Want More Snow? Nah!

The Dolly Does Dinner outfit for Dolly is coming along. Here it is, dress knitting done:

The pattern is “Party Dress for 18” Doll” by Una Hendry. I’m using Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in “Blue Yonder.” I plan to do some embellishments with beads, and of course, the outfit has a little bolero jacket, so watch this space for the completed outfit as it develops. (Dolly lives with me, but all of the clothes I finished before Christmas went to Miss Daphne in Wisconsin, so I had to make something for Dolly, so I wouldn't have a nekkid doll sitting around the house.)

The early part of our week brought more snow than we knew what to do with. I snapped this photo of the plow going by just before 6:00 AM on Tuesday.

By Sunday it had turned "cold," with temps in Park City at well below zero Fahrenheit, and at hour house hovering just above zero. Guess the snow will stick around for a while.

We shared an early Christmas on Tuesday with Daphne and Zachary, and their parents by way of FaceTime. I was able to get some nice screen shots. while they unwrapped their presents.

The doll and all the clothes were a big hit, as were the other presents. Daphne named her doll “Daphne Jr.” Both children had to pick which toys they would take with them to Texas to visit the other grandparents. Daphne Jr. made the cut. Here she is resting in a motel in Blackwell, Oklahoma, about halfway from their home in Wisconsin to their Texas destination. (Clearly, Daphne Jr. needs a bathrobe. She had to use her jacket.)

Christmas Eve was lovely. I sang in the choir at the later two services, and DGD1 sang at the last service with us after DH picked her up at work. We all had a nice dinner between the services with all the people who sang in the choir. We actually had about 14 people, although only our music director and the three sopranos show up here.

We had a nice visit with DH’s brother, who brought a friend of his who didn’t have a place to go for Christmas. DGD1 invited a friend whose family is a long way away in Arkansas.

We had mostly Finnish food, which is a family tradition. The main dish was Lohipiirakka (salmon pie) with Lanttulaatikko (rutabaga casserole) as a side dish. We had homemade garlic bread, roasted vegetables and salad. A guest brought a home-baked apple pie. I had cooked most of the food ahead of time, and only had to roast the vegetables (already cut up), bake the bread and make the salad on Christmas day. Usually DH helps me by vacuuming, but he was tied up with snow removal for a good part of the day.

The pups had a good day. They each got a toy that was a hollow tree with three little squirrels, advertised as hours of fun removing the squirrels. Ha! It may have been hours of fun chewing up the tree, but he squirrels met a quick demise, fortunately before I vacuumed for company. Sunny ended up with six squirrels, and Rocky had to settle for his tree. Later, a stick of butter disappeared from the table without even disturbing the dish it was on or the tablecloth. That had to be Rocky, as he needed to go out a little later, apparently to give back his lunch.

My Christmas haul included enough caffeine to last me well into the new year (imported coffee and tea), Cinderella on Blu-ray, half of a pedometer (from the pups, to share with "Daddy"), real pearl earrings from National Geographic and my very own selfie stick.

The next day was my birthday, which began with breakfast at No Worries and ended with a viewing of Cinderella, which contains some good advice: "Have courage and be kind."

The holidays included either Skype or FaceTime with all three of our children and all the grandkids except the oldest, and we got to enjoy her in person.

Update on DDIL1: She’s doing well. Recovering from major surgery like this isn’t easy, but she’s getting well, and soon she will be back to quilting.

I wish you all a very happy 2016! Watch out for snow falling off the roof.

What's on my needles:  Still the Trickle Socks and the “Dolly Does Dinner” outfit for Dolly, working on the bolero jacket.

What's on my Featherweight: Still waiting on the last two blocks of the Kaleidoscope Quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on the Nook app. I haven’t started a new audiobook yet.

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Chardonnay, not my favorite variety, but I find this a good one, and I enjoy Chardonnay more when I don’t have it so often.

What's my tip of the week: Start your Christmas gifts early in the year. Don’t put it off until December.

