Tea and T's!

Can anyone guess what I'm up to now? Here's a hint:

DH has about 10 boxes of T-shirts, mostly from Hash runs while we lived in Indonesia. T-shirts were given out to participants to commemorate a special event, like a member's 100th run or some special holiday in a participant's home country (usually Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France or the US). The shirts are loaded with advertising for the companies they worked for or brewers of beer (the organization's beverage of choice). He wants a T-shirt quilt made out of them. When we have 20 fronts and backs cut away from the sleeves and neck binding, we will have to figure out which one is the largest and cut the others that size. I have iron-on stabilizer to use to keep the blocks from stretching. I've never done this before. This will be my first attempt.

Getting ready to CO for doll sweaters for the Oregon grandsons' dolls, Parker and Jackson. (I'm certain they will be getting new names. Stay tuned.) Here's the pattern I'm planning on using: Bright Lights by Sharisse Dunn. Remember this yarn?

It turned out to be too thick for Pippa's Chilly Days of Fall, so I switched to another yarn. I don't know if I have enough of the grey yarn, and I would have to hold it double. I will probably have to go stash-diving.

A few more picks on the trailer rugs and another section of the quilt got done, but sending out books cut into my play time.

I made a big batch of "Six-Weeks Muffins," a La Leche League recipe I've used for years. It came from their book "Mother's In The Kitchen." I have adapted it somewhat.

Here's my version of the recipe:

Six-Weeks Bran Muffins

Servings: 6 dozen
Prep time: 23:26

Ingredients

• 6 C wheat bran, divided
• 2 C Boiling water

• 1 C Olive oil or melted butter
• 1 1/2 C honey (I spray the measuring cup with cooking spray before measuring.)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 quart cultured buttermilk

• 5 C whole wheat pastry flour
• 5 teaspoons baking soda (I used 3 at 7200' elevation and 4 at 3600')
• 2 teaspoons sea salt or lite salt


Directions

Add the boiling water to 2 C of the bran in a large bowl while you assemble the other ingredients.

Mix the wet ingredients.

Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together into a bowl. Add the remaining 4 C bran and mix well. 

Add the buttermilk mixture and the flour/bran mixture to the soaked bran.

Store in refrigerator for up to six weeks. (I make a note on my calendar, so I know what day they need to be used up.)

To bake, spray enough muffin/cupcake papers for the number of muffins you want to bake and place in muffin pan. Put about 1/4 to 1/3 C batter into each paper cup. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Raisins, dates, other small pieces of dried fruit or fresh apple may be added to the batter in the paper cups. Don't overfill.

Notes
I just rediscovered this great recipe of mine that was inspired by the recipe by the same need in "Mother's in the Kitchen," a cookbook put out by the La Leche League. My copy was published in 1971. I don't use shortening or regular sugar, so I've made some changes, but it still works.
What I like about this recipe is you can mix it up once, leave it in the fridge and bake only what you need. However, if you bake the muffins all at once (!) it makes six dozen.

Here's some tea to go with it.

The Oregon grandsons got their Covid vaccine on Saturday. No side effects so far. The other two young grandkids have already had Covid, so they're waiting until Daphne is finished with her ballet performance this coming weekend.

50ºF and breezy is a bit chilly for a walk, even with the sun shining, but we managed to get nearly a mile in during a walk to the Rec Center and back on Saturday. As usual, Rocky rode in the stroller for a while and then wanted to get out and walk.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Emil: 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 first book, Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, it would help if you left 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: Getting ready to CO for doll sweaters.

What's on my loom: Still the trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Its cover, but I'll soon be piecing the T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Still the whole-cloth quilt. A little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Help comes from a surprising source in The Rescue, this week's story in The Doll's Storybook.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Wildwood by Colin Melloy on the Audible app. 

What's in my wine glass: Apothic Dark 2018, one of my favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you use dried lentils or split peas in soups and stews, the first direction usually says to rinse them first. It's a good idea to pick through them to see if there are any small stones before you rinse, but the rinsing can be simplified after that. Rinsing them in a colander leaves you with a sticky clump of lentils or peas that are hard to get out of the colander after the liquid has drained. It's much easier to rinse them in the pot they will be cooked in, unless you're using that pot to also sauté onions, etc. Just put them into the pot, pour water in until they're covered, swish around in the pot and then drain off the dust over a small strainer or your colander. The clump of washed lentils/peas will then be clean and will just dissolve into the cooked dish.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is now available for preorder from booksellers world wide. Book Baby already has stock. The link is here. The three stories are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is also available. The three stories in the first book are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, please 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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The Days of Wine and Cold Noses

Monday and Tuesday were spent tidying and cleaning the house and getting the fiber studio ready to be used as a guest room.

Wednesday our daughter arrived from Wisconsin, and settled into the fiber studio. (Some people have trouble sleeping in a room where little beings appear to be watching, but I'm happy to report that I didn't have to put sleep masks on all of my characters, who were busy hanging out in the new "guest room," which is pretty much their home, unless they're wandering around the house, getting photographed for stories.

The next day our younger son arrived with his family. While they were visiting, the dolls enjoyed some play time with a real child, our grandson Johan. (It's good that Jolena is limber.)

Johan was fascinated by the loom during their last visit here, when his father helped DH put the loom together for me in the living room. During this visit, I gave Johan a demonstration.

Although I was very busy during the visit, I managed to get a little bit done on the trailer rugs. It's fun to see how the colored warp looks with the fabric-strip weft woven in.

On Saturday, DD, DDIL and I left the boys and dogs with the men and drove to our local yarn shop. DDIL was to pick out some yarn for her birthday, which occurred earlier this month when they were in Hawaii. I wanted to spend some money in support of the local business, so I planned to find some yarn for myself. I had picked Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu to make something "pink-ish" and downloaded the pattern before we left. After much perusing the offerings at Fancywork Yarn Shop, I picked Round Mountain Fibers' Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

Before I started a new knitting project, though, I worked some more on my whole cloth quilt.

One more section finished!

We went to one of the two playgrounds near our home each day, so the boys could play and the dogs could get a good walk. Rocky enjoyed riding in the stroller.

The kiddos have more energy than I do, that's for sure.

It was good for them to have a chance to climb and slide and swing to get rid of some of that extra energy!

DH discovered a good way to get Soren to take a nap after an outing: put on a boring (to him) movie and provide a comfortable place to "sit." Soren will watch anything that's on TV, even if it isn't really of interest to his age.

Another day, DD and DDIL walked to Pilot Butte with the Dusty and our granddog, Louis.

Yesterday, Peter and his family piled into the car and headed home. They are only a few hours away, so we will see them again soon.

Karen heads home to Wisconsin tomorrow. We will miss her, but we hope she will be back for Christmas with her husband and children.

Besides the outings with the kids and dogs, we used the barbecue for hamburgers one night and salmon steaks another. The adults had champagne, wine, beer and lots of good food. The boys had some sparkling cider for a special treat with their dinners.

Rocky had a few rough days. Something upset his digestive system, and he had to go out in the middle of the night two nights in a row, but he is over that now. We've weaned him off of the anti inflammatory medication, and now we're cutting back on the pain medication. Dusty was happy to have Louis, our granddog, to play with and take walks with. They are almost exactly the same age.

There's nothing better than cold noses on dogs and lots of good wine to have with dinner.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu (photo from the pattern) using Round Mountain Fibers Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

What's on my loom: Trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Its cover.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Veronika's Vocabulary Verses," a tongue-twisting poem.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney on the Chirp app. I didn't get to listen much this week. (I wonder why.)

What's in my wine glass: A lot, but the latest is Crystal Range 2019 Barbera, one of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you want a great game that can be played by children and adults, is not very competitive and is unique, try One Night Ultimate Werewolf. We found it hilarious!

Where's my book: Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook went to the publisher on Monday. I had the cover kicked back for an issue with one of the layers in the software that should have been deleted before sending. It was rejected by electronic review, but when a real person looked at it, I learned it was OK after all. Whew! Still, I'm getting a proof copy, just to make sure everything is just the way I want it. I should have it in another week or so, and if it's fine, I'll approve the printing.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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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Whew, Too!

This is fun!

I have about 12" to go on the second rug. I expect to be able to show them off next week. (The bows tied in a few placed right at the edge of the rug help me keep track of how long the rug is. Each bow represents 10") I'm finding the Sugar 'n Cream yarn, usually used for dishcloths, etc., to be very easy to work with as warp. I had to go out to Joann's for some clear vinyl material for another project I had planned, and I picked up a couple more cones, but in black and sort of a turquoise. I think it will be fun to have the warp make stripes when I'm done with these two rugs and warp the loom again. I've found the batiks easy to work with, because the color goes through to the back. These are not quilting batiks, although I'm sure the same would be for those. These are traditional batiks with a pattern, like the one you can see that I'm currently working with. Fabric that's printed on one side and almost white on the back looks better if you fold it in half with the wrong side on the inside, even as it gets scrunched up when you beat it in. You don't have to bother doing that with the batiks. I have a lot of traditional batik fabric from our time in Indonesia left over from other sewing projects. This is a good use for it.

I'm still participating in a knit-along (KAL) on Ravelry. The "Sweetpeas" pattern from last week was part of that. This week I finished another pattern from the same designer. This one is Map Dot: Watonga. It's designed for the larger Happy Kidz, but I used my formula to find out what gauge I needed for Little Kidz dolls like Pippa, and it worked out. I divide the gauge in the pattern for Happy Kidz by .8 and that gives me the gauge I need for Little Kidz. Sometimes this means using thinner yarn, because I don't want the resulting fabric to come out stiff. I went down on needle size, too, of course. Fortunately, I've knit with this yarn before using the same gauge as I needed, so I could check and make sure what the needle size was.

The top buttons down the back.

The pants were easy to make and very quick. The method is sort of like making gloves, but with fewer fingers.

I use my sourdough starter to make pizza dough. I made this to keep busy while Rocky was in surgery on Thursday. After I had the dough ready, I discovered I didn't have any pasta sauce, which is what I usually put on before the toppings. I did have some canned tomatoes, however, and it was easy to make some.

Speaking of Rocky, you may remember from last week that he had a bad encounter with the dog door that required emergency treatment. He is walking much better, but we didn't want to have that happen again. We decided to replace the flap with a clear plastic fringe to keep the bugs out. That was what took me to Joann's. I bought the kind of clear vinyl material often used for things like furniture slipcovers and table covers. You can buy it by the yard. It isn't very thick, but not flimsy, either. DH measured how big I needed to cut the piece and we figured out how wide the strips needed to be to go across the opening evenly. They are all attached where I cut the strips up to 1" from the top. Here's what Rocky sees going out.

Here's what it looks like coming in.

We got the idea from a relative in Finland who had something like this instead of a screen door. It works great to keep the bugs out.

Rocky's procedure went OK. He's still getting pain medication and antibiotics. He has a very complicated schedule for his regular medication and drops for his eye condition. We decided not to get a biopsy of the lump removed from his lip. The vet removed extra from the margins, just in case, but he didn't think it looked like something cancerous. In consulting with him, we also didn't think treatment with chemo at his age would be a good idea. The vet also removed a back molar, which had something wrong with the root that could have damaged the adjacent tooth and caused pain later on. The remaining pearly whites got a nice cleaning. We expect this will be his last cleaning. In fact, we thought the cleaning 18 months ago would be the last one. At the rate he's going, we could very well have him around for his 17th birthday. We should throw a party.

Another thing that's keeping me busy these days is working on my next book. This one will feature Emil. I made the cover last year when I had the program needed to make the cover for Mariah. I just swapped out the photo, changed the name and the background color and saved it.

Daphne has been helping me pick the stories to go in the book. They will be:

Best Buds

Getting What You Want

The Boys Cook Dinner

I'm doing some editing and changing out some of the photos to make them more appropriate for a book and for other reasons, such as to include Emil in them, to have the doll on a skateboard wear a helmet, because a photo was included in another story in the book or the previous book, or to improve photo quality.  I'm hoping to have it ready to send off by early August.

Also on the grandchild front, here's Johan, off to day camp. (That prominent front tooth is no longer prominent. In fact it's missing. It's mate may also be missing by the time you read this.)

Have a good week!

Where's my blog: If you have been following my blog and want to continue following, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Another KAL item for Pippa.

What's on my loom: The second rug, almost done.

What's on my sewing machine: Leggings for Pippa and Happy Kidz.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf. The dolls reenact the old Aesop's Fable with a couple of twists.

One idea I have for a future book is three stories all based on classic tales, like this one.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Florence Grace by Tracy Reese on Audible. It was an engrossing tale. Now listening to The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg on the Chirp app. It's hilarious. Five residents of a nursing home decide to find a way to go to prison based on a documentary they watched that portrayed life in prison in an overly positive light. They steal some valuable paintings and then turn themselves in, but their adventures are a bit like the old Keystone Cops movies. Good fun!

What's in my wine glass: The Portuguese Red Blend by Casa Santos Lima. A nice wine in a very pretty label.

What's my tip of the week: I often wash plastic zippered bags to use again unless they have a leak or are just too messy to be able to clean up. After they drain for a bit, I need another place for them to finish drying. I have a little pitcher with skewers and straws in it. It's perfect for hanging the plastic bags once they're no longer dripping.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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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Fun Finishes

My friends and I have been finishing things this past week. Here's Janet's latest quilt top:

She brought it to Common Threads for show-and-tell. The pattern is "Bars of Gold" from Pam and Nicky Lintott's Jelly Roll Quilts. She says she's going to make every quilt in the book. She has already done several, as have I. I'm not sure I'd want to make every one, but there are several I would like to make, especially "Starlight Express" and "Both Sides of the Pond."

Joanie finished her poncho. I had blocked it for her and picked up the sts around the neck after she sewed the shoulder seam. The color is pretty dark, and even though I'm younger than she is, it was even hard for me to see the sts. I had to sit in the window to do it. It looks great, though!

The pattern is this one from Rowan, and the yarn is Rowan's Felted Tweed DK. Several people in the group want to make it or something similar. I suggested City Tweed as a good alternative, if you can't get the yarn it called for. Lynda agreed. She made a lovely sweater from City Tweed a year or so ago. This is a very simple pattern, but versatile and effective. It's basically a rectangle, the shoulder seam sewn and then the cowl sts picked up. Nice!

Joanie also brought what is probably her last weaving project ever (because her loom now belongs to me):

You may have seen this blanket before, but now she has blocked it. Margareth helped her finish it and get it off the loom, because Joanie has trouble with her shoulders, which is why she was willing to part with her loom. She's happy she can still knit without pain.

This was the warp that was left on the loom when I received it, and I practiced on it with the same weft before starting the afghan that was my first weaving project. Now that I've seen Joanie's project blocked, I may have to finish the edges of the piece I made with the same weft and block it.

Speaking of Margareth, here's Karan admiring Margareth's latest FO, a tapestry sheep:

I'm lucky to have access to Margareth, Joanie and Karan for weaving tips and help! Margareth and I are going to take a rug class with Jason Collingwood in November. In the meantime, though, I'm having a go on my own, with the help of the books that came with my loom. I just finished Bathroom Rug #2:

I think it has a Southwestern feel. This one is for the master bath. Here it is on the bathroom floor:

The yarn is mostly Wool of the Andes Bulky, although I used some Wool of the Andes Worsted held double when I ran out of a color and there's some Ella Rae Worsted in there, too. I haven't wet-finished it yet. I had to see it on the floor! There was still some warp left on the loom, so I'm continuing to weave with my leftovers from this project. I might get a big enough piece out of it to make a bag, but we'll see.

The rug wasn't the only item I finished this week. I wore my finished Fiji Socks to Common Threads:

The yarn is Stroll Glimmer in "Fiji," but the sparkles hardly show up. The pattern is "Scrolls" from Charlene Schurch's More Sensational Knitted Socks. You may remember that I started these socks back in April of 2012, when we were awaiting Zachary's arrival. They got shoved aside to make time to knit baby things, but now they're finished and in use.

AND...I finished the first appliqué panel for my Delectable Pathways quilt, including the embroidery. Some of the embroidered stems just sort of stop, but that's because leaves that will cross a seam will go there.

Hiking season has begun. Sunny and Rocky really enjoy getting out in the sunshine. Here's Sunny on a recent hike:

The wildflowers are going crazy, like these Forget-me-nots. It's unusual to have so many of this flower here. They're really prolific this year for some reason.

Even the lowly dandelion is beautiful if you look closely:

I wonder if you can spin this stuff?

For those of you seeking some baby cuteness, here's Soren:

Daddy is reading to him. This evening ritual started long before Soren was born.

Well, I still have lots of UFOs and WIPs to finish up, and I'm ready to start the project for my Craftsy Floor Loom Weaving class, so check back with me next week. This has been a week of finishing things. Next week will probably see at least one new beginning.

What's on my needles: Bunny Suit and Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan.

What's on my loom: The rest of the warp with more weft-faced weaving for a bag or ?

What's on my Featherweight: Delectable Pathways, piecing the Delectable Mountain blocks with the setting triangles.

What's on my wheel: Full Circle Roving, Espresso, second bobbin almost finished.

What's on my iPad: Marie Bostwick's A Thread of Truth, from Audible, various podcasts.

What's my app of the week: Gaugefy Free. Because you know you should always knit a gauge swatch!

What's in my wine glass: Alice White Shiraz 2011, from Australia. Just a hint of gum tree! Nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook, using the iPad for photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.