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I am finally going to learn how to use this blog thing… I hope.

Apr22

The tutorial says I should: Tell us about you and what we’ll find on your blog.

Well, I am Hazel. I haven’t always been this old but have always been more or less  arty. I guess my main ‘art form’ would be drawing, extended to painting, but I have always been interested in any art form that crosses my path. I’ve dabbled in many, no point in listing them here, it would take all day, but they range from fiber crafts to metal & wood work. My Pop was a rock hound and lapidarist (is that a word?) and I tried my hand at those forms, too.  Momma taught me to crochet way back and my 4th grade teacher taught me to knit so yarn arts have always been in there, too. Is gardening an art? I don’t know that I have a green thumb but I enjoy my garden, too, both flowers and food. I’ve written some poetry and short stories, designed birthday and get well cards, written children’s picture books, directed siblings & off spring in musical plays, just for our own entertainment. i can  pick out a ragged tun on piano, cord a guitar, and used to be able to tootle a tune on a clarinet or flute. Badly in all cases and sing along as well, probably badly at that, too, but with Gusto! Well, I still sing along in the car! Randy and I celebrated our 34th year yesterday and he is having a birthday poker party with the boys for his day today.  I had mine a couple weeks ago, but we won’t talk about that. What else? Well, it’s already more than you wanted to know!

So what’ll you find on the blog? Pretty much what you have already found I’m sure. Stuff about the looms and my weaving projects. Stuff about my dolls and what I am making for them. Pictures of my garden and our trips hither and yon. Things I bake and can and a few pictures of the dogs and cats and the deer & other wild critters who wander though the place. We have two Stellar Jay nests this spring, there’ll be baby birds all over soon!Checkered lilies close

My checkered lilies are blooming again. and my peas are up. I’ll plant kale tomorrow. So there you have it for my first lesson in how to make a proper blog. I think it’ll get better. Well, to be honest, I hope it’ll get better!

But thank you for reading this, both of you, even if you are my sisters.

 

Progress! No- really!

Apr20

I am just one shy of halfway done weaving my blocks. Counted 11 today. Yeah, not nearly one a day, but I think I denied that possibility right from the start. But now that Baseball season has started I will probably get more done as I can do that and listen to the game at the same time!  I think they are looking good (the squares, if not the team) but also they seem to have a little more draw-up than I figured on so I’ll likely end up needing more squares. Which may mean some creative coloring in order to do it since I have a limited amount of this yarn. Well, I have never objected to colorful so we’ll see.

I’ve up dated this blog so that I can post videos on it but so far have not been able to make that work. In part, I’m sure because of my very slow connection here in the backwoods. I’m going to try again today or tomorrow. A nice summer day, I think people are going to want to be outdoors instead of sitting by the fire with the internet so maybe there’ll be a little extra bandwidth for me!

If I can get this working I’ll have all sorts of things to share with you, we can weave together at last… so keep your fingers x-ed for me!!

Merry Christmas to me!

Mar11

Randy makes other things than looms, but it takes longer and happens less often. But I am delighted with this Christmas, even if it is March before it was finished. It’s up and filled now! Well.. there’s room for a few more! 🙂

The bigger dolls have a cabinet but these little ones were just stuffed in anywhere. I wanted to see them and now the bigger ones have a bit of breathing room, too!

But I am still weaving squares for my sweater and a couple more dish cloths from the Home Dec yarn. I’ve also got a couple weaving buddies hooked on it! Great fun! Getting loom orders out and trying to find parts for my bread machine which is not doing well. Still working, but limping. And it’s getting warm, the snow is almost gone. Be time to plant peas before long! March is my month for Bunko, too, so I guess I’m going to have to cook a corned beef. What a busy little girl I am! lol

I have been knitting, too, for a KAL on the Doll List. It’s Space for our new Stem Girl, of course. But I made my space suit for my faux Wellie, Piper. She off to Barsoom to meet Capt. John Carter.

She’s blasted off, hitches a ride with SpaceX for awhile, but then kicks in her FTL drive and finally arrives, to meet her Hero!  A little disappointing, tho as he advised her not to stay long. The planet was not doing well and those left in their last city, on the Dark Side were about to blast off for a new world. So I’m afraid that by the time Space X arrives he will find only the same things that NASA has seen and no Baroomians. Piper won’t go with them, she’ll head home again, but she’s glad she went. Maybe She’ll join a colony on the moon when she grows up!

      

WAL!

Nov30

December 1 starts the WAL for a square a day to make into something for Christmas. It’s being hosted on Ravelry, Looms To Go. And also on the Facebook pin looms group.

I hope you will all join us. I’m starting the day with the Elf Shoe. It’s one 4″ square or a Tiny Weaver square to make the tree ornament. You can make one with your larger looms and have a table decoration. Fixing a little bouquet of fir branches or holly. Here’s a picture of that.

 

There will be more, not just mine, but anyone can join in and share their ideas. Lets have fun and make this a great WAL! You will not have to weave one a day, of course, you can join in and share at any time & I hope you will!

 

Autumn once again.

Nov11

Well, the old saw is true… time does fly when you’re having fun. Sometimes, even when you’re not. I have mostly been having fun this fall but winter is coming before I am ready, I think.  It’s be a beautiful autumn, tho. The colors have been outstanding, the temperatures mild, chilly but not really cold. We’re had frost enough to kill my tomato plants but I have  geraniums on the deck still blooming. But the flowers are out-shown by the trees this time!

