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Christmas Eve…

Dec24

Still morning before, actually, but close enough. Somehow I got involved with my stash storage/bedroom. Was not my intention to spend today that way! But things happen. It started out with Himself commenting on how hard it was to get to the movie storage with all my projects piling up there. So I started “organizing”. That’s a thing I never have been very good at but one thing lead to another and here I am. Nowhere. Yes, I got the pile of projects next to my chair cleared out so he can find his movies but we aren’t going to be able to go to bed tonight until I get this taken care off. It wasn’t bad enough with just my stuff but now I have a bunch of Rosy’s unfinished projects that I thought I could finish for her. Hummm… But it was getting a little crowded on my side of the bed as things kept piling up. Can’t get out to Le Shed these days as there is still snow in spite of the rain. And that hasn’t helped, making things slushier and harder walking. I’m probably going to have to tackle the closet, too, in order to make room for the stuff on the bed! It is a vicious circle, isn’t it?! That old ‘going though life But first’. I’ll put this away But First I have to straighten out the closet!

And to further complicate things, I found Rosy’s set of cable needles which I hunted for a couple weeks ago for some project I’ve already forgotten. And in that bag was a couple of letters I sent to her in 2021. Newsletters I was writing back then for our new customers. I would like to do that again if I can figure out how to go about it. Kind of a chatty ‘what am I working on now and here’s a couple ideas for you’ sort of thing.

I know we all have UFO’s stashed away somewhere, it’s just a natural side effect of crafting. But I think some of us get carried away. I got an Idea yesterday and spent the day working it out. I was quite happy with the results but now I have another newly started project in the quay and am feeling guilty about that! Ah well… I think I am going to have to be immortal if I am going to finish all my projects! I’m sure at least some of you have had the problem! Wait! Maybe I should get out my small animal trap and see if I can catch one of Santa’s elves tonight! It would be a big help. Elf magic ought to get most of this stuff taken care of! Gosh, I should have thought of that years ago!

However,  I still need to recover our bed so I guess I’d better just wish you Happy Christmas and get back to work!

Wishing You a Happy Christmas!

Hazel & Randy

 

It’s June already

Jun8

Well, this month didn’t start out well, with sis dying on the 7th. Ten days before her 78th birthday. The day she shares with my son’s 56th. Well, life does not go as it ought, does it?

But we went to Fiber Fusion in Monroe, Washington, and did well. I taught two classes and had 15 students altogether, all of them quite enthused about learning to weave and learning more about weaving on their square looms. Marion, who is vendor chair, took time off from her busy days to take both! Thank you Marion, I’m glad you found the time for some fun in all your hard work for us!!

 

The trip went well except for a couple small adventures. Every trip needs at least one of those, right? On the way up there was a loud crash-bang and we were showered with glass! I thought we’d been shot at! Randy pulled off the freeway and we discovered that a tiedown strap had broken and the buckle had hit the back window of the truck. It took out the whole drivers side slider. So we ended up with a garbage bag and some cardboard as a back window for the rest of the trip. And sometime during the return trip the brakes started malfunctioning. They worked, but not like he thought they should but we made it home safely and when he took it in to the shop yesterday they found the problem and fixed it. On the way home he ordered the new window, so we ought to be back in working order before Black Sheep Gathering the end of this month.  The only other thing of note was that when we left Monroe it was 63degrees and raining. when we got to Coffee Creek it was 99 and bright sunlight! But we’re adjusting!

We stopped at sis’s on the way home. I promised to help BIL with Rosy’s stuff. Started cleaning out her pantry. Rosy was a adventurous cook and there are products and seasonings that he will never use, some even I had never heard of. I brought some home  and some will be offered to his neighbor who has been cooking for him now and then but what David doesn’t want will be offered to the food pantry. And I picked up a fleece that I want to get ready to try to sell at BSG. There are a LOT of fleeces, Rosy was a Spinner. I loved that as I got a lot of very nice yarn. She knit and wove some but spinning was her first love. She was generous with her yarn, too. Her wheel is a Schacht Matchless double treadle and she has all the accessories to go with it. She has even more things to go with it than I guessed! And she has an Ashford traditional as well. We’ll have to pick up the wheel on our way up to Albany as the trailer was full on the way home. I still need to deal with her clothes, too. I’m putting that off. So if any of you are interested in these wheels and are going to be close enough to pick them up at one of the shows, let me know. I’ll figure out a price meantime.

