March Like a Lion

Let's start at the end.

Dusty and I participated in the March For Our Lives in Park City on Saturday. I was amazed to find out that we had present at our little march three of the survivors of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14th. During the rally held at the end of the march, they stood hand-in-hand with the student organizers from Park City High School. 

Dusty and I parked the car at The Market in Park City and walked up to the Wasatch Brew Pub at the top of Main St. to meet up with other members of my congregation at St. Luke's Episcopal Church and a lot of local people, including most of the students of the local high school. Dusty and I used the Walk for a Dog app to keep track of our outing.

If you can read the fine print, you can see that we walked a total of more than four miles, counting the walk to the staging area, the march and the walk back to the car from the park where the rally was held. The estimated size of the march was 3,000, which was impressive, considering the size of our town. Salt Lake City had an estimated 7,000 participants. We were very impressed with the young people who organized the event and spoke to us. They did this all on their own. I have hope for our future.

Earlier in the week, Vintage Stitchers met at Rebecca's. She was working on this block from the Borboleta BOM quilt from Hat Creek Quilts.

It uses washed woven wool fabric for the appliqué pieces, which enables more intricate designs than needleturn appliqué. Rebecca has the next one ready to go.

I believe she said she uses Roxanne's Glue Baste-it to attach the appliqué pieces. She is using a simple whip stitch to appliqué the pieces on.

Carol had a lot for show-and-tell. This quilt top started out as an attempt by Carol to make braid blocks, which she ended up cutting up to make blocks she liked better.

She showed us this fabric called "lollies." You can cut this up to sew together any way you want. (The fabric comes like this.)

She also had this small piece we thought looked like an "I-spy" quilt for adults.

I was hand quilting during the meeting, but I've been sewing with some fabric I picked up from Rebecca the last time we met at her house. We often bring out boxes of fabric we don't think we need anymore to share with others, and I grabbed some nice small-scale fabric designs for doll clothes.

The Götz girls needed Easter dresses, and since I can't make any more quilts until after we move because of adding bulk to what we have to move, I had some sewing fun that doesn't produce something that takes up a whole box. This dress was for Lotte.

Vroni has this one.

Mandy wanted green.

The girls need cardigans, unless it's a lot warmer on Easter Day. Lotte already has a pink one and Vroni has one in a lime green. Mandy didn't have one in a color that would go with her dress. She wanted white. Fortunately, she can help with the knitting.

This was the first time she had worked on a sweater. She has only made mittens, scarves and hats before, but she knew how to purl from making the ribbing on Dolly's mittens.

By Sunday, we were on the second sleeve. Mandy had begged me to let her knit the second sleeve by herself, which went great until later in the day. In exasperation, she asked me why the second sleeve seemed to take longer. I suggested that maybe it was "Second Sleeve Syndrome." Like knitting the second sock in a pair.

We put on "Frozen," which we have as an audiobook, and finally got the sweater finished, so the girls were ready to pose with their Easter dresses and their coordinating cardigans. (No, Mandy didn't make the sleeves shorter because she was tired of knitting around and around. The puffy dress sleeves take up space in the cardigan.)

The girls wondered why the eggs didn't weigh very much.

They're just props, girls. We'll dye some real eggs next Saturday. Pose nicely in your Easter dresses and wish everyone a blessed Holy Week and a happy Easter, as well as a wonderful Passover, which we also celebrate in our family, both human and vinyl.

What's on my needles: My Coastal Skies Shawl, using Knockout Round, a free pattern. This time the pattern seems to be satisfying..

What's on my Featherweight: Raincoat for doll…prototype.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt. Some progress taking place.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is put away. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Listening to Russian Roulette by David Corn and Michael Isikoff. (Chilling, but it puts all the little bits in context.) Then listened to Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen. (Her books are always fun.) Now listening to Georgette Heyer's The Unfinished Clue.

What's in my wine glass: Gato Negro Malbec 2016. Not bad.

What's my tip of the week: Have trouble sleeping at night? Try melatonin (which is natural) before resorting to sleeping pills. This will only work at night, when it's dark, unless you use a sleep mask. Daylight destroys the melatonin. On the bright side (ha-ha), when daylight comes, it won't leave you groggy.

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Frozen!

No, not the movie. My life.

Friday was a pretty day, so the pups and I did a hike on the firebreak road. I tried to get a photo of them running and finally settled for a video.

I've never put a video in my blog before. Hope it works.

Common Threads met at Karan's on Thursday. It snowed, and Georgette picked me up, so DH could stay in bed. He was clearing the drive when she brought me back.

There were just the three of us. Karan had finished this little wall quilt and had it on the wall already.

I worked on my reboot of the Coastal Skies. This is the third pattern I've used, and I think, as the saying goes, "third time's the charm." 

It's a fairly easy pattern. The first st is always slipped. The RS has YOs at the beginning and end of the two halves. The WS is just K all the stitches after the first slipped stitch. Almost mindless, so a good project for chit-chat. I decided to put a brightly colored marker at the beginning of the RS row, so I would remember which row I was on.

It snowed again Saturday. I finished Mandy's snow pants just in time for the snow.

