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♥ ~BTWG

A Good Spot

Today was the day my Thursday group had planned to test out an alternate hooking spot after I move.  We went to the class room of the Bernina store that my daughter manages.

Even though I  was under the weather, I managed to get a report from some of our intrepid IRgC reporters,

The verdict is that it’s easy to get to and very accommodating for us.  It’s good to know that we have an alternate spot for Thursday events when we need it.

Where Did I Put Those Socks

Because I wore a blue and white flannel shirt, with a red t-shirt on Wednesday, I chose a pair of red, white and blue socks to compliment my ensemble.  However, when I was ready for the socks, I could not find them anywhere.  I went back and forth in the house, from front to back, at least 3 times with still no socks.

This did not bode well.  However, I could tell that I wasn’t really up to par, being impacted by severe allergy symptoms.  Maybe that had something to do with my in ability to find those socks?

Eventually, they did show up

But I didn’t hit it very hard at all.

Mixed Day

I spent most of my Tuesday in a basic sewing class learning how to work my new Bernina.  While it was a great class, I mostly will do the first 5 or 6 things we talked about, my sewing skills being limited to zig zagging around rug patterns, sewing carpet rags and hemming woven rugs.  Yes, there is a slight chance I might want to make a button hole some time.  However, I figure if I have gone this long without needing to make one there is a good chance I can make it a decade or two longer!  Or, as I told the teacher, If I need a button hole I think I will just get my daughter to make it for me!  

Before heading out to the day-long class in Tustin, I did fiddle around some with some wool I just dyed.  For a person who is winding down their dyeing career, I seem to be dyeing a lot of wool.  Of course, several of the locals are making sure they have the speciality wool they think the will need for the next 10+ years.

I don’t mind dyeing for these old regulars at all.  In all truth, dyeing  a little here and there does help me to stay interested and focused.  After all, a mixed day is a good day.

How To Improve Your Hooking

I took steps today to improve my hooking and, if you are like me, these steps are guaranteed to improve your hooking too.

I got new glasses.  It’s been two years since I’ve gotten new glasses (my health plan allows for new ones every 2 years) and I was to the place where I really needed them.  My eye sight is not terrible but I’ve noticed that I was having trouble with both near and far so was not surprised to find that my numbers had changed.  Happily, these new lenses really made a difference.   Although I don’t think the color of the frames really has much to do with the improvement of my eyesight, as an artist, I feel better just knowing I’ve brought more color to the process.

After 2 years of hard use, with only one pair of glasses, my frames are ready for a rest.  After all, as I often go to sleep with my glasses on, they do almost double duty to that which pair is likely to do.

Therefore

I decided to lighten up on my glasses by getting a second pair.  While they are also colorful, they are also much more subdued than the red pair.  But, then again, it’s nice to have a relaxed pair and a formal pair.  So, when teaching during the day at the Biennial in September, I’ll probably wear the red pair.  But, when speaking at the closing banquet, I can go with the more formal option.  Either way, they are sure to improve my performance.

When The Time Is Right

When divvying up some of my hooked rugs from the trunk, my oldest daughter quickly claimed the Carnival Paws prodded rug.

It’s a 27” by 44.5” traditional proddy rug.  There was no problem giving it to her.  However, I found it problematic that she wanted me to hang it, seeing how it is a very heavy rug.  It was meant to just be on the floor.  While I successfully hang big rugs all the time – rugs that are typically made with wool equal to four times the size of the finished piece – prodded rugs or, at least my prodded rugs, usually take wool equivalent to 9 or 10 times the the finished size of the rug.  i.e. A hooked rug exactly 1 yard square will take about 4 yards of wool to hook.   A prodded rug that size will probably need 9 to 10 yards to prod.  That makes proddy rugs heavier as well as squishier.  And, as the back of the proddy rug is different (it’s prodded with a width of wool about the size of #10 cut)  in that the bumps on the back covering the linen usually skip about 4 rows of backing where a hooked rug usually covers only one or two  rows of linen backing.  All that to say, it’s a heavy rug, who’s weight needs to be carefully distributed.

Unfortunately

I never asked my good friend, Heather Ritchie, how she hung her proddy rugs.  It almost looks like she may have nailed or tacked them to a strip of wood

But I really can’t tell.  Even so, for my daughter’s dinning room, I don’t think that would have been a good plan, at least for the long haul.