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.

Peace to All

Peace on Earth. I ask for this from Santa every year. It doesn’t hurt to try.

This photo was taken from moon orbit by crew of Apollo 8, Christmas Eve, 1968. I was a young mother at the time, and I remember it well. This is worth a read/listen.

Crystal Stars quilt (aka "Ocular Migraine) is bound and in use. Here it is at night, laid out across the bed to show off the borders:

Here it is in the daytime.

I copied the pattern from “Sumptuous” from Connecting Threads, which was only available as a kit, with colors that didn’t work for me but with a pattern that was so attractive. Most of the fabrics were from Connecting Threads, although the border fabric, backing and binding came from some local quilt shops, and some of the block fabrics came from my stash. I eliminated a lot of the seams by making a star block and an alternate block, described in my blog post from September 2014. It was so nice to have it quilted and bound in time to decorate the bed for Christmas.

Nekkid Dolly has been making me feel guilty, so I CO a new outfit for her I’m calling “Dolly Does Dinner.” It’s sort of a going out outfit or party dress. I’m using Stroll Tonal in “Blue Yonder.” This is the project that inspired me.

Here’s what I had as of Friday: 

The outfit will go to Miss Daphne for her birthday in May for Dolly's counterpart, who arrived safely in Wisconsin the day after the clothes) to wear. Can you believe Miss Daphne will be six? I’m so glad most of my grandchildren weren’t born in November, December or January! Between November 21 and January 10, we have birthdays for DS2, DS1, mine, DD, DSIL and DGD1. As a day-after-Christmas baby, I appreciate how kids (even adult kids) feel about merry-Christmas-happy-birthday presents, so I don’t do it. Each receives a special day, if I can manage.

This time of year, the pups really enjoy a cuddle together after a walk in the snow (we’ve had lots) and a nice lunch.

Thursday wasn’t good. DDIL1 had a heart attack (her second) and we learned she needed bypass surgery. Not long after we found out about that, DH slid off the road and into a snowbank. It took us (and a friendly young woman who stopped with another shovel to help) 45 minutes to get the car out. The irony: He was on his way to get an estimate of damage to his car from snow and ice thrown onto the hood from a snowplow going over the overpass he was driving under. It’s not all bad, though; the bypass surgery Friday morning went well, she has beat all the estimates of a timeline for milestones, and DDIL will probably be home in time for Christmas, with DS1 taking leave to look after her. And the car goes in next week to be fixed.

But winter still sucks.

Friday night was the last concert of Park City Singers. We were so squished, some of us didn’t have any place to hold our music. I gave up and just had a 3 X 5 card with the order of the pieces. This photo was from the Sunday performance, a week ago, held at my church.

We had a party after the Friday performance, which was a fun chance to get to know people I had only talked with in passing during practice. One young (50-ish) man in the choir guessed my age as 60-ish. I would have kissed him, but DH was standing right there. It’s the hair. The grey is mostly where it doesn’t show.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. By the time I post my next blog, I will be one year older, and that’s only next week.

I’m feeling grateful for all the blessings I have in my life, especially these guys:

What's on my needles:  Still the Trickle Socks and now the “Dolly Does Dinner” outfit for Dolly.

What's on my Featherweight: Still waiting on the last two blocks of the Kaleidoscope Quilt. More doll clothes coming

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Christmas and holiday music. Still reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on the Nook app.

What's in my wine glass: Rex Goliath Shiraz. (Wonder what it’s like to be awakened by a 47-lb. rooster.)

What's my tip of the week: Enjoy life!

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.

Sweat Shop

Poor dolly is nekkid. All her clothes have gone to her as-yet-unnamed counterpart in Wisconsin. She looked good in the outfits before she got stripped down, though.

The Aran pullover I had so much trouble with came out nicely in the end. It’s the”Fisherman Knit Sweater” from Best Doll Clothes Book by Joan Hinds and Jean Becker. It’s a good pattern, but the authors refer you to other sweaters in the book for shaping, but not until after they tell you how to make the pattern. If you want to make this sweater, I recommend reading my notes on the Ravelry page for the project to avoid the pitfalls I encountered. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Sport in “Bare.”

The skirt came from McCalls Crafts 2506, only I put elastic in the waist instead of cord.

Dolly is ready for hiking in her hiking outfit. The shirt came from the pattern and the shorts from the book (see links above).

For the hat, I used the pillbox hat brim for the sides of the hat and the hat top from the pattern McCalls 2506. I used the witch hat brim from the doll clothes book, only I made the witch hat brim 1” shorter all around. I made two hat tops; put one inside-out inside the other and sewed them to the brim, which was two brims sewed right-sides together, turned right-side out and top stitched with concentric circles 1/4" apart.

Dolly's slippers came from this Ravelry pattern. I used Swish Worsted in “Lotus” and added a pom-pom to the top front of each slipper.

I improvised Dolly's mittens from this pattern, but knit it in the round with slightly thicker yarn, in this case, Swish Worsted in Hollyberry.

They’re really thick, but the package was going out Saturday, and the thicker yarn went fast. This was important, because I finished them about 9:00 PM Friday night, then still had to wrap all the packages going in the box to DD and her family. The mittens have a double-stranded crochet chain cord connecting them, which will go through the coat’s sleeves, so the doll doesn’t lose one in the snow.

Except for the boots, Dolly’s rain outfit was purchased online from The Doll Clothes Store in Silverton, Oregon. The boots came with Dolly. She nearly cried when she parted with them. I’ll have to make it up to her.

I packaged up the outfits in separate zipper bags, so it would be clear which things go together, in case that’s important. Here’s what it all looked like ready to ship. (That boxed outfit in the back was a freebie that came with Dolly. The second doll didn't come with it, so I sent that along, too.)

Poor Dolly really needs some clothes. I enjoy looking at her, so I will have to get on it when I have time. 

Vintage stitchers had their annual potluck holiday party/meeting on Thursday. Included in our show-and-tell was Julie’s album, which she had made as part of a class at Davidene’s in working with felt and embroidery. The album contains all her resource info.

Julie had finished the kitty she was making for her granddaughter, who picked out the colors for the cat and the dress.

Diane’s showed us this quilt top. She is going to put on a border, and she collected suggestions on how to deal with it.

Barbara was making floor pillows for her grandkids. You use a twin sheet folded lengthwise into a tube overlapping in back. Then you turn it right-side out and sew compartments to hold bed pillows.

Our first performance of the Park City Singers holiday concert was held Sunday evening. As always, it was fun. We still have one more performance to go this week. After that I can concentrate on the music for Christmas Eve.

Our annual holiday letter is in the mail. Whew!

Finally, we got more snow. I hope we can get out with the pups and do some snowshoeing soon. Everyone stay warm!

What's on my needles:  Only the Trickle Socks now.

What's on my Featherweight: Finished with doll clothes for now. Still sewing on the binding for my Crystal Stars and waiting on the last two blocks of the Kaleidoscope Quilt. After I clean up my fiber studio. It looks as if a tornado went through there. (I was the tornado.)

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Christmas and holiday music. Still reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on the Nook app.

What's in my wine glass: Nathanson Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, with the frog on the label...of course. Based on my past, I see lots of frogging in my future.

What's my tip of the week: Precise cutting is so important when you’re quilting. If your fabric is about at dark as your cutting board, especially if it's the same color, it will be easier to see the edges for cutting if you turn it to the wrong side, which is usually lighter. Of course, this wouldn't work for homespun or batik, but it does for most other fabrics.

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.

All Dolled Up

Most of my fiber time this week was spent making clothes for an 18" Madame Alexander doll, whom I've named Dolly. (Creative, right?) I finished the cardigan. Here it is on the model:

I couldn't get Dolly to hold onto the sleeves of the fleece turtleneck she was wearing, so it was a struggle to git it on her, and the neck was a little tight because of the shirt, but it works.

