Coffee, Tea and "Treats"

As always, there were some lovely projects to see at Vintage Stitchers.

Barbara, who hosted, had received  this lovely appliqué quilt back from the quilter. The photo, sorry to say, doesn't do it justice. She told us she had used the binding fabric (the same as the border) for something else. Marilyn thought she might have some of it in her stash.

Here's the back:

A relative had asked her for an "autumn quilt," so she put this top together. She found she had enough blocks for quilt for another relative. She will put a border on it.

Then she showed us this quilt she had made for a widowed friend to give to another friend who had helped her when her husband died.

Carol had this wall hanging almost finished, just in time for Christmas.

Several people were knitting or doing embroidery. I worked on hand-quilting my "Sistine Chapel." (I could finish it quickly if I just put away my toys and worked on it.)

Speaking of toys, we finally got to have the tea party to celebrate Lotte’s arrival.

Lotte wore one of the dresses I made for her long before she left England to come here.

You’d think tea party would have gone off without a hitch; the girls have been planning for sooooooo long. They managed to get into their dresses and set the table in the little "breakfast nook." 

They have five of everything in the cutlery, but they only have four of the regular chairs and four of everything in the tea set. Dolly offered to use a cup and saucer from the old set, because she said "Mum" bought it back before any of the others lived with us.

Gabi had brought in an extra chair from the nursery. She said she should use the odd chair anyway, because she was in charge of the tea, and would be getting up and down. (Actually, she's better at standing than sitting, anyway.)

Gabi brought the tea she had prepared in the kitchen, and each of the girls offered her their cup to fill. They chatted about how nice it was to finally be able to have their tea party, so long postponed because of Lotte’s delayed departure from England and then Rocky’s injury, because they needed Mum to help with the table and tablecloth, and to provide the treats. (I really had to scrounge around the kitchen to find "treats" that looked to be of scale.) The girls talked about how nice it was to have snow on the ground and what they would do for fun when they went out.

Speaking of treats…Mandy picked up one of the miniature donuts. “Doesn’t this remind you of a giant Cheerio?” she asked the girls.

After a moment’s silence, Vroni asked, “Has anyone tried the cookies?”

I probably won't be allowed to provide the food for their next tea party.

I'm working on another stranded and steeked doll cardigan, this one with a shaped neckline, avoiding the need for a steek to make the neck opening, which some people find too challenging. A shaped neckline, requires some knitting flat, which adds a challenge when purling back across the wrong side, because you can't see the pattern, just the last row of stitches. Fortunately, I managed to minimize the pattern work at that point, with most of it being either solid or a checkerboard, so you know to use the opposite color as the stitch you're knitting into. Here's how it looked after the steeks were cut and before I joined the shoulders.

I changed the motifs, too, because I've made this sweater so many times with the old ones. I needed a change. 

The neck ribbing was easier without the steek stitches in the way. The button/buttonhole bands are done, too. Now I'm working on the first sleeve. It's for Mandy, so she had to try it on.

You can see we had to get a second opinion. I'm using my 6" dpns for the sleeves, but I worked the body in the round with two circular needles.

Lotte's hair is very pretty, but it had some tangles and seemed slightly gummy when compared with Mandy, so on the advice from a couple of doll "experts" I gave her a shampoo on Saturday, using baby shampoo and a mild conditioner. Here she is, wondering how long it will take to dry.

I ended up putting her on my bed under the ceiling fan, because the hair dryer was taking too much of my time, having to use the low setting and hold it at least 8" away. She had a nice nap on my bed while I was able to knit. Her hair was much nicer after it dried, and I was able to get the tangles combed out.

Saturday evening, Felicia, who sings with our choir regularly, and Keith, who sings with us occasionally, had a concert of fun and/or emotional songs as a benefit for the People's Health Center in Park City, which provides health care to people who have no insurance and limited means. It was a treat to listen to them sing.