So, for some time, I put it off until I could work out my process … hopeful that she might change her mind!  However, she never did … and her birthday is Wednesday.  That means, the time was right for action.

So

I cut a piece of 3/8” thick plywood the exact size of the rug – 27 by 44.5”.  I mounted that wood to the wall with four screws nestled in 4 dry wall mollies.  That secured my wooden mount, which could better bear the weight of the piece – not the dry wall. To this I followed my normal method of nailing in a row of carpet laying tac strips – one piece on each outside edge, making sure the nails pointed out from the center.  Given the weight of the rug, I wanted may nails to hang on the plywood, not the dry wall.  Then, if one rectangle of carpet tac strips is good, I figured a second, interior rectangle of strips would just provide a better hold, with gripper nails being distributed throughout the edge and interior of the rug.

I am not sure how good it is going to be

I just know this process allowed me to get a mount that was secure to the wall as well as level and in the right place.

It is securely fashioned enough that I could stretch and tinker with the edges to get everything as straight as it could possibly be.

I hung this Saturday morning while she was at work.  It hung until she got home.  Then, this morning at church when I talked to her, I found out that it was still hanging.

I call that a big win.

No Time To Smell The Roses

It was nice having a 3rd Thursday in the studio, especially since the place has been clean all week and took no work at all to have ready when they started arriving about 9ish.

We did have one brand new project get started –

The artist showed up right on time and said:  I’ve been thinking about that rooster ever since the big hook-in.  I should have bought it that day.  Do you still have the kit?   Happily, I did.  Didn’t she get a lot done for day #1?

Most everything else being worked on might look familiar to you, although some have made a lot of progress.

Except for the last leaves and background, this is all done.  And, I came away from this session with an order for the background, which I will have ready next time we meet.

This just keeps growing too.  When discussing this with the artist she said her favorite part is the striped border.  I must admit that I find that very striking!

The bunny showed up too.  We actually spent a lot of time discussing the background which, I think, is going to be off white with accents.  Her vision example for this rug has an actual wall paper sort of design in the background which, I must admit, is an odd choice to me, although it is lovely.

Our gal has a decided on a quilted feather design.  I must admit I like this better as it almost looks vegetative as it springs from the sparse vegetation at the bottom.  The final verdict, however, is not in yet.

This one is getting some 3-D embellishments.

And the pig was back again.  It grows steadily!

There were two others there, who got away before I got my camera out.  However, they, too, were working on things you have seen before.

No sooner had all  the class members gone than the family who bought our dinning room table and chairs pulled up to load all that.  Marsha and I helped them load their car … and then ours and we headed off to unload it all at their house.

It’s nice to know it’s at a safe place where it will be well loved and used.  Plus, we occasionally get invited to that house so we can check on it from time to time.

It was a very nice day.

And

While I didn’t exactly have time to smell the roses, I did have time to shoot these beautiful blooms on my way out to pick up more chairs.

Much To My Liking

As I had another event planned in my studio for Wednesday night – a men’s thing with my church group to rally round a friend in need – I wanted to keep the studio clean as Wednesday night leads right into 3rd Thursday.  Therefore, I just planned to do a little pattern work and

One other thing …

Last week, I got the worst haircut I’ve ever gotten.  It was so bad that I went back the next day and asked the guy to correct my terrible do which, he did or, said he did.

However, it still wasn’t good.  And, even though my wife constantly said: Oh it’s not that bad, even she eventually admitted that it was terrible.

Although I did not document the look with a photo, if I had been a chicken, my hair looked like this:

Well, the right side of my head looked like this

Actually, a little more like this and the other side was trimmed close to my head.  I kid you not!

With a day free, I started going to barbers to see if I could find one that had a free spot and could take me before lunch.  On the second try, I found one.  He looked me over and said:  Oh my!  He let you walk out of the shop like this?  I said: He told me to use pomade.  He said:  They don’t make a pomade that strong.  

An hour later

I looked like this.  It’s not perfect but it is, at least, acceptable.  In fact he said:  This is the best I could do.  We’ll let it grow a while and then I can readjust it to go in a new direction the next time you come in.  Which I will do.

