All Dolled Up

It’s always busy with a puppy in the house. However, I did get a little knitting done and some Christmas shopping.

I ordered two boy dolls for our older grandsons, both four years old. The dolls came from My Sibling and My Pal Dolls. They are identical. I’ll be dressing them both. I’m calling them Buddy and Dude for now.

It’s an interesting company. They have a sheltered workshop setting to employ disabled people and to help them get work experience.

Here’s a look at the boy doll alongside Dolly. (Buddy was happy to strip to the altogether, but Dolly insisted on keeping her panties on.)

Here's what Buddy had to take off, besides the hoodie:

Dolly (a Madame Alexander doll) is a little better quality for less money, but I like supporting the work the My Sibling company does, and their boy dolls look like boys, not like girls with short hair. They are similar in size. Dolly has a slightly larger chest (like another Dolly we know) but narrower shoulders than Buddy. Dolly has longer legs and a shorter torso. Knitting patterns should be interchangeable, but some alterations may be needed for sewn garments. Like real kids.

Of course, Daphne should have a new doll for Christmas, so I’ve ordered her a Götz Hannah doll, and it should be here in the next couple of days. This is the one I ordered, the Hannah Loves Hairstyling.

She's coming from the European Union. I hope her passport and visa are in order. Last I heard, she had landed in San Francisco. I'm sure they're taking good care of her.

Speaking of dolls (we were, weren’t we?), one of my Ravelry friends from Canada made six outfits for Lauren the Habitat for Humanity doll and included some high-top sneakers. Here they are, modeled by Lauren by Creatology, sold at Michael's:

I handed Lauren and her wardrobe—now quite extensive—over to the person who “commissioned” me to make the outfits. She will be part of the silent auction for the Park City Habitat for Humanity’s Overall Ball in October. Dolly and Gabi have talked with her on the phone, and she is fine and looking forward to her permanent home.

Vintage Stitchers met at Marilyn’s on Saturday. We had a nice variety of stitching projects to look at. Julie had just received these great cross-stitch pieces back from the framer.

Janet has finished her Washington Park Shawl. This is the one I made last year. She found it challenging,  especially the lace border, but she did great!

Diane is working on this scarf, the Candleglow Scarf. She’s using Knit Picks Chroma fingering in “Vermont.”

As for quilting, we had a nice assortment to look at. Carol is planning on appliquéing yo-yos on this yellow-and-gray quilt.

Barbara has finished this dragon fused-appliqué quilt top.

She also finished two redwork quilt tops

Marilyn is getting a whole new kitchen because of a cracked sink and a fire on the stove...long story…and just because. Before we left, she had us add to her “artwork” on her old cabinets.

I can’t leave you without some puppy cuteness. We have started hiking/walking with Dusty, now that he should be fully immunized. Here is how he responds to “come.” (You can see Rocky is responding, but he isn't as fast.)

…and just to show, he may still have “accidents” on the kitchen floor (getting fewer all the time), he is reliable on the couch.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” still working on the first sleeve.

What's on my Featherweight: Getting ready to make doll clothes for two boys and a girl. The girl should arrive this week.

What's on my wheel: It’s hard to spin with a puppy underfoot….

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Ashes of Roses, from Tales of the Latter Kingdoms by Christine Pope from Audible. Not my favorite, but an interesting story nonetheless. Not sure I’ll listen to more by this author. It might be mostly the narrator, very stilted and overly dramatic, but I’m trying to pretend it’s an interpreter for a language in a kingdom far away. On the Kindle app I’m reading Ella: An Everland Ever After Tale. It was a little confusing at first listening to one Cinderella story and reading another at the same time, but they are different enough that I soon sorted them out. I like Ella fairly well. I really like that the “prince charming” character is a disabled person, an amputee. You don’t see that every day.

What's in my wine glass: Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot by Concha y Toro, vintage 2015 (can’t let it get stale). The big bottle.

What's my tip of the week: In knitting lace, lifelines are your friends. Diane has had trouble with having to rip out and pick up stitches on her Candleglow Scarf. Janet knew from her experience with the Washington Park Shawl that lifelines can be useful when knitting lace, so we had a discussion about lifelines. I know of two ways to make them:

1. When you come to a row/round you think would be a good start-over place, you run a yarn needle with some contrast (preferably non-sticky) yarn through all the stitches on the needle. Leave some ends hanging out both ends or tie the ends together if working in the round.
2. If you’re knitting with interchangeable needles that have a hole for the little key that allows you to tighten the needle tip to the cable, you can thread a heavy thread (button thread or even dental floss works well) through that hole, leaving a long enough tail to extend the length of your knitting. Knit the row, and then untie the end and leave some ends hanging out both ends or tie the ends together if working in the round.

If you find you've made a mistake and have to rip out, you can rip to the lifeline, pick up the stitches and you're off and running. (It's a good idea to make a note in your pattern indicating where you're placed a lifeline.

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.