And It's Lincoln's Birthday!

Hello Bloggy Friends, how is it the middle of February already?  Of course, with leap year, February is a little longer this year, but still. . .  And Lincoln's birthday.  I remember in elementary school that this was a big day. We made black stovepipe hats, log cabins, and talked of splitting rails and so on.  Now poor Lincoln is combined with George Washington and it's just another Monday off for federal and possibly state employees.  Do they color cherry trees and make hatchets any more?  Oh well.  

And what's been happening at the Resort?  Well, after two trips by the Culligan man, we seem to have conquered the wet basement, much to Dan's relief.  I think he was dreaming of wet basements for days, poor man.  We have finished our sorting and he's built a platform for the bottom of the laundry room pantry so boxes no longer sit right on the floor.  Of course, we're hoping for no more floods, ever, but it pays to be preventative.  

And me?  I've been obsessed by knitting.  Our Ann always calls January knitting month, but we have both extended it this year.  She's knitting a lovely throw for her upstairs family room, and I'm still knitting small things for dolls.  I took the Mary Maxim hat pattern and by using different sized needles and yarns, made hats for two other dolls.

Magic Attic girl Rose. The mirror at the side gives full view

14" Betsy McCall in hers and AG Samantha in new teal one

In both cases, I followed the pattern exactly and they came out perfectly just with needle and yarn differences.  So glad, too, that I bought all the different sizes of pom pom makers.  

And now?  I'm working on a sweater I've made before, this time using an App that my longtime blog friend, Judy of Patchwork Place, recommends.  It's called Knit Companion and is available both iOS and Android through their App Stores.  You can download a free version that is quite helpful and usable, and of course you can upgrade to two more levels.  

I'm using a free 7-day trial of both upper levels right now and attempting to learn all I can so I can decide if I want to pay the amazing price of $19.99 per year for them.  At first I thought, $20 a year?  No way! (Sometimes it's hard to get my brain out of the last century when it comes to money!) But then I did a little calculating and it came to $.05 a day for the use of the program with all its bells and whistles.  I especially like being able to highlight the row I'm working on and even enlarge the page to make it easier to read.  

Here's a look at my iPad with the pattern I'm working on.

It also works for charted work such as cross stitch and crochet and those amazing Scandinavian sweaters.  

So I'll sign off for now, as I'm almost done with my little sweater and I'm longing to see which doll it looks best on.  It's a sunny yellow, just the right harbinger of spring on this cold, mostly cloudy day in mid February.  ♥