Indoors and Out

My new free pattern, "Cables and Herringbones," is now available in my Ravelry store.

It was fun working on it and the outfit will be good in my stories. I included the instructions for the skirt, which is made using rotary cutter tools rather than pattern pieces. The skirt can be folded any way you want, as long as each fold takes up three layers of fabric.

I also made some jeans for Billy. I used the Liberty Jane Jeans pattern from Pixie Faire, but substituted my own back pattern piece, because the pattern was made for American Girl dolls, who are much bigger around, especially in the back.

Next week's story has the dolls hiking, so I made a new hat for Mandy, using the crown pieces from the baseball cap pattern and an improvised narrow brim that goes all the way around.

Here's a shot of the top.

Mandy's cardigan is well underway. This will go with the dress I made for her last week.

The Doll's Storybook had a big milestone this past week. June 22, 2018 was the day the first story came out. I never thought when I started that I would get through a year without running out of things to write about. There are now 54 stories and one more scheduled. I'm hoping to keep it up as long as I can.

The pups went to the groomer on Monday to get their summer haircuts. They were still tired the next morning. Of course, it turned cool again as soon as their haircuts were done. It's good that the sun comes into the house in the early morning.

I took some new photos of the pups to use with the Walk for a Dog app. Dusty has matured a lot since the old photos were taken and Rocky has greyed a lot with age. Here's Dusty.

Here's Rocky. Still handsome, I think, for an old guy.

We've hiked or walked every day this week. I hope to keep it up. If we walk the Larkspur Trail all the way northward to Bear Creek Rd., then turn around and come back, it's roughly two miles, depending on how many side trips we made to trash cans along the way. (We pick up after our pups.) Here's a shot of our history page for the last 30 days. You can see Rocky's and Dusty's new photos. I'm hoping to make it to 60 miles in 30 days.

I've been short of sleep ever since about April. The sun keeps waking me up earlier and earlier. We're installing room-darkening shades in each of the bedrooms. The guest room is already done. It's very effective. You have to turn on the lights to see when the shade is down during the daytime.

Of course, since June 21st, the nights are now getting longer.

We discovered we have peonies growing in the backyard. I had to enlist the help of Facebook friends to identify it, because I didn't know its name.

We have a basil plant indoors. I made a Caprise salad from leaves harvested from the plant.

I managed to take a closeup of the flowers we found in the wilderness along the Larkspur Trail near our home. Several people identified it last week as (not surprisingly) larkspur.

It's very pretty, but I read that it's poisonous. Unlike the basil plant, I had no plans to eat this, although it reminds me of borage, which is edible.


Last night we went out to eat with Charlie's brother. We went to Anthony's, which is on the Deschutes River in the Old Mill District of bend.

Today we both get hearing aids. I've had some mild hearing loss with tinnitus for some time, but it wasn't serious enough to be correctable with a hearing aid. Now the technology and my hearing loss have converged, so I'm giving it a try. It turns out that Charlie also has a mild hearing loss, which I had assumed was just selective hearing. It's expensive, but we have a year to pay it off with no interest.
What's on my needles: The cardigan from the Church Picnic pattern.

What's on my sewing machine: Costumes for the cast of The Doll's Storybook.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Keeping up with Jonesy. Billy finds out that it isn't always cool to do what your friends say is cool.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Song Unheard by Roseanna M. White. Now listening to Murder at Archly Manor by Sara Rosett, a murder mystery set in 1920s England.

What's in my wine glass: Twisted Old Vine Zinfandel 2017. We've had it before, and it's a good value.

What's my tip of the week: Parchment paper works as well as aluminum foil for lining a baking sheet for cookies or roasted veggies and is better for the environment.

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.

Quilting Fun!

Quilting! 

My quilting buddies from Vintage Stitchers surprised me (and the others who have moved away) with emailed photos from their last meeting. (Sorry about the resolution, but I think you will get the idea.)

They met at Janet's. This quilt is Carol's work, as you can see. 

This is one of Marilyn's.

I knew it was hers before I saw her smiling face.

I didn't receive an explanation of this project, but it appears to be a small carry bag of some kind. Again, Marilyn's palette is identifiable.

I'm pretty sure this is wool appliqué. Janet was really into the technique before I moved away, and it looks like it.

I'm guessing these are the blocks finished so far.

It looks like Barbara is working on another marvelous appliqué quilt. (I don't know how she finds time to do all the gardening she does and still have time for hand appliqué.)

I miss my Park City friends, but the snow has been gone from Bend for some time and won't return again until late fall. We would normally still have snow on the ground at our old home in Summit Park, and could get more this month...possibly July or August, too.

