Finally In The Shop

I spent the weekend working on my Etsy shop, amongst other things. I finished up the following two outfits to fit Iplehouse JID dolls, photographed them, and entered them in the shop. I sure hope they sell.

Sierra is modeling them. I think she looks very elegant.

I plan to make some jewelry and hats to go with a few of the doll dresses I made last year (Or was it the year before?) and getting the dresses up on Etsy before the end of the month. Hopefully, I will start generating some sales. I kind of loathe knitting doll hats, but I feel the need to have them.

The weather warmed up over the weekend and today was glorious. I actually sat out on the deck and read a novel in the sunshine for awhile. It was so nice after the last 2 weeks of snow and cold. The sun was warm, and the air smelled nice. I think spring is finally coming. I was surrounded by piles of snow, but the sun was so warm it didn't matter. The snow is melting like crazy.

I gave the scarf to Jim yesterday and he loves it. I'm so glad. He probably won't get much use out of it now, but it'll be there for him next winter.

I finished the second sleeve of the entrelac cardigan. I need to block the pieces before I can continue with the knitting. I will try to get that done tomorrow morning before I go to Rathdrum Knitalong. Then I'll be all set for knitting the next step.

That's all for now. Live long and prosper. \\//

Luna In Red

I was digging around the pictures on my hard drive looking for something specific and ran across these. I had intended to blog them earlier this summer. Here's Luna, in red.

Unfortunately, I can't remember where I got the outfit.

Such a sweet face.

We got some snow the end of last week-about 8 inches total. Then it warmed up and rained for 2 days so a lot of it melted. Today it was dry and partly cloudy. I actually saw the sunshine. They're saying all next week will be in the 40's. I would like that. Maybe the last of the snow will go away. We still have a lot of it around.

Yesterday I helped my husband paint the new office we've been building in the loft of the garage. It's almost ready for him to move into. He did the second coat today. He's very excited about it. He also built a long desk to put in the office. He put a clear lacquer finish on it today. It's turned out really pretty. I should take a picture of it.

Live long and prosper. \\//

A Pink Outfit for Sierra

After much casting on, frogging, and starting over, I've finally finished this outfit for Sierra, and it fits properly.

I hope I kept proper notes so I can do it again. I've also knit this mint top.

I was hoping it would fit her, but it's way too tight, so I'm going to have to try again. It fits Ellowyne, though, so I'm not frogging it. The yarn for this little thing came from China.

I was looking on Ebay for lace or fingering weight affordable Angora yarn. I'm talking rabbit Angora. This one claimed to be that, but as it turns out, it's goat Angora, which technically is Mohair. I guess it lost something in translation. I wish I could find what I'm looking for. Oh well. I'll just have to manage with what I can get.

We've had fabulous weather the last few days. It's been sunny and even warm enough to sit out on the deck. I've been winterizing the yard. Friday I put all the deck furniture cushions away and stacked the furniture. I swept the leaves and pine needles off the deck. I've taken some occassions to just sit in the sun and enjoy too.

Did I say I cleaned the hot tub? Twice a year I empty it, clean the filter, scrub out the inside to shining, and then refill it. Well, I don't know what happened but it leaks like a sieve now. We thought the pump was the source of the leak. Some things had come loose and water was coming out of it. Doug fixed it, but the darn tub is still leaking. I'm so tired of this thing breaking down and needing repairs. Ugh.

The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day. Winter is coming soon. The weather guru's are saying snow next weekend. I better get out there and enjoy the sun while I can.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Catching Up/Layette Set #22

It's been a busy busy summer. I am having a hard time finding opportunities to blog. I think I've taken on a bit too much. I will have to see about eliminating something before I go bat doo-doo crazy.

Since my last post we've been back east to visit my daughter and son-in-law in Rhode Island. We had a wonderful week with them. We visited the RISD art museum that is attached to Brown University with some wonderful art. I got to see one of my favorite Picasso paintings, Seated Woman With a Book -the real thing- in the flesh, so to speak. I was very surprised at how small it was. It was just 16 by 9 inches. I expected it to be much bigger. But it's still just as beautiful as I thought it would be. The whole museum was wonderful.

We also drove out to Cape Cod, visited an old Cotton Mill, and various other fun things. I enjoyed it so much.

After returning home my life has been full of lots of knitting meetings, club meetings, and whatnot. I attend too many meetings.

Last week I started teaching a beginning knitting class for the shop. I have 2 students and they are doing quite well. I'm very proud of them.

Last weekend we threw a party. My husband has wanted a garage warming party every since it was declared finished. He's been nagging and nagging, so I finally did it so I could have peace again. I invited his family and some friends. I did so much work throwing this thing, but it turned out great. Everyone I invited came, and even some I didn't know were in town showed up. I barbecued chicken and burgers, and served them along with 4 different salads (I made 3, bought 1), chips, and cold drinks. My sis-in-law brought a huge platter of sliced fruit, and everyone brought a dessert. As usual, no one went hungry. Everyone had a great time. Yay!

We also got a new roof.

They got it done in 3 days, except for the skylight in the kitchen. There's a big hole with a piece of plastic over it at the moment. The skylight is a very weird size in our house, so it had to be custom made. Should be here in about a week or so. I'm so happy with the roof. They did a fantastic job on it. The guys definitely have some pride in their workmanship. I highly recommend Mountain States Roofing if you live in the Coeur d'Alene area and need a roofer. We got metal so the snow will slide off. No more shoveling off the roof for us! Hurray!

I have managed to get some knitting done despite the  hectic pace the summer is at. I have finished Layette Set #22. Behold! (Lol!)

As you can see, I used a new pattern.

The Cardigan

Pattern: Feather and Fan Baby Sweater #80782AD by Lion Brand Yarn

Size made: 6 months

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Denim

Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Light green

Needles: U.S. size 5 and 7 circulars

Started: June 4, 2017
Finished: June 26, 2017

Comments:  I decided to make this set decidedly feminine. I made an alteration in this pattern by using 2 colors for the feather and fan part. I changed colors every 4 rows. If I knit this again, I'm going to make it just a little longer. It feels a bit too short for my taste. You can see what I mean in this photo.

I found some cute buttons at Joann's.

The Hat

Pattern: Chibi Striped Baby Hat by Chiaki Hayashi

Size made: 6 months

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Denim

Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Light green

Needles: U.S. size 7 circulars

Started: June 27, 2017
Finished: June 27, 2017

Comments: I used the Chibi Striped hat pattern as usual, but I put the feather and fan stitch pattern in it. It just happened to be the right number of stitches around that the pattern fit. I can't believe how quick it knit up too.

The Booties

Pattern: From my head

Size made: 6 months

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Denim

Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Light green

Needles: U.S. size 7 circulars

Started: June 29, 2017
Finished: July 2, 2017

Comments: I winged these. I got lucky in that it worked the first time. Don't ask me how I did it. I've forgotten. Should have written it down, darn it! I'd like to make them again.

The blanket

I'm kind of sick of this fabric. You can see why I decided on feather and fan for this set though.

Pattern: From my head

Size made: 30 by 36 inches

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Denim

Yarn: Lion Brand Pound of Love
Content: 100% Acrylic, Worsted weight
Color: Light green

Hook: U.S. size G

Started: July 3, 2017
Finished: July 6, 2017

Close up of edging.

So, that is Layette set 22. I've started set 23. I needed a break from the color scheme I've been knitting the last 2 months, so I've chosen something bright.

Another bit of news. Almost forgot this. I have a new doll! Someone in one of the Facebook doll groups I follow put this little girl up for sale for a mere $50. I fell in love with her adorable face.

Wearing an Ellowyne Wilde wig and a dress my sister made for Ellowyne.

I've done some research and found out she's a Paulette Goodreau doll, specifically Dorothy, from Wizard of Oz. She came to me naked, with 2 pairs of eyes and no hair. She is a real bjd doll, but made of vinyl instead of resin. Originally, she was sold with an outfit. I will have to prowl Ebay until I can find one to purchase for her. Goodreau dolls were only made for a few years, then the owner retired in 2012 and shut the whole thing down. They are the only American made bjd dolls.

Dottie is 16 inches tall and fits some of my Ellowyne Wilde dresses, skirts, and tops. Not so much the pants though, and Dotties feet are quite a bit bigger than Ellowynes. I'm having a hard time finding shoes that will fit her. I may have to make some.

Here's a pic of Zoey. On July 6 she turned one year old.

She's stopped growing at 31 lbs, and she comes to just below my knees in height. She's not anywhere near as big as we thought she'd be, but I think she's the perfect lap dog size. I'm glad she didn't get big.

Now I'm all caught up. Live long and prosper. \\//

Asa Willow Park

Good things have been happening the past 24 hours. First of all this box arrived.

My new doll had arrived. Introducing Asa Willow Park, my second Iplehouse JID doll.

She has such a pretty face. She came with pale blue eyes.

I put this dress on her that I knit a few weeks ago. This pink looks pretty good on her.

She has what is called Normal colored skin. I like how pale she is. She is my little Japanese girl.

I have bought a pattern for making her a kimono and ordered some silk yesterday. I think I'll try brown eyes on her. I love the blue eyes, but not necessarily for her. The hard part is remembering where I put my doll eyes. Hmm.

The second great thing that has happened is I got a picture of my baby flowering Crabapple. She is in full bloom. This picture does not do her justice. She's pale pink. She's a happy tree. This is the prettiest flowering she's had thus far.

I took down all the little fences I had around my baby trees a few weeks ago and I can't believe how fast the trees are growing and spreading out now. They are happy to be free. I am happy to have a fenced back yard so I could take the little fences down.