    

There’s more, of course, but I am sure you have many beautiful scenes in your own yard. It’s also end of garden season with the last of the tomatoes and peppers and I dug my small potato crop and apples! A fantastic year for apples and the bear is too late this year, we got there first for a change!

  

The new canning pantry is pretty much full now! We’re doing some work in the bathroom and he moved the water heater which made room for this little cupboard in the washroom. Project unfinished as you can see but it’s going to be really nice here once it is. I’ll have new closed cupboards for storage here and in the bathroom. While on the subject of canning, I also pickled some beets and made applesauce and also canned and froze some sliced apples, just in case.

 

But have I been weaving, you ask? Well, no, actually, until the last couple days. Gabi from Texas is starting a WAL on Looms To Go. Two fo them actually, if you think yo might be interested, one is to make ornament using, she suggested one 4″ square , I’m thinking 2 might work better.But easy and a good use for left-over stash. She’s going to offer suggestions with her Turtle looms, I’;m sure and I’ll dive in with the 4″ square. She’s suggesting one a day, but I’m easier with one a week, but of course yu can do as many as you want and share them with us all. Ideas always welcomed! More the Merrier!

The 2nd WAL is to make a temperature blanket. This is a longer and a bit more complicated. Something I have had in the back of my mind for sometimes, but it does require stash diving and planning! I don’t know if I’ll be able to get started on this just yet. It’s going to be dull for awhile, anyway as our temps have been running mid 40’s for a couple weeks now… A solid color blanket! Maybe the 2″ square would be the choice for this blanket.

Anyway, I do hope you’ll find time to join us for one of these WAL’s.

And accept my apologies for letting this blog go unloved for so long! I hope you are staying warm and dry and keeping your looms polished!

Garden salad

Sep11

 

Not much in the fridge just now so took the clippers and my basket out and found salad makings in the garden. These will go with the tomatoes green peppers and beans I picked this morning. There’s some lovely red jalapeño peppers out there, too but I am told that bush is the really hot ones. The mild ones are not red yet. I’m not sure what I am going to do with these but they will not be in tonight’s salad in any case! But I found kale, nasturtium leaves and flowers, celery leaves, lemon balm, rosemary, & thyme. The little blue flowers are also eatable but darned if I can remember the name of that prickly plant. I have some napa cabbage in the fridge to fill it out. Himself will get Tuna with his and I might make some cheese toast & lemon aide. Doesn’t that sound like a nice dinner for a hot evening?

Jalapeño peppers.  The mild ones on the left and the hot ones to right, under a gauze of spider web!

And the butterflies are really enjoying the zinnias!

Eclipsing in Trinity

Aug21

Himself and I had our “Eclipse party” out on the deck this morning. It was pretty cool, actually. I bought the proper glasses at Lowes, I think it was, and am glad I did. Even tho he laughed at me at the time, he used his, too. We got to 88.something % here in Trinity Co in north Calif. That left just a sliver. I could not really tell the difference in the light from a partly cloudy or smokey day, but I could really feel the temperature drop. It did not get cold, its August after all, but it did get noticeably cooler. I managed to get a couple pictures to focus. I know there’s going to be a zillion better ones around but I just kind of wanted my own. It got much thinner than this but I could not get another one to focus.

UFO

Aug6

Picking up an abandoned project. It’s 4 colors of Lopi. Can’t remember where it came from, a swap, maybe? Anyway, I think it was supposed to be a vest and that is what it is going to be now. Haven’t had a new vest in awhile.  It was lovely out on the deck this morning so I will weave and sip until the sun makes it over the firs.

July & hot again!

Jul8

But I am still weaving, of course. Took the computer to town yesterday to get it cleaned up and running properly again (I hope!) And Boy! Was it hot! Really glad to get back in my mountains! I thought we were hot up here the last few days but I was wrong! lol

Anyway, I have been working on a new patchwork yoke using some very pretty yarn I bought at Black Sheep Gathering. Trying something new. It’s taking awhile but I think it’s going to be pretty. It is inspired by this one. 

This is what I have so far. The 1st one is a sketch to give me a idea where I want to go.  The 2nd is what I have embroidered so far. There’s a lot more needed on it. And, of course, it changes as I work. That always seems to happen. The yarn is super-wash sock yarn and, you know by now that I love my washing machine, so I have done swatches that I’ve washed in the machine. I am using some of my big stash of needlepoint yarns for the embroidery and have also tested them in the machine. They don’t seem to shrink much, either, tho both fulled just enough to look good.

      

So that’s about all that’s happening here just now. Well, I am also designing a doll dress for our August WAL on Ravelry and trying to keep the garden watered. We turned off most of the auto watering when we got back from the trip so we can have a little more control as some places in this yard don’t need watering all summer while other places dry up almost immediately. Give us something to do! lol

Speaking of which, I have some loom shipping to do so better get on with it. Hope your summer is not too hot! If it is, stay indoors and weave!

Montana

Jun27

Ever wonder why it’s call the Big Sky?

And here we are on the top of the world. I don’t remember what pass this is but it was lovely and exactly the right time of the year to meet the most populous residents.. mosquitoes!

But we had nice camping places.

Saw lots of wild life.

Opps! Sorry!

     

But on the way home we found Mt Shasta on fire. Turned out to be a ‘control burn’ which, this time, did not get out of control.

And we got home to find we have a new neighbor, spending the summer in the community.

Now we’ve gone to Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon without taking any pictures & are home again for awhile. But it’s been an enjoyable month! Hope your summer is not too hot!