Preparing for Travel—Maybe!

The Fair Isle sweater for Lukas is done, shown here modeled by Carter.

Here's the link to the pattern, a free download on Ravelry. It's designed to teach people how to make a project that calls for knitting in the round and steeks (cutting your knitting), something they can start with that isn't a huge investment of time, but still gives a finished product that's useable for a doll or teddy bear. It buttons down the back, so you don't have to pull the sweater over the doll's head.

There is a tutorial for the project here. The sweater comes in three sizes for 18" (or so) dolls that are slim, medium or plus-size. (Carter is wearing the plus size, which is also appropriate for American Girl and Boy dolls.) Carter is from My Sibling Dolls. It's a good company serving several worthy causes.

Carter got his name by being designated to be part of the silent auction for Habitat for Humanity, Park City, in October. He and a girl doll will receive volunteer-made clothes and trunks to hold all their goodies. The dolls and everything that goes into each doll's wardrobe are donated. Last year two girl dolls brought in about $350 combined.

I mentioned last week that I ordered a Götz Katie (like my Mandy) for our granddaughter for Christmas. A little early, but this doll (with the red hair and freckles) is out-of-production, and the last retailer to have any in stock has the last of them. I ordered her as soon as I got paid. She arrived on Saturday. I opened the box and pulled out the cardboard drawer where Katie was held in place by restraints (poor thing, but it's for her protection). I was able to check her out to reassure myself she was uninjured from the long journey, get a photo with my live-in Götz dolls and get her back into the box.

Mandy thinks they could be twins. Katie will probably end up with Vroni's and Mandy's dresses, as I make more. (You can see that she has glasses for reading, too.) She will need a sleep mask and a chain or ribbon for her glasses, as well as clothes.

We have been going to Run-A-Muk Dog Park fairly frequently, because it's in a spot that isn't so windy, nor is it muddy, even after a rain. Wednesday the pups went to see the groomer. I wanted to get a photo of Dusty, to show how much lighter he's getting. Rocky decided to photobomb Dusty's photoshoot. At least he didn't hold a paw up behind Dusty's head.

Rocky had his annual physical and thyroid check this past week. Everything is good. Still waiting on the results of his--ahem--fecal check, but it has always been normal since we've had him, so I'm not worried. He really does seem to have more energy since he has been on thyroid medication for a while.

Vintage Stitchers didn't meet this week. Everyone was either out of town, had appointments or trying to get caught up before the quilt-shop-hop the beginning of next month.

We expect to be leaving Thursday or so to go camping in Oregon unless something comes up. (We have at least three issues that could get in the way.) Regardless, next week's blog post will be about some girls in a school in Canada who have been hand-piecing quilt tops to make quilts for Project Linus, an organization that provides quilts and knitted or crocheted blankets for children in need of warm fuzzies. I may be out of internet range, so this pre-programed post will show up. I'll check in if I can.

What's on my needles: Another Three Steps petticoat. I really want to make a Steampunk-style outfit as part of the "Sweet Pairings" KAL in the Debonair Designs group on Ravelry. Also still sewing the binding on the Kaleidoscope Quilt, but now I have a deadline, so it will get done.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away for now.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting, but I'll have to get her oiled up when I get back, because Tour de Fleece starts the beginning of July.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Dawn at Emberwilde by Sarah E. Ladd from Audible, probably her best novel so far. Now reading Hacker Mom by Austen Rachlis. It’s a real change of pace. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Still the same boxed wine as last week. Nothing to write home about, but it seems to be refilling itself.

What's my tip of the week: If you're cooking for two, you can still use recipes for four or more servings. I often make a long casserole dish with a recipe enough for three or four days for just the two of us. So we don't get tired of it, I put half of it in a foil-lined square cake pan after it's chilled enough that it doesn't fall apart when I cut it, if it's something like lasagne or enchiladas. I cover it with more foil, freeze and then turn the frozen casserole out of the dish, label and wrap in a plastic bag (like a produce bag) to keep the cold air from reaching the food inside. When I'm ready to serve it, I put it back in the cake pan, thaw it and heat up in the oven. For a stew or something that has to be spooned rather than cut, I just transfer half of it to a freezer container. This is great for camping or to pull out when I'd rather do anything but cook.. 