My shoulder had been bothering me for several weeks, and I was worried I might have a fracture (a sign of thinning bones) or a repetitive-motion injury (a sign I needed to stop typing and knitting--yikes!) It turns out my bones look good and the symptoms, including the pain my doctor caused by moving my arm in different positions, aren't consistent with a repetitive-motion problem, but indicate an infraspinatus sprain, probably from lifting a reluctant Dusty from the back seat of our car by reaching backwards from the door. The bad news is, she wants me to have physical therapy for a few weeks and see if that helps. I'll take my knitting. :-}

Rocky will have his stitches out today (Monday). We took the bandage off after three days, as directed. It was still swollen a week after the procedure, so our regular vet suggested an anti-inflammatory twice a day and a heating pad. The pups go to the groomer on Wednesday, as planned.

What's on my needles: Mandy's Fireside Snuggle, a Fair Isle doll sweater.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Just listening to music for the Holiday Concert.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec.

What's my tip of the week: When I'm knitting and picking up stitches around an armhole or along an edge for a ribbed border, I tend to lose count, or I get to the number I'm supposed to have and I still have more edge that needs stitches. I've found that if I just pick up stitches without counting, then count afterward, I can put stitch markers along the needle, evenly spaced, to tell myself where to decrease. Occasionally, I might be a stitch or two short, so I do a Make 1L or Make 1R distributed in the same way.

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.

Tales of Lotte and Rocky

What a week!

Halloween, the World Series, Common Threads, two deliveries of doll stuff and dealing with a doggie injury. Whew!

DH had bought "Halloween costumes" for the dogs, but they didn't cooperate by wearing them. We tired them on Vroni and Mandy, and they worked pretty well.

When trick-or-treaters showed up at our door, we told them that we were surprised that they dared come to our house, after what we did to the first kids who showed up. They looked at the dolls, their eyes got huge, and then they laughed. One of the older ones even said, "Honey, I shrunk the kids!"

After most of the trick-or-treating had tapered off, the "girls" were allowed to sit and watch the World Series game, while helping themselves to some Halloween candy.

The package from My Doll Best Friend (two pairs of shoes, my prize for having my photo selected to be in their In-Site online magazine) had come early in the day, so Mandy was wearing her new sandals. She was the model for the photo, you might remember, so she got to pick. Vroni was happy with the white satin flats, but they were dress shoes, so she put on Lotte's new dress before she tried them on. The ankle straps are too big, but I can fix that, and they look good without the straps, too. Mandy's sandals must be for the beach, because the soles have little sea shells embossed on them.

I had already finished the dress, coat, hat and turtleneck for Lotte, but Mandy, who modeled it, said she needed one, too. I finished it November 1st, just in time to start the colorwork KAL (knit-along) on the first day we could participate. Here's Mandy modeling her turtleneck.

I made this one with the button/buttonhole bands knitted with the body of the sweater as one unit, to save having to weave in four more tails.

I told Mandy it made me feel cold to see her wearing sandals and to go put on something warmer. This is what she did.

I give up! We discovered that the turtlenecks also made great cardigans.

Common Threads met at Margareth's. She and Karan have been working on wool flannel quilting projects (shown in previous blog posts), and Margareth had made this new project bag, using one of the motifs she had used to make some wool flannel coasters.

She also was working on this bird:

Speaking of birds, Lynda was working on some knitted birds from a book, The Field Guide to Knitted Birds by Arne & Carlos. Very cute and funny!

That afternoon, we found that the gardener had come to prune the neighbor's bushes.

She had a young apprentice with her, probably a family member. They bedded down on the other side of our backyard for the night, so they were there again in the morning. I guess they hadn't finished their work. Needless to say, the pups had a lot to say to them.

Friday, tracking on my big package indicated that it had reached Park City and would be delivered by 8:00 PM. The "girls" took turns watching for the mail lady.

Vroni and Mandy were on hand when the package was delivered.

We could hear whinnying, barking and cries of "Let me out!" I had to get the kitchen scissors to get it open. Inside we found the horses packed carefully on top of Lotte. (She was in her own sturdy box, so was unhurt. It took a while to get to her box. Vroni climbed up to look in, and Mandy asked for a lift.

After we got Lotte out, the "girls" decided they wanted a group photo, but, of course, they all wanted to be next to Lotte in the photo. This was how we compromised. (You can barely see Dolly, but she's the one who is closest to Lotte, so she doesn't mind.)

The horses will be a present for the two grandkids who are learning to ride at their other grandparents' ranch in Texas.

