Approaching Normal

On Sunday, we finally had some real snow here in Bend. I think it was a little over an inch.

Most of the week was spent resting, with the exception of a few simple chores, like laundry and cooking, which I tried to spread out so as not to get too tired. I drove myself to a couple of doctor's appointments and stopped at the store to pick up my medication.

While resting, I sometimes had the energy to knit, and was able to finish the Nurmilintu Shawl, which I started on my birthday. Blocking required that I get down on the floor, which wasn't easy. It wasn't the tidiest pinning job, but it was good enough.

It took about 24 hours to dry. Usually I use a fan to speed up the drying, but I'm not sure where our fans are and didn't want to disturb DH, who is still getting over his cold and has a lot of work to do. There was no hurry, and I'm happy with how it turned out.

The project was something I could do without expending a lot of effort, and it kept me from going stir-crazy during the worst of the pneumonia.

DBIL stopped by on Sunday while out for a walk. He's continuing to recover from his surgery. We had tea and got caught up on things since his last visit. He's looking good, but has lost about 10 lbs., which he couldn't really spare, so he's trying to put it back on.

I managed to get the photo shoot done for this week's story, which will appear on Friday. Billy and Mariah have some trouble at school, and Veronika tries to advise them.

During the writing of this story, I realized the Mariah looks very nice in purple, so I CO a dress for her using this yarn.

I'm using my Everyday Play Dress pattern, which I haven't made up for some time, and some sock yarn I bought during our first visit with DBIL about 18 months ago. It's a quick knit, and I finished it last night.

It's a very casual dress, designed for play.

It has a placket in the back, with buttons.

I really designed the dress for slightly plumper, shorter (18") dolls, so I modified the pattern. I stopped the shoulder increases two rows early, so there were fewer stitches around, and changed the increases that provide flare to the skirt. Then I worked an extra 8 rounds at the bottom of the skirt before the 5 rounds of garter stitch, to make it longer. I knit it in the round, but it can be knit flat and seamed. Instructions for both methods are included. I plan to make a cardigan to go with it.

No too many projects in the house got finished this week, other than putting all the Christmas things away. DH did manage to replace the little faucet that dispenses filtered water, a difficult job, because the area where he had to work was rather confined due to the placement of the sink. However, here it is in all its glory.

It's firmly affixed in place, unlike its predecessor, a chrome model that took two hands to operate because it kept swiveling around if you didn't hold it. This one matches the kitchen faucet.

We watched the professional football playoff games yesterday afternoon. Both were cliff-hangers, which made for very exciting watching.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

What's on my needles: Finished the Nurmilintu Shawl, and then the Everyday Play Dress for Mariah. Of course, still the Kisu Takki Cardigan for Jolena is still in progress, and a new cardigan for Mariah to go with he dress.  

What's on my Sparrow 15:  Still waiting.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress again this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Boredom. Billy deals with having nothing fun to do. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Fear by Bob Woodward, about halfway through.

What's in my wine glass: Muchas Manos Merlot Syrah Tempranillo.

What's my tip of the week: Photosensitive night lights are handy when placed in strategic places, such as hallway and bathroom. They don't have to be unplugged in the daytime, and some of the newer ones provide adequate light to keep from tripping over things if you have to get up at night.

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.

Keeping in Stitches and Paper and Food

We've moved on from buttonholes and buttons to decorative stitching with my new Eversewn Sparrow 15. Here's a look at the latest.

The polka dots sort of distort the appearance here and there, but the decorative stitching comes out very even. I had the stitch length dial set about in the middle of the buttonhole area (between 0 and 1) on this dial. 

I could have shortened the stitch further and made more like satin stitch, but this looked good enough for my story photos.

The stitch I used is the one in black at 5 o'clock on the dial in the next photo. The stitches indicated in other colors correspond to the S1 and S2 on the stitch length dial, so if you want the darker blue/green stitch indicated on the stitch pattern dial and the stitch length dial set on S1, you will get that stitch. I haven't tried those yet. (Stay tuned.)