Dolly's clothes will be a Christmas present for DGD2. I bought a similar Madame Alexander doll and had it sent to her mother, so I don't have to worry that the doll won't get there in time, and I can enjoy working on the clothes using a doll I get to keep.

I made sweats for her from a T-shirt that didn't fit me:

From fabrics in my quilting stash, I made a dress and pinafore...


...with some bloomers to go with the outfit. (I made the socks, too.)

She needed some regular panties, so after some experimentation, I ended up with these:

She will need more pairs, but they should go faster, now that I've established the design. Someone on Ravelry also mentioned that knitted undies work up fast. I may try that, too. I also got sucked into buying some knitting patterns for this kind of doll, like this and this. What can I say? They just fell into my cart. Well, I had some inspiration (encouragement) from the Ravelry group "American Girl Knitters."

I've made some progress on the Aran Pullover for Dolly. The pattern (and the patterns for all of the clothes I've shown you so far, other than the panties, which I improvised from the bathing suit pattern) is from Best Doll Clothes Book by Joan Hinds and Jean Becker. This is the front and back. I was a little confused with the references to other patterns in the book, and having to go back and forth from one page to another (I hate that!) but I finally figured it out.

Common Threads met at Lynda's on Thursday. Julie was finishing up this sweater for her granddaughter.



Julie also has finished the Kitty from Little Cotton Rabbits for her DGD, who picked the colors for the animal and clothes.

Here's the skirt for kitty.


Julie also had finished (she's been busy) this Thanksgiving quilt top. The turkeys are from Buggy Barn's Crazy Turkey quilt. And a panel.

She also had finished this cross stitch:

The framing was done by someone in Ogden who is very creative.

Julie's mother will be getting this one:

She has figured out how to get a lot done. She has extended family living with her full time, but she has a getaway in Washington, just out of St. George, where its warmer and she can be alone to play. It's a mobile home in the mobile home/RV park with pool and other facilities, where we had out quilt retreat. (Color me envious.)

However, she doesn't have her long-arm quilting machine there. She has had my Crystal Stars Quilt since the beginning of the year. It's finally ready, though, the quilting all done and only the binding and label to go. It was definitely worth waiting for! She did a great job with the custom quilting (her design). I threw it on the bed, but didn't adjust the pillows, because they would have covered up the border.

I was inspired for this quilt originally by the Connecting Threads "Sumptuous" quilt kit, now out in a new colorway. However, the hand-quilter in me didn't like all the extra seams, so I redrafted it, as I described in this blog post.

Friday was breezy, but otherwise nice, so we took a hike/walk with pups on the Gorgoza bike trail.

Ms. Moose paid us a visit on Saturday to prune the wild roses in our front yard, a service she provides annually.

What's on my needles:  Aran Pullover for Dolly and dishcloths more finished.

What's on my Featherweight: Doll clothes. Also binding for my Crystal Stars and still two blocks of the Kaleidoscope Quilt, still two blocks to go.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Signature Kill by David Levien, another Audible Deal of the Day. It’s a crime novel. It was gruesome, but well written and interesting. Fans of Dean Koontz, Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson will enjoy it. Also listened to Jodi Taylor’s short story “Christmas Present,” based on her Chronicles of St. Mary series. Very funny and entertaining. Finished The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson, a murder mystery set in 1920s-era England on the Kindle app. It was good. Now reading The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on the Nook app.

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Merlot, in the big bottle a very nice choice in bargain wines.

What's my tip of the week: A medical hemostat is useful for quilting and sewing. Too many sts stacked onto your hand quilting needle? No problem. Use the hemostat to pull the needle through. Need to hold onto elastic while sewing it to your doll clothes project? No problem. Use the hemostat to hold onto the elastic. Need to remove a plastic cap with a tear-off strip from a bottle? Use the hemostat to hold onto it and pull. Besides medical supply stores, you can often find hemostats at some quilt shops.

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.