The third happy thing that has happened is we are on the roofers schedule to get a new roof for our house. HURRAY! Our roof needs replacing. It's 25 years old and leaking. Earlier this month I called local roofers for estimates. I've hired Mountain States Roofing. The owner, Rich, really impressed me, and the estimate was way lower than I was expecting. He also was highly recommended by a friend he did a roof for last year. He will start working on our roof on June 22nd. That will be the day after we return from visiting my daughter and her husband. We are getting a metal roof so we won't have to go up and shovel snow anymore. It will just slide off. My Sweet Hubby is getting too old to be getting up on the roof.

It's gonna be a busy summer.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Random Newsy Stuff

Spring is here. Yay! My flowering Cherry is in bloom. It has 4 small bunches of flowers on it.

Not as good as last year, but I'm not complaining. At least it's blooming.

My daffodils are in full form too. These ones were planted the year we moved here. We had a huge bulb garden. Unfortunately, the deer thought it was their personal smorgasbord. The only thing they didn't eat was these daffs. We planted grass and turned the bed into part of the lawn. The daffs survived and are 25 years old now. I admire their persistence.

This past week I've been working on a baby cardigan for the next layette set.

I got an idea to make it look like a lettermans jacket. It requires knitting in Intarsia if I want to knit from the top down and have no seams to sew. Haven't done Intarsia since I had my shop. I'm happy with how it's going so far.

I had intended to do a Caturday post yesterday, but my plans were altered. So I'll post the pics of my kitties now instead.

Chenille is hangin' in her window bed. She loves this silly thing and spends a lot of her time in it. It's just her size. The boys are too big to fit in it.

Here she is atop the cat tree. I actually took this before we moved the tree to the dining room. Just never got around to posting it. She loves posing for the camera.

I got Merino on the cat tree a couple days ago. He has his "I'm a ferocious panther" expression.

That changed when I started giving him chin scritches.

I could not get Cashmere to sit for a photo. I had to wait until he was asleep. When the boys did this, I had to grab the camera. They don't sleep together very often. There isn't quite enough room for both of them on this chair.

Some news I haven't shared yet. I was texting with my sister earlier last week, talking doll talk as usual. I brought up the subject of an Iplehouse JID doll I've been wanting. I've been saving the money I make teaching knitting classes for this doll. I went to the Iplehouse site to get the link so she could see it, and we ended up both talking each other into ordering new dolls. They were on sale. A good sale at that! Price was knocked down $150. I've ordered JID Asa. She'll have the same face-up as in this photo, and I've ordered that beautiful black wig for her as well. I could not get the red outfit. Not to fear, though. She's the same size as Sierra, so she'll fit in clothes I already have.It's no longer available I guess. She will be here in a few weeks. I'm excited.

We were discussing how hard it is to find clothes to fit these dolls. It's the biggest complaint about them. We're going to see if we can fill that need a bit and make clothes to sell.

Speaking of doll clothes. I've already been working on some dresses to fit the JID girls to sell in my Etsy store. The knitting is done. One is pink.

The other is light yellow with blue fur yoke.

Not very good pics (I took them with the phone while texting sis), but you get the idea. I'm making jewelry this weekend to go with them. Then it's official photo time.

It's a beautiful day out today. I think I'll go get some sunshine.

Live long and prosper. \\//

A Dream of Marigold and Cinnamon

A couple weeks before our cruise Tonner Dolls announced they are discontinuing their Ellowyne Wilde line of dolls. I decided, under the circumstances, I had better order a doll that I wanted but hadn't got around to doing so. She arrived just before we had to leave and I'm finally getting around to blogging about her.

This is Ellowyne - A Dream of Marigold and Cinnamon

She came out last year. She's rather unusual in that Ellowyne was used for a darker skinned doll. It's the only time Tonner has done this, at least, in the Wilde line anyway. I absolutely love her and think she's gorgeous. I love her dark gold eyes.

She has henna tattoos on her hands and several bracelets, though I've only put 3 on her here. I had to remove her hands to get them on.

Her black hair is incredibly long.

She has a pair of long dangle earrings too, but the holes in her ears are not deep enough to put them on. I will have to fix that.

After taking these picture I carefully put her back in her box. I plan to get a glass display case for my dolls and put her away until that happens so there's no chance of her getting ruined.

We got a few inches of new snow yesterday and there's more coming. For right now, though, the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Hinting of spring to come.

Live long and prosper. \\//

Ruby - Light Peach by Liz Frost

Two Saturdays ago a box from Australia arrived at our house.

I opened the box and unwrapped the contents.

It was my new doll, Light Peach Ruby from Liz Frost! YAY! I installed the grey eyes that came with her, and put a red wig on her head. Oh my goodness! She's gorgeous! Look at that sweet little face.

I had a new outfit waiting for her that I got from JackisCreations on Etsy. It's perfect for Ruby.

I love the little knit sweater and crocheted hat.

I ordered another outfit for her from FantasyFrocksDesigns, also on Etsy. It arrived today. So here are a bunch of pics I took with Ruby wearing it.

I really love this doll.

She's posing on my piano.

The light wasn't very good because it's winter now and our days have been depressingly dark lately, but my camera managed to do a decent job.

So glad I ordered her.

Live long and prosper. \\//