Marching into May

Last week, when Common Threads met at Margareth’s, Lynda finished this shawl.

She didn’t want me to take a photo then, because it needed blocking. It’s the Estonian Dreams Lace Shawl, from a Craftsy kit, and she only had a few feet left over when she finished it. She borrowed my lace blocking wires and let me take the photo when she returned them.

Tuesday we got more (ugh!) snow. Typical for this time of year, we got lots, and then it melted.

Wednesday morning my brother passed away. We were expecting it, and it was a blessing, because he had Alzheimer’s and had been in a memory care facility in Washington State for several years. His quality of life was nonexistent. It was his daughter’s responsibility to see that his care was adequate. I’m glad she can go on vacation now. We weren’t close at all, but we sometimes saw each other when the kids were small. This is my favorite photo of him.

The little blond boy in his lap is our younger son, Peter. The redhead in his lap is my niece, Amanda (after whom my doll Mandy is named) and the other little girl is our daughter, Karen. The photo was taken about 1979 or 1980.

I went to visit Joanie later in the morning. She doesn’t get out much anymore, so she needed a visit. She had her pine tree quilt on the wall, and I got a photo.

Those of you who have read my blog for several years may remember that several quilting friends helped her paper-piece this quilt. Our friend Julie did the quilting on her long-arm. The fabric choices were entirely Joanie’s, though. 

Ah, quilting! Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara’s on Thursday. Remember her arm-and-leg redwork quilt? The photos I took didn’t really show the quilting, but this one might. (It was the quilting, if you remember, that cost her an arm and a leg.)

Janet has settled on a background for her Dresden Plate quilt.

She has decided to put triangles in the corner of each block, the way Barbara did for this one, which Barbara had handy, because she was sewing on the binding.

Rebecca has been asked to do some embroidery for a sample for one of the quilt shops. She says this is an iron-on transfer. Her work is always exquisite.

Janet knew she would see me, and so she brought this dog for me. He is Tatlo, American Girl Kaya’s dog. She brought the travois, as well, but I will have to give it to them when they come this summer, as it will require a large box. She is keeping her daughter's dolls, but wanted to find a new home for Tatlo.

He made a great prop for showing off Mandy’s Mirabella cardigan. Here she is, modeling how you become acquainted with a new dog, presenting the back of your hand for a sniff.

Then, if the dog allows it, you can give him a good scratch behind the ears.

Here’s the official photo of the new sweater.

The pattern is by Debonair Designs. I used Knit Picks Palette in “Bluebell.” I've decided this is the doll Daphne needs for next Christmas, but supplies are running low, so I may have to buy her one soon.

I had been trying to reproduce a cropped cardigan when I made the lavender sweater for Dolly. Well, I actually made it for Mandy, but it looked better on Dolly and went with her dress, so it will go to Daphne Jr., along with the dress. That’s why Mandy ended up with the Mirabella. The reason I was trying to reproduce the lavender sweater was because the original was in French. My attempts at reverse-engineering turned out OK, but didn't exactly reproduce the sweater.

Someone in the My Doll Best Friend forum had used the pattern a number of times and had come up with the modification I liked. I studied German and can knit from German patterns, but that was little help to me, and I really wanted to try this pattern. She said she could translate it, but not right away. She suggested finding a glossary of French knitting terms. I found one here.

I took the pattern, and with the help of the glossary, found all the knitting terms in the pattern. Then I used Google translate for the words not in the glossary. I sent it to my friend in the forum with questions, and she was able to help me clean it up. She also gave me her modifications, because the sweater was actually designed to be waist length. Someone in the forum has already test-knit the translated original, and I have a good start on the modified version, this one in Knit Picks Palette in "Alfalfa."

Saturday is getting to be march day, even though April is over. This week’s march was for Climate, something we’re very concerned about. There wasn’t one in Park City, so we drove down to Salt Lake City to attend that one. There was a good turnout. We met at the public library and marched up to the governor’s mansion. The pups are getting very good about trotting along beside us.

I’ll have to look and see if we have a march next week. They’re going to be expecting one.

Speaking of the pups, today is Dusty's birthday. He's one year old today. It was also my father's birthday, which I think influenced me to pick from this litter. Happy birthday Dusty!

What's on my needles: French Back-to-school cardigan for Vroni. Doing the hand sewing on the Kaleidoscope binding.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, a staple.