I notice the price has gone up $20 because of the new tariffs on goods from China, so DH did me a favor to suggest getting it when I did. I think it's still a bargain

Now that I've tantalized you with the decorative stitching, here's the project I was working on.

The decorative stitching would have been nice around the neck, but by the time I thought of it, I already had the buttons on with snaps underneath, and they would be in the way.

That was very time-consuming (putting on the buttons and snaps). Next time, I'll make buttonholes and buttons. Even this tiny, it would have been much faster than sewing the buttons and snaps on by hand. Jolena will be wearing this dress in this week's story in The Doll's Storybook. The most recent story is here, in case you haven't found it.

Common Threads met at Lynda's. Almost everyone in our small group was knitting, except Ginny, who was working on this lovely needlepoint piece. She has started filling in the background.

It was raining, so it had cooled off. While I was at Common Threads, the appraiser was at our house, deciding its fate. Our agent says he does a lot of her appraisals, and they almost always come in about the contract price. After all, an appraisal tells you what someone is willing pay, and so does the contract. However, the appraisal also tries to justify that price to the bank. We don't expect any problems with it.

Preparations for the move continue. We have had some interesting meals. Like the Quorn Turk'y Roast we had in the freezer, which we're trying to empty. There was also a big container of bread crumbs in there for stuffing and toppings, and I found a container of mushroom gravy, which expired in May, in the pantry, so we had a feast; like Thanksgiving but with summer squash.

We also found one frozen salmon fillet, which I threw into some Thai stir-fried vegetables with rice.

I made some corn salad, a favorite of ours for summer. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator without going mushy, like my DH, but without the refrigerator. Here's my recipe:

Easy Corn Salad

Ingredients
• Dressing:• 3 T olive oil• 3 T lemon juice• 1/2 t Salt• 1/2 t dried cilantro• 1/2 t dried basil• 2 T salsa• 1 T pickled garlic
• Salad:• 1 16-Oz pkg. frozen corn• 2 chopped tomatoes• 4 green onions• 1/2 chopped red onion• 1 C chopped cucumber • 1 handful fresh spinach, chopped (optional)• 1 chopped avocado• 1 bell pepper (any color, optional)
• Topping:• Crumbled feta cheese

Directions
Mix dressing ingredients. Add to remaining ingredients in a large Tupperware bowl and toss. Top each serving with feta cheese.

I know it will last several days. It might last longer, but we always manage to eat it up quickly.

I made bread this week and discovered that the bread-machine pan is starting to leak. I tried to find a place to buy a new pan, but the pan for this machine seems to be discontinued. However, I found out you can replace the washer using a silicone washer you make yourself. I don't actually bake in my bread machine; I just use it for mixing the dough, so I think his first suggestion would work fine for me.

I have a nice stand mixer. Why don't I use it to make bread? The bread machine doesn't require that the liquid ingredients be heated to the right temperature first, so you basically just throw everything in the pan, start the machine and walk away.

Friday I took down most of the quilts on the walls. I should have popped them into the wash right off, instead of carefully folding each one and filling the big steamer trunk in our living room with them. I realized my mistake on Saturday, when I came down with a full-blown allergy attack, unusual for this time of year. I'm sure the quilts had accumulated dust from months, or in some cases years, of hanging around, watching my activities. It didn't show, but I'm pretty sure that was the case. I'll have to wash them at the other end. The steamer trunk is wood covered with painted canvas. I didn't want my quilts to be in contact with the wood for what could be several months, so I lined it with a sheet first. The sheet was one our granddaughter (DGD1) used when she lived with us. Amazingly, it still smelled like her perfume.

I packed a box of glasses on Saturday and had to stop because the box was full, and I still had this much. I got back to it late Sunday afternoon. I finished at 9:00 PM. I have 12 glasses that were too tall for the glasses pack, but I managed to get most of my china teacups in on top of the shorter glasses, with a piece of cardboard between, which I cut out at 4.5" using my paper cutter (I knew there was a reason I kept it out) and the only rotary-cutting ruler I have left with me.

