Fiber Studio and Preparations for Christmas

We're almost done with the fiber studio. Here's a look at the Billy Bookcases and the loom. (Still some work to do on the loom, but I need help unscrewing the nuts on the bolts.) The wicker hamper will go under the work table when it's available.

I picked up the base unit for the light table/cutting surface on Tuesday at Lowe's. All we had to do was bring it up the stairs and plop it into place, although we still need to put a hole in the back or side for the cord for the light table lights. It swallowed a lot of the extra fabrics I had in boxes. The thread rack was an Amazon order.

I am happy with the sewing table. I was able to get a lot of the sewing tools into the cubbyholes in the table.

Here's the closet corner. Inside is still a mess. I need some more shelves. The Coca-Cola crate that holds the little shoes for the dolls still needs to be mounted on the wall.

My "Peggy's Sistine Chapel" is ready to be hung on the wall, but we need a friend with a special ladder, because it has to go over the stairs. DH is going to cut off the excess length of the batten that will hold it up. (You can see the mark where he needs to cut.)

I've made a little progress on the Kisu Takki Cardigan. I'm knitting both sleeves together with steeks between them.

Now I've started cooking for Christmas. Here is the Lohipiirakka (salmon pie), a Finnish family tradition for Christmas Eve. Into the freezer (now up and running) it went.

Then I made the lanttulaatikko (rutabaga casserole), another family tradition.

Saturday, Mariah and Billy accompanied me to see Santa. This will be part of a future story. Santa was a good sport. He pretended that the two dolls were ordinary dolls, and they pretended to be what he pretended they were. They were able to make their wishes known, however, because Santa speaks doll. I have no doubt they will get what they asked Santa for.

What's on my needles: The Kisu Takki Cardigan for Jolena, now knitting the sleeves.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Sleeves for hanging quilts. Two down, two to go.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress again this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Happy Hanukkah, Charlotte!  Charlotte explains Hanukkah to the other dolls. This week's story will be about Caroling and an adventure with real children. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen and Rachel Maddow's Bag Man podcast. No chance to listen this week.

What's in my wine glass: Tuesday Night Red, 2018. Pretty nice. We're sampling some wines we've had no access to in Utah. We can even have wine shipped to our home here. (We could smoke pot, if we wanted, but I have no interest.)

What's my tip of the week: Fill an almost-empty freezer with loaves of bread, of if you need to, a pillow or two. Air in the freezer falls out when you open the door, requiring more energy to return the temperature inside to what is needed.

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.