Owls

Can I say that I have discovered Ann Wood Handmade and love all her patterns?  :)

I've been making many of them up.  Here are a group of owls I made for a Christmas party of friends.  I gave them all away, so I am working on some for myself.

Jane

Lilian Harry

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to read.  I was an early reader and I've never stopped.  I'm not into real in-depth reading, although I have been at times in the past.  I like to read for entertainment and pleasure.  I like children's books, mysteries, and historical novels.  I will read both fiction and non-fiction.  I don't like books that are too scary or intense, because I like to read before bed and I don't want to be reading something that will give me nightmares. 

Over the years I have loved many series of books.  I started with the Honeybunch and Norman series by Helen Louise Thorndike, The Bobbsey Twins, The Happy Hollisters, Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Little Women, Redwall, The Three Investigators, Enid Blyton, and moved on to Madeleine L'Engle, Harry Potter, Twilight, and Anne of Green Gables.

As an adult I discovered the Mitford Series, and now, Mary Jane Hathaway, and The Burracombe novels by Lilian Harry.  There are many other similar British novels by Anne Baker and Diney Costeloe.  My goodness, such good reading, and such innocence.  I love them. 

Jane

Doll Projects

My last post was early this year when I went looking for fabric for Annabelle's cloak.  I found all the supplies I needed in my mom's stash.  It was so much fun and it turned out so well.  I also remade a bonnet for her and some shoes.

Then I was kind of inspired, so I took out my Mary Frances Sewing Book and made the next projects in the book for her, a drawstring bag and an apron.  Again, I went through my mom's fabrics to find a fine dotted Swiss for the apron.

That was an easy project, so went on to the next project that has been sitting around here for several years.  A woman on one of my email lists had sent me the files for Annabelle's alphabet quilt.  I printed it off on my printer on some special fabric.  It's been waiting for me to make it up.  It was a fun project also and turned out nicely.  Annabelle is happy.

Now I am working on my Hitty doll.  The next dress she is wearing in the book is her Quaker outfit.  It is gray silk with a cotton fichu and bonnet.  Here it is in process.

I've also been working on projects for my little guys, but that is another post. 

~Jane

Tasha Tudor Event

I have loved all things Tasha Tudor since I was a young mother and discovered this older woman who liked to do all the things I liked to do.  I loved antique dolls, gardening, herbs, period costume, tea parties, watercolor painting, and corgis.  She did also.  I incorporated so many of her practises into our lives when I was raising my daughter.  We had bear tea parties on Christmas Eve for all her friends and doll's Christmas trees.  We had french fashion dolls that lived at our house and I even made french fashion dolls for some of my daughter's friends and taught them hand-sewing by sewing for the dolls.  We had 4th of July parades up and down my mother's street waving flags and singing patriotic songs before the fireworks were set off.  We had special birthday parties.  I made her dolls special wardrobes.  We had puppets and Sparrow Post and she bought things with buttons.  So much fun.

Since a child, I have loved antique dolls and have quite a collection of them.  I also have a collection of reproduction french fashions that I have made many authentic 1850 and 1870 dresses for and all their little accessories.  They have always been an integral part of my life until about the last 15 years.  I went back to work full-time and then became a grandma, and I just haven't had the time or, maybe more importantly, the energy to work on them.

When my mom passed away seven years ago, I brought home her remaining dolls and all the supplies she had purchased to make things for them and put them all away.  I had good intentions of making things for my dolls, but aside from a few things, little has happened.

Now I have been invited to join a Tasha Tudor club and I immediately knew I would bring my Annabelle doll, styled after the doll in "A is for Annabelle" by Tasha Tudor.  I took her out tonight and made a little repair to some lace on her dress and decided her bonnet was falling apart and, if we are going out in public she really needs some shoes and a cloak.  So I spent the evening going through my boxes and my mom's boxes and picked out some hat straw, lace, ribbon, fabric, and leather to make those items for her.  I was surprised at just how happy it made me to handle it all and what I had forgotten was in there.

So, I know now that I NEED to be sewing on some of these little projects.  My dolls are still needed.  The joy is still there.  Somehow I am going to find a way to incorporate them back into my life.

~Jane

Instant Pot Cooking

I have an old stove top pressure cooker that my husband bought for me 35 years ago second-hand from a newspaper ad.  Nowadays we don't even read the newspaper much or its ads nor do I buy much that is second-hand.  But in those old days of  newly married economizing it was more common.  I used that old pressure cooker for years and even canned in it.  But lately I haven't used it much because it just requires too much attention.