I have the sewing area in my fiber studio set up nicely now with an office chair and my Arrow Mod Squad Sewing Cabinet both on a large plastic mat. I can roll around on my chair, and the sewing cabinet opens and closes easily, so much better now than when it was sitting directly on the carpet. It made it easier to sew this doll dress, a test-sew for a friend who was publishing the pattern. (It has an option for a paneled skirt, fun for people who also enjoy quilting.) The pattern is now available here, and it includes a cute cardigan to go with the dress, which I hope to make for Mandy.

I made Mariah a skirt to go with the cardigan I'm knitting for her. 

It's my own pattern, except there's no pattern, just directions. The pieces are rectangles cut using rotary-cutting tools. It's available online in blog form here. I had to piece the skirt, because I only had a fat quarter, and the skirt rectangle is 35" long. I hid the seams in the pleats. It can be made with 1/4 yard of fabric, but the yoke on the bias is easier if you have a 1/3 yard piece. The yoke can be cut on the crosswise straight-of-grain, easily from 1/4 yard. Mariah's lovely shoes are from FairyTaleLOVEit on Etsy, a woman in the Ukraine. They are expensive, but you can save on shipping if you buy several pairs, and finding shoes long enough for these dolls is challenging. They are beautifully made.

I finished the sweater on Saturday, so here's the whole outfit:

It's my design. I still have some things to do to the pattern, and then I can make it available on Ravelry. I'm thinking of including the directions for the skirt, as well.

Here is a nice pine tree and some wildflowers from our walk on Friday through a sort of wilderness area across the Larkspur Trail from our house. The tree on the right in the background is a juniper, which is the most common tree here. We are in the midst of the largest forest of juniper occidentalis in the world. I don't know what kind of wildflowers these are, but they're pretty.

We have been trying to walk or hike with the dogs an average of a mile a day, using the Walk for a Dog app from Wooftrax. The app keeps track of our mileage and gives us a nice little map of where we went. You get to choose a dog-related charity and your mileage goes into a pool of walks from other people walking for that charity. The charity receives a donation based on how many miles were walked using the app by the people in your pool. It's supported by advertising. We're walking for Best Friends Animal Society.

Saturday we went to find the Good Dog Trail, which is in the Deschutes National Forest, just about 15 minutes from our house. From the parking lot, you go left (or NE) for off-leash, or right (or SW) for leashed. (We chose off-leash.) A recreational pass is required, but I found out from the Forest Service that our Golden Age Passports will suffice. That means we can go there for just the cost of the gas.

The trail partly follows the Deschutes River, and there are places where dogs can go into the water. River water is tastier than what's in my water bottle, so they drank as much of it as they could hold. (Ammunition for leaving little notices for other dogs along the trail.)

Dusty did a lot of running around every time we came across another dog willing to play. Rocky did some running, too. Toward the end of the hike, they pretty much followed Daddy.

It was a fun day.


What's on my needles: A cardigan to go with Mandy's new dress.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Billy and Emil (coming sometime in August or later).

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "A Field Trip to the Dentist's Office." Billy and Jolena visit the dentist to find out how children need to care for their teeth. This is important, because the dolls don't actually have teeth. Next week, Billy will encounter a new challenge.

What's on my iPad/iPhone:  Still listening to A Song Unheard by Roseanna M. White.

What's in my wine glass: Reserva Especial 120 "Hero's Salute" Red Blend from Chile. It's 45% Carmenere, 30% Carbernet Franc and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. I preferred it the second day, which was surprising for a wine. I guess it needed some siesta time after opening.

What's my tip of the week: During the summer months, I don't like to keep the oven on to keep food hot after it's cooked, so I put it into an ice chest lined with old towels. It will stay hot for a long time that way. (No ice, of course.) I lay the ice chest on its side on the counter, so it's easier to put a casserole in and take it out. Even if I have to carry the casserole to a potluck or party, I just keep it on its side for the trip and caution the host not to turn it back up.

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.

Lotte’s Pleated Skirt Instructions

Fabric: homespun or shirt/dress fabric, 1/3 yd (for yoke cut on the bias) or 1/4 yd (for yoke cut on crosswise straight-of-grain. (If you have to piece the skirt, you can hide the seam inside a pleat. Just be sure to match up any stripes or plaids. You can use a different fabric for the yoke if you don't have enough of the skirt fabric.

For Happy Kidz:

1/4” wide elastic, at least 8.5” (longer is better, because you can cut it after insertion.)

Cut a strip of fabric 3.75” wide and 35” long for skirt

Cut another strip of fabric 3.5” wide and 12” long, either on the bias or crosswise straight-of-grain, for yoke.

