This is a big deal!
We have been trying to teach Dusty to go through the dog door on his own ever since we moved here but have had to hold the flap up before he would go through. We replaced the flap with a fringe of clear plastic after Rocky injured himself when he got hung up on the two-section flap. We thought Dusty would go through, but he still needed at least a flap or two held up. I tried to entice him with treats, but no dice.
Yesterday I tossed the ball through, and he followed it. Now he goes through on his own. No more whining at the door and calling us away from our other activities. He will now go through both ways on his own.
Most of the time this past week was spent working on the layout for the new book, Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. I've had the cover done since I finished the first book. Here's the front.
As is the case with Mariah, there are three stories taken from the blog. The stories included in Emil's book are these:
Getting What You Want
The Boys Cook Dinner
The book is with my proofreaders/editors now.
The whole-cloth quilt is coming along. I'm now at the corner of the section I've been working on.
It will take three more times moving the hoop and quilting four zigzag lines (that's how I do cross-hatching) from one end of the hoop to the other before moving the hoop again Then I'll be at the swag. Then just the part outside the swag to do, all the way around the quilt. Then I can get back to some hand-appliqué and finish a quilt I started a few years ago.
The loom is partly warped for the trailer rugs. I just need to get DH to help me wind it on and put the paper between the layers. (It works better with two people.)
If you read last week's post, you may be surprised to see some warp of a different color from what I was winding and taking to the loom. I ran out of the grey. That left me with three choices:
1) Substitute another color from the ones I was using for the grey in the corresponding spot in the last set of warp threads and have an unbalanced pattern
2) Add a new color and have an odd stripe on one side, also an unbalanced pattern
3) Add a new color and somehow remove the grey from the first section I wound and replace it with the new color.
I found some yarn in my stash that might be suitable. It's Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in "Peony," which is a dusty rose. This yarn is 75% cotton and 25% acrylic. I think it will be OK, because I've found the cotton yarn I'm using for warp doesn't shrink. I picked option #3. I elected the take out the first grey stripe and substitute the Peony yarn, so there would be a pink stripe on each side, instead of just one. This meant untying all the ties, including the choke tie (!) in that first chain of warp. Then I moved the warp to extra lease sticks, skipping the grey stripe I wanted to remove and adding the pink stripe in its place. Then I transferred the warp back to the original lease sticks and continued on. It wasn't easy, but I think it's going to work out OK. As you can see from the photo, I've already done the rough sleying.
The new color will still go well with the trailer's "decor," which I would describe as "1990s Motel."
The members of the choir who have been fully vaccinated and were available (that is, not on vacation) were planning to sing in person on Sunday. Rehearsing on Wednesday was a lot of fun. Then we heard on Saturday that the director's wife, who had been out of town, had been exposed to Covid-19, so the director and his family are in quarantine. The choir will try to sing the piece we practiced again later in the month.
I’m working on a pattern for a hooded sweatshirt for LKs. This is the prototype, but I had to move one side of the zipper. I didn't get the two sides even. (Got out the seam ripper!) It's better now, but when I write up my instructions, I'm going to have to make a point of lining up the pockets.
I think my pattern pieces are good to go except I want to add 1/4" to the front and the pocket pieces, so the part you fold over to sew the zipper on is 1/2" instead of 1/4". I cut the pieces out of girls' stretch leggings rather than buy fabric for it.
Here she is with the hood up. She has a pony tail, and it takes up most of the hood.
You may recognize little Pippa if you read my stories. She has been chosen to play the character Holly in stories that involve her. Holly is a friend of Emil's who uses a wheelchair to get around. She shares her experiences with Emil in letters. I'm currently working on a story where she and her human little girl, Sam, who also uses a wheelchair, are involved in the Come Roll With Me program, in which able-bodied children and students spend a day in a wheelchair in different settings. It gives participants the opportunity to experience firsthand the challenges of using a wheelchair. The aim is to create understanding and respect for wheel-chair users, and in the case of young children, eliminate their fear of them. The program attempts to normalize wheelchair users in their eyes.
Pippa needs a separate wardrobe when she plays Holly, who is bigger and older than Pippa. It gives Pippa a chance to pretend to be a big girl.
For some cuteness, here's grandson Soren, who is on vacation in Hawaii with the rest of his family, having his regular speech therapy virtually.
Not too long ago, if a child's family went away on vacation, he would just have to miss a therapy session or two. I think we should all try to get some good out of the pandemic. It has been (and continues to be) horrible, but there's always something good we can learn from the challenges of life.
Where's my blog: If you have been following my blog and want to continue following, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.
What's on my needles: Air stitches? I can't believe I don't have anything going. However, if we need to go out, I can always grab some cotton yarn and needles, and make another dish cloth.
What's on my loom: Trailer Raggedy Rugs warp.
What's on my sewing machine: Hooded sweatshirts for dolls.
What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: In the exciting conclusion to "Hair Today, Curly Next Week?" we find out how Mandy's experiment with making her hair curly turns out.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg on the Chirp app. I'm really enjoying it.
What's in my wine glass: El Tinto by Madroña. This has been a favorite of ours for a long time, as has been the winery.
What's my tip of the week: If you shorten a separating zipper for doll clothes and accidentally pull the zipper pull tab off the end (oops), it's easy to put the pull tab back on the side with the stop at the bottom. Just pull the zipper apart from the top, place the pull tab at the top of the side with the stop, slide it down to the stop and sew over the top, so it won't come off again. the other end can then be inserted into the pull tab and zipped up.
Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.
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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