This and That

While watching the World Series, I've been continuing to knit the washcloths for the troops in Africa for holiday presents. 

I think this will have to be the last one, because I will have to send them off soon. Here are the two I finished this week. One in "Warm Brown." (The yarn is Sugar 'n Cream.)

The other one was Knit Picks Dishie in "Lilac Mist." 

The current one is  Sugar 'n Cream again in "Mod Blue." It's really much lighter than the "Teal" in the first one I made, but the first photo makes them look similar. When this one is finished, I'll wash them and get them ready to send off.

If you know someone in the military stationed overseas or in a Veterans' Hospital, or if you would like to do something to help our troops and veterans, contact Homefront Hugs to see how they can help or how you can help them.

Not too much other crafting happened this week. This week's story is scheduled. We're introducing a new character: Brownie the horse. It will be out Friday.

I spent some time getting my orthotics, which may solve my foot problem. (Fingers crossed.) Then, on Saturday, we closed on the refinance of our house, which we are doing to lower our interest rate and to finish the repairs and improvements. We had some good news: the appraisal was enough more than we paid for the house that our new interest rate went down another .25%.

In the meantime, Daphne and Zachary have been performing with Ballet La Crosse in their production of "Cinderella." They get to be grapevines.

It's good experience for children to perform onstage in front of a live (paying) audience.

We're getting exercise, too, but not by performing. We're still putting in about two miles a day on the trails. It's getting a bit cold, though, so I don't know how much longer we'll be able to keep doing that.

What's on my needles: Still washcloths for Africa. This will have to be the last one, because I need to mail them off.

What's on my sewing machine: Still winter jackets for the "boys."

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Talents. Emil finds out that there is always something you can do well, even if you have a disability.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I just started listening to Blowout by Rachel Maddow. There hasn't been much time to listen this week because of baseball, but so far, it's like listening to a novel.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards California Red Blend 2016 again. We have had a couple of other wines recently, but this one seems to come up a lot.

What's my tip of the week: When using cooking spray, hold the pan you're spraying over the sink. If any of the spray goes astray, it will be easy to clean up while you wash dishes. 

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.

A Feast for the Eyes, Ears and Stomachs

I spent most of last week cleaning house for our visitors and the appraiser, so I wanted to take some photos while it was clean. Here's the living room.

(I just noticed the pillow is slipping off the Carolina rocker, but...oh, well!)

Here's the dining room.

The kitchen hasn't been this clean since we moved in.

Here's the kitchen eating area. (We need to get some chairs for this table.)

A couple of shots of my "fiber studio," still a work in progress.

I had the dolls sitting around for the enjoyment of our visitors. (They're free-range dolls, after all.)

The master bedroom.

The guest room.

This was the view out the guest room window when I got up Wednesday morning. "Red sky at morning...."

That white structure in the lower left-hand corner is our 5th wheel's roof.

I managed to get some more kimchi made. (You can see I've already been into the first jar.)

I finished my second washcloth for the "Washcloths for Africa" effort. The yarn was some I bought in Finland years ago for a pullover. The pullover didn't need as much as I bought. (That's better than the other way. I bought plenty, because I knew it would be hard to get more in the days before Ravelry.) The brand is "Holiday," and it was made in Belgium by Gustaf Werner AB. It's a little thinner than the Sugar 'n Cream I've used for washcloths and dishcloths. I think it's DK.

I washed and dried the first one. I had to show it to the iron, because the edges curled up, but it blocked nicely with steam. It's darker than it appears in this photo. It's also Sugar 'n Cream, and the color name is "Teal."

I've started one in Sugar 'n Cream in "Warm Brown," and it's almost done. I worked on it while watching the American League Playoffs. My beloved Red Sox weren't in the matchup, so I cheered for the Astros, since Houston is one of the cities we've lived in. I hope to make a couple more washcloths after this one before I have to send them off.

This week's story was about how Emil has discovered he can learn to do a lot of things, but he's the only one who can communicate with animals. This was one of my favorite photos, where Mandy is teaching Emil to knit.

For a knit-along (also a crochet-along and sew-along) in one of the doll groups on Ravelry, I made some capri-length leggings for Charlotte. The theme was "Go Pink Day," for breast-cancer awareness and to remind everyone to get their mammograms. Some of the dolls had been shopping, and Charlotte found a pink ducky.

I also released the pattern for the twinset she's wearing in the photo. It's free on Ravelry and found here.

We went out to eat with DBIL on Thursday at the home of someone in the meet-up groups. It was a potluck, and I was busy, so I took my Italian Pronto. There were only six of us, but we had a great time, and DH and I met three new people. We will see them again soon. I didn't take any photos, but I hope to remember to do that next time.

