Aaaahhh! Summer!

This has been a really nice summer so far. Warm in the daytime and cool at night. Pure Heaven!

Our garden is finally producing, after the waterlogged spring. This is a row of lovely mixed variety lettuces that Zip somehow managed to plant right along the edge of the grass!

Mom came down to visit last week and here she is in the zucchni patch with Zip. If any of you who are nearby need some zucchini, we have extra. We only have a few plants, but they are prolific! We also picked our first batch of greenbeans on Wednesday. We cooket them with ham and new red potatoes.

Deiter has decided that summer time is best spent napping. Here he is, sleeping with his head in one of my knee pads. I think the knee pads would make great kitty bicycle helmets! LOL!!!

On the kitty subject, Sophie is doing well so far on her insulin.

This evening we are going to Harrisburg to the Top of the Hill Restaurant for the annual Sunoco awaards dinner. Even though Zip has retired, they still invite him back for special occasions. As usual, I had nothing to wear (being mainly a jeans and t-shirt type!). So for the past several days I have been working on a top and a light jacket to wear.

Was hoping to make some pants to go with it but that didn't work out. Yesterday Kami and I went to the PA Fabric Outlet and the ONE THING I really needed was a zipper. I picked one out and put it in the cart along with the many bolts of fabric to be cut. And the zipper is still in the shopping cart!!! Boohoo! So we made a quick trip to K-Mart for some light beige pants. Wish I could have gotten a good close-up of the jacket buttons. They have little leaves in the middle.

Yes, my Santa hooked piece is finished! I haven't decided yet what my next project will be. Didn't get to the hook-in because I had absolutely nothing to work on. Since I am off for the summer I want to dust off the loom and do some weaving.

Happy hooking till next time!

Happy....and not so happy

The not so good part of the week has been that on Friday I had an appointment to take Sophie, my dear little kitty with the heart problem to the vet for a checkup. I took a urine sample and dropped it off in the morning, to check for bladder infection. They called shortly after, and told me to bring her in right away for a blood test because they suspected that she may be diabetic. And yes, she is. What a major upset!!!

The doc reassured me that it is very treatable with proper medication and diet, but that her heart problems make it a bit more difficult. So now my baby has been on insulin shots twice a day for the past two days. She seems to be doing OK (but then she seemed OK before the diagnosis) . We will see how well this does works when we take her back for a fasting blood sugar on Friday. After that we will be doing home testing with a glucometer.

This is going to severely limit our 'away time'. And it is expensive! But as long as she is OK with the treatment and isn't miserable, distressed and fighting it, Zip and I will deal with the inconvenience. We love the little girl!!!

The happy part is that we had a wonderful afternoon on the 4th having a seafood feast at Brad and Kami's. We ate in their lovely shady screened in porch. They steamed crab legs and mussels and did talapia on the grill.

Plus we had lots of yummy sides and Kami made black raspberry cobbler for dessert.

Here is Zip modeling a gas mask that Brad found at a yard sale. Or is he anticipating the effects of the baked beans???

Afterward we had a shooting match with Brad's new battery powered pellet gun. I must say that even with my lousy eyesight, I'm still a pretty good shot. Kami kept telling Brad and Zip that if they ran, maybe her aim would improve! LOL!

Later in the evening Zip and I went to the fireworks display in Shippensburg. Since we were early in order to get a good parking place, we dicided to further stuff ourselves by going across the street to Mei Lin's House for some Japanese appetizers. Zip's fishing buddy and his wife joined us for the fireworks show. Zip and Greg talk more than a bunch of old women! hehehe!

More good news is that my Santa piece is hooked, bound, but Kathy is going to say not yet finished because it doesn't have a label on it. I'm trying to decide what I want on my labels, Kathy! Just can't quite decide!

And now I need a new hooking project. I wonder what to do next.....

Grant Street Woolworks Hook-in News!

Linda is back from vacation and she's ready to hook!

