HighFiber

Monday, July 13, 2026

What Next?

The Summer Sorrel top is finished. It dried quickly with the warmer weather we've been having. I didn't use any pins or blocking wires, just smoothed it out and let it dry.

I like how it fits. I wore it to church yesterday.

I've been moderating the Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry pretty much on my own, as the other two moderators have had things come up and needed some time off. It has been a struggle to keep the group going and keep KALs (Knit-Alongs) and other activities going. I think some of the participants have had children or grandchildren grow up and lose interest in dolls, which is more or less my situation, too, so they aren't as motivated to knit, crochet or sew for their dolls. Fortunately (for this month) the designer of Sugar Grove South has a birthday in July and agreed to sponsor a special event for this month to celebrate, a July2026 KAL. She has four new designs. Participants buy one or two of the patterns and can get one or two of them for free if they complete the project(s), post a photo and include a project page for each in their projects. A free project can't be used for the second project. I decided I should participate, and Olivia needed some clothes. I picked out a pattern, pulled out some choices of appropriate yarn and let Olivia pick. 😅

I've had a busy week, but doll clothes don't take too long. I'm happy with the result, and so is Olivia, I think. The pattern is Sunshine Season.

Here's the back. It took 20g of yarn left over from my Space Doodle cowl from the Rose City Yarn Crawl Master KAL in 2025. Doll projects are great for using up scraps of yarn.

I have been trying to get to cleaning up my workroom for some time. It's an absolute mess. I had to dig through things to find yarn for Olivia's summer top. Once I was done with the knitting, though, I had no more excuses. My cutting mat counter has been obscured by nylon netting left over from making a couple of scrubbies for the R•Pod. I had planned to make a couple more for the house, but the netting just sat there, uncut. After I had my work table mostly cleared, I went to the cutting mat and cut the rest of the strips for scrubbies. Then I needed to sit down for a while, so grabbed my crochet hook and made this.

By the end of the week I was ready to cast on a new project. I picked the Vilai sock pattern from Cookie A's Sock Innovation book, which I've had for years. I've made three other pairs of socks from patterns in this book and enjoyed all of them. It has been a long time, though, and it took me a long time to find the book. I bought it as an E-book for the Kindle app. I couldn't remember the exact name of the book, and then I couldn't find it among the several book-reading apps I have. Finally, on Sunday, I located the name and then found the book in the Kindle app.

The dogs went to the groomer on Monday. Monday night was the first practice for the Summer Choir. Here's a list of the songs we'll be singing:

Both Sides Now

Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal

Homeward Bound

Let the River Run

Lovely Day

Sing Gently - Whitacre

The Parting Glass

Together We Rise.

(Some of the pieces are pretty challenging. It will be a busy summer.)

Tuesday evening we had another Madroña Vineyards pop-up ~~party~~ meeting. This time we were given a recipe. Le Sequin, to make if we wanted to, along with some wine-paring suggestions to choose from. Charlie considered the recommendations (Riesling or Cabernet Franc) and chose a Madroña 2024 Zinfandel, which was good.

The recipe was for four servings, but it was recommended to serve it immediately, so I didn't want leftovers. Therefore, I cut the recipe in half. Here's Le Sequin recipe.

Some of the people who made the recipe adapted it because they couldn't find an ingredient or didn't like something, like walnuts, for instance. Those who who served a Riesling with it highly recommended that pairing. Our Zin was good with it, but next time I make this, we'll try the Riesling. It was fun having a chat with everyone and toasting whenever someone mentioned Nebbiolo (a wine variety).

Summer weather has finally arrived to Bend. We took several walks this past week, including walking to the Ponderosa Park for a little off-leash time for the dogs before their grooming session. We walked home afterwards. The sidewalk goes into the construction zone close to us, and we accidentally walked in, thinking we could get out the other side. Then we found there was no way out, so we had to turn around and retrace our steps, adding about 1/2 mile to our walk. We ended up going home the way we had come instead of the planned alternate route. Here's a screenshot of the Walk for a Dog app for the walk. The out-and-back on the left was to take the dog to the groomer's and then back.

Other days we walked on the trail. The dogs had a little off-leash time in the woods next to the construction zone. Sandy really doesn't like the heat, and he goes from one shady spot to the next, the way Misty used to do. Dusty is panting in the photo, because he had been running around. Sandy is better at staying close to us, so he was mostly just hot. We take water along with us regularly now that it has warmed up.

My new book is back with Charlie for another read through. I'm hoping it will be ready to send to Alexa when she returns from Paris, where she's vacationing with Johan, her sister Alyssa and niece Elsie (the only one I make doll things for these days). Here's Johan, doing his version of Rodin's "The Thinker."