For Little Kidz:

1/4” wide elastic, at least 7"

Cut a strip of fabric 3.25” wide and 28.5” long for skirt

Cut another strip of fabric 3” wide and 10” long, either on the bias or crosswise straight-of-grain, for yoke.

Turn up long edge of skirt 1/4” and press. Turn up again and press again. Sew close to first fold for hem.

Turn under long edge of yoke 1/4” and press. Turn up again 1/2” and press. Sew close to first fold for elastic casing. Mark elastic at 8 1/2”. Attach safety pin to other end of elastic, insert into casing and bring out the other end. Remove safety pin and sew right along the edge of the elastic where it comes out of the casing. Pull elastic through to the mark and sew again at that point. Cut of excess. Right sides together, sew yoke shorter ends together. Press seam open.

Make pleats as wide or as narrow as you like, keeping in mind that pleats should take up three layers. If you have a plaid fabric, you can use the design as a guide. Right sides together, sew short edges of skirt together for a back seam. Do not press. Pin pleats along the raw edge of skirt, starting with the back seam, arranging the seam so it is on the inside of a pleat. Fold and pin each pleat, all the way around. Check and make sure the top edge of the skirt and the bottom edge of the yoke are close to the same size. The yoke will stretch or contract a bit, even if you have cut it on the crosswise straight of grain. When you are satisfied, pin bottom of pleats to match top. Sew 1/8” in from raw edge along top using a basting stitch. Pin bottom of yoke and top of skirt all the way around, right sides together. Use plenty of pins to ease in any excess yoke fabric, if needed. Finish seam with zigzag or straight stitch, or serge. Top stitch yoke right above skirt all the way around.

This pattern is protected by copyright. Any items made from it may be sold.

Copyright © 2019 by Peggy Stuart

Visits

The Silver Leaf Shawl is finished:

We traveled to Beaverton to attend Johan's preschool graduation on Saturday. I wore my new shawl while I watched the ceremony and participated in World Wide Knit In Public Day. Here I am, knitting, in the Tiger Woods Center on the Nike campus, where the ceremony was held. 

There were 127 children graduating this year, the most ever in the history of Nike's on-campus day care and preschool program. Johan has been in the program since he was a baby. The daycare center is divided up into classes of children close to the same age. Here is Johan's class, called "Air Pegasus." Johan is the smallest, the one in the plaid shirt. 

Here he is with his teachers, wearing his new Nike backpack, a present from Nike given to each of the graduates. It was full of goodies, including a coloring book and other fun things.

Here's the program. Air Pegasus is listed on the center left.

Dusty and Louis spent a lot of time playing before and after the ceremony (and probably during, too, but we weren't there to see it). They hadn't seen each other since February, so they played hard until they collapsed under the dining table.

We were all pretty tired, including the parents and grandparents, so when the boys (and dogs) were napping, the rest of the family napped, too. Rocky was the only one who looked up when I took this photo. Then he went back to sleep.

Sunday we took a picnic lunch and went for a hike at L. L. Stub Stewart State Park. The pups have to be on a leash on the hiking trails. They had a good time anyway, though. The boys enjoyed running downhill and complaining uphill.

We stopped at the beaver pond to eat our lunch.

A pond turtle watched us from his perch, balanced on a floating log. He seemed to be enjoying the sun. (We didn't see any beavers.)

The park has a fenced dog run near the parking area, so when we finished the hike, we spend a few minutes letting the pups run loose. We will definitely be back. They have a nice campground, so maybe we will bring the trailer up to spend a few days.

When we got back to the car, I was excited to see that the pups and I had finally averaged walking a mile a day over a 30-day period. Our speed dropped considerably, however. I hope we can keep it up.

That evening, the babysitter came to look after the boy and the three dogs. The adults went into Portland to go on the Shanghai Tunnels Tour. During the late 19th Century, these tunnels were built under the growing city. From 1850 until 1941, able-bodied men were drugged, dropped through trap doors, held in underground holding cells and later sold to unscrupulous sea captains to populate the crews of their ships, usually between Portland and Shanghai, thus the term, "Shanghaied." It was fascinating and educational.

After the tour, we had dinner at Bangkok Palace restaurant. The food was excellent. This was just the appetizers (my plate).

We are on our way back to Bend today. Before we left, the dolls and I put together a retelling of "The Three Bears." It's called "Welcoming a Stranger––a Fairy Tale." It came out on Friday, as we were driving northward.

This week's story is the visit to the dentist's office.
What's on my needles: A new version of the Cables and Herringbone Doll Cardigan.