She will now be having hook-ins every Thursday. You may arrive any time after 10 a.m. and stay till 9 p.m., or if the conversation is good maybe even longer. She and I may still have to do some sewing now and then, but you're welcome to bring friends, lunch, your current project (or the ten-years-ago-it's-time-to-finish-this project!) , and work and talk, talk, talk. If you aren't into packing lunch, there are plenty of nearby restaurants.

Come and have a hooker's day out!

Grant Street Woolworks is located at 240 Grant Street in Chambersburg, PA. If you have questions or need directions, please call Linda's cell a 717 860-4628, or call the building number 717 264-6834. The guys will answer the phone for "Great War Militaria", just ask for Linda or Pat.

Happy Hooking!

Choosing and Dying the Background

After attending Doris's dye class on Friday I had to dye SOMETHING!

Since my Santa piece needs a background, that became my incentive. Brad used to work for a printing ink manufactury, and he had given me this wonderful book with every color imaginable in it. I like to use it to get ideas of what colors may work together. Of course, I couldn't find it!!! I finally found my color wheel, but that didn't have big enough swatches to be useful.



Sooo...off we went to Lowe's to get paint color swatches. I had decided that anything from green to blue to purple to gray would be acceptable. I did not want a light background because the snowflakes would not stand out. I came home with lots of swatches, some totally off the wall (hey, sometimes they DO work!) and others that seemed to be what I wanted.





Since red is the predominating color, I tested my swatches along the edge of Santa's coat. I ended up not liking the purple shades at all. Some of the brighter blues went well with the red, but they weren't the effect I was looking for. What seemed to work best were the very deep teal shades with a gray tint to them.

I had three different textured fat quarters, two in shades of light gray and one in tan and light brown. I started my dye solution with 1/4 tsp. each of navy and dark green plus 1/23 of silver gray. The navy turned out to be predominant so I added another 1/2 tsp. of dark green. I scrunched up the wool in the pot and didn't stir it so that I would get a mottled effect. It doesn't show on the picture, but there is variation in shades on the finished wool.

I had time to hook in a tiny bit around Santa's hat and the tree. I think it's going to work!

Santa's pants are the final decision. I have a funky plaid that i'm going to try. I had started them in a maroon color, but decided it was too flat with the large expanse of red in the coat. Yanked it out!

We are off to have a Father's Day noon meal at the Fayetteville Firehouse. Then on to Gettysgurg for miniature golf and the new Civil War visitor's center. A Dad kind of day!

And yes, I'm taking the camera! And yes, I'm gonna bore you with the details! hehehe!!!

Dying with Doris!

What an educational day!
I have been dying wool for years and just did not realize how lacking in proper technique I am! As a 'hit or miss' dyer, sometimes I got the result I wanted and sometimes...oh, well! Doris Aymar has perfected the technique of dying so that if you follow her guidelines, your wool will consistently come out right.

Here on the countertop between the stove and the kitchen sink she has all her supplies laid out in an orderly manner within easy reach.

First we did casserole dying: we scrunched up the wool

and Ruth applied the dye. Later it will be heated in the oven to set the color.

Doris is demonstrating the next technique: coat hanger dying.

This results in either strips of graduated coordinating colors or strips with several different colors blending into each other. She uses these color combinations for leaves, shaded flowers, scrolls, etc.

Here are Doris, Joan Linda, Jill and Linda discussing the effects of the 'abrashing' technique which can be done with one color as this piece was done, or using a second color for more depth.

Since it was a hot day and Doris did not want to overheat the kitchen while we were having lunch, she will be heat setting the wool in the oven later. So! You will have to tune in later to see the finished products! And I'm sure they will be stunning!!!

Thank you, Doris, for inviting us into your home and providing us with this expert instruction. And as a bonus, we got to enjoy looking at Doris' wool room and many of her lovely rugs!

The only thing missing here is a picture of Eloise. What was I thinking not to have taken a photo of the dear little girl?! She was so good and patient with us tall folks. But her excellent manners paid off with some treats at lunch time!

