Taking the Leap

You may remember from last week that I had designed a simple doll dress (Everyday Play) using self-striping yarn.

The design now has a jacket to go with it. You can find it here.

Dolly’s version is a little longer for a slightly different look:

There was still some Simple Stripes (a discontinued Knit Picks yarn) in my “stash” (if you can count sock yarn as “stash”), so I designed this dress using pretty much the same design as the Everyday Play doll dress. It’s called "Stripes and Ruffles." It’s a free download.

People are starting to make my designs. It's fun to see my idea morph into someone else's.

Another designer on Ravelry had a free pattern for doll undies. Dolly didn’t have any undies because she came with snow pants, which went to Daphne Jr. at Christmas, so I made her some knitted undies using this pattern. Here’s the front:

And the back:

Either my gauge was off or the American Girl dolls have much bigger butts than Dolly and Gabi, so I ran some elastic thread through the waist and the leg holes. I also added a decorative trim around the leg holes. Now Dolly doesn’t have to be afraid to lift her skirt.

DGD1 came down with the flu, and since Vintage Stitchers was to be at Joanie’s I just had someone drop off the coffee cake I had and I stayed home. Joanie was just in the hospital with pneumonia a little over a week ago. I was afraid of taking germs to her house. Because I had promised quilts this week and I missed Vintage Stitchers, I’m showing you a few from past blog posts. How about this one of Rebecca’s from “Simple Graces” by Kim Diehl?

Ellen’s Star of Bethlehem or Lone Star:

Here’s one by Diane:

I hope to make the next meeting of Vintage Stitchers. I’m sure they will have good stuff to see.

DGD1 was really sick. She’s much better now, and she has had her stitches out .(Remember the encounter the the hair dryer?)

In other news, for Christmas, I had given DH the choice of snow tires for his car (after he ended up in a snow bank in spite of 4X4) or half of a Bose sound system, the big fancy one.

He ended up getting the tires for himself and was researching the Bose systems. He found a refurbished one without BlueTooth but still with WiFi for not too much more than the amount I had allotted, so it came home with us on Friday. (The BlueTooth would have cost an extra $100, and after thinking about it, we decided we didn’t really need that feature if we had WiFi.) We can play CDs, music from our music libraries (if the computer is on), any radio station we want and music from a variety of music-streaming services. The sound is great. I’m happy especially because the TV isn’t on as much.

Rehearsals for Park City's Messiah Project have started. It's a sing-along for the community sponsored by The Interfaith Council. I'm in the choir that sings the chorus pieces. The audience can sing along with us. Then we have soloists for the solo parts. It was a great success last year. Donations already have come in to pay the expenses.

We haven’t had any cuteness lately (other than the dolls), so here are the grandkids. First, Soren and Johan with Mom (Dad was taking the photo) at the San Diego Zoo.

Then here are Miss Daphne and Zachary having fun with Daphne Jr. 

DD says Daphne really enjoys changing Daphne Jr.’s clothes. Little does she (Daphne) know, come May and her birthday….

Happy Leap Year Day, everyone! (Single ladies can propose today. Why wait for Sadie Hawkins’ Day?)

What's on my needles:  “Plaid” doll skirt.

What's on my Featherweight: Still doll socks, tights and undies. Will start on Regency outfit for Dolly soon.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished "The Lady of Milkweed Manor" by Julie Klassen. Now reading "To Whisper Her Name" by Tamera Alexander. Still reading "A View to Die For" by Richard Houston on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec again, always a favorite.

What's my tip of the week: If you read my disclaimer, below, you will notice I don’t do Windows. I’m Apple all the way. DH does Windows, though, and I have learned from him and friends that a good way to make someone suffer is to install Windows 10 on their computer. I wouldn’t know from firsthand experience, though.

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.