Lotte said her little dog needed to go out, so even though she was dying to get out of her travel clothes, she put on her new coat over her traveling dress, and they went out to the back. I got this photo of her before we came back in.

The girls offered her a choice of pajamas, even though the pink ones were made just for her, thinking she might be sick of pink. She said that she loves all colors, but pink is her favorite. She changed into them right away and had a nice lie down, looking out the window at the trees.

When she got up from her rest, she tried on her new dress:

Then her turtleneck and slacks.

The girls turned in early, because it had been an exciting day, and they were looking forward to more of the same. I think Lotte looks a little zonked.

As often happens, life got in the way of the planned tea party, for which they need me. The "girls" had just gone to bed, when Rocky got up from his nap on the couch, where he had been since early afternoon. I noticed he was limping and licking his right front paw. Closer inspection revealed that it was very swollen and hot. We piled into the car and drove down to Salt Lake City to doggy (and other animal) urgent care. After a long wait (there were other, more life-threatening cases that took priority), the cause was revealed as an abscess between the toes. They kept him to clean it out and sew it up when they had time during the night, and I went back in the wee hours of the morning to pick him up.

Rocky's already doing better, but working his regular medication (thyroid) into his pain meds and antibiotic has been a challenge because some need to be given on an empty stomach and some with food. Some every eight hours and some every twelve. Then we had the time change to deal with. Thank heaven for my iPhone!

Not much sleep for me for three nights. He knows not to lick his injury, but we also have to keep him from getting up on or down off of the furniture by himself, playing with Dusty or using the stairs. 

Wouldn't you know it snowed early Sunday morning. We have to bag up Rocky's foot so he can go out without getting it wet.

With any luck, the tea party will be in next week's report.

What's on my needles: Mandy’s Fair Isle sweater

What's on my Featherweight: Pajamas for Alister and Gabi.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to practice tapes for Park City Singers. Finished Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app, but haven’t started another yet. I like this author for a clean romance. The stories are well written and entertaining, and the characters are not just good or evil.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec.

What's my tip of the week: A pill cutter is a very handy and inexpensive item to have, especially when the dose is "1 and 1/4 tablet."

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.

Quilts and Companionship

Quilting! 

I finally made it back to my quilting group, Vintage Stitchers. We met at Diane's. She had this lovely quilt on the wall, "Good Night, Irene," I think, although she may have tweaked it.

Carol had this yummy quilt top finished. She said it lay around a long time, hibernating.

She's happy to have finished it. She also got out these paper-pieced bird blocks, which had also been in hibernation.

They weren't originally supposed to be paper-pieced, but she converted the pattern. Then she didn't like the process. The blocks are fun, though. It will also be fun to see what she does with them.

Brenda has been doing some machine embroidery and machine appliqué.

Marilyn, our other hard-core machine-embroidery expert had finished this kitchen towel. Just in time for Halloween.

She also had been working on potholders. I believe these will be gifts.

Diane brought out a weaving project she made some time ago, when she still had space for her floor loom: a waffle-weave plaid table runner.

Janet has become quite the knitter.

I have shown this before, but now it's done. It's a design by Kirsten Kapur, whose group is called "Through the Loops." The pattern is "Fugue in Mosaic Minor," a little play on the fact that it has two bands of mosaic knitting (the colorwork sections). It wasn't that long ago when I remember Janet saying, "I'm not really a knitter." She has certainly turned into one, although she still spends a lot of time quilting.

Two interesting things came up at this last meeting. One was that a member said she was disappointed in the quilting job she paid someone to do. She was so disappointed she was thinking of picking out the quilting. (If you're a quilter, you will know what a job that would be.) It was supposed to be a gift for someone special in her life, and she didn't know how she could give it to this loved one. 

Technically, the quilting was fine, but she didn't like that the thread used in the light parts of the quilt was darker than the background. There were some other issues, too, but all having to do with a matter of taste. We all had a look. While some said they would have preferred a thread that wasn't as obvious, most of us liked it, as the quilt had sort of a modern feel to it, and the quilting design and thread suited it. Someone pointed out that she may only be unhappy because she was anticipating a different look to it. Often we're disappointed if things aren't the way we expected them to be. I think she was starting to feel better about it when our meeting broke up.

