Thankful Thursdays, Earthquakes, & Storms

It seems this is the only time I'm posting.  I haven't really felt very positive lately, so posting isn't something I feel is a good thing to do if I can't be positive.
I AM glad I'm doing Thankful Thursdays.  Keeps me on track knowing that I really DO have a lot to be thankful for!
Today, I'm thankful for

1.  That we had the money to have a whole-house filter put on the well pump, so we have clean water.
2.  That the quake didn't do any damage to our home or it's inhabitants.
3.  That my friends and family survived the recent weather unscathed.
4.  That my husband is staying sane, no matter how insane I get.
5.  That I have friends I can talk to and depend on.
6.  For all the good things in my life.

We were hit by the earthquake earlier this week.  We live about 30 miles from the epicenter.  I was actually in my car, in Culpeper, next to the hospital.  I thought that something was wrong with the car.  Actually, first, I thought I'd driven thru some really big dips in the road, but when I looked in my mirror, there weren't any dips in the road.  Then I thought there was something wrong with the car.  When I started pulling over and slowing down, everything was ok.  So I drove into the hospital parking lot with my dog Evan in the back seat.  We got out of the car, and I noticed a lot of hospital personnel milling around outside.  Many of them were really glad to see Evan.  After all, he's a therapy dog!  They told me it had been an earthquake.  Since I wasn't inside, I missed a lot of what others felt.  I got on the phone (cell would not go thru so used the hospital phone) and got hold of hubby.  He said he grabbed the little pup, Gabbi, and ran outside. Amazingly, he said the horses didn't even care - they just kept eating.  Hmmm.  Others that I know with horses have told m the horses go nuts!  How cool that ours don't really care the earth is shaking!  At least everyone at home was safe.  So I hung around the hospital.  The Pink Lady and myself and Evan took the stairway up to the next floor to start visiting the patients. So many of the hospital staff wanted to pet Evan and be distracted by him.  It felt like I was in the right place at the right time.  Unfortunately, during the time we were there, we got a phone call just as we started the visitations of patients, and we were told all volunteers were to leave the hospital.
I'd been having some tummy troubles off and on.  I have chalked it up to the fact that I'm pretty nervous about an upcoming surgery, and the pre-surgery prep involved.  On top of that, we had the earthquake, and on top of that, the evening of the earthquake, our water started turning dark - you could literally see the silt floating in the water.  It got really disgusting - like MUD.  I put a HELP out on Facebook, and I got an answer back that made sense.  Call the water company in town.  We are on well water, and a couple of people told us the stream our well comes from got stirred up - which makes perfect sense.  Earthquakes usually cause a tsunami so that's what happened to our stream underground - it got all shook up.  We had to pay $500 for a whole-house water filter to be put on the well pump, but hey, I'd been asking for one of those for 6 years.  So I was ok with that! 

Evan and I came home and we checked to see if anything was out of place.  Nothing really serious - a few things had shuffled, but that was it.

My friend who just moved into her new house had all her screens pop off.  She also had some things fall off the walls. 

Today we just got thru with a pretty severe thunderstorm.

And Saturday we have Hurricane Irene to look forward to.  Although, I think, according to the projected path, we will luck out and not get a lot of wind or rain or damage.  We are praying.  They are saying the worst of it will hit East of I95, and we are West.  So keeping our fingers crossed!

Weaving:  I finally got a warp wound, and was trying to put it on the loom.  I made a lot of mistakes, and I ended up dumping that warp.  Luckily it wasn't expensive yarn.  Less than $10 I think.  I will try it again but have to find those colors again.  Or not. I do have a variegated with all the colors in it, and I could use that for warp and weft although it's not what I wanted........it would be the easy way out.  LoL

I then picked up the very overly-expensive gold rayon chenille that I had bought for another project but didn't use due to some advice I'd gotten about mixing the chenille with boucle' and how it might not hold and might worm.  So I picked it up and wound a warp about 120" long, and 12 inches wide.  I'm using a 10 dent reed.  I got it wound and threaded thru the reed, trying to double and triple check my work.  Then I got it threaded thru the heddles (my NEW shiney heddles that are nice and clean) and then got the thing wound on the loom.  I'm having some issue with the ratchet and pawl when moving the warp onto the cloth beam.  Other than that the little Baby Wolf is doing well! 

Oh, the lady had forgotten to give me the bars that tie onto the the beams.  They are flat.  So I bought dowels to do it with.  I'm thinking my dowels might be a bit big....but it seemed to work ok. 

