Another rag rug - utility style

I'm burning through some old fabric, pillowcases and bedsheets that I have been adding to the "will-never-use-in-a-quilt" pile over the past few years of donations given to me here-n-there.  I've simply never gotten them boxed up for donation yet.  I'm SOOOO glad I never got around to it, because I am able to play around with it now as I continue to practice and work on my rag rug skills.  I know I'm losing where exactly the rows end/start because of the slight warped-ness of the edges;  therefore, I added a top/bottom border to this rug in an attempt to "line things up" a bit more.  It is now housed in front of my washer/dryer....

Raggin' along.

Happy Saturday!

RWB Rag Rug complete

My attempt at the rectangle rag rug turned out better than my circular version.  I have practice and practice planned ahead of me to figure out those row ends/starts better, but for our non-materialistic life-style...... this will fit just lovely in front of our French door.

Happppppy Friday :)

AHA moment! Crochet RWB rectangle rug

Last night while working on the woven crochet mat, with the TV mindlessly playing in the background, I tuned into some Youtube videos.  I wasn't really watching for anything in particular, but I figured they would hold my interest more than what was playing on the television; better background noise.

When I came to Nanie's Rag Rugs, it started out as any other lah-dee-dah video, but then at about 1:30 when she showed a rectangular rug, and then moments later discussed about how she didn't like simply going back and forth so she was trying something new for her 4th rug.....

OMGOODNESS!  Lightbulb moment!

I CAN DO THAT!!!!!  I can crochet back-n-forth!

So, I grabbed the circle rug I had in progress and undid all of the crochet I had done so far; I was so frustrated with it anyway.  And now.... I'm am MUCH happier with the look of THIS rug!  

KUDOS!

Life's happenings; some work and some play

Yes, it's a holiday in the USA today, but a day is just a day most of the time to Paul and me.    Work needs to be done...

... and it was.  I cultivated the main garden while Cassie mowed lawn.  Part of the upper garden was also tilled up so that the beans can be transplanted and spread out from the main garden.  In the meantime, Cassie started 'sweeping' the lawn to give us some grass mulch to use around the berry bushes.  And by 11:30, the day started getting too hot.

Which is when we picked up a friend of Cassie's and hit the lake.

The other two girls have been kidnapped by Gma and Gpa for a few days.  It's so different having only Cassie to worry about, make meals for, keep busy, etc.

Last night, after our shopping spree, we let Cassie pick the place to eat; she chose KFC.  And while sitting there, talking about what we wanted to do today, I had a weird moment of "whoa." 

Life would be SO different with only one child. 

Cassie was the only one who had to choose what to do today.  There wasn't any bartering that needed to be done because three different voices wanted to do three different things.  There wasn't any fighting nor bickering.   I know it would be different if we would only have had one child from the get-go;  but going from three to one...... it's just -- different.

Between boating today and watching TV last night (until 1AM), I made some good progress on the Woven crochet mat.

And just after returning from boating and dropping Cassie off at her friend's house for a night of music and fireworks, Paul and I made some dinner and talked about what WE wanted to do tonight, CHILDLESS!

LOL.  Movie was mentioned a few days ago;  The Lone Ranger seems like a good one to watch.

However, in the end, we both just decided that we would rather relax and stay at home.  Neither of us have really ever been "gotta-go-out-and-party" people.

So instead, we went "out with the old"...

...and "in with the new!"

Although, we're not really going "out with the old."   It's more like "move over the old and meet your new roommate."

With the amount of meat we are expecting over the next few months, and with everything we preserve, we needed a bit more freezer space.  And besides, we really aren't too sure how much we should be relying on the older one anymore.  She's put her years in.

So, with Paul snoozing away on the couch, and me clicking through channels on the TV, it's time to enjoy our relaxing evening :)

Happy Thursday everyone.

Woven crochet rug - sample complete

I'm not a fast crocheter by any means.  In fact, I am struggling with the "proper" yarn-finger-hand-hold-for-tension technique, so.... I'm kinda doing my own hold that works for me (for now, anyway).

I totally did NOT keep track of how long it took me to make this lil' woven-crochet sampler, but.... it went rather problem free.  Ummm.....just shy of 2 hours, including the weaving.  ???

I'm not a huge fan of the frilly-tassly ends; but maybe that's because it's such a small project.

I spent much of the afternoon in the truck with Paul and Cassie, doing some shopping for a new chest freezer and to give Cassie a complete package for her compound bow.  (The other two girls have been kidnapped by Gma and Gpa).  Arrows were bought as well as a few other gadgets to allow her to actually start using her compound bow.  

At the start of the trip, I asked Paul to stop by a local craft store so I could do a QUICK yarn shopping spree.  And it was!  Really!  Maybe 5 minutes, in-and-out.  It helps that their selection was SMALL!  **sigh**  Someone needs to come in and rescue that shop :(  Their inventory is BARE! :(  Linda, I'm talking about Zelners.  You agree? :(

As soon as I finished the lil' sampler, I was ready!  PSHT!  I can do this!