The pants are a free cut-and-paste pattern from cataddict's project page. It's designed for American Girl dolls, but it worked OK for Mandy. They're a little baggy, but warmer that way, right? I skipped the short rows across the derrière as Mandy doesn't have much there.

It goes well with Mandy's Stavanger Cardigan. At least two people are planning on making this project, including a lady in New Zealand who wants to use the pattern to teach steeking to a friend.

A straight/A-line skirt has been designed by Lilli & Fleur Couture, and I did a practice test of the pattern.

My friend Andrea, who is the designer for the company, hopes to have the patterns ready soon. This one is slated to be a freebie. She will publish the skirt pattern with a link to my twinset pattern. I'll publish the twinset pattern with a link to the skirt pattern.

The packing is moving along slowly. Here's a small box almost filled with yardage and fat quarters.

I added more before DH taped it shut. It's a book box, the size chosen because it was going to hold only fabric. I have another pile of stuff to take to Savers. They even take old single socks and worn-out clothes. Things like that that they can't sell get ground up to make insulation.

Here's Miss Daphne's birthday doll, ready to ship to Wisconsin, although her birthday isn't until the middle of May. I'm trying to move out of the house as much stuff I don't need to get into before the move, so she's on her way, due to be delivered today. 

Included in the box: undies, PJs, rain coat and boots, sneakers, sweater, two T-shirts, leggings, slacks, sandals, shorts and capris with tops, and two dresses. The birthday is in May, but I want to be sure the doll is there in time. Katie 2015 will be sooooo glad to get out of her restraints, but at least she can admire her wardrobe while she travels. (I wonder if I should have put her glasses on her; the wardrobe is so close.) I've had her for about 10 months. She's a Götz Happy Kidz Katie from 2015, like my Mandy.

What's on my needles: Finally the Coastal Skies Shawl, using the Knockout Round pattern.

What's on my Featherweight: Easter dresses.

What's in my hoop: Spring Flowers appliqué quilt. Making progress.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is packed away.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Listening to Miss Tonks Turns to Crime by M. C. Beaton. Now listening to Russian Roulette by David Corn and Michael Isikoff. On my Kindle app is Miss Braithwait’s Secret by G. G. Vandagriff.

What's in my wine glass: Ha! Guinness for a change, and it's in a beer glass instead of a wine glass.

What's my tip of the week: I've mentioned dealing with onion peel before, but here's an addition. As I said, cut the onion in half from stem to stern, then trim the stem end and the stern end (actually, the end where new growth comes out). If the onion skin won't just pop off on its own, remove one thick layer, turn it inside out, and the skin should pop off. Slap the layer back on and start chopping.

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

No Term Limits for These Chairs!

But first: Mandy's Stavanger (Norwegian) Cardigan is finished.

The pattern is available for free here. I frogged the front bands twice before I finally got a version Mandy and I liked.

It's designed to teach steeks with a different kind of front steek finish and an option for knitting both sleeves together separated by steeks, and then seaming them before sewing them in place in the armholes.

I used Knit Picks Palette in White, Marble Heather and Pimento. The sheep motif is from Northern Lace's March of the Fibres Sweater by Elizabeth Lovick and is used with her permission. (I have this pattern and plan to make it as a cardigan.)

In other knitting news, I did a test knit for a doll-sized messy bun hat. I think the designer plans to make it available to the public, and when that happens, I'll provide a link.

I used Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Peony. It took 21g, which is about 46 yards. I wish I could say I picked it because of its excellent stitch definition (which it has), but it was nothing so logical. It was one of the few worsted-weight yarns not yet packed up for the upcoming move. The only things color-coordinated in Lotte's outfit are her hat and slippers, and they don't really match, nor do they go together by function. However, it was what she was wearing, and she's cute anyway.

Vintage Stitchers met at Marilyn's on Thursday. I was hand-quilting my Spring Flowers Quilt.  It's coming along.

As usual, most of the ladies were sewing bindings on. Carol was sewing the binding on this sampler. Her quilts are always fun.

Barbara had this beautiful quilt she made from precut 2 1/2" strips and 10" squares. She's had the fabric for a long time, she says.

Marilyn brought out a big bin of yarn she wanted to get rid of. I was good; I didn't even look. I had just dropped off a big load at Saver's, the thrift shop close to Marilyn, and it was fresh in my mind. I have saved out about two years' worth of yarn just to get me through the time until I can open my boxes again. I really shouldn't be adding to it.

When Vintage Stitchers was almost over, I received a text saying that the chairs were done. We had dropped them off at Wardell Upholstery in Salt Lake City to be reupholstered in leather. We had to take them down to Salt Lake one at a time, because our car wouldn't hold both of them at one time, so since I was already there, I went by to pick it up. Here's what I saw when I got there.

