Dollies are Done!!!

These dollies have been done for a few days now, and I just couldn't wait until next week to post pictures!

I am apologizing now for the ridiculous amount of pictures in this post. All the pictures were just too cute and it was hard to pick just a few.

Yea.... this is pretty much the longest post ever, so I hope you have a snack or something.

As you can see, Ava is so happy about them! I know that she is a bit young to fully appreciate her doll, but I cant wait until she and her cousin are a bit older and can pretend, and dress them up by themselves.

I will most likely be supervising Ava when she is playing with her dolly for now, because Im afraid that if I didn't her poor dolly could get very very dirty, seriously injured or have its face smooshed beyond recognition.

Ouch!!!

Ava had a tea party for the dolls today

Blonde Dolly: "My cup is empty! Why does this little girl keep saying that there is tea in here?"

Brunette Dolly: "Shhh... She's crazy! Just go along with it, or she'll pinch our faces together again!"

I made the blonde doll in Ava's likeness with the blonde hair and blue eyes. The brunette doll is for her one year old cousin Audrey who has dark eyes and brown hair.

I embroidered the girl's names on each of the dollies backsides.

(The dolls are so mortified that I am showing you this...)

The pattern for the dolls can be found in the book "Knitted Babes" by Claire Garland. I really love these dolls because you can be creative and give them any look that you would like. I think that their cute little felt faces and long spindly arms and legs give them alot of character.

The only modification that I made to the pattern is that I made their arms and legs I-cords instead of just a stockinette strip. I just think it looks more appropriate. As for the dresses, lace undies, sandals, those patterns are all found in the book.

I used RYC cashsoft for the dolly bodies, and a mix of Rowan Cotton 4-ply and Katia Mississippi for the dresses and shoes.

Audrey's Doll has hair made out of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere.

Ava's doll has hair made from Crystal Palace Merino Frappe yarn.

It was so awesome to be able to use up yarn scraps for this project. These dolls are so neat because you feel as though you are making something adorable out of nothing.... Out of scraps and odd balls of yarn that you would never use anyways. This makes me think of all mountains of yarn scraps that I have. I would love to make future outfits for Ava's doll and put those scraps to good use.

I am hereby setting a new knitting goal for myself. Dolly already has a summer outfit, but every season from now on... or until I dont feel like doing it anymore...I will knit her a new outfit. That way I can slowly build up her wardrobe. By the time Ava is 4 or 5, her doll will have many many outfits to dress up in, for any type of weather.

I hope the Ava will appreciate all the work I put into this, and that her special dolly will be a treasured plaything for years to come.

Old Queen

This can be one of the more awful insults a gay man can hear, but I think it's more because aging as a gay man is something many of us fear more than we'd care to consider.  And perhaps rightfully so.

Aging Issues

Getting into old age brings with it all sorts of terrifying issues that really seem to have no ready answers.  Many gay men have no children on whom they could rely if/when they get to a point where they'll need help with navigating life.  So, here are some of the issues I ponder often as I start looking at the future:

Aging Parent
My mom is still alive and quite healthy and active, both physically and mentally (between Thaddeus and I, she's the only parent living).  She's in her eighties, and I'd love to believe that she'll be in the same state of health and vitality until the day she dies, I don't know that I can count on that.  I live a couple of miles from her, and I also have siblings who will work to make sure she's taken care of in the same way she took care of us.  But her well-being is something I consider a high priority.

Personal Finance
When making decisions as to when I want to stop work and start enjoying the life I've been saving for for over 30 years, it's exceedingly difficult to determine how long I'll be around and how much money I'll need to live.  Especially, when you take a look at the cost of assisted living, health care and other senior expenses. I want to make sure I don't run out at any point, since I don't really have a fallback position, but I'll also be incredibly pissed if I drop dead the day after I stop working and others get to benefit from my careful planning (most probably, I won't be pissed...I'll be dead).

Partner and Personal Health
Thaddeus is five years older than I am, and we both kind of expect that he will reach a point where he requires assistance before I will.  Not sure how he or I will feel about one of us taking care of the other if one of us is physically or mentally unable to do things.  I'm also not sure how either of us would feel about the other putting us in a senior home to care for something like the inability to get around or Alzheimer's.

While we've done all the work around financial planning and legal planning (wills, powers of attorney, living wills, etc.) I think there is still potentially more planning we'll have to include to make sure we know how each other wants to go forward given various scenarios.

Current Spinning

I finished plying the British Romney and the pine merino singles.

I opted to ply with a rather tight twist.  The merino singles had been sitting around for a few years, so I figured when they get wet, they'll spring back a little and offset the tight twist of the plying.  I'll let you know how that goes.  I also still need to measure yardage and weight to get the grist weight of the yarn.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Catherine writes, "Hi Joe! Is the scarf warm enough for an Edmonton winter? Is anything warm enough for an Edmonton winter? Also, what is the trekking colourway? I have a hard time coming up with acceptable man sock yarn...that is, yarn I would knit and yarn the man would wear. How is your peanut butter stash?"

When dealing with the ultra-cold days in Edmonton, I found a good down coat could always keep my upper body warm, and any scarf that padded around the neck opening helped...this one would work just fine and look fantastic.  The Trekking XXL colorway is 275 (Tweedy dark olive green), and it works extremely well with bright high-contrast color heels and toes.  My peanut butter stash is still fine.  I'll be going up to Montreal in November, so I can supplement as needed then.

