Packing for...?

We've been getting ready to pick up our new trailer in Eugene. I made a couple of dishcloths and a nylon scrubby. Unfortunately, the pattern I have for the scrubby is no longer available, but I found this one, which looks to be almost the same. I used a much finer nylon net this time, and I found it easier to work with.

I'm adding this dish mat, which is the second one I made two years ago. How I made it is on the project page on Ravelry. I'm keeping the red one here at home.

You can see we're going with grey and turquoise as our main colors. I like these two colors, alone and separately, and we thought they would go well with the grey cabinets and the rag rugs I made last year for the trailer. Most of our bedding needed replacing anyway, so we got new sheets (only our third set in 23 years!) a new duvet cover (replacing the first one we got 23 years ago), which came with pillow shams. The mattress cover was also original and was starting to have holes in some places. We're keeping the original quilt for now, because it's a good cover on the bed to protect from muddy paws, but we're adding a fake fur throw, which Sandy loves. We can put the bedding into black plastic trash bags and hope they don't get mixed up with actual trash. 

We have inexpensive bath and hand towels, but I used those to pack our kitchen things, which includes our dishes. It mostly fits into five small boxes. This is greatly pared down from what we had in our old fifth wheel. It doesn't include our clothes, toiletries and personal items. We will only take enough clothes for a few days, because we have to fit everything into the truck. We'll tape up the boxes, put them in the bed of the truck and hope it doesn't rain.

It also doesn't include food, other than coffee, tea and a few other shelf-stable items, along with any leftovers from our fridge that might spoil if we left them. We'll use an insulated bag with cold packs from our freezer for cold stuff, and then we'll grocery shop for what we need when we get custody of the trailer and know how much will fit into the fridge, which is 6 cu. ft., which I think is smaller than what we had in the fifth wheel.

How about that old 5th wheel, which we sold on June 28th? It's still sitting on our RV pad. The gentleman who was supposed to pick it up had his tow vehicle break down. Sound familiar? He lives in Portland or Salem. It's taking some time to get it fixed. (Looking for parts, is my guess.) The registration and insurance on the fifth wheel runs out this month. We were going to give him the tow hitch, but he will have to get here and get it installed. We will need a place to put the new trailer. We're still trying to work things out. Right now, we don't know when we'll go to pick it up.

Health issues (mine) interfered with my activities this past week. I had an infected toe, which took me (limping) to urgent care. The day after I went to urgent care, I discovered that I had a UTI, which sent me to see my regular doctor (still limping). Now I'm on two antibiotics and no longer limping, but it took a lot of time getting it all sorted out. I did manage to get the blocks for Soren's quilt organized according to the arrangement I worked out last week. I have each block labeled with a pinned sticky indicating where it goes. 

Sandy continues to grow, tipping the scales at 17 lbs. as of Friday. He is now six months old. Minis grow faster and finish maturing sooner than standards, so we still have the expectation that he will be under 25 lbs. when he stops growing. He made us look good at training class on Sunday, in spite of the fact that I was unable to practice loose-leash walking with him during the week due to the toe, which continued to hurt when wearing any kind of shoe for most of the week. Dusty keeps Sandy exercised when we can't walk (or maybe it's the other way around).

Here's Sandy and his friend Snowball having a bedtime tussle in the upstairs hallway.

Sandy brings Snowball to bed with him at night. I think Snowball will have to go camping with us when we go.

Soren has been enjoying summer school. Here he is, off on the bus.

Johan, who turned nine this week, learned how to use a power drill, when the family put together a new shed for tools and things in the backyard. Useful life skills!

Useful in a different way, is Zachary's hiphop class. (He's the one in the white shirt.) I think he's very good!

I only got a couple of rows of the Kultainen käki sweater done, with the dish cloths and scrubby taking up my knitting time and all the other things, including another new story in The Doll's Storybook this week. (More info on that below). Here's how it's looking.

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 "Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's. 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 and Mariah, 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: Still the Kultainen käki cardigan and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating), but also the dishcloth.

What's on my loom: Still the rag placemats, no progress.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready to put the quilt blocks together.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Nico has a problem in "The Secret," this week's story in The Doll's Storybook. Pauly thinks Veronika can help.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende, not much progress there, either. 

