Pip Shows Off

Rather than just complain about Pip's lack of posing ability and general floppiness, I decided to take matters into my own hands. . . . literally!


I decided to take Pip apart, "hot glue suede" her joints and restring her with a heavier, stronger elastic. While I was in her head digging about I decided to try switching out her eyes as well.

Although Pip liked the new, brown eyes (borrowed directly from poor ol' Delilah!), she still seemed bored with what was still basically her old look.

She shucked off that fancy schmancy dress and headed straight for a wig, dress and boots that expressed her wilder, more daring side. Amazing what a bit of flexible strength will do for a girl's self esteem!

She's become quite the little performer!

The Firsts

And here, finally, are the seven firsts I won at the Chilliwack Exhibition.

A year of being dragged around the house by my grandchildren didn't seem to hurt the llama's placement!

My handspun socks earned a first even though they were entered in with the "regular" knitting. Again, I placed them there because there was not enough room for all my handspun items in the handspun department of the fair.

My handspun cowl and fingerless mitts also took a first.

I entered a stuffed-applique and embroidery stocking that I did for my youngest granddaughter and was pleasantly surprised to see it place first. I thought it was up against some very deserving competition, even a lovely stocking done all in cross-stitch!

The Aeolian Shawl also received a first, not that I was surprised really. That shawl was a lot of work, included some difficult stitch combinations (nupps!), was heavily beaded, and as far as I know had no mistakes anywhere. My only sadness was that my placement of first made my daughter's beautiful shawl come in second.....and hers totally deserved a blue ribbon too. She did a fantastic job! I'm very proud of her.


A crocheted snowflake tree ornament, I think I placed it in the "seasonal ornaments" class over in the general hobbies section. Anyway, another first.

And my tiniest item (though a HECK of a lot of work!) took the biggest ribbon of all! I got Best In Show for my handspun, 1/4 scale, February Lady Sweater and matching beret. The entry also got a first in the "handspun, small item" class.

The Seconds

Of the fourteen items I entered in the fair, four came in second.


There was a skein of handspun 50/50 merino/silk. I was happy that this placed as well as it did. There was a fair bit of competition in the "plyed, natural fibre" category.

My little handspun gnome was entered in the "handknit, stuffed doll or animal" category. I entered him there with the "regular" knitting because there were not enough handspun categories to enter everything that I had.

The Barbie wedding dress was another I had a hard time finding a category for. It ended up over in the general hobbies section competing against woodworking of all things! The outfit still placed a respectable second. Would you believe that our exhibition has no category for either knit or crocheted doll clothes? I would have thought that that would be quite basic.

My lace sweater-vest came in second. I know the lady who nabbed first place in this category. She's not only an awesome knitter, but designs and sells much of what she knits. Her finishing looks truly professional and her designs are right up to date and artistic looking.


More than half of the items I entered in the exhibition came in first! Yippee! More on that in the next post.

A Lowly Third

I've been meaning for ages to post about my Fall Exhibition entries but I'm only now getting around to it. The articles and the ribbons are a bit rumbled from sitting in my bag so long!

This little apron, my only sewing entry, got a lowly third. I say lowly not because there is anything wrong with third, but in reality there were only three entrants in the apron class and mine came in dead last.....yes, third. Not surprising though as it was definitely not my best work. It was just a functional little apron I threw together for my little granddaughter to use while helping grandma in the kitchen. I machine stitched where I knew a hand sewn hem would be better. I didn't worry too much about matching the gingham check of the pocket with the apron front, stuff like that.

The good news is that of the 14 items I entered in the fair, all of the rest did better than this! More on that in the next couple of posts.

Our Son, the Married Man

Our son is now a married man.

I hope his bride loves him as much as we do, (I don't think it's possible to love him more).

Welcome to the family Jenn. I hope Jordon brings you as much happiness as he has brought us. May you share the kind of love that grows with each passing day and lasts a lifetime.

Miss Mufffet

Another little dress outfit for Pip.

It's not that I'm "all about the dresses" or anything, it's just that Pip is a difficult doll to pose. Her limbs love to flip around backwards or collapse at any given moment so she's easiest to keep in dresses. That way I can see exactly what's going on if something just doesn't seem right or she can't hold a simple pose.

