Washing Wool and Contrast Problems

I spent most of the morning washing wool and working on the sheep mat. Here are some pics of some of the dirty fleece, a pic of it in the sink on it's 3rd washing, and the drying rack I rigged from 2 window screens. I've always been a firm believer that it's ok to use anything that you have lying around in or on your house in the pursuit of the fiber arts and the screens just prove my point. I am going to buy a dog brush until I get cards; Melissa said it should work ok.
I'm not sure how I feel about the mid section of hill that I hooked into the rug. It looks better than it did now I have more finished, but I'm still not really happy with it. I have so much done I don't want to take it out. I think maybe there is too much contrast between the lights and darks in that section. I like the foreground though; it turned out very nice.
Sio is going to Disney in 10 days and so I am making shorts for her for the rest of the day; and then we are going to pick raspberries. They are finally ripe.

More Gardening

I was talking to Melissa this morning about the garden and she wanted to see pics so here they are. The zuchinni is huge! I planted the cabbage too close to the zuchinni.The peas and beans have blossoms and there are some tomatoes although I don't have pics of those. The birds are getting the strawberries and I'm not sure what to do about that. There is a nice bonus here with the mulberry tree. I've been picking and freezing them as they ripen. I've found a lot of mulberry recipes online. I'm going to make mulberry jam maybe this weekend. The raspberries are late this year because of the cool spring, but they should be ready soon. We've had some nice weather lately.

I'm also posting a pic of the sheep rug. I'm going to work on that a bit more today.

Fishing Trip

We had an excellent fishing trip to Shelbyville this past weekend. Chris, John and I left about 8:30 on Thursday morning and got there about 1:00. We set up camp and then fished from shore down from the camp site where Chris and I both caught little white bass. The lake levels were 14 feet above normal; I got some pictures of the parking lot at the marina where we rented a boat for 2 of the days. They had to shuttle us out in a boat from the parking lot to the actual marina because all of the walkways and part of the parking lot was submerged. The fishing was not good on the lake because of it, although Chris caught a nice large mouth. The beach camp sites were all underwater, and all the beaches were closed. John and I did not do well fishing on the lake. However, in the spillway by the dam was a whole other story. We went over there Friday night but we didn't catch much, although I caught a really big carp on a night crawler and I think Chris may have caught a little white bass. Saturday night we went back and I caught about a 14 inch white bass which is pretty good as those don't get that big. I also caught a small one and a couple of bluegill, and John and Chris caught some small ones too. So we went back again this morning before we left and it was phenominal! We caught over 100 fish in about 6 hours. A lot of them were small white bass, but we all caught some decent sized ones too, plus Chris caught a nice walleye, and John and I both caught a striped bass. It was so much fun we were already planning the next trip down there in the car on the way home. I got a lot of nice pics and will post more in the next few days.

Sheep Update

I have been pretty busy this weekend and was at moms all day yesterday so I didn't get as much done on the rug as I would have liked. I did end up doing a couple of dye runs; it turned out I did need some greens. The foreground is looking pretty nice; I am happy with it so far.

I also came across a pretty blue and white floral print when I was cleaning out my stash and made a sweet baby dress for the Etsy store. The only sale I've had in the past 3 weeks was a piece of fabric I listed the other day. I started a couple of dream pillows too; I want to get them made this morning and listed and then get back to the rug.

Sheep rug

Well, I may not be able to really card and spin all the wool I got until I buy new cards, however I find that if I am very gentle I can card a little which is exactly what I needed for the sheep in this rug! There are 4, and I've only hooked 2 so far but they are so cute I had to stop and take pictures! This is a rather large mat so it will take me awhile but I'm going to devote my time to it and get it done as quick as I can.

Mi Le M'uilinn

More video of Karen Matheson doing Mi Le M'uilinn. I absolutley love this song, it's one of my very favorites. If you can be homesick for your roots, this song makes me feel that way.




