Wool Surgery ~

 

The OR was open yesterday, and surgery performed.  The abscess is gone and me thinks she looks much better.  Thank you, Julia 😁

Oh how I wish I could capture her true colors.  I normally fail miserably, but this time worse than usual.  I tried . . . sigh.  iPad camera.  iPhone camera.  Different lighting.  ARGH!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

I Just Can't Unsee It ~

 

Yellow Bird is still not done but getting closer.  I seem to be struggling.  It is not my usual "coloring book" shapes that I normally hook.

So it was pointed out to me that it looked like there was on abscess on her face.  Yes, Julia, you are so right!  I don't know if that is supposed to be her ear or what, but now when I see her it is like nails on a chalkboard.  I'm glad you was pointed out while it was still a relatively easy fix.

When this is finally done, rather than go back to the rug started in my Maria Barton class in the fall, I have drawn out a simple hit and miss to work on for a while.  It is my go to when I need something totally mindless, and DSO wanted a rug for at the base of his stairs.  You'd think with all the rugs I have rolled up I would have found something suitable in the size he needed.  Nope!

Hard to believe January 2025 will soon be history.  Scary how quickly time is passing!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Yellow Bird Update ~

 

I am finally making progress on Yellow Bird.  I must say I am getting tired of this one, but being so close I must soldier on and finish the darn thing!

I am happy that I put my big girl panties on and hooked a real face, but this will not be one of my favorite rugs!

Her left arm was too fat and her hand ginormous . . . 

. . . so I have skinnied it up and will reduce the size of her hand!

Hopefully the next time you see her, the hooking will be completed.

Being a dog person, this always cracks me up.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Ringing the Bell ~

Ringing a bell after chemotherapy is a tradition at many cancer centers to mark the end of treatment.  It's a celebration of the patient's accomplishment and can also symbolize relief and support.

Son J's (hopefully) last chemo infusion was today.  He will have scans done in early February and praying he can put this nightmare behind him.

He even got a certificate 😁

Please keep him in your prayers.  They are much appreciated.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Wonky My Way ~

 

For all the naysayers who said I could not hook wonky, I say "HA!".  Look at this.  To me wonky is being irregular and things not being uniform.  My blocks are different sizes and not nice and even.  Maybe not your definition of wonky, but mine 😁

Snippets of other rugs of mine that I consider wonky.

This cracks me up.  This is looking out my living room window when I am heading upstairs.  It just reminds me so much of a dog tied in my neighbor's yard.  I think it was the light shining on Christmas decorations.  Decorations are gone but not this.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Yellow Bird ~

Just a quickie update to show my progress on Yellow Bird, started in September of last year.  I was trying very hard not to hook in my normal, orderly fashion on the blocks on either side of the design.  Trying to make them a little wonky.  I somewhat succeeded 😁

That's it for today.  The sun was shining today in northern Ohio, a rare occurrence in January.  Tomorrow rain is forecast for a good part of the day.  What a sloppy mess it will be.  Bitterly cold weather a couple days next week.  If you don't like the weather in Ohio, stick around for a day and it will change!

A friend said this was AI generated and I don't doubt it (it's getting harder and harder to tell what is real), but it still cracked me up!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Still Hanging In ~

 

I've been a bit MIA trying to get things done.  My house is probably at 99.5% of normal.  Piddly stuff left to finish.  The dining room table and spare bed are still piled with paperwork I am sorting through.  No one should have this much worthless/obsolete paperwork!!!  The built in cupboard that I emptied a week plus ago is still a disaster with stuff all over the floor.  A few little odds and ends of redecorating left to do.  So close.  I just want it all done!

I have finally found time to stitch a little.  Since I changed the spacing between the alphabet rows, I need to resize the large snowflakes.  The A B C D to the right has not yet been frogged.

A (very) little progress has been made on Yellow Bird.  I will share in my next post.

I can't even begin to wrap my head around the devastation in California.  To lose absolutely everything (and you have seen how materialistic I am).  How do you come to grips with that?  Just heartbreaking . . . but we mustn't forget the devastation in Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina that people are still dealing with.  Our government can continue to send BILLIONS to the Ukraine and other countries while our citizens suffer.  Our citizens should be the top priority.

