The White Stuff

We got hit with snow again.

That's the view from our upper deck. You can't see the mountains in the distance, because it was still snowing. Here's what our lower decks look like.

Early Thanksgiving morning, I was out on the front deck with Dusty when the snowplow went by. They have a lot of flashing lights and make rattling sounds, because of the chains. Dusty ran to me and watched at it go by. I told him, "It's normal," which is my way of saying he needn't be concerned.

He loves the snow, though. We got more on Sunday. The boys played in the back for more than an hour and came in with legs like this.

Then it was time for a nap, of course.

Dusty knows how to keep himself entertained. He seems to have a taste for wood. Here are four examples of his handiwork. DDIL2 thinks he should move to Oregon, because clearly he's a beaver wannabe.

We cancelled our Thanksgiving celebratory dinner because I had a fever Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't feel like doing anything but read and sleep, and I was afraid I might be contagious. Maybe the "cold" was really the flu (I've had my flu shot, but it doesn't cover everything), but by Friday I was able to knit again. I started on Deb Denair's Camelot pattern, a doll dress for Hannah, to put aside for Miss Daphne's birthday in May. I have both sleeves finished and the skirt started.

I'm using Knit Picks Palette in Pool and Fog.

I got a little more work done organizing my fabrics, but not enough to be worth another photo.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” second sleeve is coming along, and the Camelot dress. 

What's on my Featherweight: Waiting for the next project.

What's on my wheel: Still put away for now.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for Park City Singers. Finished Davenport House by Marie Silk on my Kindle app on my iPad. Then I read The Unwanted Heiress by Amy Corwin. I enjoyed it very much because the the interesting plot, believable characters and nice touches of humor. I liked it so much, I've started another book by the same author, A Rose Before Dying.

What's in my wine glass: Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015 vintage. Surprisingly good for a box wine, with the advantage that the quality doesn't diminish if you don't drink the whole thing right away.

What's my tip of the week: Leftover turkey inspired the TV dinner. You can make your own. If you don't have TV dinner trays, you can place heavy-duty foil over a dinner plate, load it up with suitable portions, cover with a lighter-weight foil, sealing the edges, and freeze. Once frozen, you can remove the dinner plate. Another option is to use foil pie pans. Don't let leftover Thanksgiving food go to waste or risk having your family get sick of it.

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.

Folding Up Shop

A good part of the week has been spent pressing and folding fabric.

I have them categorized by '30s repros, 19th-Century repros, solids, kids prints, batiks and everything else by color. Yardage is folded separately from small pieces and fat quarters. I'm using small plastic baskets to keep the smaller pieces organized. I still have a lot to go, but I hope to finish in time to clean up for Christmas visitors without having to stuff fabric away unpressed and unsorted. To make matters worse, I just found more fabric. Wish me luck.

Whenever my back got tired from my "pressing business" I knit a few rounds on the second sleeve of my "So-not-my-palette Cardigan. I'm looking forward to making the front and neck ribbing.

Common Threads was supposed to meet at Georgette's on Thursday, but Karan filled in because of the snow. Georgette brought the refreshments to Karan's house. Karan lives at a lower elevation and has a flat driveway, so it's better for snowy weather. Not everyone has their snow tires on yet, so the substitution was much appreciated.

Karan has finished the center of her appliqué quilt top. I think she still has borders to add, but it's otherwise done.

Karan and Margareth are making potholders to use as gifts.

Margareth is turning out to be an excellent quilter. She seems to be good at everything she takes on.

The pajamas for Hannah and the twin boys arrived. Here's Buddy modeling his moose jammies with the moose slippers. Both boys have the same outfits to sleep in. 

Here are his slippers.

Hannah chose poodle jammies and slippers.

Important note: I did NOT make the pajamas or the slippers. They all came from The Doll Clothes Store, a good source of reasonably priced doll clothes and accessories. Buddy and Dude came from My Sibling Dolls. Hannah is a Götz doll. She came from a shop in Amsterdam (found on eBay) called Two 4 Toys.

We managed to get in a hike and a few walks with the pups before the snow hit. Here's DH with Rocky.

I had Dusty on a long leash for training not to chase bicycles, and there were a lot of them. Evidently he has learned not to chase them if he has the long leash on. Plan B is coming.

The pups have been resting up for the next adventure.

The snow on Thursday wasn't a big deal, but we were able to build a couple of piles of snow on the front deck for the dogs to use as a litter box when the snow is coming off the roof in back making our backyard unsafe for them.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” second sleeve is coming along. 

What's on my Featherweight: Waiting for the next project.

What's on my wheel: Still put away for now.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for Park City Singers. Davenport House by Marie Silk is in my Kindle app on my iPad. The story is good. The writing is a little stilted and contains some grammar/usage errors. It's getting easier to read, though. Maybe I'm getting used to it.

What's in my wine glass: Trapiche Malbec, 2014 vintage.

What's my tip of the week: You can glue a small magnet on the end of a wooden dowel long enough to reach the floor when you hold it in your hand at a comfortable height. If you drop a pin and can't find it, just graze the floor with your handy magnet tool, and the pin will jump onto the magnet. Or you could just let my DH walk across the area. Pins and needles are attracted to his feet.

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.

Quilt Show and Cuteness

Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara's.

Carol was working on a charity quilt. She's trying to use up her '30s reproduction fabrics. Still. I have the same problem. I just found another box of these fun fabrics while working on cleaning up my fiber studio. I think I've figured out why they're called "reproduction" fabrics. 

Brenda show us this fun top:

Marilyn has had her "Goodnight Irene" quilt top quilted.

Here's a closeup of the quilting.