While sitting in the waiting room, the attendee of honor for the nights event called to say he had to cancel, which means we canceled the entire event.  That was fine but it did give me several hours of time that I could use to good effect if I could do it with out messing up the studio.

I decided to start drawing a 2 by 5 Miss Weigle – a pattern that always takes me at least 2 days to draw.

And

I decided to pop out 8 yards of Antique Black.

Nothing about the day went the way I thought it would when I got up but all of it ended up much to my liking.  That made it a good day … and the studio was very clean when I went in for the night.

 

 

Mid-Week Reflections

I was reflecting on multiple topics Tuesday, and decided to share just a few of them.

Last week, after cooking about 20 solid black skeins of rug yarn that I got in a trade, I noticed how much that solid, off the shelf yarn, bled during the process.  My tie pieces started out as very  white looking natural yarn and ended up a nice sage green.  While I am often told you only need to wash off bolt wool fabric or yarn, my experience shows just the opposite.  Unless you boil it in citric acid bath for a good hour, then let it cool down to room temperature, you just can’t be assured that the colors of that fiber have been properly set.   Even though I know it, it’s still good to be reminded that all my efforts in setting wool fiber is not wasted.

As usual, I came out to the studio very early on Tuesday morning even though I planned to spend the morning weaving in Corona on one of my big wool rugs.  Under normal circumstances, before I left I would have been rinsing and drying wool, as well as putting more on to soak in preparation for my next teaching road trip in early April.  However, since I am only teaching hooking and dyeing, patterns are the only thing I have to get ready for that event.  And, although I have not heard from everyone yet, I’ve drawn every pattern that has been requested as well as several others that I will just take as extras.  I can’t tell you what a difference that change in my trip offerings makes to my daily routine.  I’m not even going to dye this week at all as I have a small men’s group from church in the studio Wednesday night and Thursday hookers on Thursday.  Everything is clean (from Monday night’s big event) and I can just work on patterns and hooking as it suits my mood.

Waiting for me when I came out were several patterns already drawn on raw, cut linen and several blanks that I have not drawn yet.  I knocked them all out, after cleaning and oiling my machine, in about 75 mins.  (My Bernina daughter is on my case about doing that regularly.) And, happily, with my new oversized bobbin, I did not have to wind any more or even change the one I was using.

I think I am going to like this new format as it allows me to teach and be creative with patterns, yet give me lots more free time.  I’ve already significantly changed three old patterns and come up with a couple of ideas for new ones without the hectic time crunch I am used to navigating.

By 8:30, I was on my way to Corona for a few hours of weaving.

In effect, I started weaving a new rug for my daughter Ruth.  Although I got the selvedge in a couple of weeks ago, I did not get around to actually putting in much until Tuesday, but only after I had to do some work on the loom.

The pillow is the color inspiration piece for this rug.

I could have woven more but, there are a couple of missing colors I want to put in before I go any further.  I have plenty of time to get that wool dyed before I go back next week.  And, even if I don’t get there next week, I can always go the following week.

All this to say, now that I am starting to settle into my new modus operandi, I think I like it!

While I was weaving in the front of the house, Gretchen was piecing a quilt in the back of the house.

Her current project combines several traditional blocks

In a non-traditional way.

She thought, by the end of Tuesday, she would not only have all the pieces made but also all the diagonal strips sewn together to finish the top.

While I appreciated her allowing me to report on her projects, I insisted she let me take a photo of her with her work as it’s been a long time since she’s appeared in an IRgC report.  After a lot of discussion, she finally agreed and held up last week’s quilt top:

As always, it’s good to see old friends and what sort of fiber art they are up to!

Pre-Trip Potluck

Even though I’m not going to England, Wales and Scotland until June of 2025, that doesn’t mean it’s not too early to do some planning.

To that end, I had 19 of the 42 people scheduled, over for a planning and get acquainted pot luck meal on Monday night.

They brought brats, cheesy potatoes, Brussel sprouts, tamales, corn chips, guacamole, salsa, potato chips with French onion dip, salad, deviled eggs, crab dip, black berry crumble with English custard and chocolate cookies.  It was such a great meal and meeting that I forgot to take photos

Until we were in clean up mode.