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.

More Little People and Their Clothes

The French Back-to-school Cardigan for Lukas is done.

Here's Carter, modeling it with the shorts I made to go with it. I made it according to the pattern, but added in an extra increase row before stopping the increases at the front neck edge. I used Palette in Edamame. 

I also made some 3/4 length pants and a hat.

Now I'm working on a Fair Isle sweater for him, according to the pattern I designed as a first steeking project. I have the body almost ready for the steeks. 

I want to get the steeks done at least before we leave town with the trailer (probably June 1st), because I don't want to take the sewing machine along. I can finish it, and knit other projects for the dolls, but this will be the only project that requires the machine until I'm ready to start working on the wardrobe for the two dolls for Habitat for Humanity and my house block for them. I hope to be able to leave the clothes for Lukas in Oregon on our June visit so I don't have to mail them for Soren's birthday in July.

The colorway I'm using was inspired by the slimmer version of the design made by one of my online friends, Pam Elliott. Here it is as a pullover on her Hannah:

And as a cardigan on her Katie.

The colors are perfect for these two redheads, but I think it will look good on Lukas, too. I had to switch out two of the yarn colors because I didn't have them, but the overall color scheme is close. I also worked the colors in a slightly different order. It's fun playing with the colors.

I ordered a Katie for Daphne for Christmas. I wanted to be sure they didn't run out, as they aren't making this doll anymore. 

With the sewing (except for the steeks) done for Lukas, I cleaned up the dining room, where I had been sewing, because Dusty doesn't think he can go down the stairs, and I would have to watch him down there in the fiber studio anyway.

Common Threads met at Lynda's. She had finished a scarf made from some of the yarn she picked up at the Unraveled Sheep after our visit to the Utah Quilting and Sewing Marketplace a couple of weeks ago. They're closing down the end of this month, so there was a big sale.

I Lynda's scarf might be this pattern. The yarn has the sequins already attached.

We had a nice visit. Lynda made scones, and we had cut-up fruit and yoghurt.

I'm still sewing the binding on the Kaleidoscope quilt.

We had a break in the weather on Saturday, so we went back to Run-A-Muk Dog Park for another run (for the dogs) and stroll (for us) along the trail.

They had a lot of fun with the dogs they met along the way.

The rest of my business this week was pretty boring: annual physical, pneumonia shot, etc., but church on Sunday was fun, because we got to sing some pieces I had practiced before Sunday. (I do better with a little preparation.)

Sunday afternoon we went to the final opera of the season here. It was Don Giovanni. The music and the performances were outstanding, but the sets and costumes were in Film Noir style in black, white and grey. They were beautifully done, but the juxtaposition was distracting and jarring in connection with this opera, which was partly about class differences, an aspect that disappeared in a 1940s-'50s era US setting. (We had class differences then, but they didn't show up, either.)

What's on my needles: Fair Isle sweater for Lukas.

What's on my Featherweight: Waiting to sew the steeks for the Fair Isle sweater for Lukas.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Ties that Bind by Marie Bostwick. Some reviewers found it a little overly religious. I thought it was fitting, because one of the two main characters was a female pastor. Now Reading Dawn at Emberwilde by Sarah E. Ladd. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Hardy's Shiraz, in the box. Nyeh.

What's my tip of the week: Have an old electric toothbrush brush? Don't throw it away. You can use it and your electric toothbrush to clean areas around your faucets and sink drains. Just don't forget to switch back to your designated toothbrush brush before you get ready to brush your teeth.

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.

Antiques, Old and New, Young and Old

This photo summarizes my week.

Do the girls look tired? I think they're picking it up from me. Let me put together why this photo is a summary.