OK.  Off my soapbox.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Overwhelmed by Stuff!!!

My living spaces are full of stuff.  I was recently told I really packed a lot in to my living areas, but it did not seem cluttered.  I feel the same way, but don't even think about opening a closet or drawer.  As previously mentioned, I was purging paperwork and still am.  I already have a laundry basket full of paperwork that needs to be taken to the secure county recycling center where they shred documents.  I decided to start cleaning one of the built in cupboards on the upstairs landing.  Holy moly is it full of crap stuff.  A week ago I bought one of those neck reading lights.  I thought it might help with cross stitching.  Well, golly gee.  Guess what I found in the cupboard?  An identical one still in the box that I must have purchased years ago and have absolutely no recollection of buying.  Now that is scary!  Thankfully I haven't used the new one and have all the packaging so it can be returned.  An entire tub of small boxes, spools, boards that one day I am going to attach something to.  (And there is more in the basement.)  Yeah, right.  The road to hell is paved with good intentions!

So not only am I purging paperwork and cleaning a cupboard, I need to un-decorate.  I started Saturday and dropped a little snowman ornament and chipped his hat and broke his scarf.  I have the pieces but they will be difficult to glue back on.  Then yesterday I dropped a paper mache' snowman.  I was able to sort of repair him with a paint job 😡.         

At the rate I am going, I will be living in chaos for quite some time, and I don't do chaos well 😬.  Oh well.  Oh hell.  This too shall pass.

I have made progress on my little Pineberry cross stitch.  Even having adjusted the spacing of the letters and rows, it is bigger than I would have liked it.  That's what happens when you only find a piece of 28 count linen in your meager stash!!!

I pulled a few loops on Yellow Bird but so few nothing worth sharing.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Not a Tease ~

The little snippet of the corner of my rug in the last post was not meant to be a tease.  It is a corner of the rug, Yellow Bird, started in a class with Kris Miller in September.  It is a pattern by Ann Willey that Kris sells on her website, Spruce Ridge Studios.

It looks like the last time I posted the rug on my blog was early in November and this is what it looked like then.

I pulled a few more loops after that and here is where I left off.

The true color is somewhere between the two pictures, but closer to the first one.  I probably have not hooked on it since mid November so I guess it's about time to get busy on it.  I have too many unfinished rugs from classes (and will have another class in March).

Please keep my son J in your prayers.  He just finished chemo round #3 yesterday and was feeling pretty lousy when I picked him up.  A two week break and than another five days of chemo and hoping that will be it.  It is not easy seeing a child, no matter the age, going thru this.  At 43, he is still my baby boy.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Lookee what I found ~

Found . . . but now needs to be used 😁

I also started another little Christmas stitchery.  I believe I stitched this once a number of years ago but needed another no-brainer thing to work on until I found my hook.  (Hook not really lost, but tucked away because I had no time to hook and didn't want the hooking mess in the living room during the holidays.)  Once again on 28 count linen because as I have said, I have no linen stash.  I started stitching it using the spacing on the chart.

Not happy at all with it, so started over with the letters and rows closer together.  MUCH better . . . but there a couple of snowflakes whose size may need to be adjusted by a couple threads.

I hope your New Year has started off without a bang!  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

I'm not sure why I make New Year resolutions because I always fail miserably . . . sigh.  The week before Christmas I decided to purge some paperwork.  Did I really need 20+ year old income tax returns for me and my sons?  I mean really!!!  I have a file cabinet in the attic that hasn't been opened in over a decade.  Hopefully I can continue purging paperwork that is totally unnecessary.  

I have both a full basement (though small because my house isn't that big) and a walk up attic.  I think they are more of a curse than a blessing.  Both are overflowing with "stuff".  For the most part I can't tell you what is there, so I probably don't need it, right?  I have a fruit cellar.  Full of things that I haven't looked at in many, many years.  Are you detecting a pattern?

Perhaps 2025 will be the year I get a handle on at least some of my unnecessary items.  Than again, maybe not 😁.

May you and your loved ones be blessed with health and happiness in the new year.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren