Stocking Up

 My needles have been rediscovering socks, and I had forgotten how much fun they could be. The pattern this time is Vilai from Cookie A's Sock Innovation.

My preferred method for knitting socks is to use two circular needles, rather than a set of DPNs.

The July knit along in the Goetz Doll Lovers forum on Ravelry continues. A designer has offered four new patterns. If you buy two of them, you can get the other two for free, one for each one of the others you knit and post in the group. A project page is required for each completed project. Since I'm one of the moderators, I'm trying to support the activity in the group, so last week I made one of the projects. This week I set aside my socks to make another project.

The yarn is left over from this year's Mystery Knit Along from the Rose City Yarn Crawl. It has little bits of dark hot pink in it, so I put some hot pink buttons on the back. The pattern is called Dandelions and it was designed by Sharisse Dunn of Sugar Grove South.

It was a lot of fun to knit with some interesting features, including a crocheted connection of the sleeves at the underarm, easy to do, thanks to the photos showing before and after the process. My model for this top is "Pam," Götz Little Kidz Springtime. In my stories she plays a doll character who lives with a little girl who is diabetic.

The shaping gives the top a nice fit.

I've been harvesting the basil, but it's growing back. Not enough to make pesto, though. The Madroña Vineyards pop-up group is considering doing something with a pesto recipe for one of our meetings. I would have to buy some to have enough to make pesto, but these plants are enough to produce a few leaves for when I'm in the mood for a little basil.

We had some mushrooms that needed to be used, so I made my tuna casserole (cream of mushroom soup, peas, egg noodles) but added a bunch of sautéed mushrooms and onions with a little added salt and pepper. I think I'll have enough to freeze for camping.

We needed the weekly loaf of bread, of course. I use my sourdough starter, which is made using unbleached flour, so I add 1/8 cup each of gluten flour, wheat bran and oat bran, and then the rest whole wheat flour.

I've been going over the music for the Summer Choir. Monday's practice went well, I think. I was disappointed when it was time for us to stop. I'm looking forward to tonight's practice.

The dogs and I walked each day this week. Charlie joined us when he could, but he skipped a couple of days because of other things he had to do outdoors before it got too hot, like mowing the plants in the front and back of the house. (I wouldn't exactly call the stuff "grass.") Most of our walks were along the Larkspur trail and some off-leash time in the woods, but on Saturday, we joined the Trinity Episcopal Church's "hike" (really a nice walk) at Alpenglow Park. We made two loops in opposite directions and ended up with almost 1 3/4 miles.

Some folks were giving out "Watchtower" brochures at the park, and we recruited one to take this photo of our group.

We followed up with lunch at Cascade Lakes Brewing, which was on our way home. 

We drove by Jim's old house after lunch. Charlie wanted to get a photo of what the new owners had done to the front yard for inspiration and ideas for what to do with ours.

We've also been watching the FIFA World Cup. The last two games were especially fun to watch. Sandy wasn't all that excited about it.

Alexa and Johan are still in France. Here's Johan singing a duet with a busker at the 

Sacré-Cœur. How much fun is that? They should be on their way home today.

Sandy is storing up energy for the next walk/hike.

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, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories 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, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, 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: Took some time off from the Vilai socks to make a new top for Pam (see above) and now back to the socks.

What's on my iPhone: Finished Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the Audiobooksnow app. Now back to Wildwood by Colin Meloy.

What's on my sewing machine: Still put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena has come back from Australia, and the boys want to see her photos. The dolls from the ski team got to go to a special zoo in Sydney where all the animals native to Australia are on exhibit. How much fun is that? Back from Down Under.

What's my tip of the week: There are special water dishes or water bottles you can get to provide water to your dog on walks/hikes. I don't have anything special. The dogs and I share the water bottle. I serve their water in a little Tupperware bowl that fits in my pouch. The lid will go back on for a leakproof seal, if they don't drink it all, saving water for the next hydration break. I don't have to throw any water away, which helps when the hike takes longer and the weather is hot.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

Book #7 is in the works.

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, only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

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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