The girls have been telling me for quite some time now that I should focus on one or two things and not be all over the place as far as the arts and crafts are concerned. I think they are probably right, and I am going to focus on traditional crafts like rug hooking, quilting and crocheting. I don't really think Etsy is the right outlet for that kind of thing so maybe I'll need a website. Siobhan wants to do art shows although I don't know about that. Anyway, I am clearing my stash of a huge build up of stuff that I just don't see myself using. Some of it I'll put in storage and I'm going to sell some of it. I'll see if I can get rid of some on Etsy and then we are having a gargage sale after we come back from Shelbyville next weekend.

I drew up a pattern for a rug that I'm going to start hooking. I actually have a lot of wool dyed so I don't know if I'll be dyeing any. I'll post pics later on. I made myself a new rug frame, the hoop I was using finally broke. It lasted through almost 2 small mats though, which is pretty good. I'm also still working on Sio's quilt but it's almost done except the outer border. I might put it away til fall when the cooler weather comes back.

Wool! and clouds?

A friend of my mother-in-laws has a nephew whose wife has a sheep; she apparently doesn't spin or weave or knit so she just throws the fleece out! I said I'd take it, and here it is stuffed in a white garbage bag. I haven't taken it out to get a good look at it yet, I will tomorrow. I'm also going to wash it if it is nice enough outside to set up the drying rack and let it dry. I have a comb and cards that I got from Joan when she let me borrow her mom's wheel. I'm not sure how much of the fleece is usable; I don't know if I'll dye it or not, and if I do will I dye it as roving or as yarn, I have no idea how much yarn I will actually get out of it but I'm really excited to do this!

The other 2 pics are from a really cool cloud formation we saw while John, Chris and I were fishing. Siobhan didn't want to go so it was just the 3 of us. We didn't catch anything but it was a nice finish to a nice Fathers Day. Anyway, John thought it looked like a mushroom cloud, and I guess it does; I just liked the way part of it was bright and there were some smaller dark clouds scudding across the front, and the way the shadows looked.

We are planning a fishing trip to Shelbyville the last weekend of the month Thursday til Sunday. I hope the weather is really nice and the fishing is good.

Charm Necklaces

I made these necklaces a couple of weeks ago and am eventually going to list them on Etsy. Melissa wanted to see them so I took these pics using the old camera, the new one isn't working for some reason. I love the red one with the handcuffs! I've worn it a couple of times, but I really think it should be sold. The components are all vintgae except for the red leaf and drop beads; I did the filigree wrap on the drop myself and glued it in place. The one with the aquamarine stone and brass locket is all vintage, the stone pendant came from a pair of earrings I got from Carla a long time ago. I wore it too, to the Green Festival when we went a couple of weeks ago. The one with the cameo is the only one made from new stuff. I got 6 of the cameos on Etsy and the chain at Hobby Lobby, the rest of the beads and findings are stuff Sio or I bought over the years we worked at Hancock. The earrings have vintage beads, again from a necklace Carla gave me; the findings look vintage but they aren't. I like these a lot too. All in all a nice lot of pieces; as soon as I can take better closeups I'll list them.

I also made a very cool dress that I have titled "US Blues", after the Dead song. I haven't taken pics because it's such a pain in the ass to haul Mildred outside, take all the pics, and then haul her in again; especailly for one thing. Sio is coming home tomorrow so I'll have her model it. Stuff sells a lot better on a person anyway.

Catch Up

I know I haven't blogged in a bit, but I have been very busy. My last day at work was the 31st, and I have been sewing sewing sewing to try and have a nice back log of stuff to list and take me over vacations when I will not be sewing. The first of those will be June 19th to the 22nd, when we will be camping and fishing in Shelbyville. Chris , John and I will go, and probably Sio who will be back from New York this Sunday. She will be staying here for awhile anyway, maybe for a long while, so that's a nice thing. I have missed her a lot, although to be able to kick around NYC for awhile without any real responsibilities is a very cool thing to be able to do at her age.