So, while still in the truck, I grabbed the new yarn and chained away, eyeing up what seemed to be a good length for a rug.

Now that I'm home, I measured the start of my mat with a rag rug we have in the kitchen and found it not too far off.  So, while Paul drove us around here-there-everywhere today, I enjoyed my time in the truck, crocheting away.    I can't see this project taking as long as my round scrap crochet rug.  Nor is this one as frustrating.  HOWEVER, I'm not giving up on the crochet rug.  While at a DIFFERENT craft store in a different town, I bought a new, bigger crochet hook (size 15).  Maybe the larger hook (needed?) will help ease my tension/ruffling problem.

Back to the new Woven crochet rug---I'm thinking of using 1" cotton fabric scrap strips for the weave instead of yarn as shown in the tutorial and in my lil' sample.  We'll see how that works when I get to that stage.

Okay.  NCIS is on in the background right now.  The craft light is on behind me.  I'm ready for a couple hours of crocheting ahead of me :)

Happy Wednesday

Ummm.... a new addict to crochet ??? Despite rug frustrations!!!

Let me start by saying that I AM NOT a crocheter.

Prior to about 30 hours ago, anyway.....

Alright, I had DABBLED a little bit with a simple single crochet stitch in order to attempt to crochet a rag rug.  With some newly found confidence after my practice with Caitlyn the other day, I was ready to start my newly "energized with motivation" attempt at another crocheted rug....

ALRIGHT YOU CROCHETERS!!!!!! WHY WHY WHY can't I figure out this stupid thing???  I followed a tutorial that said to single-crochet (sc) into the same stitch twice in order to increase the size; and this tutorial also warned/suggested that if I start a 'round' with 1sc per stitch, to continue that round with 1sc per stitch.   Likewise, if I started a 'round' with 1sc TWICE per stitch, to continue that round with TWO sc per stitch.  But me thinks......that increases it TOO much?  Right?  Hence, the ruffling....

Another tutorial suggested (once increasing was needed) to sc once into one stitch, and then sc twice into the next stitch, and so on.....alternating between 1 and 2 sc per stitch.  Which I started to do in the blue section to try to "fix" the waviness that began in the white.

Um..........

yeah.  

Kathy?!?!?!?!?!!  Any advice?   Anyone else????  

So, while I put that aside with a bit of frustration, I thought.......Why not work on actually UNDERSTANDING crochet before picking up the rug again!??!!?!?!?

O

M

Goodness.

It's SOOOOOOO much fun learning something new!  AND, what's even more exciting is coming up with "rules" and "designs" on your own.  Now, bear with me and BE KIND!  For those of you master-crocheters out there....looking at this, you might say "ummm, mistake" or "ummm, easily done."

BUT, the quick story behind this was........

I started by simply sc a couple of rounds, following the sc1 per stitch for one round, and then sc1 twice per stitch for the next round.  AND THEN, I recalled the double-crochet (dc) steps from an earlier tutorial in the day (I was in the truck, on the road up to the farm when this doily-thingy was made---TOTAL play!).... so I did a round of dc.  And THEN...I wondered......."hm.  what would happen if I chain-stitch a bit, and then skip some stitches...."

LIGHTBULB!  THIS is how all of those doily loopy-things are made!  

So, um....

there was gardening done this morning....

but NO quilting is on the agenda anytime soon.  

WHY?  

Because I found THIS TUTORIAL just a bit ago -- Crochet a woven rug.  Dude!  I'm PUMPED!

Of COURSE, I'll start small though!  We need a few more potholder/trivets anyway!

Patience with me.  My quilting will return!  Have no fear.
Until then....I reallllly want to see truly how easy this woven rug can be done.

Kathy--really though.  If you (or anyone else) has advice/suggestions on the rag rug.....I'd LOVE to hear it.

Happy Wednesday!

HA! My relaxing afternoon.

So much for being lazy for the afternoon!

I walked past the counter a few different times;  every time thinking I needed to get motivated to do something with the strawberries we picked this morning.  We simply don't have room in the fridge to store two buckets of strawberries.  Besides, tomorrow we'll be on the road up to the Farm... so I really had to do something with them TODAY.

So be it.

"GIRLS!!!! Who wants to help make jam?"

Candace was the only one who came forward;  didn't even think of snapping pictures of her working with me.  It was kinda hard for pictures anyway, because I had two batches sugaring and pectin boiling for each within 5 minutes of each other;  my hands were busy with little downtime.

Once the jam was made, I moved directly into prepping dinner:  Pork/Venison meatloaf and meatballs.  There was one more 1.5LB package of ground venison in the freezer (deer meat, for those who don't know the term venison);  mixed together with 1LB ground pork and some seasoning.... it's so close to the texture and flavor of ground beef.  So, half of it was loafed up, and the other half was balled up, browned and marinated in some home made BBQ sauce.

Between browning and stirring, dishes were done up.....

....and I had a "I-crave-something-sweet" attack.

Loads of eggs in the fridge.

Loads of strawberries in the fridge.

Any guesses???????