I was in a hurry to get Zachary Jr.'s birthday present in the mail, along with another package for Daphne's birthday, so I wouldn't have to mail two packages. (Zachary Jr.'s birthday is June 1st, according to Zachary.) This was the outfit I sent him, along with an apron, because boys like to cook, too.

(Carter is acting as my model.) I made the shorts and apron, but not the shirt, which came from here.

While the sewing machine was out, I wanted to put together a dress for Vroni. 

I wanted to be sure the translation of the French Back-to-school Cardigan was going to work, so I made one for Vroni to go along with her dress.

Now I'm making one for Lukas for Soren's birthday present. We're going to be there next month, so if I have everything finished, I won't have to mail it. I hope to have a hat, two pairs of pants, the long-sleeved T, like Zachary Jr.'s and three sweaters, including a Fair Isle pullover/cardigan. We'll see.

Once I had the girls attired in summer dresses, I decided it would be fun to put together a vignette of the four of them pretending to be fancy ladies at a summer resort and for Carter to be the waiter.

Sometimes sewing for dolls can be too much fun.

I was able to make it to Vintage Stitchers on Thursday. Julie was there for the first time in several weeks. She's making this quilt for a relative's wedding. She had the engaged couple pick the fabrics, which she said was fun.

My friend Joanie and I missed the Acorn Antique Fair in Ogden last year, so we didn't want to miss this year. There was lots of interesting stuff, including the china tea set the girls are enjoying in the first photo. This year's collection had some great quilts, and I didn't even get to photograph all of them. Here's a selection:

We had breakfast and lunch out, and Joanie's caretaker/assistant drove, so I was able to knit. One fun discovery at the antique fair was this live goose. She sat in her stroller and made comments from time to time about what she was seeing. She allowed me to pet her (I asked permission first), much to the surprise of her "Daddy." She had some kind of safety harness that kept her from taking off on her own.

We had some nice weather this week for a change, and we made two trips to Run-A-Muk Dog Park, which has 1 1/3 miles of hiking trail meandering through scenic woods and over babbling streams.

Our second visit was on Mothers' Day, which turned out to be a good day to go, because there were lots of dogs to meet and greet, and often to play with. We all got lots of exercise!

So I think I'll just pull up my own, human-adult-size Adirondack chair and sit down with the girls and a pot of tea.

What's on my needles: French Back-to-school Cardigan for Lukas. Still sewing the binding on the Kaleidoscope binding.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes, now for Lukas.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Sleep Tight by Rachel Abbott from Audible. Excellent mystery. Now listening to Ties that Bind by Marie Bostwick. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Vinyards Merlot. Always nice.

What's my tip of the week: Going away this summer for a week or two? You can keep your plants watered by using a wine bottle filled with water and a Plant Nanny.

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.

Gatherings

This week's activities included a trip to the Utah Quilting & Sewing Marketplace. 

My friend and neighbor Lynda and I drove down to the show. We met Karan and Margareth there, and ran into Brenda while there. I posted the photos I took in a separate blog, but here's just a taste.

If you follow the link you'll see many of the quilts that were on exhibit, but if I had taken a photo of all of them, I would have had to stay there another day and done nothing but take photos.

There were other things to see besides quilts, including a number of vendors. I was attracted to this embroidery machine (it attracted my attention because of the Steampunk butterfly motif).

During the week, I finished Vroni's cropped sweater.

I packed it up with the doll clothes and some other stuff for Daphne's birthday. It should have arrived already. When I got home from the PO, I found the kitty. Oops! I'll send it in the next package.

I was participating in the Debonair Designs knit-along (KAL) for the knitted petticoat and something else knitted (our choice), paired in an outfit. For the rest of the outfit I made another Mirabella Cardigan, this time in Orange.

Here's the dress by itself. I took the yoke dress from Joan Hinds' The Best Doll Clothes Book and lengthened the bodice. 

I think Mandy got worn out with all the fittings. She had to sit in my Shaker rocker for a bit.

Another Saturday...another protest. [Sigh!] This time, we and the pups are demonstrating to try to protect Bears Ears National Monument. Authorities estimated we had more than a thousand people present at the rally in front of the Capitol Building.