I am really into the hand quilting and I have dug out two quilt tops I made a long time ago and am finally going to quilt. The scrap one I made trying to get the feel of an antique utility quilt; it's from a Marsha McCloskey book I have. The blue and white nine patch is really nice, I didn't have much of the print which is why I made the borders so wide. So I need some really nice, fancy quilting to fill them up. I think I'm putting some type of wreath in the alternate white blocks. I might quilt it with just a piece of flannel for the batting, it won't be at all puffy, but it will work well as a summer quilt. I also need something for the outer borders of Sio's crazy quilt, they are 10 inches wide. I am ordering a book of Amish quilting patterns from Amazon, but until they get here I think I might start quilting the utility looking quilt. I also started a new top called Arknsas Crossroads. Mom has a quilt made by my paternal grandmother and her mother; it has some issues with some of the fabrics and the binding wearing out. I am going to start hunting for fabrics so I can replicate it in the future.

Sunny Bunny has been staying with me until Sio gets home. Here she is sitting on the living room carpet. She is a very politically aware bunny, she watches MSNBC every day from about 5 til 9, while she is petted and praised and fed. Her favorite game is making me chase her around the table to try and catch her and put her to bed.


The fishing started out very well but has kind of slowed down. The bass spawned a bit later I think because we had such a cool spring. Hopefully it will start picking up again now. We have a new lake to try, hopefully this weekend. Every one Chris and John has talked to has said there are really big bass in there.

Gardening

It has been really cold here but I finally got most of the plants in. I've planted tomatoes, peppers, zuchinni, cabbage, cauliflower, marigolds (to help keep the bugs off) and more strawberries. I also planted beans and peas. I still have to plant my watermelon, pumpkin, buttercup squash, cucumbers, basil and lavender. Siobhan wanted to see so I am posting pics for her. She'll be home in a few weeks and will be able to see for herself. Yay!

Tag You're It

John and I went down to the Frugal Muse in Darien this evening to see Thom Hartmann and get a book signed by him. I have mentioned him in this blog before as being the smartest man in radio, and it was so cool to meet him in person. He gave a great talk on how we need to begin healing the Democratic party; the ideological split between right and left; the nation and the world. He talked about how wounded we are as a nation and it's time to try and put that aside and come together. It was an excellent talk. He took a few questions and then signed books. One of the lines he uses a lot to get people to act is "Tag You're It", the first time I think I heard him say it was in the movie "Crude Impact" and I've always loved that so John and I asked him to sign our book that way which he did. There was a lady who was nice enough to take a picture of us together too.
We were talking on the way home about what we can do now since we haven't done a lot lately and I think maybe we are going to work for Obama's campaign. Other than donating money we haven't done much else. Maybe we can go door to door in Wisconsin somewhere, or Indiana.
Last weekend Chris was over and he was talking about how he thought it was important to get the people in the inner cities signed on to the message of change, and that if you did that it could make a tremendous difference. There was a young black kid tonight from the inner city who asked Thom why people didn't seem to even know about the issues in the inner city; he said he would have to go to other places to talk to people. As was pointed out by Thom, they don't really talk much in the suburbs either. I mean we do to family members or whatever, but there really isn't an open discourse. Anyway, I think Obama is starting to bring people together so we can have that communication and start educating each other as to what our realites are, but we at the grass roots level have to to really take that up and run with it.

Coffee Cozies

Ok, I've seen these selling here and there on Etsy, and they are VERY easy to make. I have seen them billed as "sustainable" and "green" but I'm not so sure they are cause even if you use these you still need the freaking paper cup. If you were trully trying to be more conscious of resources you'd do waht Melissa does and bring your own travel cup from home. However, I think they are cute and they do save using the cardboard sleeve, so I guess that's something. I'm keeping the pirate one.

Finished!