Since we got home we’ve also been working on the getting the garden in. It’s late this year. but it is what it is. Or will be. and yesterday a doe got in the yarn (somebody left a gate open) and ate off my prized and babied tomatoes so all I have left of this is a stalk with one leaf each. Not a happy camper! They may come back but very late. I started these from special seed and we took them along on the trip to make sure they got enough light and water. They were doing fine so I put them out in the yard in a partly sunny spot to harden off. Very not happy! But I got a lot of other things planted today. And pulled my kale. I just planted it this spring, had not gotten one cutting and it has gone to seed. It was a new variety but should not have done that, so I guess I’ll go back to my old one, if I can remember what kind that was.  I don’t think I saved any seed but maybe there’s a couple volunteers out there, I’ll look this evening once it cools off.

Okay, enough of The History of Our World Part I. I hope your summer is starting out better than ours and will continue in a happy state!

The yard got a bit overgrown while we were gone. It’s  not a traditional Lawn yard, anyway, it’s our meadow but still usually a bit neater than this! But everything is blooming and happy so I guess that’s okay.

 

On the right is where our houseplants spend the summer. Usually safe from marauding herbivores.

  

 

2024… so far.

May14

“Cheer up, look for the bright side, they told me, things could be worse. So I cheered up, looked for the bright side… and things got worse”.

   

My baby Sister died May 7, 2024.  I was able to spend her last month with her but that did not make it easier. My sister and best friend, we emailed daily, sometimes several times. She ignored my advice on important subjects and I ignored hers but we enjoyed sharing none the less. She was a spinner with a huge stash of fleeces and yarn. I have her handspun now and will treasure using it. Her wheel I’ll sell, I hardly spin anymore and have my own anyway. She was also artistic and the best cook in the family. She loved animals and her little dog, Evie, will live with Rex and miss Rosy as the rest of us do. Our brother John is making the urns for her ashes, I know she’d be pleased with that gift.

and 

So now we have to move on. That means Fiber Shows. Fiber Fusion in Monroe, Washington is the first one this year. Two classes, Weaving a dishcloth, a beginning class,  and on Sunday it’s Beyond Plain Weave, but the link does not seem to work for me today. I’m sure you can find it if you are going to be in the area. Our next one at the end of May-first of June is Black Sheep Gathering in Albany, Oregon. I don’t have a class there this year. Then we get the summer off before OFFF and Lambtown in the fall. I’ll have classes listed at both of them & some new projects. The summer means, of course, garden and canning so not really a summer off!

 

Dishcloth and more… and beyond plain.

  And a new loom! Peg, Jr.

Well, I guess that’s all for now. This morning I am canning Rhubarb, something I have not done before, and putting pins in Fine Sett looms. And will try to get a walk in at some point. The sun is shinning and it’s a beautifully warm day here in Coffee Creek. I hope your day is bright as well.

 

Thank-full!

Nov26

Yes, We are thankfully full of turkey, ours was on Saturday as the bird was still frozen on Thursday so we had ham then, which made Himself happy as he much prefers it. Costco has a good ham, too, so I enjoyed it as well. And I am thankful that there is ‘punkin’ pie left over. This one was made out of one of sis’s butternut squashes, yummy. But mostly I’m thank full that the job of cutting up the carcass is done and the meat in the freezer and the bones  in the soup pot! My favorite part of turkey is a big pot of soup! I’ll be canning some of that later this week. As mentioned he’s not a great fan of turkey or soup, both of which I love so I can it in pint jars and have lunches for half the winter! Well, maybe not half, but there is another turkey in the freezer!

 

I have been doing a bit of weaving. Did some domestic stuff, dish cloths. Needed some new ones and wanted to try them on the 10 1/2″ loom. It’s been popular with weavers but I’ve always used the 12″ for my dishcloths. So I figured while I was doing it I might as well use up some of the cotton stash and weave a couple fancy ones. The first two I wove on the 12″ using my “grease rag” colors. That yellowy looking one is actually brown but my camera decided to “improve” on it I guess. I used the Random pattern (which you can find in Pages) for the blue one and the Red and white is the small hounds tooth, which is just two rows of each color, repeat.

   

And then I decided to get out a peg loom and my big bag of selvages from Pendleton Mills and weave a couple chair pads. I haven’t done much with this loom so they didn’t turn out too well. Pretty wonky in fact! neither the same size or the same shape. I need to work on my tension on this loom. I am thinking about weaving a third one just to see if it might match either of the first two! lol I haven’t woven in the ends on the last one yet.  Sis suggested they are correct because they have two different sized butts to accommodate!

 

Other than that I’ve been working in the shop a bit. He’s been making peg looms as we’ve had a bit of a ‘run’ on them lately. We had to make a trip to Medford, Oregon to buy the thick oak boards to make them and just about bought out dowels at Lowes. It takes a lot of dowels to fill the 36″ peg loom and he makes & drills each one by hand. Not a job he looks forward to. He says he gets cheated with these looms as they are labor intensive and my part is just sanding and oiling the big part. Well, that’s okay as my labor on the rest of the business makes up for it, I think! But together we get it done. Today he spent the early 24 degree morning in the shop and now he’s working on the trailer ramada again, trying to get the roof done before the weather changes for the worse. He  wants to get the trailer under cover before snow fall if he can.

So life just goes on. Cat is getting a really thick coat, ready for winter. He has grown into a big heavy  man, no longer the cute skinny teen we first adopted. Himself says he’s fat, but I think he’s just Big. Come spring he’ll have enough ‘angora’ to stock a spinner! I have never seen a cat with markings like his but yesterday I ran across his near twin! This one is shorter haired and not as cute ;-D and his markings are not identical but the same sort of pattern. I like the child’s drawing, too! She captured the cat’s sad expression very well! I wonder if it was a foundling, too.

 

   

Well, I guess I’ve been chatty enough for one morning. I hope you have all been able to find something to be thankful about and are looking forward the December! I’ll leave you with one last bit that we all need reminded of occasionally.

 

August- is it just me or is autumn in the air already?

Aug4

The trees are not turning, The geese aren’t flying over head but it just feels fall-ish to me. But it’s pretty much mid summer. I have the canner going with green beans this morning. Tomatoes and zucchini to go into the dehydrator and relish to make tomorrow. That’s summer for sure! I guess I am just anticipating. Not that it’s been such a painfully hot summer this year. We did have a spell of “Arizona summer” earlier but it’s been pretty moderate lately and no (knock knock) fires so far.

Himself is tending the garden and is doing a nice job of it this summer. He has a healthy crop of carrots, something we haven’t had any luck at growing so far. And the corn is tall and fat, too, so we’re looking forward to some nice roasting ears in the not too distant future!

Carrots! He’s thinned them now and they are out-growing their shade cloth!

As for the looms and weaving, I’ve been working on the class for this fall and projects to go with it. I have classes scheduled at both Lambtown and OFFF. Check then out. I really haven’t done much other weaving this summer so have nothing to share. I just got a little payment from Little Looms who are republishing my Evergreen Hat in a new Ebook so if you missed that issue you can find it now on the Interweave site.

My youngest sister came down from Oregon in July and spent a week with me and we played with dyes! It was fun. Randy set us up a table and a portable gas stove in the yard off the kitchen and we mixed and matched! I dyed some yarns for one of the class projects and she had a lot of her handspun that she dyed, too. It was the first good visit we’ve had in almost a year. I really enjoyed having her here.

So I guess that about covers it for this time. Can’t think of much else. Cat has been hunting Lizards which has Randy upset. Some cats are hunters and I guess this one’s stint at having to feed himself last winter has encouraged that trait. He gets plenty of food now but I guess I need to fatten him up more!

Okay, looks like I’ve just won a contest from Harbor Fright for a bunch of tools and a heck of a lot of money from Publishers Clearing House. Pretty good for someone who has never entered any contests, huh? lol It always amazes me how anyone can fall for these things!  Ah well… I’ll just hope I never reach that state. Meantime, he does buy a lottery ticket now and then! lol

Okay, gotta go tend a pressure cooker full of green beans! Hope your garden is producing heavily, too!

Yarn fun!

Jul14

Well… Sis is  on her way home after a couple of fun days. I don’t count the day she arrived or left as they weren’t full days and today was not really all that much fun waving good bye! But on a brighter note, we are already thinking of the next time! That will be at her place.

But did we play?! You betcha! There’s more but she took a bunch home with her, too, and , as usual, I got so involved I forgot the camera! That’s almost unheard of in these days of cell phones, huh? I guess it comes from not having one of those little devices! But now I Have Ideas! It’s going to be more fun playing with my new colors. I’m thinking of making Art with those paper towels we dribbled tests on! lol

 

And Sis sent a photo of her part of the pretties! All hers is handspun. Most of mine is commercial.

Dh is busy bringing in the early fruits of the summer squash. So it looks like I’ll be getting the dehydrator ready a little sooner than I figured. Everything else is starting to bloom so it won’t be long. I see some fruits on the winter squash and fancy pumpkins. The green beans, the peppers, the okra… the peas are putting on another go just in time for the 100+ summer heat. Off we go.

So now its back to everyday stuff and staying cool. It looks like the extreme heat is going to be fairly wide spread so I hope you can all manage to stay cool. Reasonably so at least! And spend your in-door time with your looms!

