shingles, knitting (2 different patterns), Mini Day Out

Oh, my, I had a lot to do around here after Sean, Julie and the grands left (wonderful visit, BTW). My office/workroom was a terribly mess with stacks of paper everywhere. Finally got 90% of it either shredded or filed (two garbage bags of shredding!). 

It had been over a month since I shelved the books in the library so finally got around to that this morning. Unfortunately, I also brought some books home but I only read one this afternoon.

SHINGLES

Finally finished shingling the attic. Well, just about, still have to trim the edges.

I LOVE these shingles. Got them from a donation to MEE that the club members shared. There are three strips in each sheet. Unfortunately, they were in an unmarked bag so don't know anything about them. They're a pressed cardboard of some sort. Cut easily and a dream to work with. Just cut to fit and glue in place with a bit of Weldbond.

If anyone knows if they're still available, please let me know. I don't think I'll be shingling anything in the future but would like to let club members know about them.

KNITTING

This is a knitting pattern that someone gave me over 35 years ago. I made this afghan for Vern when we took Sean and Leanne on a three month trip through the western states.

Then when I started knitting in miniature, I found I had lost the instructions for that stitch....

Eventually I found another stitch that worked although I didn't like it quite as much.

The stitch is: Cast on multiple of 4 plus 2. K2 *P1 wrap wool around needle once P2 together K1* Repeat the stitches between * and * to the end of the row. Just keep repeating that same row until you have the length you want. You can also do a one inch by 2 inch piece to make a matching cushion. Just fold in half over a 1" piece of white felt or whatever and stitch up the three sides.

So I ended up making this with it.  

This was a nightmare! I had it about 3/4 finished and had quit working on it in the car because I was worried about it slipping off the needles. Then took it to an appointment, pulled it out of my bag and, you guessed it! Pulled it off the needles! But I persevered, started over and finally finished it. It's a lovely stitch but if you pull it off the needles, there is NO recovering!

Then, lo and behold, while I was looking through the binders of clippings with DGS Jonah - there it was!

The thread I used to knit this sample was a bit thick so it doesn't show up too well but I've found it again. 

It's a really simple stitch: Cast on stitches in multiples of 7. K2tog, K1, YO, K1, YO, K1, slip 1, K1, pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch. Repeat to end of the row. Then repeat for the next row.

This is 14 stitches.

MINI DAY OUT: 
A while back, a club member had remarked to Joanne that it had been quite sometime since we'd held a mini day out. (Ouch! I couldn't believe it had been well over a year!) So I decided to try and fit one in for August. So I scheduled one for August 22 - which turned out to be the day of the club's doll wigging all day workshop. After looking at the calendar, decided to change it to August 29. It's not great to have them two Saturdays in a row but the next weekend is the September long weekend, then we're into September and the Show and Sale on September 20.

I hope to spend the day working on the lamp roombox that is the club project for the upcoming year so it will be ready to display on the membership table at the Show and Sale.

So if you are or are going to be in the Edmonton area and can work this into your schedule, e-mail me if you would like details. 

Personal Non-Mini Notes:
When several us took the bus to Calgary with the Edmonton Doll Club, I picked up a talking Lamb Chop (Shari Lewis) puppet then bought 7 more pieces of Adam pattern silverplate cutlery at the antique mall.

The lady who sold me the Lamp Chop puppet had bought it for her grand-daughter who was scared of it. But I gave it to Holly (my DGD) who loved it, especially after we showed her some youtube videos of Shari Lewis!

Over the years, I ended up with 149 pieces of the Adam pattern silverplate cutlery.. Very long story involving some serendipitous purchases and a couple incredible gifts! I'm in my late 60s and don't entertain anymore. So months ago, I e-mailed Sean and Julie and asked if they would like it. It's too heavy to mail so thought they might take it home with them. And they did! I am thrilled. I hope they will get as much pleasure as I have out of it. And enjoy the stories behind the collection.