Barbara has this fun quilt finished.

Carol says she's disappointed in how this quilt looks, but I like it. 

I worked on quilting my Delectable Pathways quilt. It will get done someday.
In knitting news, all the doll clothes are off the needles and I'm back to my "So-not-my-palette Cardigan." The second sleeve is coming along.

DH was too lazy to make me a fire, but he was willing to turn on the electric heater.

Friday was a nice day, so we took the pups hiking above Gorgoza Park, where there is already snow on the ground, as they have been making snow every night for the tubing park.

I think Dusty covered three times the distance of nearly two miles. Both pups slept well after we got back.

Speaking of sleeping well, here are two of the grandkids and our grandpup sleeping in the car during a family vacation.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” second sleeve is coming along. 

What's on my Featherweight: Done for now. I ordered some poodle PJs for Hannah, so I won't have to make any. I'm working on my fiber studio, trying to get it cleaned up. so I can sew in there.

What's on my wheel: Still put away for now.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for Park City Singers. Davenport House by Marie Silk is in my Kindle app on my iPad. I still haven't read enough of it yet to know how good it is.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, one of our regulars.

What's my tip of the week: If you want to make all your fat quarters and other small fabric pieces the same size, cut a piece of shirt cardboard (or cereal box) to the size you want. Fold the fabric to fit, leaving at least one end open, so you can slide the cardboard out and reuse it. I made mine to fit my cabinets.

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.

Life in the Mountains

Common Threads met at Janet's on Thursday.

Margareth has been quilting up a storm. Here's another quilt she made for her new cabin in the woods. The local quilt shop had the pattern, but she changed the tree from the original.

Lynda has been making these neck-warmer hats for Christmas gifts. The pattern is from 
Knitted Gifts: Irresistible Projects to Make & Give by Ann Budd. She says they are very quick to knit.

Georgette has finished this hat for a relative's baby.

I was working on the tutu for Hannah, and so Janet brought out some of her daughter's dolls to show us. She had a Samantha and several other American Girl dolls, but we found these two fun. First the girl...

...and then the boy.

They are weighted so they feel like real babies, and they can wear real baby clothes.

While we were sitting there, needles at work, we heard a strange sound. Janet said it sounded like a hot-air balloon, but it sounded so close. We went out to her back deck, and this is what we saw:

They managed to land without bashing in the fence, and in a few minutes they were lifting off again.

I finished Hannah's tutu on Friday.

The pattern cleverly incorporates lace knitted in along with each stitch in two or three rounds of the body, sort of the way those ruffled scarves are knitted. You have to stick the knitting needle through the lace as you make the stitch, and repeat every 3/4" of the lace per stitch. With the lace I had it worked out better to knit every 1" because of how the top of the lace was configured. That took more lace per stitch, and after one round I could see I wouldn't have enough to do another round, but I think it looks fine this way.

It's designed for American Girl and similar dolls, which are a bit plumper than Hannah, so I had to sort of get creative to get it to fit. After tying the shoulders with ribbon, I ran shirring elastic through the neck. I also used ribbon ties to gather in the body a bit, with one in the back middle.

The tutu can be slipped on and off without the need for buttons or other fasteners.

The pointe shoes are from The Doll Clothes Store. (They show pink ones, but those are sold out. They do have the white, lavender and blue colors available as of the time I'm writing this.)

Saturday evening Therapy Animals of Utah had its annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. This was my first since we lost our own therapy dog, Sunny. I was nice to connect again with people I have worked with and to meet some of the new Park City members. (I knew they existed, but I hadn't met them yet.)

I don't know whether Dusty will be a therapy dog. He's still pretty nuts. He turned six months old on Tuesday and has reached the upper height limit for miniature poodles. I think he's going to outgrow the size, as our other minis have, but that's OK. I can still pick Rocky up if I have to. Dusty is still under 18 lbs., but he should fill out some, even if he doesn't grow much taller. He looks like a perfect little standard poodle, so it's easy to forget that he's still a puppy. The pups go to the groomer today, and it will be fun to see how much more silver shows up in Dusty's coat.

Election day it tomorrow. Be sure to vote, if you haven't already early-voted. I checked to make sure my mail-in ballot was received, and it was. Remember: If you don't vote, you have no right to complain, so consider it a Complaining Permit.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” second sleeve is back on the needles and in the works. Nothing much to show yet, though, and it looks pretty much like the first sleeve. 

What's on my Featherweight: Done for now, but I may sew some jammies or a nightgown for Hannah, as she has nothing to wear to bed yet.

What's on my wheel: Still put away for now.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for Park City Singers. Davenport House by Marie Silk is in my Kindle app on my iPad. I haven't read enough of it yet to know how good it is.

What's in my wine glass: Black Mountain Vineyard Cramer Ridge 2009 Zinfandel. Part of our Trader Joe's haul, bought in Las Vegas when we went to pick up Dusty.

What's my tip of the week: The holidays are coming up, and that means big family dinners at our house, because the kids are coming here. Lining a casserole pan with foil before cooking makes it possible to freeze the contents, dump out the frozen casserole to store in the freezer and reuse the pan. I start out by molding the foil over the outside of the dish, then placing the "foil liner" inside and adjusting it to fit. Be careful not to tear it or poke a hole in it with your fingernails. You can freeze casseroles uncooked or cooked. Be sure to label the outside where you can read what's inside.
When you use the casserole, just place the frozen contents, foil and all, back in the pan and cook. If the pan is glass, it's good to let it thaw a bit first or start it in a cold oven, so the pan doesn't break. You can also do this with your slow cooker insert.

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.