Finishing Things

Now that the election is over, I should have a bit of time to get back to my fiber activities. I've already finished the phone tote for our veterinarian's mother. 

You may remember, I had to get measurements of her phone before I could finish it, because the lining won't stretch. Here's where I was when I had finished the knitting and fulling (felting). I found the iron-on patch actually adhered to the wool quite well. I tried sewing it on by hand, but I couldn't get the needle through the thick adhesive on the back. The patch came from Patch Collection. The pattern for the tote is my iPhone Pouch, free on Ravelry. Here's where I was before sewing in the lining.

Here's a look at the lining. I sewed it down by hand, going around once, then back the other way sewing it down a second time. I don't want her to have to do any repair on it. (The lining in my navy blue one came undone a little bit and needed repair.)

I've been meaning up update the front porch remodel in my blog. We couldn't walk on it for a couple of days. Then we had stuff in front of it, and then it snowed, leaving behind an icy sidewalk, but I finally got a photo of the new porch. Just to remind you, here's what the house looked like when we bought it. 

Then we painted the house, but not the front porch, which needed to be rebuilt. It was a big improvement, though.

The next thing was the new roof, which we appreciated over the summer, because we needed to use the AC, not wanting to open the windows at night because of the smoke from the wildfires. The new roof keeps the house comfortable, and we're finding we aren't using as much electricity and gas to cool and heat it. We had vents put in when we replaced the roof. After that, we ripped out the poor, old bushes in front of the living room windows. As you can see from the photo above, they only had leaves on the part that extended in front of the windows, leaving the stalks bare. We put in some hydrangeas, which are still quite small, but they will grow. The front steps have now been rebuilt on a new foundation. The rails were replaced with a new shape––one that's easier to grasp when you're going up or down, and there are new square-shaped finials replacing the balls that were there before, and all of them match. Finally, the steps and floor were stained sort of a redwood color, using a stain that causes moisture to bead up, rather than sink in, and the painted part of the steps and rails, and the latticework were all painted the same iron black as the trim on the house.

The closet remodel continues. the cedar paneling is now finished on both sides and partway up the back. We're thinking of using the adjustable shelving strips and brackets, like this.

Here's a look at the progress as of Sunday night.

The new boards are a different size from the old ones we carted around for 36 years, but Charlie used the old ones on the sides and the new ones on the back. None of this will show much when the shelves are up, but I still think it looks pretty, and it smells delicious. (I think he's having fun with it, too.)

Zachary has recovered from the flu bug he had. Here he is, all ready to play chess...with someone. This was grandpa's chess set, purchased in Mexico in the 1960s, a special Christmas gift for the grandson last year.

After a big weekend performing onstage with La Crosse Ballet, Daphne and her friends took part in a dance competition.

My books continue to sell a few at a time. St. Jude was sent a check for $71 and change. It isn't much, but they say every little bit does a lot of good. I'm hoping that over time, it will add up.

I'll be cleaning house this week to get ready for the Oregon grand kids, who will be coming sometime the end of this week or the beginning of next, depending on the weather.

Rocky is still hanging in there. He had the stitches out this week and got some immunizations he will need when he goes back to the groomer next week. He has been sleeping well at night, since we started giving him the vetprofen and gabapentin at bedtime.

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 our other 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 Hinterland Pullover (some more progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In It Snowed! Pauly finds out all the fun things you can do in the snow.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor, not very far yet, but I plan to listen while I clean house this week.

What's in my wine glass: MERF Cabernet Sauvignon from "The distinct wines of David Merfeld," Columbia Valley, 2017. Pretty good!

What's my tip of the week: Housework is often boring, so I find it a good time to listen to my audiobooks. Put on some comfortable shoes, and off we go!

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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Christmas Greetings!

If you look carefully, you can see the wreath on my front door.

My house is still in turmoil. However, the broken-down boxes and the packing materials that are no longer needed have gone on to a new home to be used again, thanks to the Redmond Online Yard Sale group on Facebook.

Our trials have continued, though. We managed to get the stove hooked up. The plumber gave us a senior discount, which was nice. We are repeat customers for him, because he put in the gas to our laundry room for our dryer. However, when we took all the tape off the stove, we found this:

Oops! It appeared to be missing three screws, but when the people from Lowe's came out to look, they said there were three rivets missing. They can't order just the drawer, so we are getting another new stove. It will take two to three weeks, as this one did. However, good people, Lowe's.

We couldn't find an electrician to fix our wires, so DH wrapped the two wires with electrical tape, so we wouldn't have a fire.

Our home warranty was able to find us an electrician, and he came on Saturday and fixed it good as new. However, a new problem emerged. The fitting wanted to cross-thread, though, so, after several hours of struggle, DH gave up and decided to call a plumber. I have 10 people in the house, and the hot water is turned off to the kitchen. I'm carrying water from the powder room to wash dishes. And it's Christmas Eve. I have lot's of adult help, though, so that's fine.

This week Billy finally got his professional haircut. Here he is, with my (and now his) stylist, Sylvia Burger at Bella Hair Salon in Bend, Oregon. (She does a great job on me, too.)

Here he is at home, after it had dried.

And the back:

It was a challenge, because the rooted hair gives him cowlicks all over. The back couldn't be cut too short, or it would stick straight out. I think she did a fantastic job. The haircut will enter into the first story in January.

I had to tidy up the fiber studio, so it could be used by family as a bedroom this week. I discovered it was a great place to wrap packages.