So I'm weaving away on Baby.  I'm sitting in my office chair that swivels and changes heights, but I don't think it's high enough as my shoulder muscles in my back are bothering me some.  I have the bench from Lulu (the Nilus Leclerc loom I have) but I dislike sitting on that bench.  I think I'll be looking (again) for an office chair that can sit up a bit higher than the one I have.   I have a very short body, but longer legs, and the position just isn't that great for me. 

But I am enjoying weaving on the Baby, who doesn't have a name yet.....Lulu told me her name right away.  Baby isn't being as forth coming.........she belonged to her previous owner for 14 years, so maybe she's just homesick or being shy.

We are ready for anything else that happens, I hope.  This has been a rough summer for us.  Not only weather, but unforeseen situations that have cost more money than we wanted to spend, and now me having surgery in September.  Not a good year......

Weavin Happy
Martha

New

So, I have a new Baby Wolf loom.  Ok, well, it's new to me.  :-)  I love it.  I haven't had a chance to weave on it yet.  She (or he) doesn't have a name yet either.  It's an older model and the back beam doesn't come off, although, I'm not sure it can't come off.  I'm wondering if I can convert it.....but that's for a future time.  wink wink

Here are photos - back and front:

And here is the four (yes, 4) yards of fabric I wove from the variegated Peaches and Cream yarn I found at Wal Mart - yes, I said P&C not S&C.  :-)  I love this fabric.  I think I'm going to make a jacket.  It might not look very good on me, but I love these colors.  Although, I wish I'd be knowledgeable enough to know how to pool the colors..............

I love the way the yarn makes the patterns - the sides are so different from the center.  It's GREAT!  Easy weaving and yet such a great design.  :-)

I warped the Baby Wolf, but, I messed up.  I started, then stopped, then started another day.  When I started, I began with 4,3,2,1.  When I started again, I started with 1,2,3,4.  For anyone who weaves, you'll know, that's not a good thing.  I found this only after I threaded ALL the heddles...and then, as I was checking, I found a thread dead center that didn't get threaded.  Well, I gotta go back and re thread all of THOSE heddles along with the first set that I did initially so the first ones match the rest of the heddles.  Geesh.  Dumb mistakes I just keep on making.  Don't know why I'm not more careful and conscious!  It's my own fault, it's not hard or anything.  Goodness.  I just don't pay enough attention.  Oh well.

Tomorrow I'm going to Joann's Fabric and Crafts because they have Simplicity patterns on sale.  I will find something for a pullover blouse, that doesn't require stretch fabrics.  I also want a simple jacket pattern.  I have one, but am kind of looking for something different, but may end  up sticking with the one I already have.  I figure, if nothing else, while I'm laid up (I have to have some surgery in September), I can hand stitch the pieces together.....it's something I can do that won't cause me issues with healing.

Then I'm meeting up with my friend - the one that had things go really rough for her a few weeks ago.  She's back from Australia and we are going to go hit a few stores up and have lunch.  I'll get to do my stuff first, then when she's done with tennis, we'll meet up and do a few things.  It's so good to have her back!  I certainly missed her.

Today I got to spend time with my grand daughter.  I haven't seen her in a month, and I have really missed her.  She gives me SUCH joy - I just can't explain it.  She has been sick, and yet, she had a really good day today.  Lots of grins (she has her two bottom front teeth), I got lots of cuddles and hugs, I got lots of time with her playing, and I got to feed her twice.  I also helped with a nebulizer treatment, which she needs for her breathing.  I can hardly believe she's almost 8 months old.  She's pulling herself up, crawling, and doing all kinds of great stuff.  I just love her to pieces!

Ok, well, I'm tired, and hopefully I will sleep past 3 a.m. tomorrow morning.........the last 3 mornings have been quite rough.  Project Runway on tonight............might have to tape it because I'm pretty tired.

Weavin happy.
Martha

Another Thankful Thursday...........

Already????  Geesh, where did THIS week go?

1.  I'm thankful for good doctors and being near a University Hospital
2.  For being able to spend the day today with my 8 month old grand daughter
3.  For baby smiles and baby snuggles
4.  For good friends
5.  For good family
6.  For my dogs - they bring me peace
7.  For sunshine
8.  For Autumn being right around the corner
9.  For my friend being back from Australia   :-)
10.  For a good man in my life

How about you?  What are YOU thankful for today, and every day????

Thankful Thursday

Yep, it's Thursday again!  How the heck did that happen????

