Coming Together

A lot of things were going on this week, but I still managed to get a few rounds of knitting in. It doesn't look much different from last week, but I thought you might like to see how the front steek degreases are coming along. 

It's a little messy right in the middle of the steek, because I'm changing colors there every few rounds, but you should be able to see how the motifs are bending in toward the steek. When the steek is cut, the motifs will straighten out and it will produce a V-neck.

We had another Madroña Pop-up meeting (actually a party) this week. Remember the mushroom soup I made a couple of weeks ago? Almost everyone made the soup this week. We compared the wines we paired with the soup, and talked about how the wine affected the taste of the soup.

I finished adding the stories to the new book, then went through and changed all the quotation marks from the straight type to the curly or smart type. I had to do the same thing with the apostrophes. I hope I got them all. My editors will find them if there are any left. I still need to go through the knitted items that show up in the stories and get the links to the patterns for them.

The weather cleared up about midweek, so we walked Thursday through the woods and the neighborhood around the "Senior Center," Friday we did the Larkspur Trail and on Saturday we went to Good Dog Trail, so the pups could have some off-leash time. 

They knew where we were going and cried (with joy) the whole way, especially Dusty.

There were lots of good smells, at least in their opinion; I couldn't tell.

By the time we made it down to the Deschutes River for a drink, we were regretting not bringing water along. The river proved the dogs with plenty of water, though.

After I took those photos, I wanted to restart the Walk for a Dog app, but I just got this screen:

I hadn't put in my passcode. It wasn't an emergency, but I was stuck for about 15 minutes of the hike not knowing whether the app was working or not. I'm going to have to call Apple and see what happened in case it happens again. When I got it going again, I saw that there was a gap in the record of the hike, so it turned out to be more than 3 miles, but probably not much.

The dogs were relaxed after we got home. That's always nice.

We got our Ballots out of our mailbox on Tuesday. They could have been there for a couple of days, because we usually get our mail on our way back from our walks, so it took a special trip. I already knew how I was going to vote on several candidates and issues, so that was easy. I've been filling it in as I research the other items left on my ballot. I only have two to go.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Bend Bulletin this week in support of my preferred candidate for U.S. District Representative. My topic was the poll I was sucked into responding to because it seemed like a regular poll, not a request for money. The candidate posted it on her Facebook Page.

We went out to look at the Northern Lights (aurora borealis), but we had too much ambient light. I took several photos anyway, with timed exposure and without. They didn't show anything, just night sky. The next day, I tried adjusting the exposure and saturation and ended up with something you can barely see.

This one showed a little more. I don't know if it shows up on your screen, but I can see it.

Johan is on a baseball team now. They took some great photos. I think this looks like the baseball cards we used to get with a thin slab of bubble gum. Remember those?

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 "Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". 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, Mariah or Classic Tales Retold, 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 working on the Oregon Cardigan.

What's on my loom: Still in its corner under the windows, not warped, but dusted, at least.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting for the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: The dolls are doing their homework, and Jolena asks Mariah for help to study for a spelling test in The Spelling Test, this reedited story from The Doll's Storybook, which came out in August, 2019.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to After Death by Dean Koontz. Also still reading Elfen Königin by Holly Black, translated from English.

What's in my wine glass: Madroña's El Tinto again. A case of it arrived just as we were getting ready for the Pop-up party.

What's my tip of the week: Coffee will stain the carafe if it's left to dry. I pour the coffee into a bottle with a lid (a jar would work) and store the coffee in the fridge when it cools off. If I rinse the carafe right away, it doesn't need washing as often.

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

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook is available from the BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook 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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Crayons and Knitting Needles

Mandy's Russian Dress is done.

I posted the pattern here. Several people are making it now. I've change the skirt, originally a swirled skirt. Now it's balanced, but just as full. The pattern has both skirt versions. Here it is from the side:

The back is the same as the green one. Now I've started one in blue for Vroni.

Vintage Stitchers met at Marilyn's, so I'm showing off some of her quilts. Marilyn loves bright, primary colors. Visiting her house is like walking across a sheet of paper with well-ordered crayons posing artistically here and there.

She gave us a tour of her new master bath. It's beautiful, but I couldn't get enough of all the lovely quilts used in decorating her home.

