 vintage…ooooh! Now how did we get that? Utah Costco can’t sell “liquor.” (But is wine really “liquor?”)

What's my tip of the week: It’s easy to cook presoaked beans in the slow cooker, but at higher elevations it can take a lot longer than expected. Add some kombu seawead to the slow cooker (about 2-3 inches), and it will go faster. At any elevation.

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.

In Vino Veritas

In vino veritas, indeed. 

Monday we left the kiddos and the pups at the appropriate daycare centers, so they wouldn't get bored while we went wine-tasting. The pups stayed at Noah's Arf in Beaverton.

This was Dusty's first time at doggie daycare. He seemed a little insecure, but Rocky made sure he knew how everything worked in this kind of setting. Louis (our grandpup) stayed there, too. He's a real sweetie. I didn't get a photo of him there, but here he is in his natural habitat.

The human children went to their preschool on the Nike campus, as they are wont to do most work days.

Our wine-tasting outing started with lunch at Red Hills Market in Dundee with Peter and Alexa, and her parents.

Peter and Alexa take turns being on duty with the kids if they wake up at night. Soren, the older one, still gets up just as often during the night as his younger brother. It was good for the parents to be able to get away to have a break from work and child care.

We didn't get to too many wineries. (How many wineries are "too many?") We spent the time to savor each one. We visited Vista Hills and Durant in the Dundee area, where Alexa's parents plan to build a house.

We bought two bottles at each winery, which waived the cost of the tasting, as each couple had shared a flight at each place. The wines we tasted were mostly pinot noir and pinot grigio, I guess because of the climate and terrain in this part of Oregon. We also picked up some olive oil and vinegar at Durant for salads and to put on bread. On our way out of the the Durant winery, we found this lusty fellow.

Because of my many trips to the frog pond during various knitting projects, I'm well acquainted with the frog prince. (For this of you who don't knit, it's "rip-it, rip-it.") I have even had to visit the frog pond when quilting, not as easy to do, but easier to get caught up again afterwards.

Earlier in the day, we had stopped in at the Nike Company Store for our "employee-family discount" on some Nike gear. I bought two pairs of shoes for running (not likely), hiking, walking and other exercise. They are so comfortable I can hardly believe it. My orthotics fit inside perfectly,

While we stayed with the kids, we had our "guest house" parked across the street (with permission from the neighbors), so the kiddos didn't wake us up at night.

On Tuesday, we drove back through Sisters to Bend, where Charlie's brother, Jim, lives. He recently moved here from Park City. The plan was to join him in a year or two, assuming we liked Bend. We did. We enjoyed walking the dogs along the trails in his neighborhood. Here's Jim with Onslow. (You can see Charlie with Rocky behind Jim and Onslow. I had Dusty.) We did a hike on Saturday afternoon.

We connected with a realtor and looked at some houses. We also connected with the local yarn shop, Gossamer The Knitting Place in Bend.

Here are some photos of the inside:

Isn't this yummy?

They have some nice places to sit and knit.

I bought some sport-/DK-weight sock yarn and some fingering sock yarn (doesn't count toward stash), some locking st markers and some soap for my friend Joanie.

I have a feeling I will be spending some time at this place. There are also several quilt shops, plus somewhat close proximity to Sisters and The Stitchin' Post. It wasn't convenient to disconnect our tow vehicle from the trailer, so I wasn't able to do a lot of driving around.

We went out to eat a couple of times, and I cooked some. Houses cost about the same as in our neighborhood, so it should be an even move, cost-wise, unless something happens in either locality to change things. We will need to start "culling" our stuff. Obviously, the sewing machine, loom, spinning wheel and yarn and fabric stashes are a priority. Jim added a shed to his backyard, to serve as a workshop. I'm thinking of doing the same thing for a fiber studio. Then we could have a smaller house.

Work on the steampunk costume for Mandy has continued with the completion of the Braemar coat. Still a few items to add, but this was the last large piece.

I like how the lines of the jacket fit with the Victorian aspect of steampunk. I'm planning on a lace collar to go over the blouse, some mitts, maybe a snood (if I can figure out how to make it) and some goggles. Mandy thinks she's ready to lecture at the Royal Society of Engineers, because that's what girls can do in the alternate universe of Steampunk. (She's geared up--ha-ha--to explain her prototype of a clock-driven airplane.)

In the meantime, I think I've found the solution to next Lenten season's depriviation, when I give up my second glass of wine for Lent.

What's on my needles: Finished the Braemar coat. Now working on mitts, snood, collar.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away for now.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting. Thinking about Tour de Fleece.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Jodi Taylor’s A Symphony of Echoes again, with Charlie as we travel. On the Kindle app, still reading Undeniable by Laura Stapleton. Still not sure how I like it yet.

What's in my wine glass: Trader Joe's um...so many to choose from, now that we've been to TJ's in Oregon.

What's my tip of the week: I like to use freezer paper for patterns for when I'm sewing doll clothes. Often I can avoid pinning entirely, but usually one pin at a crucial area is all that's needed. I iron them down the way I would pin a pattern, then use my rotary cutter and ruler to cut all the straight edges. Finally, I add a pin if needed and cut the curves with scissors. The patterns can be used over and over.

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.