What's on my sewing machine: Costumes for the cast of The Doll's Storybook.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Welcoming a Stranger––a Fairy Tale."

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to The French Affair by M. C. Beaton. Now listening to Roseanna M. White's A Song Unheard, and The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte, for traveling in the car with DH.

What's in my wine glass: Oak Knott, Marechel Foch 2016 from the Willamette Valley.

What's my tip of the week: A small, flat Tupperware container makes a good dog water dish while hiking. There are many contraptions designed for giving water to your best friend, but most require you throw out the water your dog doesn't drink. On a long hike, you may not want to waste your water. A lid with a good seal can be placed back on the water dish to be consumed at a later water break or thrown out when you get back to civilization where water is available.

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.

Getting Out and Doing Things

The week started out with a visit to the High Desert Museum in Bend on Memorial Day.

The parking lot was pretty full, so we were surprised that the museum wasn't more crowded. I think it may be because many of the exhibits are outdoors, so there is plenty of room. As you can see from the above photo, the otters caught my eye. We used to see them off the coast of California in the days when we lived aboard our little sailboat in Santa Barbara. I wrote about those days several years ago in this blog post. We were at the museum for a couple of hours, but we only had time to skim over the offerings of creatures of the desert and history of the area. We will definitely be back, so you can expect to see more of what they have on exhibit in future blog posts.

We were exhausted from having little ones in the house, and by the end of the week, we had both come down with head colds. The boys weren't sick, so we didn't get it from them, but our DDIL came down with a cold about the same time we did, so we're guessing it was from someone we came into contact with when we were out together.

I made some progress on the Silverleaf Shawl. I've reached the part with the fun pattern.

Here's a closeup.

We plan to go up to Beaverton next weekend for Johan's preschool graduation, so I wanted to get a little ahead on the stories for The Doll's Storybook. I finished the story for the week, which came out on Friday. It's called "A Visit to the Mesozoic." In it, Mandy helps Billy study for his science test, which is about dinosaurs.

Many thanks to the Oregon grandsons for allowing their treasured toy dinosaurs to appear in the story.

Then I set to work on the story for this week. I won't spoil the surprise in case you want to read it, but here's a photo from the story. It will be the 52nd story in the series, so I will have done a year's worth, although the actual anniversary of The Doll's Storybook is June 22nd. What do you suppose Charlotte is up to?

On Friday, Billy and Jolena had a dentist's appointment. That may seem strange, since their mouths don't open and they have no teeth, but they will star in the story tentatively scheduled for June 14th. Here they are in the waiting room.

I'm very grateful to my dentist for letting Jolena and Billy visit. It feels good to be two weeks ahead.

In spite of the head colds, we have managed to go for a walk every day.

Our walks are mostly on trails we can access at a point 1 1/2 blocks from our house. The only street we have to cross is our own. 

We use the Walk for a Dog app to keep track of our walks. The app donates money to our chosen dog-related charity, Best Friends Animal Society, with the amount based on how far we and others using the app for Best Friends walk.

Sometimes we cross Tempest and continue on the trail to the next street, or even to the one after that. There is a sort of wilderness on the other side of the trail, and it gives us a chance to let the pups off leash for a little run.

Several people are testing the pattern for the Cables and Herringbone Doll Cardigan. I should be able to publish it soon.

The chair mat for my sewing cabinet and chair arrived during the week. I hope to get the fiber studio straightened out soon so I can sew again. Maybe I'll be able to get a photo next week. It has made a world of difference to the cabinet already, though. I can now open and close the front panel, which I couldn't do when it was sitting on thick carpet. My chair will now roll from the sewing machine to my pressing station on the table.

What's on my needles: The Silverleaf Shawl.

What's on my sewing machine: Sitting and waiting.

What's in my hoop: The Whole Cloth Quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "A Visit to the Mesozoic." Billy needs to learn the names of dinosaurs for his science class.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to A Name Unknown, by Roseanna M. White. I find I'm enjoying this author quite a bit. It might be considered "Christian" literature, something that would normally turn me off reading it, but I find the author's brand of Christianity very refreshing. It's also fitting for the setting of the novel. Now I'm listening to The French Affair by M. C. Beaton, trying to get the Romance novels on my wish list under my belt while I'm paying Audible for the Romance Package.

What's in my wine glass: Grifone Primitivo "From old vine Zinfandel." A nice Italian wine.

What's my tip of the week: I keep a basket at the stairs. When I find something that needs to go upstairs, it goes into the basket, which I can take up when it has several things in it. We all need exercise, and I don't mind stairs, but sometimes we want to save a little time.

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.