What's my tip of the week: When taking photos, watch for things that might be reflected in mirrors, windows, even shiny furniture (none of that around my house). Also be aware of any objects in the background that might look as if they are part of what you’re photographing. (My mother once made her younger sister cry by telling her that the knob in the photo of them was growing out of her head, and they had to have it surgically removed. It was really part of the chair they were sitting in.)

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Raising the Steeks

This is Carter.

After an internship as a model for our grandsons' doll clothes, he will be completely outfitted with his own clothes and go on to his paying job (paying, in that he will be bringing in money) at Habitat for Humanity as part of their silent auction in October. After that, he will go to a new home, most likely with a child who will cherish him and his wardrobe. 

Carter came to us from My Sibling and My Pal Dolls and came with his own denim carry tote (so he can go everywhere), a lttle plastic-free shopping bag for his groceries and a booklet on how to protect the environment. It's a good thing he arrived on a warm day. Carter definitely needs some winter clothes at our place. I'll be making him some sweaters, and changing him into some warmer pants.

He told me he was named after the former president, who has been such a supporter of Habitat for Humanity.

One of the first things I did was to try Gabi's sweater on him to help me in designing a sweater for him and other dolls his size. I found it tighter than I liked for this kind of sweater.

It fit him about the same as it did Molly, who came to Vintage Stitchers with Janet, just for the purpose of trying the sweater on for size.

Molly is an American Girl doll. She has smaller shoulders than Carter, but her arms are longer. The chest measurements are about the same. Looks like I'll be writing the pattern for another steeked doll sweater very soon.

In the meantime, Vroni's sweater is coming along. I'm on the second sleeve now, but here it was with the first sleeve underway.

My test knitter, Penny, encouraged me to draw up a full chart for the body and the sleeve. I'm very grateful to her, because it turned out to be easier than I thought, and I can see it will make it easier for people who want to follow my pattern. I'm also grateful to Simon, who inspired me to make Fair Isle sweaters for dolls (by making some himself) and then sent Vroni to live with me.

I've learned a lot about making these sweaters and am hoping to have very clear directions when I get done with this one.

In other doll news, Dolly got her ears pierced.

Actually, they are stick-on rhinestones, and they can be removed easily.

I found them at Michael's. I'm going to check with DD first to see if she thinks having a doll with pierced ears might make Daphne want to get her ears pierced. If I get the OK, a package of these will be in the birthday present in May.

The snow is melting and after the crazy blizzard a week ago that resulted in my getting home at 11:20 PM from a rehearsal that got out at 9:10 PM, we haven't had any more snow. I was happy to get to Vintage Stitchers, first time in a month. I had picked up my Kaleidoscope quilt from being quilted. I took it to Vintage Stitchers to show off the custom quilting done by Cindy, who works out of Davidene's Quilt Shop. I hope to get the binding on it this week.

Barbara had finished this great quilt.

The backing fabric she found for it is perfect. That's it, hanging on the chair.

Marilyn had this great machine appliqué quilt.

Barbara showed off her Dresden Plate quilt, because Janet was working on one.

Janet put down the samples of background fabric under her finished Dresden Plates, to get our advice about which one was most suitable. We all voted for the one on the left, which has a printed pattern that resembles a loose-weave fabric.

The quilt is for her daughter, who is getting married. Several of us went through our batiks and donated the colors she wanted, so she could have a variety.

Janet has been making pussy hats for friends.

With bulky yarn they go fast, and everyone wants them. She can make one in an evening, about as fast as making a dishcloth. Janet is so generous with her time.

Here's some added cuteness and a taste of spring, for my readers who live in parts of the country where spring comes when it's supposed to: our two younger grandsons planting strawberries at a local nursery.

Speaking of "spring," the pups are happy to get out in the backyard again, which they have been able to do the last few days, first with supervision: someone to keep them away from the house, where large blocks of ice were coming off the roof, a serious danger. We then graduated to letting them out alone for short periods when we couldn't see any snow hanging off the edges of the roof. Now the roof is clear...until the next blizzard.

What's on my needles: The second sleeve on the “Vroni’s Lavender Fields” sweater.

What's on my Featherweight: Steeks for “Vroni’s Lavender Fields” sweater are finished. Waiting for the next one.

