Back in Action...Sort of!

Pauly's pullover is finished!

I made some adjustments because the last one of these I made for Pippa came out a little snug, not as good for a boy. If you know anything about dolls, you probably know that they don't like having things pulled over their heads, so this "pullover" buttons down the back.

I frogged my short rows on the Talvinen twice because I messed up. I don't know what I did the first time, but it looked bad. The second time, I made the wraps on the WS too tight. I was happy with the third time.

This is supposed to be a pullover, but I'm always either too warm or too cold, so I'm making it a steeked cardigan. Beginning of the round is center front, but the orange marker indicates the pretend BOR for making the short rows (or they would be in the front...or the "cardigan" would button down the back, like Pauly's).

I was still sneezing and blowing my nose on Wednesday, so I skipped choir practice. I started feeling almost normal on Saturday and felt really good on Sunday morning, so I braved the snowfall and went. (I had the music at home and had been present at several practices where we went over the music, so I had a good idea of how we were supposed to sing the pieces. I put myself in the second row this time. You can just barely see me behind the lady with the white-blonde hair. I think the music went well. I'm really looking forward to the Christmas music.

I was supposed to go to the dentist on Tuesday, and let them know I had been sick and might still be contagious. I took a third Covid test, so I could assure them on that count. Then I got a call on Tuesday morning from the dentist' office, telling me he wasn't feeling well and had to reschedule. I was still not up to going anyway, so I was just as happy. Charlie was much sicker than I was and has been under the weather for longer than I was. I think it was because I have been going to choir and church unmasked for some time, so probably have been getting small doses of germs on a regular basis––not enough to get sick, but enough to keep my immunities active.

I'm so glad to be feeling better, but I'm grateful to Soren for giving my immune system a workout.

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, 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 Talvinen cardigan, the Hinterland Pullover (some more progress made sleeve sts picked up and a couple of rounds worked) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Charlotte and Emil (who are Jewish) and Mariah (who is Muslim) decide to sing a Christmas carol for the other family members (who are Christian) to show they support their personal beliefs in A Christmas Carol, this week's story in The Doll's Storybook. They surprise them by showing up at the front door, just like real carolers.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Now listening to Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor

What's in my wine glass: Viñalba Malbec Touriga Nacional 2019. Very nice! 

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What's my tip of the week: The easiest way to bake squash is whole. Set the oven at 375°F. Poke a couple of holes in the squash. Bake for an hour or more, turning over at least once after half an hour. Continue baking until you can poke holes in it easily with a fork. Cut open and remove the seeds. Serve with Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and a few drops of olive oil.

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 world wide. 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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Is This the New Normal?

Jolena's Jenny Cable Jumper is finished.

There are some mistakes in the pattern, but it's a very nice design. The pattern is available here.

I made the placket version, which is designed to be lined with grosgrain ribbon and then have snaps sewn on. I didn't have the ribbon and didn't want to waste snaps when I have so many buttons in an appropriate color, so I crocheted SC stitches along the outside edge with a chain 5 where each of the buttons was.

I also knit the body in the round, but from the inside, so I was knitting all the sts instead of purling to get the reverse stockinette.

I managed to get some quilting in this week. Progress on my whole-cloth quilt is slow, but it's coming along. To make the cross-hatching, I quilt in zig-zags across a length of the quilt. This makes the stitching flexible, so the threads are not as easily broken or popped out of the fabric, as could be the case with sewing straight across in single lines.

Stay tuned. It will still be a while.

We got another crop of Golden Oyster Mushrooms. This "flush" wasn't as big, but that was good, because we had only just finished eating the last ones.

I've been making my own salad dressing. I use a Good Seasons jar, fill the vinegar to the -V-, water to the -W- and oil to the -O-. Then I throw in some seasonings. This one uses lemon juice, dill and Dijon mustard, but lemon juice is very sour, so I started out with water first and then the lemon juice in place of the water on the jar. Salt, pepper, 2 teaspoons of mustard, a tablespoon of chopped fresh dill (dried only takes 1 teaspoon) and topped off with olive oil.

In other news, I braved the outside world to visit the dentist. I had a good visit and was impressed with their precautions. They had patients wait in the parking lot until it was time for them to come in. They had hand sanitizer at the door. Masks were required by everyone inside. The counter now has a big clear-plastic wall separating patients from the office staff. You have to take off your mask for them to X-ray, clean and examine your teeth. Patients can only walk through the hall (wearing masks) one at a time, so I had to wait for someone else to depart.

The dogs went to the groomer. The procedures were the same as last time. Our groomer came out to get the pups and I handed her a check. We're wearing masks, all except the dogs.

We're continuing to have our weekly Zoom meetings.

What's on my needles: Just CO the Which Came First Shawl. I've named my project "The Egg Came First," because there were dinosaur eggs before there were chickens.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting, but I may have to get them set up for more masks.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In this week's story, "All About the News," Mariah interviews Emil for an article for the school paper about a doll with a disability. Billy takes some photos, and the school newspaper uses one of them. It's all about journalism.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith. Now listening to My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand.