Peter's holding down the fort with the two cats (Olive and Mango) and the dog (Louis), while Soren visits with his other grandparents. Peter can work and leave the animals home alone when he has to be at the office. What are they doing? Olive took the stopper out of the sink, so she's helping Peter fix it.

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". 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 any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, 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: Finished the Summer Sorrel top, Olivia's Sunshine Season and a new scrubbie (not technically on my needles, but on my crochet hook). Now working on the Vilai socks from Cookie A's Sock Innovation book.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the Audiobooksnow app. It's like listening to a novel, except that it's nonfiction and very well researched.

What's on my sewing machine: Still put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week's story finds Jolena trying to learn Spanish so she can carry on a conversation with the dolls who live in Chile or Argentina next time she visits with the Doll Ski Team. Here's ¿Por qué?

What's my tip of the week: Frozen vegetables or fruit in large bags tend to stick together in storage in a deep freeze. Then it becomes difficult to measure out the right amount for a small number of servings (in our case, two). When they come into the house from the store, I immediately measure them into smaller bags in two-serving amounts. Then I store all the smaller bags together in one place in the freezer. When I plan to use them, I just grab a bag. It's already remeasured. (OK, I just eyeball it, but I've done this for a while.)

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

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

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

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

Book #7 is in the works.

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, only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

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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Monday, July 6, 2026

Sounding Fourth, High and Low

We have apples! Whether we get to eat any of them depends upon two things: How much the birds and squirrels leave us and if the weather cooperates. We planted this tree the summer after we moved in, so about seven years ago.

Just a few inches of knitting to go to finish the Summer Sorrel top. I turned it right-side-out to get the photo, but the directions have you knit with it inside-out, because the outside is reverse stockinette, so purl stitches, which are a little more cumbersome than knit stitches. I hope to be able to wear this by next week. My Ravelry page for the project is here.

Most of the week was spent getting ready for Independence Day, July 4th, which didn't come until Saturday. Putting out the flag was easy.

The hard part was learning the music for the Sound Fourth Concert.

We had a total of four practices and then the performance. The practices were fun, but hectic. The last practice was with the band, and then the big day! I got this photo from my seat when I arrived at the auditorium for the concert.

I had a ride with a friend, and Charlie came later. He took this photo about 20 minutes before the start of the show, when we were warming up. Can you find me? I'm on the stage in the back row, sitting between a Bass 2 and a Soprano 2. It's like "Where's Waldo?"

I'll make it easier. So why am I not sitting with the Soprano I singers? Well, we needed some more people on the section in "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," where the TTBB parts are highlighted. Our director asked if any of us ladies could sing low enough, to please join in. We wouldn't be singing during that part anyway. So I sang Bass I, which was the melody, and easy to sing. There weren't any notes too high or too low for my chest voice. The hardest part was getting enough air without breathing in the wrong places. I was separated from the rest of the Soprano I singers, but I could still hear them. I was also singing a descant in "My Country 'Tis of Thee." The people on each side of me said I didn't bother them, so it worked out well all around, and it was a lot of fun.

Soren's birthday was yesterday. I can't believe he's 14 years old! We were at the hospital when he was born. I remember looking out at the fireworks display over Portland from the hospital window.

Karen's lawnmower broke down in the middle of mowing the grass. Charlie did a little research to find out what kind they needed and ordered a new one. They had to assemble it, but it wasn't too difficult, and now Daphne has mowed the whole lawn, including the part that got left out. It's battery-powered, too, so she likes not having to get her hands smelly filling the tank with gasoline.

Someone on Blue Sky noticed that I had reached 90,000 followers and thought I needed a congratulatory post, so she made me this neat picture. I thought it was clever how she worked in so many of my interests in the picture. I think she put a lot of thought into it.

We did some walks, although not every day. I did the usual amount of cooking and laundry. I had a routine medical appointment. My new book is waiting for proofreading to be completed, but there's no rush. Summer choir starts this week, so I will have new music to learn. That should be fun. If I finish the Summer Sorrel, I will have something new to start or some UFO to finish up. Busy, busy.

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

What's on my needles: The Summer Sorrel top is almost done. All I have to do is finish the second sleeve.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the Audiobooksnow app.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: When Emil was fairly new to the family, he didn't know about Jolena's summer trips to the Southern Hemisphere. In this story he finds out all about how they have winter there, so the Doll's Ski Team can go and practice. Read it here.

What's my tip of the week: If you sing in a choir and you listen to the piece you're learning on YouTube, you should know that you can slow down the speed of the video without changing the pitch of the notes you hear. Just click on the little cog (found in different places, depending on whether you're using a computer, a tablet or a phone) and change the speed. You can go in both directions, but I find it helpful to hear it slowed down, so I can follow the notes in my sheet music. Then, when I get more familiar with it, I speed it back up to normal.