Recently my daughter called me and said I should buy an "Instant Pot."  It was on a great deal on Amazon and everybody, she said, was getting one.  Since it was right around my birthday, I went ahead and ordered one not really knowing how it worked or whether I would even like it.  Basically it is an electric counter top pressure cooker.  It is wonderfully convenient because it is all programmed and shuts off when the desired cook time is achieved.  A great improvement over the old stove top one which had to be watched and timed.  I have made a variety of meats, chili, and soups in it and things come out quite tasty with little effort.  You can saute your meat in it to begin and then switch it over to pressure cook or use it as a crockpot without pressure.  Pretty versatile along with yoghurt, rice, and grain settings also.  So eventually it might replace my rice cooker and crockpot and free up some kitchen space.  You can also purchase extra pots, racks, glass crockpot lids, and silicone storage lids for it.  Pretty sweet!

Most of the time when I purchase something new like this, I buy one for my daughter also.  It seems to be more fun when we can explore something new at the same time.  But for some reason, I only purchased the one appliance this time.  As my daughter was sending me all kinds of new recipes to try, I felt increasingly bad I hadn't bought one for her also.  She wouldn't have expected me to do so, but still I knew she would enjoy one.  I found out that several of our friends had also purchased the same appliance at the same Amazon sale last summer.  Amazon has not had the appliance on sale again.  I was thinking it might be on sale again around Black Friday, so I was waiting.

One friend had purchased an Instant Pot with the rest of us, but then had chickened out on trying it.  It sat on her pantry shelf for several months.  Every time I would post I had tried out another recipe, she would bemoan the fact she hadn't used hers yet.  Finally I got an idea and offered to buy hers for what she had paid for it since it seemed to be a purchase she regretted.  She accepted my offer and now my daughter has one to play with also and we are having fun trying out different recipes in them.  With our busy schedules, it is nice to have a quick way to make a tasty dinner.

Jane

Gilmore Girls

While stuck in a chair for several weeks after my second knee replacement this spring, I discovered the "Gilmore Girls" show on Netflix.  I was immediately hooked.  It is just the kind of show my daughter and I have always enjoyed watching.  Even better is that it ran for years and there are 140-something episodes to watch!  :)  I have been working my way through them in the evenings and weekends.  I'm halfway through Season Five.

Now I hear they are coming back on Netflix for several episodes at Thanksgiving.  Yes!  We are having our Thanksgiving on Wednesday since my daughter has to work Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  That will leave all day free on Friday to watch the new episodes and KNIT.  I have signed up for two Gilmore Girls-themed mystery knit-a-longs that start on Thursday.  One uses yarn that is reminiscent of the birch trees in fall in Stars Hollow, a white with black and grey speckles paired with a skein of autumn-leaves colored yarn.  (The actual kit yarn was sold out and I had to substitute).  The other KAL uses a multi-colored blue called "Lorelei Eyes" and a pewter gray.  I have my yarn all ready in balls.  I have knitting needles picked out.  I have warned my husband the television will be unavailable.  I am set.  I will post pictures when I am done.  Hopefully I will like the projects, always a risk with a mystery KAL.

~Jane

Maybe I'm Back

It is hard to believe it has been a year and a half since I last blogged, and quite a while before that last blog post.  Life here is extremely busy.  I work full time, and I babysit my grandsons several afternoon/evenings a week.  With other activities, the days seem to just fill up.

I have been struggling with health issues lately.  I'm diabetic and have been experiencing some neuropathy in my arm which has been upsetting.  I'm trying a new eating plan which I hope will help.  I also had my second knee replacement this spring and I am still rehabing from it.  It is amazing how long it can take to heal and regain strength in a joint.

Craftwise, I went on a knit dishcloth spree in August and September and knit a new supply for both my daughter and myself.  It was easy knitting while we were camping and traveling.  Now I am working on knitting new hats for my grandsons.  The seven-year-old wants an eagle hat, the four-year-old a dog, and my daughter picked out a fox cap for the baby.  They are so much fun to knit for.

On my breaks at work, I finished up sequined and appliqued felt Christmas stockings for two of my grandsons.  I had finished one stocking last year before Christmas, so now they will all have one.  It was a fun project to do on my lunch hours.  Now I am working on the baby's birth sampler.  I had to break down and buy a lighted magnifier to work on it.  My eyes no longer like 18-count Aida cloth!  I made variations of Beatrix Potter samplers for the other two, so this will be the third and last one.  I am gradually picking away at the projects.  I still have lots of knitting and doll-dressing projects I want to get to.

Jane