Hazel

More Clothing…

Dec15

Weavers have asked for more so here’s another. This was the first pull over that worked really well. It was back in the Olden Days, when I was spinning my own yarn. This was the first whole Jacob fleece I bought and spun up. I used the colors as they came. I’m not sure what became of it, I wasn’t able to find it this morning to take new photo so this is kind of fuzzy. I used the 7″ Quilt Weaver square, we were only making two sizes of looms back them the 7 & the 12″. You can see that the sleeves are a bit odd. If I make this one again I’ll use the sewing machine and modify the sleeve where I drew the red line on the chart. I was scared of cut and sew back then, too, I guess! But it’s a easy one to make and you can use any nice yarn. You can also use cut and sew to modify the neckline if you wanted a different one.

Spring Little Looms is out….

Apr11

I haven’t gotten my “hard copy” yet but did get to take a look at the digital one. I’ve gotten a few emails about the pattern. People seem to like it. Those, at least, who love larger projects, as this blanket it pretty big. But you can, of course, make it any size you like. It’s easy to make smaller. Or bigger should you lean that way!

The neat thing about this one is that with care it is machine washable and not only can be varied in size but also in usage. It will fit a twin bed, It covers the top of my Queen bed so may fit a double and could easily be made a big wider to fit the queen better. You can use any colors that fit your scheme and actually, it would work with other fibers, too. If you wanted a winter blanket, you could use your hand spun or favorite commercial wool. A nice acrylic might make a good dorm blanket that could just be tossed in the washer at need.

I am adding  a chart there that Little Looms did not publish. I found it a help and maybe some of you will also.

 

This is the 2nd largest project I’ve woven on the pin looms and actually did not find it that difficult & it really didn’t take long to make. Well worth the time I think! You have lots of choices with this one. But whatever you decide, I’d love to see what you weave!

Photo from Little looms

Another oldie.

Apr6

I finished this one in 2014. It’s a collection of my handspun yarns.  Woven on several looms, mostly, if I remember, the 7″ and the 3 1/2″ squares. Randy made the wood buttons.  The button holes are just an unstitched space between the little squares on the front band. I like 3/4 sleeves but these were probably a little wide and the bottom edges. It works okay, tho.

Just been going though older projects, posting to my 3 “social media” places, here, Ravelry, and the facebook pin loom group. I’m working on a new everyday sweater but thinking of reworking that idea. I’ve been weaving either 12″ or 10.5″ squares, can’t remember just now. Needless to say that last one woven was a couple months back! But someone posted about shape weaving the other day which reminded me of the shape woven I’ve done in the past. I still have the cardboard looms and am thinking I might just employ that method on this sweater. I seem to get a better fit with less blocks than the cut and sew method. I’m too big to get a good fit with the totally block woven things. The one above is cut and sew. This one is the shape woven. The yoke and the arm skye as well as the back yoke were shape woven. And a much better fit than the others I’ve done, I think. The sleeves as shown were cut and sew but both made from the same pattern. Well, I’ll have to think about this some more. I have a little time between now and my next deadline, I hope!

Sept-Trying again..

Sep28

Maybe  the internet and I will get along better today. You think?! Doc says, Yes I did break my finger. He gave me a new splint and congratulated Randy on his. He also said I’ll need to wear this thing for a month!! Trying to make apple sauce today. I can halve them with the cutting board and big knife but coring realty puts a strain on that finger so Himself will have to take over that slot for the time.  But I’ve got the first pot cooking. The Squeezo wall take care of the clean cores.

I spent most of yesterday in town what with Doctor, Chores for Himself, and my own list. Traffic was horrible, with fire hold-ups still north of town and Weaverville’s first traffic light being installed on the other end of town. Took forever to get from place to place so I didn’t get anything done on the shirt yoke.

But we got a lovely cool wet rain! It was so relaxing that I didn’t mind sitting at two road work stops on the way to and from town, just relaxing with the cool and wet and dim landscape. It was great. And hopefully did some damage to the remaining fires as well.

I’ve made and modified the pot holder. Have two more made and one test woven. It’s a light commercial “worsted” woven on the 5″ Quilt Weaver Square. So a test for both yarn and loom size. The dark on on the left is the first one I made using the 7″ and it was a little too long. I rewashed it to felt it a bit tighter and then cut it off shorter. The red one and the one on the skillet handle are both handspun felted max. You can see the pot with the apples there on the left, too.

But now I think it’s time for some lunch and by then the apples may be ready for the next step. Hope your day is moving along smoothly!