Besides keeping busy with sewing, packing and cooking, I've had to lend a hand now and then when DH has needed help with mending the fence or reinforcing the posts for the rail for our stairs from one of the many decks outdoors.

Vroni is wearing her new checkered shirt. I think this was the best one of the four. I really understand buttonholes and buttons with my new machine now. It still isn't perfect, but I'm getting there. I made her the same kind of skirt Mandy has and the same Capri-length, stretch lace leggings. She wants to know when we're going to get back to quilting. She's ready!

What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still at the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on at Common Threads, so several more rows done.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Decorative stitching. Check. Now on to using the overcast foot.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still waiting patiently. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finally finished listening to The Secret Book & Scone Society by Ellery Adams. Very little time to listen for a bit this week. It was an interesting book, but it didn't really grab me, although I enjoyed the fact that the characters had issues (i.e. they were human) and still were likeable. I haven't started anything new yet. It may be that I have been too busy to pay attention to a book.

What's in my wine glass: Durant Vinyards 2015 Pinot Gris from Dundee, Oregon. It brings back memories of our trip last summer, when we picked this up, and a reminder that our younger DDIL, Alexa (not the Siri wannabe) has a birthday this week. Here's the photo we took then of her with our DS2.

What's my tip of the week: If a quilt has been on the wall a long time, it's a good idea to wash it, or vacuum it (if it isn't suitable for washing) after you take it down. How do you vacuum a quilt? Place a clean window screen over the quilt and vacuum with the hose attachment, one area at a time. If it's a new and sturdy quilt but you can't wash it, throw it over a clothesline (if anyone still has one) or a porch rail and beat with a rug beater.

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.

The White Stuff

We got hit with snow again.

That's the view from our upper deck. You can't see the mountains in the distance, because it was still snowing. Here's what our lower decks look like.

Early Thanksgiving morning, I was out on the front deck with Dusty when the snowplow went by. They have a lot of flashing lights and make rattling sounds, because of the chains. Dusty ran to me and watched at it go by. I told him, "It's normal," which is my way of saying he needn't be concerned.

He loves the snow, though. We got more on Sunday. The boys played in the back for more than an hour and came in with legs like this.

Then it was time for a nap, of course.

Dusty knows how to keep himself entertained. He seems to have a taste for wood. Here are four examples of his handiwork. DDIL2 thinks he should move to Oregon, because clearly he's a beaver wannabe.

We cancelled our Thanksgiving celebratory dinner because I had a fever Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't feel like doing anything but read and sleep, and I was afraid I might be contagious. Maybe the "cold" was really the flu (I've had my flu shot, but it doesn't cover everything), but by Friday I was able to knit again. I started on Deb Denair's Camelot pattern, a doll dress for Hannah, to put aside for Miss Daphne's birthday in May. I have both sleeves finished and the skirt started.

I'm using Knit Picks Palette in Pool and Fog.

I got a little more work done organizing my fabrics, but not enough to be worth another photo.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” second sleeve is coming along, and the Camelot dress. 

What's on my Featherweight: Waiting for the next project.

What's on my wheel: Still put away for now.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to music for Park City Singers. Finished Davenport House by Marie Silk on my Kindle app on my iPad. Then I read The Unwanted Heiress by Amy Corwin. I enjoyed it very much because the the interesting plot, believable characters and nice touches of humor. I liked it so much, I've started another book by the same author, A Rose Before Dying.

What's in my wine glass: Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015 vintage. Surprisingly good for a box wine, with the advantage that the quality doesn't diminish if you don't drink the whole thing right away.

What's my tip of the week: Leftover turkey inspired the TV dinner. You can make your own. If you don't have TV dinner trays, you can place heavy-duty foil over a dinner plate, load it up with suitable portions, cover with a lighter-weight foil, sealing the edges, and freeze. Once frozen, you can remove the dinner plate. Another option is to use foil pie pans. Don't let leftover Thanksgiving food go to waste or risk having your family get sick of it.

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.