My days . . .

 

. . . seem to disappear in to thin air 😄  I am busy all the time.  If I'm sitting I am doing something, never sitting and doing nothing.  Then why does it seem like I am accomplishing so little?  I am a list maker.  I have a daily list of things that need done today.  Then there are sticky notes on the daily list for things that need to be dealt with soon (ie, renewing my license tags), and sometimes another list of what needs to be done by a certain time today.  Am I spending too much time making lists😁?  The last couple weeks I've pretty much been home, and I still feel like the underachiever.  What's it going to be like for the next few weeks when there is something on the schedule almost every day?  Add watching the granddogs for eight days!!!  Do any of you feel the same way?  I just feel like such a slacker . . . sigh.

I am vending at an antique/primitive show with Sue in April.  I don't think I will have many antique offerings, so have been trying to make a few things.  I have been hooking a few small pieces and stringing the wool snippet garlands.  Why is everything taking so much time?  ARGH!!!  Can you tell I am frustrated with myself?  No hooking on my camp rug 😞 I have two classes this summer where new rugs will be started and would like to finish the one that was started in January, in addition to working on some WIPs.

I did manage . . . finally . . . to get my worms sorted.  That is a major task off my to-do list!

Congrats to the American hockey teams.  This meme just cracked me up!

Thank you for all the sweet comments on Ernestine's new ride.  They made DSO's day.

To those in the path of the blizzard, stay warm and safe!!!

Enough whining for today.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Oh, Darn!!!

My first blog post with Askew was on March 6 and at that time I had 8 circles hooked.  I really hoped to be done by now, but progress has been very slow the last couple of weeks.  I am so tired of hooking it.  I have to force myself to pick up the hook.  It doesn't help that yard work season has begun, although my heart isn't in that either.  So far I have only used my worms, but I am running low on dark ones.  You know, blackish, dark gray and black.  I still have lots of browns, but since there are blacks in all the stripes already hooked, I need to continue to incorporate those.  Sadly, I now need to cut some strips.

Here is what is left of the "dark" worms . . . and most are not very dark.

Here is where she is today.

I am hoping to finish by Sunday, though I can't see that happening.  Monday we are leaving on a little get away to Myrtle Beach ~ never been there ~ and will drive down to Charleston for a day ~ been there for just a few hours.  I get home, am home for a week and then head to rug camp.  It will be crazy busy getting ready for camp, getting camp store consignment items organized and being ready to vend at a hook in the day after I get home from camp.  Just thinking about all that is making me tired.  Oh, and of course there will also be plenty of yard work to do since that yard guy never shows up 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Dear friend Julia just finished her tree skirt.  She started it at rug camp mid-January.  It is 34" in diameter, hooked in a 6 & 7 cut with a 4 cut for detail.  That is some seriously FAST hooking.  Pattern is No Crib for a Bed by Irene M. Carter.  Isn't it just the sweetest?  The animals just make me smile.

Here is my progress on Askew.  60% of the circles done (I am not a big fan of hooking circles!) but did not yet get any background hooked.

Background worms are ready for my hooking get away.  It will be totally no brainer hooking 😁

Speaking of worms, I have been good so far and have not gone to the wool stash to pull wool.  The only cutting I have done is small widths of wool that are in the worms tubs.  Sadly I have barely made a dent in them.

Yesterday was a gorgeous spring day in Ohio!  I mowed the yard for the first time.  I always get antsy to start mowing, but by August I will be totally over it . . . LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

What's Up Next?

 

I found this hooked rug on Facebook ~ I think I noticed the stone fruit before I noticed the rug.

I knew I had the book the pattern came from. 

The rug is titled Askew and it is a pattern by Pat Cross.

The enlarged size is 36" x 23" but I knew I needed a much bigger rug to put in the little hall that leads from the garage to the kitchen and past the newly renovated half bath/laundry room.  I thought easy peasy, I would just add another long row (for a total of 5) and 2 shorter rows (for a total of 9).  Let's just say it did not go as planned.  I got the pattern transferred to screen all wonky but thought I could transfer to the linen without issue.  WRONG!  I got it about 85% transferred when I discover my rows were too off.  More than an inch and a half off in some cases.  Nobody else probably would have noticed, but I knew I would never be happy . . . so I turned the linen over and started again.  This darn thing took me hours to transfer, measuring and re-measuring.  The size of my rug will be  27 1/2" x 45 1/2", which for me is H.U.G.E.  I am hoping it is going to be a real worm buster!!!

There are a total of 45 circles and my goal is too hook 2 a day and hopefully some background.  Here's my start.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

The Wool Room ~

Anyone who has a wool/craft room knows it is almost impossible to keep it clean and organized.  I have been trying to fold and sort wool by color.  Problem is the wool is different sizes . . . and then deciding what color the wool is.  Is it blue?  Is it green?  Which shelf should it go on?  Is the piece too small to put on the shelf?  

I failed to take before pictures.  The shelves were a total disaster.  Here is what they look like now.  Much better but sadly I know as soon as I need to pull wool for a new project they will be a mess once again.  Another issue . . . too much wool!!!  I ended up having to put wool in two large plastic totes.  A terrible problem to have 😏

As any hooker knows, worms multiply while we sleep.  I finally sorted them.  I need to learn to cut as I go!!!

I will be dealing with this for quite some time.  It will take me a while to figure out where everything goes.  Some items will return to their previous cupboard shelf, but since some cupboards are configured differently, too many decisions on where things should go.  Plus trying to eliminate useless items!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

August Craziness Begins ~

Instead of getting on the treadmill in the morning, I am enjoying walks down to Lake Erie.  This is a marina near where DSO lives.  The water was smooth as glass.

A day and a half after I return from Las Vegas, bright and early I will be heading to Millersburg, Ohio, for a hooking retreat.  I will finally be pulling some loops :)  I've decided to start on Diamonds in the Rough, a 24" x 30" pattern by Woolen Memories.  

Most if not all of it will be hooked with worms or those little 2" - 3" wide pieces of wool that also accumulate.  Although sorting worms has been on my to-do list for at least a week, I am finally getting around to it.  I can't believe how many light colored worms I have.  I could hook an entire rug with just them.  These pictures don't really show how many worms there are.  This looks manageable, but it's really not.       

A couple days after the hooking retreat, I will spend a day at Sauder Village since it's rug week, hopefully finally get the motorcycle trip in to Niagara Falls, and then head to Franklin, TN, with a dear friend from college.  WHEW.  My head spins thinking how crazy it will all be.  All self inflicted.  LOVING all of it.  I am so thankful that I am able to do all these things, but I think when August 24th rolls around, I just may collapse for a day or two.

Thanks for all the sweet comments on my home and yard.  Yes, it is a lot of work, but I have been trying to keep up.  I wonder what kind of disaster it will be with all my travels and so little time home in August.  I'm sure the yard fairy will not be showing up :(

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hopefully "see" you next week.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren