Time Marches On

Let's cut to the chase: Common Threads.

We met at Karan's on Thursday. Margareth came fully equipped to draft some patterns.

Georgette had just started this needlepoint project.

Ginny has made some progress on this needlepoint design.

Karan had finished this redwork quilt before Christmas.

I showed off my finished "Peggy's Sistine Chapel," which this group hadn't seen yet. I was working on a pullover for Vroni for her birthday. Lynda was knitting a sock, but she frogged it before I could get a photo.

Mandy came along to supervise me and to show off the slacks I made to go with the pullover for Vroni. (Mandy was my model, so as not to spoil the surprise.) The sweater she's wearing is my "Wonderland Turtle," not the surprise pullover.

I had to alter a pattern, so did a dry run with a different fabric. I discovered that I couldn't just fold the fabric over, cut out through two layers and then be able to match up the pattern (stripes). However, the fit looked good.

When I used the fabric I planned on, I was able to get the stripes to match fairly closely by cutting out one pattern piece at a time, rather than two layers, then matching the second one to first before cutting it out. Here's an example of what I did (with different fabric). You can just barely see the paper pattern (I use freezer paper) under the first piece I cut.

I turned the fabric over to cut out the second one. This is important because the stripes may not always be symmetrical, and with this fabric it was even more important, because it was a brushed cotton, so the sides of the fabric were not the same. (If your fabric is the same on both sides, make sure when you sew the pocket facings on the fronts that you aren't making two identical pieces. I did that once. You want mirror images.)

In the photos it looks black and white, but there is a little strand of turquoise running through it.

The pattern for the pullover was Cataddict's Steampunk Blouse. (Not a download, but I could copy and paste.) Here's how Vroni looked in the finished outfit, with her birthday shoes and necklace. (The necklace was made from an orphaned earring, some chain, rings and clasp from Michael's.)

I wrote a little story about Vroni's birthday party (photojournalism). I won't take up time/space here, but you can find the whole story here. One of Vroni's presents was a picture book, which the girls read and discussed. (How do you discuss a picture book? Maybe they were discussing why Matti gave Vroni a book called Puppy Love.)

To reward Mandy for doing such a great job helping me by acting as my model, I made her a pair of slacks on Saturday, using the same pattern. I also have the same pullover on the needles for her, but in Turmeric, sort of a soft gold. It will look good with the colors in her slacks.

For the slacks, I started out with the Pixie Faire's Boot Cut Jeans pattern. It's designed for American Girl dolls, so it's a bit too big for Götz dolls, like Vroni and Mandy. Also, the legs were flared, and I wanted them straight. I discovered that I could use the pattern for the front and front pockets exactly as it was designed, but I could remove the flare in the leg and some of the width in the...um...bottom...by making a new pattern piece for the back. The original pattern also had a top-stitched fold and back pockets, which I didn't think I needed, so I accounted for those as well, and the center-back seam had a strange kink in it, required by dolls with...um...stuffed bodies. I ended up with this. (Grid lines are 1".)

Feel free to use my "pattern," and the waistband is also smaller. In case you can't read it, you cut a piece on the bias, 11" X 2". Then follow the directions in the original Pixie Faire pattern.

Another person on Ravelry, "Weavespinner," made my first Fair Isle cardigan pattern. We had a few chats on the phone, so she would feel certain of what I meant in my instructions. Then she cut the steeks, knit the neck band, button band buttonhole bands, then picked up and knitted the sleeves. On Saturday, she posted this photo.

It's very exciting* for me to see my little designs show up from time to time, but the steeking project is special, because I know each person who makes one of these doll sweaters has learned a new skill (if they've never steeked before). She used colors similar to the sweater I made for Vroni, and I think she did a wonderful job, rating the famous "Steeking Badge," made for me when I made my first steek, by NoKnitSherlock on Ravelry. (Steeking badges? We don't need no steeking badges!)

But I did.

We visited Run-A-Muk Dog Park twice this past week, and when we were down in Salt Lake City to visit the upholsterer, we took the pups to Big Cottonwood Park, where they ran and played on grass with other dogs. Run-A-Muk doesn't have much grass right now, but it isn't covered with snow, either. More like slush and mud, so Run-A-Muk lived up to its name. I guess it will be a short winter for us.

Oh, and we probably will have to refinance our home to get the reupholstering done...on two Finnish armchairs. Watch for them about March.

*Seriously, this is really exciting for me.

What's on my needles: ZickZack Scarf, but I think I'm going to frog it. I'm finding it takes more concentration than I can handle without having lots of stuff going on (ADD issue). Also Mandy's Steampunk Blouse pullover.

What's on my Featherweight: Doll pants, shirts and skirts.

What's on my loom: Scarf to use up last of the warp.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is hiding under the bed.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens, a Deal of the Day from Audible. Now listening to Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose.

What's in my wine glass: Twisted Old Vine Zinfandel 2014. Appropriate for drinking while spinning. (Maybe that's why Stanzi is under the bed?)

What's my tip of the week: It will be easier to get seams to match if the seam allowance that’s on top goes toward the needle as you sew and the bottom seam allowance goes away from the needle. With quilting, you can't always do it this way, but if you can't, a pin will help. Being aware that the seams nestle together better that way helps know when you need pins. This also goes for any sewing project (like doll clothes) where you don't press the seams open. (That's a whole other story.)

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.

Happy Birthday, Vroni!

We had a party today, It's Vroni's birthday. 

The girls wanted to wear frilly dresses, but they know it would make me feel cold, because our house is cool this time of year, so they all wore warm sweaters.

Matti had baked the cake. Who knew such a young kid could bake a cake all by himself? (I think I have figured out why his clothes are getting tight.)

It's easy to remember the date of Vroni's birthday, because it's Groundhog Day. This year, it's also the first anniversary of the day she arrived in our home. That's why there is only one candle on the cake.

Before blowing out her candle, Vroni read her birthday card from me and told everyone she felt so blessed, she didn't know what to wish for.

Before Vroni opened her presents, she picked up the card again. She looked up at me and said living here with us is the best present she could ever have.

All the kids got together to give her one big card. They had picked it out together.

She asked them when they managed to get out all together without her. They all laughed and said in unison, "While you were braiding your hair!"

Vroni said she loves her card.

Vroni is a great bibliophile, so she wanted to open the present from Matti first, because it looked like a book, and it was.

"I know how much you love dogs," Matti said. Lotte pointed out that she loves dogs, too, especially Pierre.

"I especially love puppies," Vroni said. "Thank you Matti!" (She was secretly wondering if Matti was trying to convey some hidden meaning with the book's title, Puppy Love.)

Dolly gave Vroni a big box of chocolates. Vroni offered them to all her friends before taking one herself.

The gift from Lotte was a pair of Götz sandals. "Where did you find them?" Vroni wanted to know.

Lotte replied that she had brought the shoes with her when she came from Europe to live with us.

"You bought me a present before we ever met?" Vroni asked, clearly touched.
"I knew I would love you," Lotte explained.

The present from Gabi was a lovely necklace with a crystal heart. She explained that she knows every girl likes jewelry.

Vroni said it was perfect!

She had to give Gabi a hug.

The present from me was next: A sweater from a pattern by Cataddict on Ravelry in Palette "Caribbean" and a pair of slacks to go with it.

Mandy explained that she had modeled for it for fit, as they are the same size. (She has been hinting that she would like a pair, too.)

Vroni held up the sweater and slacks, so I could see how it would look together.

Mandy gave Vroni a drop spindle. 

"You've always said you wanted to learn to spin, so now I can teach you," Mandy said, adding that she had tried it out to make sure it was balanced, so it already has a nice cop on it. "It's easier to learn to spin if the spindle has a little weight."

The present from Alister was a walking sheep. He wound it up for her. Vroni was so surprised and excited, she threw her hands up.

"I knew y'all would love it," he drawled. "Clothes, shoes, books, candy and jewelry are fine, but every kid needs a new toy."

While the others were putting on "The Secret Life of Pets" to watch, Vroni and I went into the bedroom, so she could change into her new clothes.

She noticed she didn't have the right color hair ribbons on. Then she asked me to remove the tag from her shoes.

After the movie was over, Lotte, Mandy and Vroni cleaned up the mess.

When they moved the boxes and paper, they found a bunch of popcorn on the floor, right under Matti's chair.

Pierre! Clean up on Aisle 5!

Boys! 

Happy birthday, Vroni!

And happy anniversary, too. It has been great having you with us for this past year. (Aren't your feet cold?)

Short Days, Long Nights

We went to Run-A-Muk Dog Park twice this past week.

Dusty really needs to run and play with other young dogs. It's good to see Rocky running, too. He doesn't run as fast as Dusty, but he seems comfortable galloping along the trail, so I guess his joints are holding up all right. We had several sunny days this past week, but we also had a lot of snow, mostly Thursday afternoon and evening.

Thursday morning Vintage Stitchers met at Diane's. She had asked us to bring 2" strips for the Adopt A Native Elder program. They use the strips to tie up fabric pieces for the aging Native Americans in the program. Several of us brought stacks of strips or folded fabric for one of the volunteers to cut. Volunteers meet a couple of times a week to put together packages of food and other necessities to take with them during their periodic food runs.

Diane had finished this afghan. Several of the ladies in the group have made this or are making it. The pattern is from the Building Blocks pattern by Michelle Hunter. She used Swish Worsted by Knit Picks.

Rebecca, our appliqué queen, is working on some of the last blocks to go into her current quilt. It's supposed to have 24 blocks, but she says she thinks 20 is enough. She uses a freezer-paper method.

Here's another one:

Marilyn had finished her Falling Charms quilt. She planned to drop it off at the quilter after the meeting.

Here's the back:

Barbara had made this microwave bowl holder. It's designed to hold a bowl you put into the microwave, so it won't be hot when you take it out, but she likes it for holding her sewing supplies.

Here's a look from the side:

I took my "Peggy's Sistine Chapel" to show my friends. They remember when I was looking for the fabrics for it. I worked on my ZickZack scarf at the meeting.

I have been sewing, though.  I had made a pleated skirt for Vroni before we left on our Christmas trip, but I wasn't very happy with how it looked from the back. Also, I had to alter it to fit the skinnier Götz dolls. I thought I would "tweak" the pattern, but ended up redesigning it, modeled here by Lotte.

The grey skirt on the left was the first one. The pattern had you sew the top/yoke to the pleated skirt section, then add the elastic and sew up the back. The top/yoke was supposed to be cut on the bias, but I didn't have enough fabric to do that.

For the remake, I used homespun, which I think looks a little like thin wool flannel and comes in nice plaids. I cut the top/yoke on the bias using my rotary cutter and ruler to the size I ended up with for my altered version of the skirt (3 1/2" X 12"). I cut the skirt section on the crosswise straight-of-grain, making it 1/4" longer, because these dolls are 1" taller than the American Girl doll the original pattern was designed for (3 3/4 X 35"). I finished the top/yoke section, elastic and all, including the back seam. Then I hemmed the skirt and sewed the back seam. When I made the pleats, I made the pleats using the lines in the plaid, starting by folding the seam inside where it wouldn't show. It doesn't matter how big the pleats are as long as they just touch on the wrong side. Then I pinned the two sections together, easing in any fullness and using lots of pins. After sewing the two pieces together, I topstitched the way I did in the first skirt. Here you can see the difference:

Theoretically, you can piece the skirt part, as long as you have an equal number of what I would call "pattern repeats" in the plaid, so the seams can be hidden in the folded back part of the pleat. You can also make the pleats larger or smaller, as long as they just touch in the wrong side. Of course, this will change the number of pleats.

I finished the pattern testing for "Lotte's Lotta Colors." I found some mistakes and issued a revision. I had long thought a self-striping or multicolored yarn would work for this project and simplify the knitting, something people who have never worked a Faire Isle project before would appreciate. I used Palette in Black (25g) for the ribbing and darker color and On Line Supersocke 100 Living Color (24g) for the lighter color (color #1051). By using a multicolored or self-striping yarn you lose control over where the colors appear, but I like the effect, and you only work with two yarns throughout, eliminating the cutting and adding of new yarns at the center front and at the end of round for the sleeves.

Here it is as a cardigan, worn over my Wonderland Turtle turtleneck:

And as a pullover:

For comparison, here is the same sweater knit with the traditional changing yarn colors at the center front every few rounds:

Definitely a more structured look.

Late Thursday night, Dusty was barking incessantly. I went out to see what he was barking at. There was a young man standing at our gate, and two more out in the street with a vehicle. The young man said they were on a ski trip from Minnesota and were staying at the house up the hill (the one we call the "nightly rental house"). He said that even with 4X4 they couldn't get up the hill to park in their driveway and wanted to know if they could park in our drive. (We have a driveway wide enough for three vehicles, but only a 2-car garage.) I gave him permission. The next morning, they were out early, shoveling away the berm from our driveway, something produced when the snowplow comes by. I think they were planning on staying for a week, but they had no more problems, as of this writing.

I'm always looking for easy recipes for classic vegetarian dishes. With a little research online, I made a few adaptations and came up with this version of Huevos Rancheros.

Per person:

1 corn tortilla
1/2 C refried beans
2 T canned green chiles
1/2 small cooked potato, shredded
1 egg
1/4 C shredded Cheddar or Mexican cheese

1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 green onion, chopped
Salsa to taste

Preheat oven to 350º
Line an ovenproof soup bowl with foil for each person. Spray inside with cooking spray. Place corn tortilla inside and top with beans, chiles and potato. Make a well in the center and break egg into it.
Bake for 25 min.
Top with avocado, chopped green onion, and salsa.

(If you're serving this to someone who can't chew tough tortilla, you can cover it with foil for cooking.)

What's on my needles: ZickZack Scarf, about 1" further than last week.

What's on my Featherweight: Slacks for Götz dolls.

What's on my loom: Scarf to use up last of the warp.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Dean Koontz’ Midnight. Now listening to Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens. Seems very good so far. I'm about halfway through. Someone at Vintage Stitchers recommended The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez. It was chosen as the book of the year by the libraries in Salt Lake City.

What's in my wine glass: Green Fin Red Table Wine, Vintage 2016. From organically grown grapes. Very, very nice!

What's my tip of the week: We shop for groceries at about four different stores. I made up a list of things we often buy at each store and saved it as a document in my word-processing program. I print off a copy and attach it to the fridge. We circle things as we find we need them and write in what isn't on the list. Then when one of us goes to the store, we just grab the list and go.

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.