Angel food, of course!   However, rather than making up a cake in the classic angel food pan, I used two loaf pans.  Easier for strawberry shortcake.  Duh!   :D
Last year was my first attempt at homemade angel food cake.   It's so easy to make.  And delicious!  One loaf will travel with us to the farm tomorrow, in addition to the 2nd bucket of strawberries.  Mother-in-Law was excited when I called her to let her know of the goodies heading her way.  I'm SURE she'll make some jam.... and maybe even a strawberry pie!  **lickin' lips**

So NOW....
Dinner has been eaten.
The girls are washing up the dishes.
The angel food is in its final moments of baking.

And my feet are up.  I sense some crochet ruggin' happening very soon!

Happy Tuesday!

I love summer.

Feeling lazy

I feel lazy; I know I've done a good share of tasks over the past 24 hours....but I just feel lazy.  I think it's because I never got around to actually quilting up Wafer Cookies yesterday, nor do I feel like standing behind a quilt machine right now for some quilting.  I feel like sitting.  With my feet up.

Candace, my model

I finished up the double-knit scarf yesterday morning using Caitlyn's Knitting Loom.  I didn't really keep track, but I would have to estimate I spent 10-15 hours total on it and used two ... ummm.... "things" .... of yarn.  Not being a yarn user, I don't know the actual name of a "package" of yarn.....

Google to the rescue.....

A SKEIN of yarn.  Well....there ya have it.  I used two SKEINs of yarn;  a dark brown and a dark blue/navy/purple/brown mix.  I can see doing another project.  It's kinda fun doing something new (and easy!)

Lazy Sunday, Part 3 was also ALMOST finished up!  All purple bricks and white squares cut;  all 156 "diagonals" sewn (and double-sewn for bonus HSTs), and SOME of them cut and pressed.

The bonus HSTs were even pressed as I went along.   The part is ALMOST finished;  another good hour of cutting apart the double-sewn seams and pressing should do it.

Ummmm, I'm trying to remember how I got sidetracked away from my sewing room yesterday......

....

.......

Gosh!  I'm getting old!

I don't remember how, but SOMEHOW, I got sidetracked... and ended up outside on the lawn mower.  

LOL

I spent a couple of hours mowing and "raking" with the yard sweeper behind the mower.  

Which then lead me to weeding Paul's newly planted berry bushes....

Then lead to mulching the bushes and the 'rescued' tomato plants.

Then lead to hoeing 45 hills of the white potato patch

Then lead to

OH!!!!!! I REMEMBER NOW!  I hauled up some jars of green beans for lunch yesterday;  we had three jars left from the 2011 batch (buried behind the 2012 jars).  I warmed them up in the microwave.......ehhhhh.  They didn't taste that great (it may just have been in my mind) .  SO, I  dumped them into a bucket, along with some overly ripe grapes, and took them out the pigs after lunch. 

Which then lead to emptying the compost bucket...... which then lead to the lawn mower!  LOL

 So, when all the outside work was said and done, it was 8PM and time to relax.  

There was NO quilting on Wafer Cookies like I had hoped, but.... that's okay.

I grabbed up the Knitting Knobby again while watching some marathon episodes of Snapped.  Until MIDNIGHT!!!!  Good golly!  That cup of coffee at 8PM probably wasn't the best idea.

But I made some progress.  All of the outer rings (the speckly brown/tan yarn) were knitted (icorded) last night.

The rug looks a little bigger when Candace's feet are on it, though :)

Some of you were asking about the Knitting Knobby.  I use a very simple, plastic yellow one;  I think it was from my mom to one/all of the girls;  and I snagged it up since it wasn't getting used.  

A google search lead me to a picture of one that is what I used as a kid;  I had the "mushroom" headed one;  it always reminded me of the Smurfs' houses!

My google search also shared other names used for this tool:  Toy Knitter and Spool Knitter.

Regardless of what name is used;  it's an EASY way to introduce a child to a crafty project.  

And today so far.....

it's been another morning of good sewing ambitions, but filled with garden distractions instead;  and a 2 hour detour to the local strawberry patch to pick 2 buckets of berries.  Our timing was perfect too;  Cassie was almost finished with her assigned rows as we were finishing our picking.  

And now....

I feel like being lazy! :)

Caitlyn took a crochet class during her first Summer School session, and she wanted to desperately show me how to crochet.  Since Kathy posted her progress on her crochet rug for yesterday's Slow-Stitch Sunday, I thought a refresher on crocheting would be a good way to spend some downtime after lunch.  So, with Youtube in the background, and Caitlyn next to me, we both grabbed a crochet hook, some yarn... and crocheted away.

This is mine.  Practicing an oval shape to get ready for a new rug (see a post on a former rug).  Caitlyn crocheted a massively long chain-stitch.  The right side of this lil project turned out good....but not so sure what happened on the left.  I think I lost count of my stitches right off the bat in my 2nd round, and I haven't quite been able to "fill it in" yet.  

BUT.  With this refresher, I think I'm ready to grab some fabrics and give my go at a rag rug again :)

Have I said I'm feeling lazy!??!