I can tell it’s going to be a great trip because, by the time I got back in the house, all the dishes and been carried into the house kitchen, scraped and put in the dish washer!

Now, that’s the kind  of people you want to go with on a 3 week trip!

Staying Busy in Texas, Canada and Anaheim

I recently got a great report from Texan, Janet G., a long time CA Getaway attendee:

Gene, I finally got the photo of the completed rug I started at the last CA Getaway.  . Thank you for all of your help. I love the colors!!!!  Janet

Dear Janet – Once again, I think you get the prize for being the first person to finish a Getaway project, although Betty A got her project done a couple days after your’s came in.  Unfortunately, many of us still haven’t unpacked from those Getaways.  Your colors do work together wonderfully well and I especially like the way the Cobalt wool looks as a background.  It’s just stunning all round.  Thanks so much.  GRS

And, from another Getaway … a few yeas ago:

Hello from Canada ❤️

I was just working on a proddy flower wreath pillow case and wanted to send a thank you for writing
your proddy book; I just love it!! And was trying to remember instructions from 4yrs ago when I came to one of your hook-ins. Time flies.
As I use up some of the wool I got from you then, I’m hoping I can order more from you?
My parents are in the US for 2 weeks so I could get it shipped to them if you had any ready to go? (I couldn’t find anything online for inventory though). Do you have photos of what’s available that you could send me?
I hope this finds you, Marsha and the family well,
Kathy V
Dear Kathy – Thanks so much for sending this photo in.  We sure enjoyed having you here for that Getaway.  Your proddy flowers certainly are award worthy too.  I know, for at least that year, you got the prize for coming the furthest distance!  Although I am winding down on my dyeing, I’ll see what I can do to get you whatever wool you need.  Let me know ASAP  GRS
*****
I’m currently getting ready for an upcoming workshop in St. Louis.  This trip kicks off my new plan:  I’ll come to teach hooking, as long as all the students will be working on one of my patterns.   I’ll also tech dyeing as long as the host supplies all the wool, dye and equipment.  I’ll be doing both kinds of classes in St. Louis.
A conversation I had with one student surprised me.
Gene  – I want to do your sheep rug.
Would that be Ewelalia or Ulysses?
No, the other sheep
I have no other sheep … unless you mean the one with 3 sheep and one lamb?
Yes you do – its’ on your site but not listed in your store.
There is no other sheep …
Yes there is – the one with Morning Glories.
She meant this rug

#1 Sheep – My very first project.  

I told her I had never draw it before because it is so primitive and I don’t have a pattern.  You see, when I did it, nothing was drawn on the pattern except for the outline of the sheep.  Everything else was free hand as I hooked.  (I didn’t know you needed a pattern.)
She said: That’s fine – I do primitive.  
So, I decided to give it a go since she asked.
First of all, since it’s a big rug, I decided to shrink it down to a 2’ by 3’ version.
Then, when I was drawing, the morning glory pentagon shape drove me crazy.  That is a hard shape to wing.
So, here is what I did.
I used my circle template to draw the biggest circle I could.
I marked the center, cut it out and cut one line from the outside to that center point.
Working carefully, I fan folded the circle into 5 exact parts.
After taping the back together, I inked in the fold lines to delineate the 5 pieces, then connected the 5 pieces to get the pentagon.
Although I liked my template, I wanted another slightly bigger.  To do that
I used a scrap piece of paper to first make a copy of my good pentagon, then extended the spokes.  Measuring 3/8 an inch from the first point, I marked each one just that much bigger.  Once done, those new lines were inked in.  This gave me the option of a small and big morning glory in one template.
It came  in very handy!
While on this morning glory roll, I acquiesced to the wishes of another student … who likes to hook very wide cuts.  She wanted the Pumpkins without Borders in a big enough size to accommodate her very wide cuts.
I thought that was a reasonable request, so I increased my original design by 150%, turning that pattern into a 2 by 4 sized rug.  My question, however, was Do you want it with leaves or without?    
She pondered that for a while and finally decided on “without” as she was afraid all those leaves would be too hard to hook with a wide cut.
I did draw one that way for her but
I ended up simplifying this pattern with just a few, very big leaves.  That will give her a choice.
I didn’t mind the extra work as I liked the new design … and I like to keep busy.