This one used fussy-cut zinnias on a white background for the "plain" blocks in an Irish Chain pattern.

Here's a look at the border.

The same fabric line, but with different backgrounds were used in this Bear Paw variation.

The bedroom had other lovely quilts on a ladder against the wall, something I would like to do after we move.

The Vintage Stitchers had some great show-and-tell for us. Carol had made a couple of chair covers, basically quilts made as wide as her chairs, so they could protect the chairs without being folded.

They were reversible.

(That's my Spring Flowers quilt on the floor, bottom left.)

As I said, there were two. 

And they are reversible.

Several of our members have made the Goodnight, Irene quilt. This is Barbara's. She used a pretty batik for the border.

Diane had been making some bags. She's an avid knitter, and a knitter can never have too many bags. 

We had a nice visit, and chatted about how our group got started, back in 2004.

Another quilter had been working on an appliqué quilt, a BOM (block of the month) at a local quilt shop. It was such a lot of hand appliqué that she decided she wanted to hand-quilt it, so she recruited me to teach her. We had met at her quilt guild when I gave a talk about how to make quilts like the ones that are now considered antique. She came to my house for a few lessons, and we decided it would be nice to have a mini group centered around hand work (quilting, appliqué, sewing on binding, etc.). I ran into Barbara and Carol at the Utah Quilt Guild's Quilt Festival that year. They had been at a meeting I attended where I mentioned the group. We were in a booth in the vendors' mall, and we started chatting. They invited  a few friends to our first meeting and I invited a few. Several of the original members have moved away (as I will be doing soon), and we've added people. I'm hoping some of them can come to my new place in 2019 for the Sisters Quilt Show/Festival put on by the Stitchin' Post in Sisters.

Spring has finally arrived. I heard my first hummingbird this morning. About 10 years ago, I planted these bulbs (I don't know what they're called) under the big tree in the front of the house. 

That spring they came up across the street. on the slope that leads up to another home. Some of our 4-legged gardeners thought they would be more visible there. They get more morning sun, too.

Something is sprouting up in our driveway, though. U-haul boxes. They're pods for moving. You fill them up, and when you're ready, they come and pick them up. They will haul these to Bend to put into storage for us. When we're ready to move into a new home, they will deliver them to us.

Saturday we went to the Utah Democratic State Convention in Salt Lake City. There was a lot of discussion, some inspiring speeches and votes for candidates for various offices. We had one race that will require a primary, but the others were decided right there.

You can't see me, but I'm right down in front, right in front of the podium. What I found stunning was, one candidate decided that another candidate running for the same office was a better choice, so he threw his support to her. There were five candidates for that race, and she won. It will be an uphill battle for all the candidates in November, though. Utah is reliably red.

I sat next to a lady who was crocheting dish clothes. I was working on my Coastal Skies shawl. She said she didn't know how to knit. I saw she was holding her yarn the way I do for Continental-style knitting. I've seen people hold the right needle the way she held her crochet hook. I demonstrated for her how she could knit using the same skills she already knew. I think I may have a convert.

What's on my needles: Still the Coastal Skies, a little more progress made, and the third Russian Dress.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away in its case until I get more packing done.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, but a lot of progress made this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Higher Loyalty by Jim Comey. It reads like a good novel, but it also made sense out of a lot of recent history and rang true. Now listening to The Miser of Mayfair by M. C. Beaton. Just getting into it.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw “Two-buck Chuck” Shiraz. DH was busy when it was time for my wine break, so he said just to get one of these. I’m glad that soon I’ll be living where I can buy this very drinkable wine in my local Trader Joe’s, instead of having to smuggle in a supply from out-of-state.

What's my tip of the week: Spring often brings out spiders, whether because they are hatching or because you might be cleaning and moving things around. Except for the few that are poisonous, they are beneficial creatures, but we don't want them taking over the house. They need to go out and find homes of their own. We practice "catch and release." A plastic container or jar can corral your "prey"while you slide a card of piece of paper between the container and the surface they are sitting or hanging around on. Using the card or paper to keep the container closed, you can remove them safely from the house and deposit them outdoors, where they can make a nice home for themselves and find much more to eat. (Most spiders are spinners and weavers. Anyone who makes yarn and does something useful with it is OK in my book.)

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.