If I ever get around to restringing her and "hot glue sueding" her joints then maybe her posing ability will improve and she'll occasionally be able to wear pants or tights and long sleeved shirts. I won't be doing that today though. Our son is getting married tonight and I have more important things to be doing!

Pip's First Outing

I took Pip on a bit of an outing today.

We went to a local park to photograph her in her new dress.

This is another one crocheted by me, on the fly, inventing as I went.

Elven Fosterling

A tiny elf has come to stay with me.

Seems this quiet, melancholy little mite was a bit neglected at home.

As a welcoming gift I've crocheted a little dress, just for her.

Pipi is welcome to stay as long as she likes.

Socks (yawn)

Yet another pair of plain stockinette socks. (yawn) I find them boring to knit but I've become spoilt by hand knit socks and now won't wear anything else in the winter (or spring, or fall).

I used them as road trip knitting or any time when I have to sit still but would like to keep my hands busy.

These are my standard, fits-perfectly, toe-up, two at a time on one long needle socks, a slight devation from a pattern known as "Basic Toe-to-Cuff Sock" by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer of HeartStringsFiberArts.com

I love the Mega Boots Stretch Softcolor yarn. It gives a pretty, soft gradation that reminds me of handspun.

Grandma and Me Contest

My granddaughter Kaylen and I are entering a "Grandma and Me" chocolate chip cookie baking contest at the Chilliwack Exhibition. It's for children 8 and under and either their grandma or their mom. I called dibs and threw in a sleepover to tip the scales in my favour. ;-)

Kaylen did a wonderful job with all her tasks. Almost all of the flour ended up in the bowl, and she was an excellent brown sugar lump smasher!

Adding eggs and pouring the measured vanilla was easy peasy.

She even counted all the cookies and let me know that we had exactly 15 cookies in the oven. Not bad for a little girl who just turned 3 in March. (Grandmas are allowed to brag!)

We only need the 5 best cookies for the contest, but we made 5 or 6 dozen extra because Grandpa likes to be sure when he "tests" the cookies.

Yummm, they taste like winners! Stay tuned, the official judging happens at the exhibition grounds tomorrow at 1:30.

Handspun BFL Socks

Last Christmas I received this handpainted, Bluefaced Leicester braid as a gift.


By January I had it spun into a beautiful, soft, 3 ply. At the time I thought it was about a fingering weight, but it knits up closer to a sports weight.


I've finally knit it up into a lovely pair of warm, cushiony, winter socks. I know, I know. . . . just in time for the heat of summer, but these are scheduled to be entered in our fall fair only a few more weeks away.

Time to take them off my feet, wash them, block them, and get them looking their best. They won't be going in the hand-spun and hand knit category though, not enough separate categories there for me to enter the items I've made. I'll have to put these socks in with the "regular" hand knit socks category and hope for the best.

The pattern is my (wider, rounder toe) adaptation of Jackie Erickson-Schweizer's "Basic Toe-to-Cuff Socks" available through HeartStrings FiberArts

Just for a Laugh

Here's a picture just for giggle-snorts. I was playing around trying to create an avatar image for the DOA forum.

When I eventually get my Narae she'll be my avatar picture, but for now this image will do.

Canada Day

Rather than fight our way through the crowds gathering at the publicized community celebrations of Canada Day, my husband and I set off to enjoy one of the finer things about Canada. A short drive from home we enjoyed the great outdoors with a hike to the summit of Mount Thom.

It was quiet and peaceful, just the way we like it.

Although I wasn't fast enough to get a picture, we saw a beautiful deer amongst the trees.

When we got to the summit we had a nice view of Chilliwack, Cultus Lake, and the Fraser Valley.

We enjoyed it so much that it just might become a Canada Day tradition.

Weekend Sweater

Everyone needs a comfy, casual, rustic sweater for the weekends, and Delilah is no exception.

She wanted something neutral in colour that would go with anything, and work perfectly with her favourite jeans.

It's a wardrobe staple that works whether she is out and about, actively exploring. . .

. . . . or just lounging around the backyard relaxing.

It only took one day to knit this up for her from a cone of mystery yarn I had laying around. I generated the pattern using Sweater Wizard software. It fits her quite well but I wish I had made the V-neck a little lower so that it would fit over her head a little easier.