High Fiber--Nice Days, Cool Nights

The colors are changing at our house. Here's what our street looks like:

It still isn't cold yet, but we take the basil plant in at night. We often get a light snow in September, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe soon.

The demolition continues. Today Tom is putting up a barrier to keep the demo/construction dust on the "job" and our of our house.

It will have zippers to allow us access to the part of the house behind the barriers. We have moved into our guest room downstairs.

During the demolition, we discovered this iron pipe and another one. May be a problem:

Common Threads met this week. Here's a look at Karan's latest quilting project:

Her son got married recently. She passed out pieces of fabric for people to sign, and the patches are going into an Irish Chain quilt for the newlyweds.

Janet made a quilt for a friend who had to go through chemo. She's doing better, but the quilt will still be a comfort. The fabric and star blocks were left over from earlier years.

She often puts Minky on the back, and this one is no exception. The plushy fabric really shows off the machine quilting.

In the meantime, my Dogwood Blossoms is coming along:

The BO for the armholes will come right about where the sleeves stop. Then I will check the sleeve length and add some if needed. The armholes will be steaks, which means cutting the knitting. It doesn't make me nervous anymore, thanks to the Classic Lines Cardigan, which was my first steeked project. (Note: I have deviated from the pattern to make a dropped shoulder, rather than the cap sleeves. This style looks better on me.)

Missing baby photos? Here's a pic of Soren (and his mom) taken during his first trip to the Farmers' Market!

Stay tuned for the answer to how we deal with the surprise pipes, more crafty projects and baby photos.

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, coming along slowly.
What's on my wheel: Full Circle roving in "Pidgeon."
What's on my iPad: Still Dean Koontz's Odd Apocalypse.
What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec 2011. Nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. The iPad was used in processing the photos. No Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Quilting Extravaganza!

OK, you quilters who have been patiently reading my blog and seeing nothing but knitting and babies, hold onto your hats!

My Vintage Stitchers group met Thursday and the ladies had a lot to show off. Here's Carol's star sampler quilt (above) and the lovely batik backing.

She also had a dissected 9-patch. The Blocks are cut in two directions, sashing strips added, and then the blocks sewn back together. I think the cornerstones just make it. Love her color choices!

Guess what Carol has on the back: cheater cloth. I thought it was pieced from jelly roll strips.

Barbara brought her finished red and gray quilt. The pattern was one she saw in a quilt shop. It had been made using completely different fabrics and colors. I think this is a great combination.

Janet had this quilt on the wall. It's one she had seen at Whimsy Cottage when the store was in Heber City, years ago. When the store (then in Salt Lake City) closed down, this gem became available for sale.

She also picked up this great Christmas tree skirt:

My workroom is full of stuff from our closets, so no quilting for me. However, the Dogwood Blossoms is coming along. I have about 4" to go on the body until I reach the underarms.

I had a question last week about the colors I used for my version, as I had made some substitutions. I replied in the comments section, but thought it might come up again, so this might be a good place the "store" the information.

Here's what I did: Everywhere "Almond" was used (except rnds 89, 90 and 91), I replaced it with "Nutmeg," which is no longer available. You could probably use "Toffee," a new color that looks similar. On rnds 28, 29, 33 and 34, I replaced "Orange" with "Turmeric." On rnds 30, 31 and 32, I substituted "Sweet Potato" for "Rose Hip." Rnds 89, 90 and 91 "Almond" was replaced by  "Turmeric." At first I thought "Rose Hip" was too pink for my taste, but by reducing the amount of it, and eliminating the grayish "Almond," which seemed to intensify the pink, I find it a nice touch. I haven't gotten to the big dogwood blossom pattern yet, but I think I just substituted "Nutmeg" for "Almond" in my swatch. 

The bathroom remodel is still in a holding pattern. The plumbing ran over budget, so we have been looking for places to cut costs and still keep the impact. While we are waiting, DH installed a ceiling fan with light on our front deck, so we can sit outside when it's warm.

The old light was broken. It was ugly anyway. We got this installed just in time for snow, although we might have a few warm days yet. Oh, well, it will be great next summer. In the meantime, we will be able to see to unlock the door when we come home after dark.

No baby photos this week. I think we all overdosed on all the extreme cuteness!

Will the remodel get underway again? How far will I get with the Dogwood Blossoms by next week? What will the pups be up to before I write again? Tune in next week to find out!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, coming along.
What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving in "Pidgeon."
What's on my iPad: Dean Koontz's Odd Apocalypse.
What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw (Two-Buck-Chuck) Shiraz, one of our favorites, from Trader Joe's. (Trader Joe's is opening up a store in Salt Lake City before the end of the year, but no wine, sorry to say, because of Utah liquor laws.)

