Finished at Last

I promised you a new doll and finally have her finished. It was fun to do, but I am afraid I got sidetracked by the holidays and then health concerns. However, finally have her done and listed at both Etsy and Ravelry. Her name is Little Lisa, little because she is only seven inches tall. She come with clothes and a wig making technique that may be new to some knitters. It is thoroughly explained in the pattern instructions. Here is Lisa's picture.

The doll is knit in the round using DP needles. I chose this technique because seaming such small pieces can become tedious. You can find further details at Etsy or Ravelry.

Knitter's Dilemma

I promised you a new doll, and I am working on it. However, I am afraid I have been sidetracked. I ran across an e book at Knitting Daily that has captured my interest,and I couldn't wait to start on one of the patterns. The book is Knit Kimono by Vickie Square. The book contains the history of kimonos and drawings of different styles as well as eighteen patterns that are simple but will knock your socks off. Well what is one to do? Be responsible and finish the project on which one is working or download the book and immerse oneself in the designs? I, of course, did just that and have even started one of Vickie's lovely patterns.

I have, however, completed the following for the little doll. A dress, shoes and socks, nightgown, slippers, sweater and play suit. She also now has a leotard, tutu and ballet slippers for those trips to dance class. So you see, I haven't been entirely remiss.

The Harried Housewife

Had to have the repairman out to fix the fridge. Drain was clogged and the defrost water was going into the fridge instead of in the pan as it should. Nothing big, and quickly fixed. However, it started me thinking of ice boxes. When I was young and newly married we had an ice box. For those unfamiliar with ice boxes it was a wood cabinet that sat on the floor with a compartment on the top for the ice. It drained into a pan under the ice box. The pan had to be emptied on a regular basis. This was no easy job. I don't care how careful you were as you walked to the sink carrying this heavy pan of water, every step created a ripple, then a wave, and finally it slopped on the floor. So pan emptying day was always floor mopping day as well. Where did the ice come from. The ice man, of course. You had a card you put in the window when you needed ice, and he stopped and carried it in depositing in the ice box. These were sturdy guys. All day going up and down stairs carrying blocks of ice on their shoulder.

Looking back, getting rid of the iceman was a good thing. Not such a good thing was the demise of the bakery truck. When I was a young housewife there was one car in the family which the husband took to work. This left his wife without transportation Since we couldn't come to them, the tradesmen came to us. The bakery truck, in our neighborhood it was Helms, came on a regular schedule with a full array of bread, rolls donuts, cakes and other goodies. He would stop and we all went out to the truck and made our purchases.

What ever happened to the Good Humour man. He had a truck stocked not only with popsicles and ice cream bars, but pecan rolls and other treats you seldom see anywhere anymore.

When I lived in Hawaii an old, frail Japanese gentleman came by every week with fresh produce from his farm. He stopped at each block, and woman from both sides of the street came out, chatting with each other as we shopped.

Home delivery of milk, eggs and butter was nice too. You left your bottles out on the back porch with a note saying what you wanted. and it was there in the morning. Stores delivered. You placed your order by phone, and it was delivered that afternoon by a schoolboy on a bicycle.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for women's lib, but sometimes I wonder with a job, responsibilties at home plus all the running around she does if the average woman has more time for herself now than she did fifty years ago.

New Pattern in the Works

I have been thinking for some time of trying to come up with a little doll and wardrobe. After some experimenting I have designed a doll only seven and one half inches tall. Big enough for little fingers to hold on to but small enough to go anywhere.

She is knit in the round using DP needles. The only sewing is attaching the legs and wig as the arms are jointed. Clothes are next.

I will post when the pattern is available, but I am also working on a wedding afghan for a great-granddaughter so it may be awhile. This afghan is one of those projects that never seems to get any bigger no matter how long you've been working on it.

Yarn Convert

Now that the flu is over, cancer scare resolved, and all the holiday chaos is over it looks like life in our household has returned to normal letting me get back to designing, knitting and, of course, blogging

Had a pleasant surprise the other day. I have tried to get my kids interested in sewing, knitting and crocheting, but to no avail. Hadn't brought it up in years when out of the blue a daughter calls to tell me she is crocheting. She has been making scarves and beanies and is getting raves from friends. She starts a pattern and if she runs into something she doesn't know how to do she goes to You Tube and watches a video until she gets it. Hooray for technology. I, of course, have an endless supply of yarn leftover from other projects which I am now getting rid of, thank goodness.

I knit a beanie for the daughter of our doctor's receptionist. Her mom couldn't find what she wanted. My daughter loved it but doesn't knit so I came up with something very similar in crochet. Here is a picture. The pattern is now listed in the free pattern menu.

As I posted earlier, we had a lovely Christmas and are now looking forward to a healthy and happy New Year.

Christmas

Well, Murphy's law continued to rule. After the flu I discovered a lump on the back of my neck. Doctor ordered tests including a CT scan. All showed nothing. No one knows what it is, but apparently it is not cancer. All was made up for by an early Christmas at our daughter and son-in-law's house. Among all the family we had a chance to see was our first great-great grandchild. What a darling. It has been sixteen years since we had a new baby in the family so to say he was the hit of the day is putting it mildly.

We had a lovely dinner and gift exchange after which my husband and I beat it for home. All those healthy young people can tire the old folks very quickly.

May you have a wonderful Christmas filled with the blessings of the season.

Murphy's Law

For those of you unfamiliar with Murphy's Law it says that everything that can go wrong will go wrong.

I had a plan. I was behind in my Christmas knitting so decided I would put everything else aside and concentrate on getting it done, no blogging, no new pattern designs, no forum crawling or posting, just knit, knit, knit. Well, I did just that and finished a gift for everyone on my list. I sat back feeling rather smug and self righteous. Now I could explore my ideas for a new pattern and maybe get some knitting done for charity. Now there was time to blog, check the forums and all that good stuff for which we use our computers. Wrong!! I ran into Murphy's Law. No more had I finished the last project when both my husband and I got the flu. Now, for those that are thinking,"Why didn't they get the shot?", we did. However, it takes two weeks for the shot to become fully effective, and sometime during that period we were infected. We have been sick for over a week and while slowly getting better, apparently will continue to be sick for who knows how long.

So that is the the story behind why you haven't seen anything new here for weeks. I have some ideas for things I think might interest the reader, but that will have to wait until I feel better. In the meantime, stay healthy and enjoy a great Thanksgiving with your family.