What's in my wine glass: Another Madroña El Tinto, always a favorite.

What's my tip of the week: If you need to save on space and keep food for a trip cold in an ice chest, use frozen food you expect to use up in the first few days as "ice." (Be sure it's food that is safe to cook thawed.)

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

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The 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 here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah are Being Little, Besties, 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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Weaving In and Out

A lot went on this week. As you may remember, the mattresses arrived and exploded (under control). Well, Wednesday the table arrived. We put it together and pushed it to one side. Friday the bed arrived. Putting it together was more complicated, but we managed to put the bed together that day.

Saturday we put together the trundle. 

(It looks like DH is the only one working, but someone had to take the photo, and I did help.) The trundle was easier to put together, because the construction was identical to the bed.

I still need to make pillow covers for the bed, but in the meantime, I just folded Joanie's quilt over the pillows. I put the new pillow cases on the pillows and used the little bags the bedding came in as covers for some smaller pillows we had. 

This will give you a better idea of how the room looks in use. (The other pillows were from another bedroom. They will be more useful here.) The old folding table was hard to use for storage, because the folding mechanism was in the way. It was also too big.

DH needs to put up the curtain rod for me. When the sun is at the back of the house in the morning, we have nice light in this room, but when the sun shines on the front later in the day, we have to close the room-darkening shades to keep the house from heating up, and then you can't see anything. The curtains will help keep the room from heating up so much if I want to be working in there during the afternoon and need the light to see.

The Kevät is finished! Here it is blocking:

I chose to block the bottom ribbing in points because it was expedient. It wanted to do that anyway, and it only needed to be pinned in 6 places. I used my lace blocking wires for the sides and shoulders.

Here it is blocked and getting acquainted with some of my other pieces of clothing.

Here's how it fits. (Excuse the crepey arms. I'm an old lady.)

I finished the dish mat while we talked with the kids during our regular Sunday Zoom call.

The loom is finally in use, but not before much groaning and gnashing of teeth. If you remember, I wound the warp last week. The different kinds of fiber didn't cooperate with each other the way I hoped they would, and they made a big mess when I tried to warp the loom. It was great practice, though. I had some Peaches 'n' Cream cotton yarn, so I wound the warp again, using only the cotton yarn. I still had some issues, but I managed to get past where I had the mess. I've been using the Craftsy class Floor Loom Weaving as my guide. One thing the teacher mentioned that I hadn't remembered from when I used it to make the project was that all the heddles should be leaning to the right for a right-handed person and to the left for a left-handed person. If they are the wrong way, you need to turn them upside-down, not just turn them over to the other side. I remembered we had taken the heddle frames out of the loom to move it (twice), so I decided to check. I found one set that were all on the same way, but the whole set was up-side down. That was easy to fix by taking the frame out and replacing it the correct way. ALL the others had some the right way and some the wrong way. They must have been this way when I received the loom! Here you can see what I'm talking about. Look at the two heddles in the center of the photo. The heddle on the right is set up for a right-handed person. The other one is for someone who is left-handed.

I took out each heddle frame, took off all the heddles and checked each one before putting it back on the heddle rods. When I got to the third and last frame I had to do this with, I noticed the paint on one end but not on the other. See the one with no paint? It's upside-down compared with its fellows. I discovered that when you have all the painted ends together, all the heddles will be facing the same way.

It should have been easy to realize. It did make it easier to finish the third set. Duh! I don't remember anyone's mentioning this before, but they probably did. Threading the heddles was easier than I remembered from previous projects. This must be why.

Next was to put the beater bar back on with the reed in place to sley the reed. (That black thing in the bottom of the photo is a sleeping Rocky, not a discarded sweater or jacket.)

I managed to get all the threads into the reed in the right order, which I found shocking when I discovered I had done it right. However, when I went to tie up the treadles, I discovered that the job was made more difficult because the treadles weren't quite in the right position. I have figured out that the guys had installed the treadle assembly upside-down. See those holes at the bottom of the photo where the screws go in? That's side is supposed to be facing the floor. The treadles needed to be flipped around to be in the right position. 