I'm Thankful For:
Sunshine
Nights I don't sleep so well - cuz then the nights I do sleep well, I know I'm lucky
The days are not 100 degrees anymore
My friends
My loom
My dogs - can't help but smile with them around
Living in the country
Butterflies
Flowers
Selling my rigid heddle loom - so now I can get my Wolf Pup LT

So, what are YOU thankful for????????????????

Two Projects Finished

So, here are the two projects.  Hubby took photos of them on me, outside.  I hate the photos (because I hate my size).  They both look so much better on Mrs (the manikin) so I'm letting her model them.

This is the shawl for the exchange.  Its really soft, and long and it's really comfy.  I almost hate to give it up.










This is what I made from the leftover - but I wish I'd made it thinner and longer.  Oh well, live and learn.  (Can you tell I'm in a mood?)  I used fun yarn in it and it's soft and fun!





I enjoyed doing both.  They are both plain weave.  Boucle' - 800 yards to the pound, using a 6 dent reed.  Really loosely woven.  Just fun and easy.

The previously referred to "forever white warp" has been washed. I need to go take it from the washer and dry it.  I washed it on warm water.  I hope the cotton fulls up nicely.  I am going to try to make a top from the blue cotton crochet thread I used.  I have a feeling I might not have enough tho.  I hate being so heavy and I'm not doing anything to change it.

Today is cloudy and dull out.  It's trying to rain, but not succeeding yet.  We had some rain yesterday and it was gratefully received.  If we get more today it also would be welcomed.  We were starting to have very dry, crunchy grass!  It's greening up nicely now.

When it's cloudy out, my mood totally changes.  I get cranky.  So hopefully I'll get thru THIS day without getting any crankier.  I'm thinking of taking a nap.  Two nights in a row, I stayed up too late watching t.v.  Then I had trouble falling asleep.


OH, I read a book by Jon Katz, called "Rose in a Storm" and OMG, it was a book I could NOT put down - read  it in one day.  It helped that it was in large print. LoL.  My eye muscles hurt when I was done, but it was so mesmerizing.  I almost cried several times.  I hate books that do that to me.  The author did an amazing job with writing this book.  If you love dogs, read it.  Seriously - but keep the tissues close by..........it's fiction, but it doesn't seem like it.  GOOD book!  :-)

That's about it from me.  I'm trying to decide now if I want to go wind a warp for another scarf.  Someone gave me directions for a mobius scarf and how to weave the beginning fringe into the ending fringe and make it really neat.  I just can't decide what yarn I want to play with next!  :-)

Have yourself a great day. 
Martha

Projects

Well, my 2 boucle' projects are in the washer.  I put them on cold water, hand-wash cycle, and am praying they are still in one piece when I go open it.   I am going to put the shawl in the dryer just to get the heavy wet off it.  The other is going to have to air dry.  I'll lay it across the dryer.  Then if it's still wet tomorrow, I'll put it on hangers and hang it out on the porch to dry.  It shouldn't take long out there!  That's the project with the fun yarn in it.  It can't go in the dryer.  Wasn't supposed to go in the washer either...........so I'll have to see if I ruined it.....hey, if ya don't try, then ya will never know!

It was great to get back to weaving.  I braided the ends so that took a little time.

Someone on Ravelry explained how to do the mobius scarf on the loom, with weaving the ends in after releasing it from the cloth beam. I have to do a slightly narrow one, as I only have a dowel of a certain size to put on the front.  I think that's how it has to be done....with a dowel.  I can't see how it would be done with the cloth beam with the metal rods I have........but I'm going to give it a go!  Tomorrow I can wind that warp and I can get it threaded.  I don't know how hot it will be tomorrow.   Today it wasn't too hot till about 2:30.  Then it started getting warm upstairs.  I'm excited to get a new project started!

Oh, and I think I sold my rigid heddle loom!  I didn't get as much as I'd hoped, but I got enough to make me happy that I didn't have to really lower the price much.  It's all good!  I will know for sure on Thursday evening.  I'm meeting the person in the city at 6 PM.  Wonder if I can get Hubby to treat me to a simple dinner out.  Been a LONG time since we have had dinner out.  If not, I'll go alone.  He doesn't always like to go out at night.  But at least it'll still be light.  And if he's with me, maybe I won't get to talking too long.  LOL

This means, with the check from the saddle (well, part of it as part of it went to the truck repair), the RH loom sale, and the debt issues being resolved by the government, I CAN get my loom in September!  Yeeeehawww!   I can just picture myself whipping out all kinds of scarves on that little loom, and hopefully having enough by next Fall to sell them at a craft show or two.

So tomorrow, I hope, I'll have photos (if the shawls dry).

More later!
Martha