Rigby Model "D" Wool Cutter *** SOLD ***

~ ~ ~ WELCOME FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

Yesterday I found a great deal on an antique dry sink {{ I don't have one of those :-( }}. I really can't justify the expense.....unless I sell my wool cutter that I no longer need. Last year I bought a Townsend and I have no need for two cutters. Anyone want to help me buy an antique? I really, really want it ;-)

The year after I started hooking (after purchasing thousands of poor quality and poorly cut wool) on eBay, I purchased a used Rigby model "D" wool cutter. The nice thing about the model D is that it holds two cutter heads and you can easily adjust which head you want to cut with. (Please note that you can only use one cutter head at a time, not both.) Also by adjusting that long red bar (for lack of a better description), you can slightly vary the size of the cut for a more primitive look. I had a stand made for the cutter but made the stand too narrow so it is not stable. It needs to be clamped to a table (clamp not included but easily found at Lowe's or Home Depot).

Here's the original instructions.

Okay. Now I'm losing my mind. I have searched high and low for the plastic storage box for two of the cutter heads. I've torn the wool room apart twice and searched the spare bedroom and several cupboards. I just cannot figure out where I've put them.

I've never tried cutterheads #4 (1/8") or #6 (3/16") so I have no idea how they cut. The #8 (1/4")...

...the 5/16" and 3/8" I purchased new. They are very slightly used.

I am asking $215.00 for the cutter, stand and all the heads. Shipping and insurance (US only) are included in the price. If you have any questions, you can email me at lauren@centurytel.net (Please put Rigby in the subject line. Some very normal emails end up in my spam or junk folders.) or call me at 440-864-0902. I will accept a check or money order only.
Thanks for stopping by and please come back and tour Zoar and the bed and breakfast with me.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Long Lost Cross Stitch ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ WELCOME FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

It's amazing what a person can find when they decide to clean out cupboards ;-)

I have this wonderful built-in cupboard in my upstairs landing. It was so full of "stuff" that I couldn't get anything else in and couldn't find anything! I vaguely remember bringing some cross stitch down from the attic a few years and putting it there. I'm not sure why I did and there it sat until last week. I had forgotten how many unframed cross stitch pieces I had.
I pretty much stopped cross stitching in the early 90's for a number of reasons. I was partly burned out after doing it for so many years and I just couldn't see as well as I used to. Linen is my backing of choice and the dark linen was especially hard to work on.
This patriotic piece stitched on what we then called "dirty linen" was completed in 1989.

1990

Generally I stitched 2 over 2, but this one, completed in 1991 was done with one thread of DMC over 2 threads of linen.

1991

This was stitched on 26 count linen and was the only sampler I worked 1 over 1. It measures approximately 2 3/8 x 4 1/2 and was completed in 1992.

I'm not sure of the year on Nellie Irene, but I know it was late 80's or the early 90's.

I've also got a couple of samplers that have not been finished. I'll have to head to the attic and try to find the charts.

I really do love this sampler because of the song verse.

None of the above cross stitch has yet been distressed. Sometimes, after cross stitching, I would coffee stain them and even cut little holes in the linen before framing them. (Not as distressed as stitchers do today, but remember I was doing this 20+ years ago.)

I probably should jot down the measurements of the completed samplers so when I am out and about perhaps I can find some old frames that will work. It is just too darned expensive to have them custom framed.

Tomorrow I am off to Zoar, Ohio, to spend the night at the most wonderful antique-filled bed and breakfast with my dear friend Wink. I hope I will have lots of pictures to share with you.

Thank you so much for stopping by and I do hope you will come again soon.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Rugs and Flowers ~ ~ ~

Welcome, dear friends. Thank you for stopping by!

Today was hooking day with the Metro Park hookers. It was a rather small group ~ probably because today has been one of our first truly spring-like days. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. I LOVE it!

Also, as usual, a few people departed before I remembered to bring out the camera, but I do have a few rugs to share.

This is Karin's sheep and beeskep rug. She hooked most of this today ~ amazing!

Here is a rug Carol recently finished. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that she "fringed" the two shorter sides. I'm sorry I didn't pick a better background, but you can see the detail in the next photo. It really added age to the rug ~ along with her phenomenal color choices (which I did not capture very well).

The two long sides of the rug she just turned back and stitched down ~ here's a close-up of the fringe. Oh, I've got to try this one of these days!
This is the rug Carol is currently working on. It's another adaptation of an antique rug.

Donna was putting the finishing touches on these two darling mats. I think this is an Edyth O'Neill design.

Both mats were just too sweet.

Ah, springtime on Ohio's north coast. With today's temperatures in the mid 50's, the snow is quickly melting and plant life is popping out of the nearly frozen soil. My winter aconite is so cheery.

Clumps of snowdrops are blooming.

I've even got some buds on my daffodils. I can now only hope that we don't get any more hard freezes. The daffodils are pretty hardy, but cannot take a hard freeze. It is heartbreaking when that happens!

I would like to thank everyone who left me such wonderful comments on my last blog post. Some of the comments made me laugh out loud and the others just made me feel good. Thank you!!!

I also learned a new definition for a mammogram ~ turning cups into saucers. Thanks, Linda!

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Negative is GOOD ~ ~ ~

Welcome friends. Thank you for stopping by.

{{Men, if any of you are reading this, you might want to skip this post...lol!}}

Any guesses what this is? I'm sure some of you ladies out there will recognize it! It is a mammotome table. Let me explain. On Monday I had a breast biopsy. You lay on this table, face down, with your boob hanging in the hole. There is a vise (I don't think that is the technical term!) underneath that they tighten. Sound pleasant? Not really. They tell you once "in position" you are not allowed to move. So what do I do? Get a charlie horse in my foot. I'm flexing my foot trying to get rid of it. Oh, no. That is not allowed! You can only wiggle your finger tips.Okay. I am in this vise, not allowed to move. The doctor tells me I will feel a pinch. Do you have any idea how much it hurts having a needle stuck in your boob? Did I mention you can't even flinch? Now I must tell you that the mammography tech Kathy was wonderful. She had explained everything beforehand (the Thursday before the procedure I had to go for a "test run" and have pictures taken and the exact spots marked with Xes where the tissue samples would be taken) and was there to reassure me every step of the way. The procedure took about 35 minutes ~ oh how wonderful to get out of that vise. The incision was only about 1/4 of an inch and no stitches were needed. A miniscule titanium clip was inserted into the breast so in the future they can pinpoint where they did the biopsy. (I now have two of these in the left breast. I also had this done eight years ago.) After the dressing was applied, I can now get dressed and go home. It's over, right? Not quite. Kathy gets this enormous, fist sized hunk of gauze, puts it in my bra and tells me it must stay there for the next two days. So here I am with one 36D and one almost 36B. I thought I was back in junior high stuffing my bra ;-) Today I am still a bit sore, my boob is the most lovely shades of purple and yellow, but I got a call from the doctor's office letting me know the results were NEGATIVE! I feel truly blessed and know I am one of the lucky ones.

The reason for this post is to remind my dear blog friends that if you are due for a mammogram, do not delay. Please get on the phone and schedule your appointment today.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

W ~ I ~ P

~ ~ ~ WELCOME FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

I can't believe it is March already, and here on Ohio's north coast it came in like a lamb. I hope that is not a bad sign. Yesterday was pleasant with the sun shining most of the day. What a difference a little sunshine can make.

I was not quite feeling up to snuff today, so I did not go to the library to hook :-( I was hoping to have lots of wonderful rugs to share with you. Since I don't, I'll share with you what I've been up to.

For many, many years I did counted cross stitch, but in the last twenty years, I could probably count on one hand the number of pieces I've done. I've seen so many wonderful stitcheries (Is that a word? Spellcheck doesn't like it!) on blogs, I got the itch to stitch. I figured I'd better do something small to see if my eyes could take it. This little sampler by Blackbird Designs was aptly named "petites lettres rouges". The chart called for three shades of red but I am only using one. I found a piece of 26 count linen in the attic and coffee stained it. I forgot to rinse it after dying it and every time I start to stitch I can smell the coffee and I'm not a fan of coffee. Now if it smelled of diet Coke..... I am using two strands of floss over two threads. So far, so good.

I'm also working on a couple of punch needle bunnies since Easter is drawing near. I made a few of these in 2007 and they came out pretty good. I like punch needle because it is so mindless and finishes rather quickly.

Ignore the markings on this one. They will be punched over.

Finally, here is the little hooked mat I am working on. It is a design by Lori Brechlin and is about 11 x 12.

When I first started hooking with the ladies at the library, I was working on a Barbara Carroll design that was about 13 x 25. I thought it was HUGE. A comment was made that they thought it easier to hook something large rather than small. I just could not understand that, but now that I've hooked a few bigger things and am using a wider cut, I now understand what they mean. I'm anxious to get started on something bigger and hopefully will ~ soon!

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you will come again soon.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

A Collection of ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ SPICE CUPBOARDS

This is the first spice cupboard (aka spice box, cabinet, chest, drawers) I purchased well over 20 years ago. {{Gee. I must have bought this when I was 12...lol!}} It is in the living room atop a six pane hanging cupboard, between an old spongeware bowl and a reproduction Shaker pantry box. It has the most wonderful patina and is one of my favorites, probably because I believe it to be older and it's much more unique.

Also in the living room is this very primitive one purchased on eBay from seller Yankeei. A bowl of miniature stone fruit sits in front and on top, a little repro redware plate from Turtlecreek Potters that says "snippets". For those of you who don't hook, snippets are the little tails of wool that are cut off during the hooking process. The crocheted piece was done by my maternal grandma many decades ago.
Here's a close-up view.

In the kitchen, I have two more spice cupboards sitting on an antique cupboard. This one is covered with a thick coat of barn red paint.

And another with more miniature stone fruit in an old pressed glass compote.

Finally, I have two more in the dining room atop an old pie safe. Here's part of my Americana collection that I have been collecting for many years. About half the pieces are vintage ~ most of the other pieces are gifts from family and friends.This one also has the most marvelous patina. On top is a vintage bank.

Here's the last one I have ~ having only six drawers instead of the more common eight.

Thank you so much for stopping by and viewing my spice cupboard collection. I do hope you will come again soon.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Wool Room Re-do {{and two cool gifts}} ~

~ ~ ~ WELCOME ~ ~ ~

I've read on other rug hooking blogs that they have a hard time keeping the wool room organized. I know exactly what they mean. My hooking room is small ~ only 10 feet by 11 feet and that area also includes the built in desk and a small closet. I had shelves added to the closet a couple of years ago and I thought that would solve my organizational problem. Sorry to say, it did not. I've spent the last week organizing and am pretty happy with the results. Now I just need to keep it this way :-)

Here is the closet before....

...and after. Now I know Martha Stewart would be mortified ~ ~ ~ plastic storage containers that do not even match!

I can see the floor!

Here is the room before...

...and after. The antique cupboard to the left of the file cabinet was moved to the spare bedroom. Luckily I had carpet squares underneath and was able to slide it across the landing without difficulty.

A few years ago, this shelf unit was in the bedroom, but I had moved it to the basement. I am a ten pound weakling and moving it back up two stories (with the help of my Sweetie) was almost more than I could handle. At one time it had double doors - you can see where the hinges were. It also has some square nails. The shelves were a later addition based on the shelf brackets. Is it perhaps Eastlake style? Anyway you look at it, it is perfect for my wool!

This is my wool stash. Pretty weenie, no? At least I can now see what I have and what colors of wool I am seriously lacking. The stack on the left side of the third shelf is all wool that is still unwashed. I am so afraid of washing it and somehow ruining it.

Initially I put the file cabinet to the right of the shelf, but it just wasn't "right". When I moved it back to its original location, there was this gaping bare space, so back to the basement I went. The second and fourth baskets are vintage picnic baskets that I've bought with the intention of hooking rugs for the top and giving as gifts. (Obviously that didn't happen!) The first and third are Longaberger baskets.

I hope you've enjoyed my ten cent tour of the wool room. Now if only I can keep the shelf and closet this neat.....

The next two pictures are a couple of belated Christmas presents I received. The first is from BFF Belinda. It came with two more set of papier mache eggs ~ one patriotic set and one for Halloween. Too cute. Thanks, Belinda!

This is from Karin, a fellow hooker (and one of my mentors!!!). It's just the most wonderful blackened beeswax lamb that she made. I love it, Karin. Thank you!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I really do appreciate it. As I've said in the past, when I started my blog I was worried no one would read it, and now I have 50 followers. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Pug hugs :)
Lauren