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 63 : Growing Pains

Episode 63

Click here to download the mp3 file for Episode 63

Shownotes:


Quince and Company

Puffin

Osprey

Brooklyn Tweed

Shelter

Knit and Pearl Boutique

Knit Local: Celebrating America's Homegrown Yarns

Tanis Fiber Arts

Tanis on Ravelry

Join The Never Not Knitting Ravelry Group!

Follow Me on Twitter!

Enter to win a copy of the book, Knit Local, as well as two beautiful skeins of 
Tanis Fiber Arts yarn by leaving a comment under this blogpost by July 15, 2012. 
Please do not forget to include your contact information!

The giveaway winner will be announced on Episode 64.

Please email me your personal knitting story to share on a future episode! Send your 5+ minute story recording to nevernotknitting@gmail.com and receive a knitting related thank you gift from me!

Contact me for details.

Thank you for listening!

The Never Not Knitting Podcast : Episode 71 : The Sweater Curse

Episode 71

Click HERE to download the mp3 file for Episode 71

Shownotes:

TNNA

Annie and the Swiss Cheese Scarf

Stitches West

Becoming Art

Cephalopod Yarns

A Verb for Keeping Warm

Spincycle Yarns

Eurosteam Irons

Botanical Knits

Spincycle Yarns design swatch

Uncommon Goods

Birdie Yarn Bowl

Sweater Curse; A Yarn About Love

This is my yarn bowl posing with my skeins of Spincycle Dyed in the Wool yarn.

Enter to win a "birdie yarn bowl" from uncommongoods.com just like mine (yarn not included.. this yarn is all Miiiiinnnee) by leaving a comment under this post by July 15th. Please only one comment per person and do not forget to include your contact information. The winner will be announced in Episode 72.

Thank you for listening! :)

Interlocking Crochet Scarf Pattern and Video

I decided to publish the Interlocking Crochet Scarf and put it for sale on Ravelry, with all proceeds going to the Men's Spring Knitting Retreat scholarship fund.

Lets You Decide

Fortunately, anyone who knows a little about crochet probably already knows how to make this scarf, or could at least figure it out pretty easily.

The following video tutorial on how I interlock the color stripes will make it even easier (and the video also gives readers the chance to hear/see what I look like if you didn't already know):



Mostly, I just wanted to give folks the opportunity to contribute to the scholarship fund, so if you'd really love the pattern and would prefer not contribute, I'd be glad to send you a copy via e-mail.

Current Knitting

I decided to start another Interlocking Crochet Scarf, using mostly Koigu this time.

You'll note that I do have one ball of non-Koigu (it's Trekking XXL in my favorite color) and while I only have 3 1/2 stripes finished, the colors are mixing beautifully.

Readers' Comments/Questions

Regarding the British Romney plying I'm doing, Seanna Lea writes, "I like the plying. It is a beautiful color combination and looks very versatile. Is it going to be a lace weight or fingering weight when you are done? It is hard for me to tell on the bobbin, but it appears fine."

Looks like it's going to be a little heavier than fingering weight and a little lighter than DK/Sport...Lightweight DK probably.  Once it's finished, I'll measure the length and the weight to come up with the "grist" weight and let y'all know.

The Never Not Knitting Theme Song

I am so excited to share with you the Never Not Knitting song!

This has been a fun project over the last couple of months and it's finally done!

Performed by the very talented Hunter

Lyrics by Alana Dakos

Thankyou also to my brother, Morgan, for his creative input!

Enjoy!!!

Fruition

I've been on the equivalent of paid leave since about May 10th.  Mostly it's been good, but there's been some worry and stress about what I would do after I was "rolled off" my latest project in Edmonton.

New Employment Status
For the last 14 years, I've worked for various consulting firms.  The sell project work, and I get assigned to those projects.  The companies I work for, and the skill set I bring to the project are worth enough that they can charge the client a lot for my services and pay me what I consider a lot in return.

Since I was between projects, I decided it was a good time to look at becoming an independent consultant...or in essence, working for myself.

I made contact with some other independent contractors I know and also some companies that were looking to do projects that would normally need my skills (PeopleSoft Benefits Administration, if you want to know).

After all was said and done, I start work as an independent contractor in a couple of weeks, and I am now my own employer.

It's both exciting and stressful...but mostly exciting.

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

Current Knitting/Sewing
I've done quite a bit of work on the Milano stitch blanket using various sock yarn.

It's only about 7 inches of knitting, but it's very wide.  I'm not sure how wide yet, but I'm guessing about 90 inches across.  I'm loving the way it's looking and I think the final blanket will be spectacular looking.

I also continued work on the Zara linen stitch pullover (up to about 11 inches).  I ran out of the blue yarn (I'm pretty certain I have a ball or two of it SOMEWHERE in the house, but I couldn't find it).  I replaced it with a slightly different color and and weight of yarn, but it won't be noticeable in the overall design (I don't think!).

Finally, I finished sewing the second neck tie using the Kaffe striped fabric I got from Liza at Glorious Colors.

The second tie is about 3 inches longer than the first, but they both look great, and I think they'll make an impressive gift.

Readers' Comments/Questions
PTKW3925 writes "Odd, it looks to me as though the "little metal twisty thing to tighten the joins" is there on the side with the smaller size needles, just above the right hand side end caps.  What does appear to be missing is the rubber gripper circle that you use in conjunction with the metal twisty thing."


Actually, the kit looks like it was supposed to have two of the "little metal twisty things."  Perhaps it's an older model that didn't have the rubber grippers, or there were supposed to be those too.  Regardless, the kit works, and I'm thrilled to have the kit.