The other interesting thing: One of the older members of the group said that she never liked to play bridge, but when she was younger her mother kept trying to get her to learn. The mother kept telling her, "When you get old, if you don't play bridge, you won't have anything to do nor will you have any friends." We all had a good laugh over that one. I never could understand the point of bridge...or golf.

You may remember from last week's blog post that we are "expecting" a new arrival in the post: Charlotte Anne (Lotte, a Götz doll called "Anna in Paris). The "girls" and I have been putting together a starter wardrobe for when she arrives, any day now. I had already made a dress for her. I made her coat next, because it's already getting cold here, and it makes me feel cold if I look around and see scantily clad dolls. Her meet outfit is a pink knitted dress. I thought this green would look good with it. The pattern is Jacknitss Coatigan Set. Mandy consented to model. (Did she really have a choice?) I added some length to the sleeves, because these girls have longer arms.

You can see the neckline is rather low to keep her neck warm. She could wear a scarf, but the pink dress has a turtleneck, so it should work fine with this coat. If she wants to wear pants, though, she needs a turtleneck sweater if she's going to run and play. I decided to make her one. But first, I needed to finish the hat that goes with the coat.

Mandy was shocked to see how little yarn was left after I finished the hat. What she's holding includes all the little tails I cut off after weaving in the ends of the coat and hat. 

The yarn is Knit Picks Telemark (discontinued), a fairly dense wool yarn, so a 50g ball didn't have as many yards as most sport weight yarns. Plan B was to just make a headband, but this worked. There is a messy-bun version of the hat and a beanie included in the pattern. I picked the beanie, because it took less yarn.

For the turtleneck, I used Knit Picks Palette in "Celadon Heather." I started out with a pattern I had, Una Hendry's Ski Set for 18" Dolls. The pattern includes ski pants and a hat, with colorwork bands on the pullover and the hat, but I just made the basic pullover, leaving off the colorwork. Mandy stood in front of the mirror, so you could see that it buttons down the back.

I knit the sleeves in the round, from the top down, partly to avoid having to sew the sleeve seams, and partly so I could get the right length. I also tapered the sleeves more than the pattern called for, so they wouldn't be baggy around the wrists.

For the turtleneck, I started out picking up stitches around the neck, as for the neck band, but used fewer stitches, as these girls have skinny graceful, swanlike necks, and I wanted it to fit. I made the ribbing 2" and then bound off. I made the buttonhole/button bands as directed, but continued them up to the top of the turtleneck ribbing. I spaced the buttons further apart, so there would be one button at the base of the neck and one halfway up the turtleneck, so when the top of the turtleneck is turned down, it stays closed.

You can see what a difference it makes with the coat.

Now Mandy wants one to go with her Cabbagetown Jacket, so I'm working on it, using Palette in Golden Heather. She has been a good sport, with everything I'm making for Lotte, so she deserves it.

Speaking of good sports, Vroni agreed to model Lotte's PJs. I finished them on Saturday.

These are supposed to be for Lotte, but the girls have decided that when Lotte gets here, they will show her all the PJs we have and let her pick. (They always end up wearing each other's clothes anyway, so does it really matter?) Now Vroni wants a turtleneck, too.

I've had a lot of fun taking photos of the dolls and their clothes. I've posted some of them on various forums. Last week someone told me that My Doll Best Friend's Doll In-Site Magazine was featuring one of my photos in its Gallery Spot: a shot of Mandy, sitting in the light of the window, knitting Dolly's mittens. I was very excited, and had to go to look:

They pick from photos people have posted in their forum. The person who posted the photo chosen gets a little gift from them. I'm waiting to see what I get.

Halloween is coming up. For a little Halloween fun, I was trying to think of a good caption for this photo:

"Raptured...or raptored? The only one who knows isn't telling."

Or: "They taste OK once you get them out of the wrapper."

Do you have a better one?

What's on my needles: Mandy's turtleneck.

What's on my Featherweight: Um…doll clothes?

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

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

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to music for Park City Singers' Holiday Concert. I’m about halfway through Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Fisheye Shiraz, 2015 (Mandy's birth year, so its a good vintage.)

What's my tip of the week: Fold your yarn into a loop to thread it into your yarn needle, rather than trying to stick the point through. This will also work for thread.

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.