Monday, March 18, 2024

In and Out and More....

The Oregon Autumn Cardigan is officially underway. The ribbing is called corrugated, because the color goes in and out, giving the ribbing a corrugated appearance. The floats are carried loosely in the back of the work.

Now I'm working on the main body of the sweater.


I made a color chart using the Jamieson's Spindrift 2-ply Shetland yarn. I took screen shots of all the colors. I ended up changing a couple of the colors before I bought the yarn.

As soon as we got home from the Yarn Crawl I cast on for the swatch. I went down a needle size, but after a few rows I could tell it was going to be too loose, so I went down another size. After blocking, it was still 27 sts/inch instead of 28, but it should make less than 1" difference, so I think it will be OK. I had the same yarn but in colors I wasn't using, so I used them for my gauge swatch. I didn't want to run out of yarn and have to mail-order more.

If you read last week's post, you know that I finished knitting the Hudson Bay Jacket for Zachary's doll during the trip home. I blocked it and sewed on the buttons early this past week and tried it on the doll to get photos.

I think "Alex" looks pleased with the jacket. (Zachary may change his name.) He will be ready to come out and play when he gets to Wisconsin.

Here's a shot from the back. I eliminated the flared shape, which I thought more appropriate for a girl doll and made the hood a bit smaller. Otherwise, I just used smaller needles and thinner yarn to get it to fit this smaller doll than the pattern was designed for.

I sewed up the pants I already had cut out. They went together quickly.

The pockets are a nice detail that look like a lot of trouble but are really easy to sew. After changing him back into the clothes he came with, I put him back in the box to mail off. I just need to buy some birthday wrapping paper.

I picked up my new hearing aids on Monday. I like how easy it is to use them to listen to audiobooks. I'm still missing a lot of words when someone is talking in a big room or with other noise, but I will be able to have some adjustments made. I'll keep the old ones as back-ups, but the batteries are not as good as the new ones.

Tuesday evening we had another Madroña Pop-up meeting. I had only a small glass of Riesling before switching to a liquid that looks the same in the glass but isn't nearly as tasty, because I was scheduled to have a colonoscopy Wednesday afternoon.

It was supposed to have been done mid-November, but then I had that accident that put me in the hospital overnight. They wanted me to postpone the procedure because of the injury, so I rescheduled it for March 13. The liquid you have to drink didn't taste nearly as disgusting as I remember it from last time, but I still don't have my sense of smell back (lost due to the head injury), so maybe that's why. I had no polyps this time. I felt like the kid in the toothpaste commercial, "Look Ma! No cavities!" The best part was reading the report, where the gastroenterologist described the patient as "competent." 

Speaking of the accident last November, on Saturday we decided to take the dogs out for some exercise. This is the first time we've been to Alpenglow Park since the accident, so, in a way, we were returning to the scene of the crime. I made sure to stand next to the fence. We forgot to bring a ball, but someone had left some nifty sticks in the off-leash area, so we used them.

Soon some other people came with Chuck-its and balls, so Dusty had a great time racing against the other dogs to try to get the ball first. Sandy mostly wanted to socialize. We followed that up with a walk. We got in exactly one mile after getting out of the car walking around on the trails and getting back in to go home. No dogs knocked me (or anyone) down.


On Sunday, we went out again and hiked the Deschutes River Trail, almost four miles. It was warm and sunny. Some people were swimming.

We started out at the off-leash area, just to take the edge off their energy. Then we walked up the trail on the west side of the river, crossed over the last bridge and came back down on the east side, over the second bridge and back to the car, which was parked at the off-leash yard. It felt like spring already.


We came home, shared a Guinness and watched Irish movies on TCM, while I knitted and made adjustments to my hearing aid.

For some cuteness, here is Johan playing the recorder and wearing his Stuart tartan kilt.

I'm wondering if he plans to get out some bagpipes next.


I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah or Classic Tales Retold, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.


Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Only a few rows pin the Chullo hat, but starting the pattern on the Oregon Autumn Cardigan.

What's on my loom: Still folded up.

What's on my sewing machine: Getting ready for Daphne's quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Pippa tells Pam about all the fun things the dolls can do when the rest of the snow is gone and the weather gets warmer in Anticipation, an all-new story from The Doll's Storybook.


What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Attack from Within by Barbara McQuade. Now listening to All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. For my physical-book reading, I'm still reading Elfen Königin by Holly Black, translated from English.

What's in my wine glass: Gran Maestro Rosso Puglia 2019.

What's my tip of the week: When I count stitches on a knitting project I often get past 20 and lose my place. Now I routinely put a stitch marker in every 20 stitches. If I need to check, I can just add by 20s. 

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 
Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook is available from the BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. Poems included are Valentine's DayKeeping PetsBack to School, Victor the VultureThe Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.
The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green GreatcoatThe Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.
Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers. The link for Book Baby is hereThe three stories in Emil are Best BudsGetting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.
The three stories in Mariah are Being LittleBesties, and Distraction.
If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less. 



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.

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