Anyone who is hoping to increase their dying skills should really take this class. Doris is planning to spend the summer working on new and interesting dye techniques. She will be offering classes again in the fall.

Rain...and MORE RAIN!!!

Yesterday we drove to Carlisle to Joann Fabrics and several other places...in the rain! I've always wanted to get a picture of this old spring house way out on the far end of Spring Garden Street. Would rather have done it on a nice sunny day, but nooooo! Had to rain!!! It was a nice trip any how.

When I had been at Mannings last week, I tried to get a new drive band for my spinning wheel, but they were backordered. Two days later I get the phone call that they have arrived. Another trip to Mannings! As we passed the farm where you turn for their shop I saw these creatures. Now this is a test for Kathy! What are they??? I'll give you a few clues. They are NOT 'bulls'! Though the black one with the long neck may be the Loc Ness monster. OK, Kathy, what do you think??? LOL!

Here is the spinning wheel with it's new drive band on and ready to go. Now to find time to do some spinning. Our Fiber Guild is participating in a solstice festival on Saturday in Shippensburg at the township park on Britton Road. If the weather is decent, I may join them. The summer solstice is something I usually don't like to celebrate because it means that already the days will begin to get shorter. As a person who is highly affected by seasonal depression and lack of sunlight, even the thought of shorter days is upsetting, even though winter is a loooong way off!

Or I may take my Santa piece if I decide to go. He's coming along nicely. I haven't decided yet on a background color. Tomorrow Linda and I will be taking the dying workshop with Doris. That should give me some ideas on what will be most effective. Better take my color wheel!

Now I just can't let Joanne have all the kitty fun! Since the outdoors is so uncooperative for photography, I have had to do it indoors. This is Robbie. Linda says Robbie is an imaginary cat because when she comes to visit he is nowhere to be found! Isn't it amazing how realistically cut and paste works! LOL!

This is Robbie's sister Sophie. She is real, Linda has seen her! She's laying on the official 'scratching chair'. Check the chair legs!!! She is Zip's little darling! He says sweeter things to her than he does to me. Maybe because she puts up with his guitar playing better than I do. hehehe!

And here she is with Mommy at the cumputer. First she lays on the mouse hand.

Then she lays on the keyboard. I think she loves Mommy just as much as Daddy! Is this why I never seem to get anything done???

I better get to work around here. My vacation is almost over. Boo-hoo!

Have a great Father's Day weekend, everyone!

Happy Hooking!

Kathy invited me to go with her to hook with the Blue and Gray on Monday since I'm currently a woman of leisure. We had a wonderful time! You can check out most of the rugs on her blog, Rugs of Mine...in Time. What a great group! Lots of ladies, lots of beautiful rugs, and lots of talk. It is so nice to get out and exchange information and ideas with other hookers.

I knew she wasn't going to post any pictures of HERSELF so I thought I should do the honor. When I said Happy Hooking, I really meant it! Have you ever seen a happier hooker???


Her rug is looking quite stunning! I think it's all done but the background.

Since she did such a great job of photographing everyone's work, I decided not to repeat the pictures on my blog. But here's one she didn't show that I thought was particularly cute. I just love the little bird on top of the house. Nice job, Ruth!

I was so tired from all the excitement (and the heat!) that I went home and took a nap. Then with renewed energy and all the inspiration from the morning, I finished putting the binding on my flower basket rug. In the past I have dyed yarn to match or coordinate with my rug to use for the whipping. I knew it was going to be hard to dye a yarn to match the background on this one so I used my leftover wool strips. It worked out nicely, and made it easier to cover when doing the corners.

Then yesterday I started my Santa piece. I may be changing the color of the fur trim on his coat, but think I'll let it sit for a while until I get more done. Maybe some tea dyed mottled natural would be better. Looked through my stash of greens and none are quite right for the tree. Will have to dye or get in to the shop and find something textured.

It's moving along a lot faster than I expected. Should be finished in time for Christmas! LOL!