It's supposed to fit  down on the floor, as in this photo from our old place:

I explained to DH, and he unscrewed the two bolts holding the base of the assembly, so we could flip it over. 

I managed to tie up and throw a few picks to even out the warp, so I'm finally off to a good start. Now I'm going to weave a narrow border that will hold the fringe at each end of the rug.

I didn't need to undo anything when we fixed the treadle assembly, other than to untie the treadles.

In other news, you may have heard about the terrific heat wave that has descended on the Pacific Northwest. It isn't quite as bad here as locations lower in elevation and closer to the coast, like Portland, but it's still expected to be over 100ºF for the next few days here where we are. However, the difference between sun and shade is much greater than most places. This is what we had yesterday evening, as the sun was getting low and shining right on the front porch.

You may remember that our furnace went out last Fall and we replaced it with a unit that included air conditioning. It's a very efficient and quiet unit, operating with a fraction of the energy older models require. Here's a photo of our thermostat inside the house at the time it was so hot outside.

We have it set on 78ºF, and it pretty much stays there. Upstairs it's a little bit warmer, so we run our little portable air cooler in the bedroom, which keeps it comfortable.

What a week! And DH has an unpleasant medical procedure today, which requires that I drive him. It's supposed to continue to have record-breaking temperatures, but I hope this week goes more smoothly.

Where's my blog: As you may know, the entity that notifies people when a blog they follow posts will discontinue notifications in July. This motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Just finished the Dish Mat, but there's still the Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl. I will be working on it again, now that the Kevät is done.

What's on my sewing machine: Its cover. However, I will be making the pillow covers and revising the curtains soon.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No progress this week. (Are you kidding?)

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Look-alikes. Pippa wishes she were more like the other dolls.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Rose Code by Kate Quinn.

What's in my wine glass: Crystal Range Barbera 2019. Excellent.

What's my tip of the week: We occasionally eat vegetarian hot dogs with buns, but so seldom, we need to freeze most of the hot dogs. I put the hot dogs, two-by-two, into sandwich bags and tuck each pair into a larger zippered bag with two buns. When we're ready to eat them, I just pull out the pair of dogs and buns, just the amount we need.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. 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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Mostly Beds

Vintage Stitchers is meeting again after the holidays.

I took my finished Kaleidoscope quilt top to lay out on Janet’s lovely big floor. Most of the fabrics for this quilt are from Connecting Threads Kaleidoscope line, but a few from my stash thrown in. The background fabric is Kona Snow. I adapted the pattern "Fresh" from "Simply Retro with Camille Roskelley: Fresh Quilts from Classic Blocks.” I just changed the block to eliminate most of the extra seams. I also matched up the fabrics in each block, so there are only four different fabrics in each block plus the background fabric.

Janet is making the same quilt, but according to the directions in the book, with the extra seams and the scrappy look.

Janet has finished this Christmas quilt top, one she has been working on for several years. It was a BOM from Thimbles and Threads in Draper.

She also showed us this Posy quilt top.

Barbara also has finished a BOM quilt top.

When she was choosing fabric for the alternate blocks and border, another customer in the store kept telling her she had to use brown. We think the red is just the thing. In quilting or knitting, “one man’s meat,” as they say. Some people like meat, and some are vegetarian. There are no rules for color, only suggestions to use if you can’t come up with what you like on your own. It's "play," after all.

Marilyn had finished this French Braid top for a table runner. It doesn’t go with her decor, but it does go with Rebecca’s, so Marilyn gave it to Rebecca to finish.

Julie was working on this machine-pieced Cathedral Windows piece for a pillow.

She and her daughter bought a layer cake jointly. Julie liked these fabrics, and her daughter liked some of the other fabrics, mostly black patterns, so they shared it.

Julie, Janet and Carol, from Common Threads, have all been taking the Stitching Society class in wool and flannel appliqué at Davidene’s. Julie has finished this piece:

Janet has finished more hexagons for the class:

Barbara had seen Julie’s needle case for the class and copied it:

Carol has tons of yellow and grey fabrics left over from her foray into that colorway, so she’s making a Dresden Strip quilt:



Rebecca is going to appliqué these Kaffe fabric hexagon patterns onto a background.