The Central Oregon Symphony had a performance (three performances actually, at three different times) at the Bend High School. The tickets were free. We went yesterday. We heard Brahms Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15, with Ednaldo Borba at the piano. He was amazing. After an intermission, the orchestra played Haydn's Symphony No. 104 in D Major, the "London." I used to have it on vinyl, and it was nice to hear it again. It made me laugh. I loved the venue. The acoustics were perfect and we could see over the heads of the people in front of us. It was fun to see people I knew from church. Here are the musicians, warming up before the performance. (One of the violinists was our host for the scotch-tasting event a couple of weeks ago.)

Also this past week, on Thursday, Soren and Johan's school had a "fun run" to raise money for a track at the school. Soren is a good runner, so this is an important asset to have at his school.

Johan ran, too. He claimed to have run 1500 laps. He may have been exaggerating, but I don't know for sure.

We managed to keep up our two-mile walks each day for another week. 

I'm looking forward to another busy week ahead!

What's on my needles: More washcloths for Africa

What's on my sewing machine: More costumes (clothes) for the dolls.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Talking to Animals," where Emil realizes we each have different gifts.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Rachel Maddow's Blowout. I'm just getting into it, so I can't say much about it, but since DH worked most of his career in the oil and gas industry, I think it will be of interest.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards California Red Blend, 2016. I think this was the same bottle as last week

What's my tip of the week: You've probably thought of this yourself, but if you wash your sheets as soon as you strip the bed, you can have them dry in time to put them right back on the bed, thus saving the time to fold them.

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.

A Week of Events

There wasn't a lot of fiber fun this week, but I managed to finish one washcloth to go to a military troop stationed in Africa....

....and have a good start on another one.

I plan to wash them before sending them, as I've found that the dye in cotton yarn often runs.

The "Sunshine in the Rain" shawl is blocked and ready to wear. It was pretty easy to block, because it has holes in all the right places to line up to block evenly.

It took about 24 hours to dry.

We had our time taken up during the week with filling out paperwork to apply for a loan to refinance our house so we could get a better interest rate and finish the improvements and repairs. One glitch was the "Peggy-Margaret thing," as it has come to be known.

Back in the day, when I applied for my Social Security card, I was allowed to use "Peggy" although my birth certificate, passport, voter registration and driver's license were all issued to "Margaret." That was 1961. There was no problem at all until a few years ago when Utah passed a law that mandated that the name on your Social Security had to match your driver's license. By then, I was already receiving Social Security and didn't want to mess that up. I also didn't see why I had to change my name legally to Peggy, so I fought it. My state representative was able to get DMV to waive the issue. When I renewed, the same thing came up. I had a new state representative, who also was able to smooth the way for me to renew.

When we moved to Oregon, I was given the choice of which name I wanted on the license, but they recommended using Margaret, because that was what was on my passport, just in case I needed the additional identification for traveling overseas. So all my adult life (from 18 on), Peggy worked, received paychecks and paid income tax, while Margaret drove, voted, traveled overseas and gave birth to three children. With this refinance, the lender decided they wanted to have proof that I was both Peggy and Margaret, so I had to try to find the scanned copy of the letter I received from the state of Utah explaining the problem and the emails between my state representative, the person at the DMV and myself. Finding all that was a headache and took time, but I was finally able to produce them. It resulted in one more document for me to sign, too, but all's well.

On a lighter note, Friday's story in The Doll's Storybook was about a cat Mandy brought home from school and Emil's surprising ability. Here she is, taking off her coat after bringing the cat home in a box.

And here's the cat.

I've been trying to get permission from the manufacturer of the dolls (Götz Puppenmanufaktur Intl., a German company) to use my photos of the dolls in a printed book. I had received some legal advice that if I could document that I tried to get their permission and they didn't respond to my inquiry, they would have a hard time suing me if I went ahead and did it, so when they didn't respond to several emails, I sent them a registered letter, thinking that would be my documentation.

That was August 28th. On September 15th my letter arrived in Frankfurt, but then tracking only said it was en route to its destination. There was no change as of Wednesday, when I went to the post office to see if they could help me with tracking. The local post office only had access to the same information I had, but gave me a number I could call to find out what to do. I was busy with other stuff (see above) so it was Friday before I called. The representative I talked to on the phone explained how to put in an inquiry online. That would start the process of getting in touch with Deutsche Post to find out where my letter went. I spent half the day trying to file the online form.

After finishing with USPS online, I checked my email messages and discovered I had an email from Götz. In it, they said that they were delighted to give me permission, and that the wording I am using in my blog post explaining that I'm not affiliated with them and giving them credit for designing and producing the dolls was perfect for a published book or books, which meant they had looked at my stories. The next step will be to see if an organization that deals with pediatric cancer wants to get involved up front, if not, I'll have to self-publish on my own, but at least I can move ahead with the project. I'm so excited!

The week involved a lot of the H-word toward the end, because we have company coming this morning for coffee and pulla, and we had to clean the house. It needed cleaning anyway, because the appraiser will come sometime this week.