What's on my loom: I still haven’t started anything with the leftover warp.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi still looking at me reproachfully.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to D. E. Stevenson’s Vittoria Cottage. Now listening to Lies, Damned Lies, and History by Jodi Taylor. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Fish Eye Shiraz. Always nice value.

What's my tip of the week: Like creamed soups but don’t want to fill up on cream? Want to add protein to a boxed soup? Use a carton of silken tofu to make your soup creamy without the fat or to increase the protein for a quick meal. Blend in the blender or use an immersion blender or egg beater to mix the tofu with some liquid. The soft tofu is the easiest to blend, but you can use even the extra firm with the same results. You might need to adjust the seasonings, because the tofu doesn’t add any.

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Nesting for Winter, Part II

The quilt for Habitat for Humanity's Overall Ball fundraiser is coming along. I finished putting the blocks together with sashing, corner stones and a border.



This involved a consult with Janet and another one with Julie, as we were trying to get by with fabrics on hand. I was scrambling, but managed to get the top pieced in time to pass it off to Julie at Vintage Stitchers.

We met at Janet's. Diane was appliquéing this Dresden Plate design.



Carol is finishing up her yellow quilt, the one that made me fall in love with the lovely yellow floral fabric. She's putting the binding on.



Janet was also finishing up this quilt. It's "Blue Lagoon" from It's from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Quilts, the first book in the series.



She had finished piecing her "Sparkling Gemstones, also from Jelly Roll Quilts. (Janet has set a goal to make every quilt in the book.)



This was a pretty design, but when I made it, I regretted following the directions exactly. The way they designed it, it ended up with extra seams that made piecing difficult. I suggested to everyone in my group (do as I say, not as I did) to just strip piece the jelly roll "gem" fabrics as directed, and then sew the thinner strip on after the pieces are cut and sewn into the little rectangle 4-patches. Barbara and Janet both avoided my problem by doing that.

Janet has used the same gray fabric for the background that she gave me to use for the border in the Habitat quilt. I love that fabric!

You may remember that I spent a good part of the previous week cleaning and organizing my fiber studio. It turns out that I managed to injure my right knee, with the repeated climbing up and down on the kitchen ladder to fold and arrange my fabrics and yarn, and especially with the twisting, as I turned around repeatedly. It required a trip to the doctor and X-rays when it didn't seem to be getting any better. No serious damage, though. There was some fluid collected in the knee, and it's finally getting better.

Saturday afternoon the new sofa bed from IKEA came. In five boxes. We managed to get it put together and useable by 8:00 PM. It was an interesting study of two people working together: one who had read the instructions and the other who liked to be in charge. I would say the hardest part was ironing the removable slipcover. Now I have a  new knitting nook in my fiber studio. (Even though the slipcover is washable, I have it covered with my Sparkling Gemstones quilt, to protect it from the pups. I'm sure it's easier to wash than the slipcover.)



The old sofa bed went to Carol's gardener. The space has to double as sleeping space for company, as we only have one guest room. Our house originally had four bedrooms, but one became our dining room, and one became DH's "study." 

Remember my Mr. F.? He's on the move again!



I'm going to try to finish him as a present for one of the grandkids this Christmas.

I also drafted a block for a quilt I plan to make when I can get a chance, but I really want to finish up some more UFOs before the end of the year.

Johan hit two months, I think his personality is starting to show in his photos.

Finally, happy anniversary to my mostly loveable DH. We were married 49 years ago today and hope to make it to 50 if one of us doesn't kill the other! (Life would have been very dull without you, Sweetie!)

What's on my needles: Some progress on the Johan Socks socks as well as on "the elusive Mr. F." (my name for him from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin).

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick. Still reading Joseph Lallo's The Book of Deacon from Book Bub.

What's my app of the week: FaceTime. I tried to Skype with our DS1 and DIL, but was unable to do it. We couldn't figure out what was wrong. They had the same problem on their end. We switched to FaceTime. Easy, and the video was much clearer than Skype. I guess Skype is charging now, but I'm not sure.

What's in my wine glass: Bogle Petit Sirah 2012. A nice choice, and the bottle is recognizable from the back.

What's my tip of the week: If you buy something with a label or price tag that comes off but leaves sticky stuff behind, use the sticky side of the label to press repeatedly on the sticky part, and most or all of it will come off. If the label doesn't want to come off, try running the hair dryer over the label for a few seconds. Labels are usually easily removed after this treatment.

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.