I also used Janet’s nice big floor to get a photo of my Crystal Stars (aka “Ocular Migraine”). The direction of the light source really shows off Julie's lovely quilting.

This quilt was one I designed after Connecting Threads “Sumptuous,” which was available in a kit but not the pattern alone. I eliminated a lot of the seams for it, too, as described in this previous blog of mine.

Remember the Kitty Julie made for her granddaughter for Christmas? She now has a nightgown.

The Kitty is from Little Cotton Rabbits. They also have a bunny, a fox, an elephant, a mouse and a monkey. You can pick a girl or a boy.

Julie improvised this dress.

Here's another dress.

The monkey is for Julie’s younger granddaughter.

Meanwhile, Dolly’s adventures continue. Remember that extra skein of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino left over from the Valentine outfit I couldn’t bring myself to take back to Wasatch & Wool? The planned cardigan turned out nicely.

Lana on Quilt With Us told me about making a bed for 18” dolls using a plastic tote, and offered to loan me the pattern. I went online and found instructions here. The mattress goes on top of the lid, and the doll’s clothes and accessories can be stored inside.

O. M. G.! Lana opened up another rabbit hole for me, and down I went. Of course, I took liberties with the instructions. It’s my way. I mentioned it in the American Girl Knitters group on Ravelry, and inspired Shaggytoby to make the project, too. We have been bouncing ideas off each other.

I used a Sterilite Underbed Box 28 Qt., Model #1846 DH found at Walmart for $4.38. To keep the mattress from sinking into the depression when Dolly lies down, I cut a piece of an old political sign the same size as the mattress, which is 16 X 23”, 1” foam (left over from Dolly’s chair), and put it in the under the foam in mattress cover at the base. I put the seam in the middle at the bottom, so it wouldn’t show. Dolly doesn’t sink in, but the mattress is still nice and soft, so she can sleep well.

The dust ruffle is four 7" WOF strips of quilting fabric sewn together and hemmed 1/4" and an additional 1/4", gathered at the top and sewn with a 1/4” seam to a piece of muslin cut the shape of the lid of the storage box.

The bedding for Dolly’s bed is coming along. The pillow and the sheets are done.

Dolly is showing you how I made the “fitted” bottom sheet like a pillow case. It took a little more fabric, but no elastic (which I’ll be needing for Dolly’s dresses) and the sheet will stay “tucked in” while she sleeps. All bottom sheets would be made this way, I think, if we could lift our mattresses as easily as we can lift Dolly’s. So far, I haven't bought anything new for this project except for the container. Everything else was in my stash or left over from other projects.

The body of Dolly’s crossover sweater is blocking. I found my sewing “ham” perfect for the job.

Now working on the second sleeve.

Spinners, don’t forget, we’re having a Spin Along on the Knitting Community if anyone wants to join in.

Where? Right here, in the Knitting Community Spin Along.

When? Noon on Friday, February 5 - noon on Monday, February 8, 2016, in whatever time zone you're in.

Equipment: Spindle or wheel. (If you want to use the pencil method to spin, that's OK, too.)

Materials: Any spinable fiber. (Dryer lint, anyone?)

No prizes, no pressure, just spinning together and sharing what we’re doing.

What's on my needles:  Dolly’s Crossover Cardigan for “Dolly’s Out for Shopping” outfit. The Trickle Socks, waiting.

What's on my Featherweight: Kaleidoscope Quilt top finished. Now working on bedding for Dolly’s bed.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley, from Audible. Just started listening to The Final Empire by Bandon Sanderson. Got a special deal on it, along with the next book in the series. Still reading The Other Harlow Girl by Lynn Messina on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Twisted Old Vine Zinfandel 2013, in honor of one of DDIL2’s favorite yarn shops, Twisted, in Portland, Oregon.

What's my tip of the week: If you’re breaking eggs, and a bit of eggshell gets into the eggs, you can use the shell already in your hand to remove it. Nothing cuts through raw egg like eggshell. I like to remove eggs from the carton from the outside in (the last eggs on each end first), to keep the carton balanced. If the carton is at all flimsy, one end can tip, spilling an egg or two onto the floor.

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.