Bears Ears is a site full of structures made by Native Americans centuries ago.

I would like my grandchildren to be able to visit these sites as my children visited Hadrian's Wall and Fishbourne Palace in the UK. I can't believe people will allow these sites to be damaged by exploitation by energy companies, not to mention the exotic beauty of the landscape. Of course, I think our most wonderful National Monuments were build by God.(Don't get me started! OK, I got myself started. Sorry. No, I'm not really sorry. This is important.)

Speaking of landscape. Our gardener came back and put in an appearance. This is the one who prunes our wild roses and aspen trees. (The squirrels change the location of our bulbs, always an improvement.)

What's on my needles: Waiting to CO for...?

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes, maybe some shorts for Zachary Jr.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. Then listened to Sleep Tight by Rachel Abbott, another nail-biting mystery. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, a staple. Same as last week. I have had some other wines since last week, seriously.

What's my tip of the week: Vacuuming frequently helps prevent moth damage.

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.

Utah Quilting & Sewing Marketplace Photo Album

Here are the photos I took at the Utah Quilting & Sewing Marketplace on May 4, 2017. My friend Lynda and I started with breakfast at The Black Bear Diner in Sandy, Utah.

From there, we went to the South Towne Exposition Center for the quilt show, where we met up with Karan and Margareth. We ran into Brenda while looking at quilts.

Here are just a few of the quilts.

This last one is called "Taking Root," and depicts a dog and a rabbit fighting over a carrot while a worm looks on. This moon wall hanging had an overlay with some space between the two layers, so it was 3-D. Perhaps you can see the dimensions in the three photos I took from different angles.

Here are some more with the moon theme.

Then there were some quilts made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics with a house theme.

There were lots of great booths, like this one with an embroidery machine. It was working on a Steampunk butterfly design, but in some very unsteampunk-like colors.

The display on the screen was more like what I think of as Steampunk. There was a ton (at least) of fabric to buy. (I resisted, because I live in a quilt shop.)

Since this is the Ruby Jubilee for the Utah Quilt Guild, there were some redwork quilts specifically chosen for the theme.

Many of them were amazing. I had to get a closeup of the edge of this quilt:

 This one had some nice appliqué.

 Here are some others that caught my eye. I especially liked this one, such a traditional quilt, something I could make. (The curves are an optical illusion. There is no curved piecing in this quilt.)

We saw an interesting tiger wall hanging.

Here's a very traditional antique-style quilt, something you might see in the mid-1800s.

A visit under the sea:

Along with the ocean theme, a traditional Ocean Waves quilt.

A Mariner's Compass block meets the flower garden.

More Mariner's Compass:

...and more traditional applique and more paper-pieced quilts.

This amazing quilt was designed and executed by a German man. (I had to take some closeups.)

I took some closeups when I spotted this little dog...

...and this hummingbird, produced from iridescent fabric.

This was either a photo transfer image, or the quilt maker painted it.

The man who made this quilt was inspired by fishing with his father. Buttons at the bottom hold tags, each with a comment about the inspiration along with a question for the viewer.

Here are some more lovely quilts. Like Rubic's Cube:

This one had a very Southwestern theme. A close look showed desert images, plants and animals.

This one looked something like a Native American rug.

This triptych was based on a photograph. The workmanship was lovely.

Whole cloth:

Warm colors:

Earth and sky:

Artistic, themed, traditional and mixtures of the three:

I think this one was fun. It featured three baby animals: a fish, a lizard and a bird. Which baby you see depends on where you stand.

We encountered a lady pinning the ribbons on the winning quilts.

We found this booth that had things for kids, including this dollhouse made from fabric and interfacing...

...and this Matchbox Car storage case and road system:

There was even a periodic table, for an older child who needed to commit this to memory.

Also some baby/toddler dresses.

Our feet got tired, but I think we saw most of the quilts. The vendors were interesting, but heavily into machine-stitching. It was wonderful inspiration, though.

This event takes place every year about this time. It's well worth having a look...next year.