I finished quilting the Amish Bars quilt! I really found the whole process relaxing and enjoyable; I see myself doing it again. I didn't keep track of the actual time it took, but it's been just over a month since I started the whole project.I did lots of other things too, so I didn't work on it exclusivley. The routine of machine sewing projects in the morning and then quilting in the afternoons worked well; plus I had a couple of Thursdays at Mom's where I quilted. I'm going to really work on Sio's Crazy Quilt now; it shouldn't really take that long since I'm going to just outline the 10" crazy patch blocks. The only fancy quilting will be in the borders. Since I got the standing hoop I think it will be easier to work on, too.

Chris Matthews is the Man

I was up late last night watching the results from the Indiana and North Carolina primarys; I tried to go to bed a couple of times; the first time I made it as far as John's computer room and then after I went to bed I got back up again and didn't get back to bed right away. By the time I got to sleep it was midnight. Anyway, while Hillary is saying she'll press on (at least she's saying it right now), she won Indiana because of Rush Limbaughs campaign to screw with the vote in this country. Now I am not a Chris Matthews fan, I agree with Stephanie Miller most of the time when she calls him a right wing tool; however last night he stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park when he denounced Limbaughs Operation Chaos by telling people it was shameful to have participated in it. He said "anyone who voted to screw up the political system of this country with the purpose of mischief should carry that with them the rest their lives". He went on to say it was "a ridiculous way to use the vote for which people fought and died" and "I hope you're proud of yourself". I couldn't agree with him more. Democracy and the will of the people is not a toy to be played with by people who don't understand or deserve the freedoms this Constitution has guaranteed them over the history of this country. My blood boils when I think about how someone could intentionally try to circumvent the process that so many people through out history have tried to protect. At this moment I HATE the right wing neo-cons in this country more passionatly then I ever have; I am beginning to agree with my husband when he says they should all be hung as traitors and war criminals.

Hand Quilting and Other Stuff

I know I said I wasn't going to hand quilt the Amish Bars quilt, but I was wrong. I was afraid I didn't quilt well enough, but actually it's coming along pretty nicely. Pat at work, who does fabulous hand quilting, said start with something small, so I did. She is a stab quilter and I find I am not, although going around some of the curved pieces I am stabbing, just because I can't get my stitches small enough if I don't. Since the back is black and I am using black thread, it doesn't show if it's uneven on the back. I figure another couple of weeks of afternoon quilting and it will be done. I'm really enjoying the process too; it's very relaxing.

There is also a picture of a soap saver I crocheted yesterday. I really like it, and since I buy soap on Etsy it's pretty expensive and I'd like to use every bit. It only took a little less than 1/2 a ball of Lily Sugar and Cream cotton. I'll probably make a few for my Etsy store too, they work up really quickly.

The last picture is of an Amish quilt I'd like to make. I saved the picture from some where; possibly E-bay and I've always wanted to make it. Strictly speaking, it may not be Amish because of the white used, although I know the modern Amish will use white in quilts that are for selling to the tourist community. Anyway, I'll probably replace the white with a light grey. I need to go through my solids and see what I have and what I might need to buy. It's a project for sometime later though, I'm not in a hurry.

Must Be Spring!

Well, we went fishing twice in about 14 hours; Saturday evening at the pond in Lombard by Chris', and then this morning at Cricket Creek. I caught 6 fish last night; all of them bass, all of them small but big enough to qualify as first bass of the year! John caught one, and Chris caught a couple of sunfish so no one got skunked. This morning Chris caught a crappie but John and I caught nothing. We stopped at Westmore Woods on the way to take him home and didn't catch anything there either but the season has just begun and I'm off to a really good start.
Siobhan is in New York for an undetermined length of time with Melissa; she applied for a part time job. Even if she decides to come home in a few weeks she will have at least made some money while she was there. I miss her, so I'll just have to bug John more instead.
And now, because it's spring and bluegrass is in the air, here's one of my favorite bands, Yonder Mountain String Band doing Sideshow Blues. The video isn't the best, but the sound is!