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Wool, Work and Wonders

It was a busy week! Sunny and I went to visit clients in the nursing home as usual on Tuesday.

Then we had Common Threads on Thursday. My friend Ellen is working on this French Braid design for a quilt top (above). Kay finished a baby blanket for her cleaning lady, who is expecting (below).

Kay does a lot of knitting and crocheting for others. She makes baby hats and chemo hats. These are crocheted:

Margareth came and brought her latest weaving project. The colored design is done in cross stitch:

I showed off Soren's finished Jasper Hoodie from Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. Now it's on its way to Soren.

I got a few more rounds done on my Dogwood Blossoms cardigan.

We took some time Friday to go for a hike. It has been very dry. I think that's why the maples are turning already. It hasn't been cold yet. Still, it was beautiful!

The pups enjoy running on the trail. We have heard rumors that the owners of this beautiful canyon might make it into a nature preserve. That would be nice, because we were afraid they were going to fill it with multi-million-dollar homes. There are a lot of moose, bears and coyotes who live here, so we keep the pups close.

The little pond at the base of the canyon was pretty low, but there was still enough for a drink of the cold, running water. It's a nice place for the pups to get a drink, because the bottom is gravel, not mud.

DH took a photo of me with the pups at the Fairy Tree, our usual turn-around spot. It's always fun to see what new trinkets have been left for the fairies.

On the grandchild front, we see Soren with his eyes open, enjoying his Bumbo chair. Don't worry, in case you heard about the recall. The repair kit is on the way, and in the meantime, the 'rents are keeping close. Soren is two months old now!

Zachary also hit a milestone. He's five months old now. Those eyes look bluer than ever! (Good thing he doesn't find pink too unmanly. He's living with leftovers from his older sister.)

Speaking of Zachary's older sister, Daphne is growing, too. Here she shows off her new warm-up suit:

In the meantime, we have been making some decisions on our bathroom remodel. The choices we made will take it over budget, so we're "downsizing" our selections. Better to know now than later, after we're already committed. 

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, but I need to CO another BSJ for Soren in a larger size, and I have a project in mind for Daphne, too.
What's on my wheel: Still the Full Circle Roving in "Pigeon."
What's my iPad: Still Dean Koontz's Odd Apocalypse.
What's in my wine glass: Copper Ridge Merlot.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Autumn in the Air

We haven't had any snow yet, but fall is definitely in the air. I'm hoping to get my Dogwood Blossoms sweater done in time to wear this winter.

Winter comes early in Northern Utah, especially above 7,000'! We often have a light snowfall in September, so it won't be long now.

After last week's mishap with Sunny, the sweater is coming along slowly. I've finished the circle pattern. If you look at the sleeve to the right of the body, you can see where it's going next. Between the bathroom remodel and phone banking, I haven't had much time to work on it.

We have the hall linen closet ripped out:

We're leaving the vanity in the hall bath for now, so we can still wash hands. The master vanity is gone, though:

We had to make some adjustments to our plan, enlarging the new master bath by a few inches to make enough room for a vanity with drawers. It shrinks the powder room a little, but provides a bigger linen closet. I'll try to post a new plan next week.

On Thursday, my friend Ellen and I took Joanie some lunch and spent some time with her. She has been working on "George," a goat. She has him assembled, but now she's making his shaggy coat.

Joanie is on O2, which is probably a permanent thing. She also had some leg arteries replaced a year ago, and the wounds didn't heal, so she was in the hyperbaric chamber for 2 hrs. a day, Monday-Friday, for six weeks. Now it seems to be healing, but her doctors may want to do some skin grafts. I'm glad she has her knitting to keep her occupied!

We have Common Threads on Thursday. I'll try to get photos. 

DH has used one of the old vanity drawers to make a squirrel house for squeaky, who has been building a nest in the woodpile on our back deck. We always worry about removing the wood from the pile in the dead of winter, so this should help him and us! DH closed off the drawer with a spare board, then put a hole in it big enough for Squeeky to get inside. The new house is now buried deep in the wood pile. Hope Squeeky likes it!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms cardigan.

What's on my wheel: Still the Full Circle "Pigeon." Should be done by next week.

What's on my iPad: Dean Koontz's Odd Apocalypse from Audible.

What's my app of the week: Salt Lake Tribune's app for iPad. Now I can get my almost-local paper in an app.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw Chardonnay. (I don't usually like Chardonnay, but I do this one.)

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.