Finishing a Few Things

This was a big week for finishing things. Pippa's Winter Fair Isle Sweater is finished, for one.

The challenge was to get the motifs to come out evenly and still look OK on a smaller body.

With the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along starting on Wednesday, I had to cake up my yarn, which I did the night before.

I finished the first "clue" on Friday. The next clue comes out this coming Wednesday.

I needed something to work on in the meantime. One of the Ravelry groups dealing with dolls was having a footwear knit along, so I started these socks using Knit Picks Stroll Brights in "Pucker." (Don't adjust your computer. The color really is that bright!)

I think the only shoes they will fit over is this pair of sandals. A little wild, when it comes to color scheme.

I turned the corner on my whole-cloth quilt only to discover that I had much more quilting to do on the last edge. The cross-hatching goes quickly, though. It will give me some audio-book-listening time. The remaining unquilted edge is about 12" from the actual edge of the quilt.

I'm really, really enjoying my new thimble!

We celebrated the inauguration on Wednesday, the finish of a long campaign and the beginning of a new era.

We won't be able to close out the Covid-19 era for a while. We thought we would be able to make an appointment for getting the vaccine starting Saturday, but supplies were less than believed. Now seniors are being passed over in order to give the existing supply in the state to essential workers, including teachers. Many seniors are upset, but I don't begrudge teachers and existing workers their preferred spot in line. I'm happy to stay home because I can. We've signed up to be informed, however, when we become eligible. They expect to have vaccine for people 80+ February 8th. When those people have received the vaccine, they will drop the threshold to people 75+, which will include us.

A Ravelry friend who lives in Europe recently wrote that her friends often joke, "Stay negative!"

Please do!

What's on my needles: The Rose City Yarn Crawl's Mystery Knit Along.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothing repairs.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This Is Who I Am! Mariah tries on a head scarf to see how she would look with one. She explains to some of the other dolls why she might want to wear one if she grew up, but she knows she won't grow up, because she's a doll.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Just finished The Thief of Lanwyn Manor by Sarah E. Ladd from Chirp. Now Listening to Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann from Audible.

What's in my wine glass: Atico Monastrell 2019.

What's my tip of the week: Basil will grow well on your windowsill if you keep the roots moist. I keep mine in a dish with water in the bottom.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and 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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

She Completes Me

Mary Tudor is finished!

It was 68 days from start to finish, and I was obsessed. Nothing got in my way! She and I had some adventures along the way, though, some of them during the last week of construction.

I don't know what happened, but my math was off for the sleeves, and they came out too long:

With knitting, many things can be fixed without frogging your project. Here's how I fixed the sleeves: First I picked up the sts right about where I wanted the cuff to start.

While doing the first sleeve, I discovered it wasn't as easy to come up with useable sts when there are two colors in a round. After ending up in a real mess, I finally got the cuff knit and everything was OK, but I lost one round of sts.  I used what I learned on the second sleeve, which went much faster. This time I picked up the sts where I wanted, as before, but instead of taking out the row below, I knit one round, then removed a round of sts two rounds below, leaving the extra round until I made sure my sts were stable and I wasn't going to pull out sts I needed:

Then I knit the cuff, following the chart from the top down.

I needed a single button and thought I would pick it up on the way back from the veterinarian’s office on Saturday. When I got to the yarn shop, though, it was 100 degrees in the shade, and even with the windows and sun roof open and parked in the shade, I didn’t want to leave the pups more than five minutes. I popped my head in the door, saw there was only one employee winding yarn and four people waiting, so I left and went home. Going through the box of buttons my DBIL had given me after his wife died, I found this great gem:

It was meant to be! After sewing the button in place, I trimmed the steeks and sewed them down with a row of cross stitches.

Even here in the mountains of Utah, it's getting too warm to do too much heavy knitting. I promise my quilting readers more quilting next week...but first I have to clean up my studio! Then the first thing I'll do is make that house block for the Habitat for Humanity quilt.

We got some hiking in last week and then had a quiet Independence Day with the pups. Soren enjoyed his second birthday at the beach. (We'll be seeing him soon when we go to greet his baby brother.)

What's on my needles: Cat Bordhi's "Bavarian Twisted Stitch" socks from her book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles and getting back to my Mr. Foster. Finally!

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel. Also ready to start a house block for a quilt for Habitat for Humanity.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished James Patterson's 2nd Chance, from the library through the Overdrive app. Now listening to Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey, one of the Elemental Masters series. Still looking forward to Dean Koontz's The City, as soon as I get my Audible credit for July. Reading Black Diamond Death by Cheryl Bradshaw from Book Bub on the iBooks app.

What's my app of the week: Public Radio from PRX. We can't get radio here in the mountains, but with internet, we have Public Radio whenever we want.

What's in my wine glass: Corbett Canyon Merlot in the big bottle to finish the holiday weekend. Nice finish!

What's my tip of the week:  Make ice tea using solar power. I use salsa bottles, because they make pouring easy. Fill the bottle, add two tea bags and place in the sun until the tea is the color you like. I put a black lid on for regular tea and a yellow one for decaf. You can use a gallon jar if making tea for a crowd.

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.