What's in my wine glass: Martha Clara Vineyards Pinot Noir 2016 from The North Fork of Long Island.

What's my tip of the week: An update on mask information can be found in this article. The bottom line recommendation is: Wear a mask. The Coronavirus seems to be found in the lower respiratory tract primarily. Being next to an infected person who is simply breathing is low risk, even indoors, although outdoors is safer regardless of what the person is doing. Singing, yelling, coughing, sneezing, etc., however, brings up moisture particles from the lower respiratory tract. (It is NOT okay to remove the mask to talk.) A single layer of quilting cotton provides some protection for the wearer, although the protection is greater for others. An increase in layers increases protection. (The masks I was making for the hospital provided eight layers if the filter is included, unless the folds need to open up to shape around the wearer's face. No mask is total protection, and the virus can enter through the eyes. If everyone wore a mask, protection to society would approach the effectiveness of a vaccine, but at virtually no cost, and we could have it now. It's an interesting article.

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.

Getting Out and Doing Things

The week started out with a visit to the High Desert Museum in Bend on Memorial Day.

The parking lot was pretty full, so we were surprised that the museum wasn't more crowded. I think it may be because many of the exhibits are outdoors, so there is plenty of room. As you can see from the above photo, the otters caught my eye. We used to see them off the coast of California in the days when we lived aboard our little sailboat in Santa Barbara. I wrote about those days several years ago in this blog post. We were at the museum for a couple of hours, but we only had time to skim over the offerings of creatures of the desert and history of the area. We will definitely be back, so you can expect to see more of what they have on exhibit in future blog posts.

We were exhausted from having little ones in the house, and by the end of the week, we had both come down with head colds. The boys weren't sick, so we didn't get it from them, but our DDIL came down with a cold about the same time we did, so we're guessing it was from someone we came into contact with when we were out together.

I made some progress on the Silverleaf Shawl. I've reached the part with the fun pattern.

Here's a closeup.

We plan to go up to Beaverton next weekend for Johan's preschool graduation, so I wanted to get a little ahead on the stories for The Doll's Storybook. I finished the story for the week, which came out on Friday. It's called "A Visit to the Mesozoic." In it, Mandy helps Billy study for his science test, which is about dinosaurs.

Many thanks to the Oregon grandsons for allowing their treasured toy dinosaurs to appear in the story.

Then I set to work on the story for this week. I won't spoil the surprise in case you want to read it, but here's a photo from the story. It will be the 52nd story in the series, so I will have done a year's worth, although the actual anniversary of The Doll's Storybook is June 22nd. What do you suppose Charlotte is up to?

On Friday, Billy and Jolena had a dentist's appointment. That may seem strange, since their mouths don't open and they have no teeth, but they will star in the story tentatively scheduled for June 14th. Here they are in the waiting room.

I'm very grateful to my dentist for letting Jolena and Billy visit. It feels good to be two weeks ahead.

In spite of the head colds, we have managed to go for a walk every day.

Our walks are mostly on trails we can access at a point 1 1/2 blocks from our house. The only street we have to cross is our own. 

We use the Walk for a Dog app to keep track of our walks. The app donates money to our chosen dog-related charity, Best Friends Animal Society, with the amount based on how far we and others using the app for Best Friends walk.

Sometimes we cross Tempest and continue on the trail to the next street, or even to the one after that. There is a sort of wilderness on the other side of the trail, and it gives us a chance to let the pups off leash for a little run.

Several people are testing the pattern for the Cables and Herringbone Doll Cardigan. I should be able to publish it soon.

The chair mat for my sewing cabinet and chair arrived during the week. I hope to get the fiber studio straightened out soon so I can sew again. Maybe I'll be able to get a photo next week. It has made a world of difference to the cabinet already, though. I can now open and close the front panel, which I couldn't do when it was sitting on thick carpet. My chair will now roll from the sewing machine to my pressing station on the table.

What's on my needles: The Silverleaf Shawl.

What's on my sewing machine: Sitting and waiting.

What's in my hoop: The Whole Cloth Quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "A Visit to the Mesozoic." Billy needs to learn the names of dinosaurs for his science class.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to A Name Unknown, by Roseanna M. White. I find I'm enjoying this author quite a bit. It might be considered "Christian" literature, something that would normally turn me off reading it, but I find the author's brand of Christianity very refreshing. It's also fitting for the setting of the novel. Now I'm listening to The French Affair by M. C. Beaton, trying to get the Romance novels on my wish list under my belt while I'm paying Audible for the Romance Package.

What's in my wine glass: Grifone Primitivo "From old vine Zinfandel." A nice Italian wine.

What's my tip of the week: I keep a basket at the stairs. When I find something that needs to go upstairs, it goes into the basket, which I can take up when it has several things in it. We all need exercise, and I don't mind stairs, but sometimes we want to save a little time.

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.