A Patchwork Birthday!

Like many with adult children, I often find gift giving difficult.  As adults they are self-sufficient, so gifts from me are usually simple and often handmade.

Sister has a September birthday!  I celebrated by making her three patchwork pillows for her couch.

For her 5th birthday she had received a new baby brother!  Yes ... her name is Elsa!  As a child and teenager she complained about being given an "old lady" name!  None of us ever imagined that she would one day share that name with a Disney Princess!  We refer to Sister as the "Original Princess Elsa"!  And yes ... that is a Daisy Kingdom dress that I made specifically for her big day!  Oh ... how we loved that company and everything they designed!

While visiting her this summer I saw that they were using pillows that I had made for them in the past!  Makes my heart so happy when I see people using the things I have made for them!  My dillydally spirit soars!

Their couch is a beautiful blue velvet ... as seen here in this photo.  Hmmm ... my wheels began turning!

In 2016-17 I had pieced this "Winter Lights" quilt ...

... Sherri Falls had taught from her Holiday Wishes book (can be found here) at our guild's 30th Anniversary event (can check it out here) in the summer of 2016!

I fell in love with piecing this block and envision it in many different colorways!

Sister lives in southern California ... I love the sunsets there ... so I based my fabric choices on that color palette! 

Two blocks quickly became two pillows! 

While visiting her, I discovered that she really enjoyed the use of pineapples in home decor!  I came across this pattern by Elizabeth Hartman and just had to make her a pillow!

I used the warm colored fabrics from the stars!  Here I am auditioning backgrounds!

What a fun pattern to piece!  I foresee more pineapple patchwork in my future!  I ended up choosing the lighter background because it had a broader range of soft colors in it ... the blue was just too monochromatic for me!

Done!  I kept the quilting simple ... stitch in the ditch around the piecing and simple horizontal lines!

Here are all three ... on my couch ... ready to travel to California!

I was able to visit Sister twice this summer ... I treasure every moment with her!  She has grown into a competent, intelligent and extremely capable woman ...

... but each time I look at her ... this is what a see.  A five-year-old ballerina wearing knee high socks!

Do what you love!  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally

Sweater Weather!

Gosh ... where did summer go?  Actually, here in my remote corner of the planet, we all agree that summer didn't really happen in 2018!

June 2018 

It truly was a cool and very wet summer ... but I remind myself that is to be expected!  In other words ... "it comes with the territory"! When you consider our longitude and latitude ... add to that our location on the north end of the Pacific Ocean ... yep, we can expect cool and wet summers! 😃

But ... here is the good news!  First ... we enjoy sweater weather year round!  Second ... we wear wool year round!  After the Fiber & Friends event in June (you can see my recap here) The Net Loft sponsored a local Hand Knit Show!

I feel so fortunate ... I am surrounded by many talented knitters!  I have known many for 30+ years and some for their entire life!

The truth is that we have evolved as a community of knitters because of our local yarn shop, The Net Loft!  Before the internet, youtube, instagram, etc ... she brought the knitting world to us!  Initially her shop was only open in the summer, as she lived in California.  She would take classes and attend knitting events during the winter and then share those resources with us in the summer months while her husband commercial fished in Prince William Sound.  Our community proves the importance of supporting your local shop!

Here are the items I had on display at this event.  This is a Nordic influenced sweater that I designed and knit for my daughter in 2011.  You will find the back story here and here ... I love looking back.

I patterned it after traditional designs found hand painted on historical household items in both Sweden and Norway.  She lives in southern California where there is little opportunity to wear it!  But she does wear it when visiting!

A few pairs of mitts ... I love designing and knitting all types of mitts.

This is the Viking Gansey that I designed for my son.  This journey began in 2015 (details here) ... Beth is an amazing designer/instructor ... I was so excited to begin!  At the time, I was dealing with extreme chronic pain ... it was so intense that I truly was living on Advil.  When a person is coping with that amount of pain ... it takes over your entire life.  I was unable to make much progress that winter ... chronic pain truly is debilitating!  We had all hoped to have our gansey's finished by the 2016 Fiber & Friends event ... but as you can see in this post, I had not gotten far.  At the 2016 event, I was in recovery from a total knee replacement six weeks prior.  The pain before surgery and the post surgery meds made it impossible to knit much!

I remember waking one morning ... six months after the surgery ... without pain!  It was life changing ... it had been years!  Gradually my original personality began to reemerge (as declared by Mr. DD) ... and this spring I felt truly like myself ... and can live and function like intended!  It had become a three year journey ... I was committed to finish this Viking Gansey!

With the body done and a start on the first sleeve, I had Brother try it on to determine sleeve length. This photo was taken at a family picnic in late May.

I took this sweater with me everywhere in my efforts to have it done by Fiber & Friends 2018!  First sleeve is nearly done in this photo!

Second sleeve started, and nearly out of yarn on this cone ... after three years I had to dig deep to find the remaining cone!

Two days before the event ... I decide to rip out the bottom edge.  I could tell that Brother wasn't really happy with it ... he preferred a rib stitch over the traditional gainsay edge!  I want him to wear it ... so he needed to like it ... so I reknit it.

I finished it at 3:00 am Friday morning ... with luck it would be dry by Saturday night for Brother to model it!  Whew!  It was a bit damp ... Brother was a great sport ... he looked so handsome in it!

Omgosh!  I still ... three months later ... have not come down from the personal high of finishing this viking themed gansey!  So much about my journey and my hopes for my son are knit into every stitch!  Next I need to finally get a few photos of him wearing it!  And because he lives here ... he will be able to wear it year round!

Do what you love! Embrace sweater weather!  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally 

Our "Uff Da" Cabin!

I often refer to where we live as "my remote corner of the planet" ... I justify that because in order to travel to Cordova, you have to come by plane or boat.  Twenty-nine years ago, we purchased a small, one room cabin at the mouth of the Eyak River!  May through October, we would spend nearly every weekend there ... every weekend was a mini-vacation!  We named our cabin "Uff Da" ... reflecting our Scandinavian heritage and that this little piece of heaven on earth was a place to relax as a family.  It makes me chuckle to think we needed an even more remote place!  Too funny!

Until recently, it has been two years since we had been there!  Crazy!  During the summer of 2016, I was recovering from knee replacement surgery and last summer our lives were turned upside down with the passing of my mother-in-law!  All excuses aside ... I have been anxious for us to resume our cabin life!

Travel to the Cabin

The boat landing is only 6 miles out of town.  Once the boat is in the water, it is a 20 minute boat ride to our cabin.

It is a beautiful trip!  Even poor weather doesn't usually prevent us from going ... we just dress for it!

There are a total of 10 cabins in the area ... only a few are used regularly!

Cabin Conditions

I didn't go on the first trip down river, as I had other commitments.  Of course we expected it to be over grown, but it was still shocking!  It was difficult to find the stairs leading up to the deck!

The grass was 3-4 feet high and willows had sprouted everywhere!  The first priority was reclaiming where we tie up the boat and climb the river bank ...

... as well as cutting down brush and creating a path to the cabin.  Brother, Girlfriend and Mr. DD spent several hours at the task!  They accomplished a lot!  Uff Da!

Mr. and I returned the following Saturday to continue reclaiming the yard!

New alders were cut down before they took over and we lost any more of our view!

Awe ... that looks better!

We made more great progress that day ...

... but, oh my, there was so much more to do!  Uff Da!

Nissa loves it at the cabin ... she is the sixth family dog to spend time here!

Running around like a crazy retriever ... wearing a black fur coat ... makes for a very hot pup!  Fortunately there are ponds directly behind the cabin, as well as shade from a few large trees!

On Sunday ... Brother, Girlfriend and Ari joined us! I loved how Nissa immediately knew Ari was on the boat!  Look at Ari!  I was afraid she was going to jump and swim to meet Nissa!  They are the cutest!  Uff Da!

Brother replaced the chimney stack ...

... which was no simple task! Uff Da!

Our cabin is extremely rustic ... no electricity, no plumbing, no modern conveniences ... but wonderful in every way!

Look at the progress Girlfriend and I made on the yard! We really appreciate the assistance Brother and Girlfriend ... we couldn't do it without them!

Last weekend, Mr and I returned to finish the yard!  Omgosh ... I felt like we were pioneers clearing the land!  Uff Da!

I love this view!  Uff Da ... it is beautiful!

Now that the yard had been reclaimed, it was time to cut back some of the brush along the river bank!

That looks better!  There is still more to thin out, but we like to keep some as it helps prevent the river bank from eroding.  It took us a total of three weekends to reclaim the yard and repair the chimney!  And there is more to be done!  Uff Da!

Traveling Back to the Landing

We have had nearly three weeks of beautiful weather!

It has made the work on the cabin easier and the ride to and from enjoyable!

Uff Da!

Nissa's Boat Ride

Be. Still. My. Heart!  The cuteness kills me!  This is a photo of Nissa's first boat ride in 2015!  Ten pounds of sweetness! That puppy face looking to me for reassurance that she would be safe.

Three years later ... 75 pounds of sweetness.  She is still a bit unsure about the boat ride, but understands that it means going to the cabin!

Eventually all the work that needs to be done will get accomplished!  Then we can relax and enjoy cabin life again!  I guess we unknowingly knew what we were doing 29 years ago when we named our cabin! 😊 Uff Da!  I love our remote cabin life ... it is a special place for us!

Do what you love!  Uff Da!  Do dillydally!

Mrs. DillyDally