There should be plenty of room on the floor for an inflatable mattress, because we haven't set up the work table yet.

The pups went to the groomer on Wednesday, so I was able to get a nice photo of them in front of the tree. (That was before I started wrapping packages.)

My little angels wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Frohe Weihnachten, joyeux Noël, hyvää joulua, vrolijk kerstfeest, buon Natale, feliz Navidad, selamat hari natal, щасливого Різдва, счастливого Рождества, عيد ميلاد سعيد, and the same in Doll Language, which is a very silent language, something like telepathy. If you listen carefully with your mind, you will hear them.

What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Takki Cardigan for Jolena, the same as the Stavanger, but with a different chart.  

What's on my Sparrow 15: Christmas wrap. It's a great surface for holding tape, scissors, ribbons and paper.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Santa Visits. This week's story is Santa and why he gives children gifts. Next week the dolls will share their presents with you. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen, no listening this week. I'm listening to Christmas/holiday music.

What's in my wine glass: Lar de Oro Tempranillo Syrah. It's from Spain. Very nice.

What's my tip of the week: When you buy appliances, it's probably cheaper in the long run to pay them to install them.

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.

Quilts and Other Fiber Adventures

Vintage Stitchers met at Rebecca’s on Thursday. Marilyn had made this sailboat quilt.

The back shows the quilting.

Brenda was making some towels for a friend who has Portugese Water Dogs.

She was also working on a kitty quilt using machine applique and embroidery.

Janet had made this great little project bag during the Stitching Society Group at Davidene’s.

Barbara inherited an old kit for this quilt designed by Anna for the original Whimsy Cottage.

She also made a 1600 quilt background for these flowers.

Rebecca and Barbara made these row-by-row quilt blocks that were part of a quilt shop hop project. The flowers are identical sets of precut pieces. The backgrounds are graduated fabrics cut apart and pieced back together.

Ellen has finished these hand-appliquéd house blocks from Home Sweet Home by Barb Adams and Alma Allen. (These blocks are from the book I got my mantle quilt from.)

Barbara had these fabrics for an Amish quilt for a long time. She repeated the same 16-patch block and used the leftover fabrics in the border and on the back.

Diane also did a repeat of one block for a completely different effect. This quilt has an antique look.

The backing fabric is a honeycomb with bees.

Carol had finished this sampler quilt, which she plans to drape over a chair.

Rebecca’s Pink Floyd has been quilted:

As well as the bunny.

Both are fused appliqué designs of Laura Heine. I spent the meeting hand-sewing the binding on Johan's I-spy quilt.

In other fiber news, my “So-not-my-palette” cardigan has grown by a couple of inches.

And the first bobbin of the “Waimea Rooster” singles is done for Tour de Fleece (TdF), with a start on the second.

I finished the hand-sewing for Johan’s I-spy quilt, and it's done.

The young man in question is in Mallorca with his parents, aunt and uncle, his brother and his cousin. Here he is shown here on the far left, sporting a new Spanish haircut, on his way to visit Ila Sa Dragonera, where there were lizards nowhere near the size of the Komodo Dragons we once saw, but still pretty cool. From left, Johan, Cousin Leo, Brother Soren and in the second row, Mom. (In the stern is an unidentified boat pilot.)

Of course, some of you are only reading this for an update on Dusty. We made it to Tuesday without mushroom incidents. Then he found the piece of mushroom I had thoughtlessly stupidly tossed back in the bushes on July 4th. It was dried up, but only half there. I couldn’t remember exactly how much of it was left from the incident the week before, so off to the vet’s office, where his stomach contents revealed no mushroom. That meant we didn't have to have him on a special diet for the next few days, because he hadn't ingested any toxins. I left the piece of mushroom with the vet, and she was going to see if she could identify it. She recommended that we get health insurance for Dusty, because she suspects he’s going to be a “very naughty boy.” Naughty, maybe, but stinkin' cute!

Now Dusty is only allowed in the backyard on his leash unless both human parents are present, one to throw the ball and one to guard the mushroom bush. This is speeding up his leash training. He and Rocky have been getting in some good play sessions, though, both with chasing the ball and pretend fighting.

Tuesday he gets his Parvo shot, and presumably can then begin taking actual walks on the street after it takes effect. In the meantime, nap times for the Little Dude and for me have been agonizingly short, as Rocky voices his concern every time a neighbor goes up and down the street in front of our house playing Pokémon GO. I’m afraid they are going to ask to come into my house soon!

GIPHY.C

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” some progress made. Still hand-quilting my Delectable Pathways quilt.

What's on my Featherweight: Binding for Johan’s I-spy quilt is finished, and my machine put away…for now.

What's on my wheel: Still the Waimea Rooster Merino/Tencel from AlohaBlu, continuing to spin for the Tour de Fleece, now on the second bobbin.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Study in Sable by Mercedes Lackey and now reading Thornwood House by Anna Romer, both from Audible. Still reading Remember This by Shae Buggs on the Kindle app on my iPad. 

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw (aka Two-buck Chuck, or in this case, $2.99) Merlot, which is good and we have in good supply, thanks to our trip to Nevada.

What's my tip of the week: If you have a puppy who likes to chew (drawer pulls, slippers, etc.), get some Bitter Apple and spray it on anything you want to protect without having to watch all the time. Some pups don't care, but most won't chew because they don't like the taste. Fabric (like your jeans legs) may need more applications. If all else fails, order some chain mail from Amazon.com.

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.