We went out Tuesday evening for a scotch-tasting party. We had 10 people. There is way too much to know about whiskey, but I could taste the difference, and they were all good. I found out that after you sniff the whiskey "neat," which means without mixing anything with it, you should add a few drops of water before tasting.

We watched this video together, just for fun.

The host had a small house, but she had a Steinway grand piano in her living room. she played a little bit for us.

It was fun having a small group in a casual setting. We got acquainted with everyone and had a nice time. It snowed when we left to go home. They are already planning another one, and we will be going.

We managed to continue our two-mile walks every day, in spite of the busy week, which included getting the dogs groomed.

It makes me tired, just re-reading all this! I hope to get in some fiber fun this week, and certainly the washcloths will continue.

What's on my needles: Washcloths for Africa

What's on my sewing machine: Put away for now.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Marmalade." Mandy comes home with a surprise.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I stopped listening to A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey to listen to How To Start a Revolution, a nonfiction book by Lauren Duca. The author is a young journalist and award-winning columnist at "Teen Vogue." The book made me laugh and cry at times. She talks about the new political awakening of millennials and other young people, and how they can change the world for the better peacefully. I can recommend it.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards California Red Blend, 2016 vintage. One of our staple wines.

What's my tip of the week: If you have bare floors meeting wall-to-wall carpeting, you can sweep the dust and dirt from the floors onto the carpeting and then vacuum the carpet, rather than sweeping into a dustpan. Obviously, you would only want to do this if you planned to vacuum the carpeting right after sweeping. Otherwise, you will be tracking the dirt and dust back onto the floor. (It's good to pick up any larger objects, such as books, newspapers, dog toys, balls of yarn, etc., first, though.)

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.

Small Creatures, Living and Make-believe

My "Sunshine in the Rain" shawlette is all done except for the blocking. 

I thought I would get it blocked in time to wear on Sunday, but things got in the way. I'll try to get it done this week.

Monday we had our first real snow of the season. As expected, though, it didn't stick long. 

The leaves are changing, though, and they're very pretty.

We had the annual blessing of the animals yesterday to celebrate the feast day of St. Francis. Rocky knew what it was all about, but Dusty just wanted to meet the other dogs or, as an alternative, come up and sit with me in the choir. Many of the dogs lifted their voices in song along with the congregation when we sang, "All Things Bright and Beautiful." The lady in the wheel chair is holding a lizard. He is a bearded dragon. She had him in a costume with dragon wings and a leprechaun hat. As far as I know, he did not sing along. We also had a fish. I don't think the fish sang, either.

My new character, Emil, was introduced in Friday's story, "Welcome, Emil!" In it, Emil comes to live with the cast of The Doll's Storybook. He comes with vision and hearing problems, but the other dolls do their best to make it easy for him to settle in.

I managed to gt two more T-shirts decorated with iron-on transfers. I used free graphics for Emil's skateboard design, and the "Forget Princess, call me Your Honor" design is from Free To Be Kids Shop on Etsy and is used with their kind permission. (They have T-shirts with the design available for people, but not for dolls.) I purchased the T-shirts for the dolls on Amazon. They are designed for 18" dolls, but fit the slightly taller dolls I use just fine.

Mandy's cat came with Emil from My Doll Best Friend in the UK and will make his appearance in next Friday's story.

If you're new to my blog, the dolls are from Götz, a German company, but they are manufactured (like pretty much all dolls these days) in China. Some of the dolls are available here, but a wider selection can be found internationally.

My friend Cheryl has a son serving in the military in Africa. He and his comrades will not be home for Christmas, so she is soliciting hand-knitted washcloths (and other knitted items) to send to them. Message her on Ravelry here if you have something you want to send her. The deadline is early November, so get cracking.

Our Daphne is raising money for Girl Scouts. If you don't have a scout of your own to support, feel free to purchase something here and use her as your scout: Daphne H., Troop 7074. They have an option of magazine gift cards to donate to members of the military and their families, so you can help our troops at the same time as helping the Girl Scouts.


What's on my needles: Washcloth for Cheryl's effort.

What's on my sewing machine: Jacket for Emil.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Welcome, Emil! Emil comes and settles in with his new family.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still A Scandal in Battersea by Mercedes Lackey, not much time to listen this week.

What's in my wine glass: Montevina Skyland Ridge Barbera 2016. Excellent!

What's my tip of the week: Do you have some old pillows that have seen better days? They can be repurposed as great throw pillows (who can't use more of those?) by covering with upholstery fabric or a quilted cover. Just cut a rectangle the size that will cover both sides of the pillow plus enough for a seam allowance. Right sides together, sew up two sides, turn right-side out, put the pillow inside and sew the open end shut. (You can do something fancier, if you want, but you don't need to.) If you need a spare pillow for a guest, you can always put a pillowcase over your decorative pillow.

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.