The man who actually did the work said that our pair of chairs were the first and last he would ever do. It was expensive, but these chairs (much more substantial than the ones sold by IKEA, which are nevertheless nice) were designed by the famous Finnish designer Alvar Aalto and sell for a lot more than it cost us. They are actually better than when we bought them, because the upholstery is all leather now, instead of only in the front and the tops of the arm pads. They are also more comfortable than I remember. Extra padding was addedI should have taken a before photo. The best I could find was this:

Our lovely daughter and our lovely DIL holding our adorable grandsons at Christmastime 2012. The photo doesn't show the shredded canvas upholstery behind the headrest, and the cracked leather doesn't really show up much, either, but it will give you an idea. I never liked the off-white, and I love the new caramel.

I'm currently knitting another cataddict pattern, this time for winter sports pants. (She doesn't publish the patterns as pdfs, but she has great patterns. You have to copy and paste to a document and print that.)

I'm thinking they will look good with Mandy's Stavanger Cardigan.

What's on my needles: Mandy's Winter Sports Pants.

What's on my Featherweight: Nothing right now.

What's in my hoop: Spring Flowers quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I gave up on The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf for now. I may go back to it later. I wasn't really in the mood for depressing, unhappy characters. Now listening to Miss Tonks Turns to Crime by M. C. Beaton. I really enjoy her books, and I have just discovered that she's a very prolific writer. My only complaint is that they tend to be short and they still cost just as much in credits. On my Kindle app I finished Miss Braithwait’s Secret by G. G. Vandagriff. It was an interesting story. I've listened to another of her novels and found that one to be better. It could be because I would rather listen than read. I haven't picked a new Kindle book yet.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards Red Blend 2014. Excellent!

What's my tip of the week: When packing for a move, pack heavy items (like books or fabric) in smaller boxes so they won't be too heavy to lift. A few heavy items can go in the bottom of a larger box, if you fill it the rest of the way with something light, like down jackets or yarn. Be sure to write on the box with specifics about what is in the box.

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

The Winter Drags On

Janet brought her completed block to Common Threads this week.

You may remember from last week, the blocks are from a free BOM from Buttermilk Basin. She was trying to use tissue paper as a guide for the embroidery, but she switched to Press 'n Seal on the advice of other people who are making this block, which has background fabric too thick to see through with the light box.

Karan has been learning how to do machine embroidery with cutwork.

The piece above was done using a wash-away product. The butterfly below is also cut away, but using a technique that leaves most of the fabric intact.

Here are some more of her projects using these techniques.

This tree is fun, and the ovals are cut to create little areas of pile. She said she actually liked it better before it was cut.

Janet is knitting the Mountain Cozy Cowl by Cathy Miller for a relative. The yarn is Juniper Moon Farm "Moonshine" worsted. She's getting close to finishing.

Ginny had finished her needlepoint picture of the three dogs. She plans to make a pillow. The ribbon she's holding up next to her project will outline the picture.

Now she's working on this interesting design. I think it looks like a doll's rug. Hmmmm....

Speaking of dolls, You may remember the shipment of goodies the Götz girls received not too long ago...the one with all the rain boots? There was also a package of Götz panties/knickers labeled with the days of the week. Mandy picked "Monday" because at first she thought it said "Mandy," but she loves them anyway. (The sulky face is because I told her to go put on some warmer clothes.)

We received another shipment, this time from Götz USA. Three pairs of shoes. This website doesn't have a huge selection, but they do have a few dolls, and the shoes are much more reasonable than the same ones on Amazon, the only other source in the USA that I know about. Mandy had been wanting the white Mary Janes with the flowers across the strap, and they were almost $45 with the shipping on Amazon, as opposed to $13 plus shipping at Götz USA. Because I was getting two more pairs of shoes, the shipping worked out to about $2/pair. If you order $40, the shipping is free.

I'm working on the front bands of my Norwegian cardigan pattern for Mandy. The body and sleeves are done. Here's the back.

The front is hard to photograph, because of the center front steek, which sticks up, making shadows. I'm putting the body aside for now, because I'm knitting the sleeves together in one piece with steeks between them, from the bottom up, rather than picking up the stitches around the armhole. The sheep motif is being used with permission from the designer, Elizabeth Lovick from Northern Lace. She had used it in her pattern March of the Fibres Sweater, which I also plan to knit.

We were expecting a major snowstorm over the weekend, so on Friday, while it was...well, not exactly nice, but not especially cold and windy, we took the pups to Run-A-Muk Dog Park. Rocky had a good run. Dusty ran and ran and ran, especially when he met up with other dogs that liked to run and play. DH and I had a nice hike.

What's on my needles: Mandy's Norwegian Cardigan.

What's on my Featherweight: Pants and skirts.

What's in my hoop: The Spring Flowers Quilt.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Listening to The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry. This was a good read, with a lot of dark humor, so added more titles by this author to my wish list at Audible. Then listened to La Danse de la Folie by Sherwood Smith. Now listening to The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf. On my Kindle app I'm still reading Miss Braithwait’s Secret by G. G. Vandagriff.

What's in my wine glass: Just finishing up the House Wine Original Red. Very acceptable.

What's my tip of the week: If you’re knitting a sweater, cowl or other garment in the round and want to try it on to see if it’s long enough (or wide enough), if you put half of the sts on another circular needle, it will be easier to try on.

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.