One more day and I get to go home!

I thought you might like to see one more picture of this rehab facility. Isn't this beautiful? It looks even better in person!

Tonight's dinner special was filet mignon. It was absolutely delicious! This place is incredible but I will be so glad to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed with my own feather pillow and be among family.

My husband has come every  night to eat dinner with me. It has been like eating out every night for the past three weeks! But all good things must come to an end.

I have had physical therapy two hours every day six days a week. I have come a long way but I still have a long way to go. My knee is still pretty stiff. Now the out patient therapy will begin. So with a lot of hard work I should be back to normal in a few months. I sure hope so anyway! I have so much I want/need to do!

Linda

I am still here

Two weeks and a day after my knee replacement surgery finds me still at the physical therapy rehab center. It has been a difficult two weeks but I believe things are looking up. I sure hope so!

My wonderfully funny husband thought I needed a Christmas tree in my room. Want to see what he brought? It is a Charley Brown tree!

I would like to take this time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May this new year be filled with God's blessings.

Linda

Want to see my room?

This is my room at the physical therapy rehab center. The photos aren't very good because I took them with my phone and the windows are back lit.

The last three pictures are of the bathroom. Even it is pretty! Overall the room has a warm feel, the view is wonderful and if I have to be miserable this is the place to be. It sure beats the depressing hospital room I had!

Linda

It is over!

Well, the surgery is done and I am now situated in a physical therapy rehab center. Having a knee replaced is not an easy thing to go through and I never thought I would have three done in a year and a half! Recovery is slow!. Very slow but I will get there. Eventually. Today has been a rough day but hopefully things will improve from here. Right now my knee is under it's umteenth icepack. The view out my window is lovely and I have beening watch lots of movies on cable TV. Christmas music is playing in the halls!

 Please keep me in your prayers, I need them all!

Linda

What I have been up to

I thought I had better take a moment and let you know what I have been up to. Life has been very busy around here. I am trying to get my life in order before Tuesday. On Tuesday I will be having a knee replacement of last year replaced. I am so NOT looking forward to this! But if I have to do this it is a good time of year to have it done. The fort that I volunteer at will be closing for the winter after the candle light tours on Saturday. and I don't have any shows to get ready for any time soon.

I don't know how soon I will be back up on my feet. At the hospital they get you up and moving the day after surgery. This knee has been bad since I was a child so I don't know how soon I will be back to normal. Hmmmm, after thinking about what I just said  I don't want normal. I want better than that!

I also don't know if I will be able to walk over to the studio. So in order to keep weaving I have moved my Dorothy loom with a stand over to the house. I want to weave a run of scarves. Guess I had better get busy and wind that warp!

When I went to out patient physical therapy last year they asked me what my goals were. After pondering a moment I told them I wanted to weave, take care of my goats and run from the Indians! You should have seen their faces! LOL. At the fort we sometimes have the women running when the Indians attack. I still can't do that but who knows. Maybe with this new knee I will be able to. I think I will add one more thing to my goal list. I want to ride horses again.

Well, that is all I have for today. My days are pretty full until the surgery but I will try to blog as soon as I can.

Linda

Daniel Boone and the Opening of the American West

As some of you know I am a living history re enactor. One weekend a month you can find me at Wilderness Road State Park in Ewing, Va. doing what I love, living the 18th century life for the public. This past weekend a film crew was there to film an upcoming two hour PBS movie that will be aired next summer. The day started out with makeup at six in the morning. It was pretty cold out but we had fires and hot coffee to keep us warm. As the day progressed the weather became warmer and sunny. Many different scenes were filmed as were various different scenarios. To my surprise I was asked to portray Sara Griffin, Daniel Boone's sister. He had written her a letter that I was supposed to look like I was reading. In the movie you will hear the voice of the man who portrayed Daniel reading the letter while you will be seeing me. Our son portrayed Israel Boone. You can see some pictures here.
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Witnessing-History/111871788920111

You can read more about the movie here. http://witnessinghistoryonline.com/media/daniel-boone-and-the-opening-of-the-american-west-in-pre-production

This week is the Foothills Craft Guild show. If you remember, the Tuesday Weavers from the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Center got together and were juried in as a group. We will go on Thursday morning and set up our booth. This will be the last show of the year for me.

That is all the news I have for today. Now to start on the laundry! After a living history weekend there are clothes, bedding and other things that need to be washed. Everything smells like smoke. I really like that smell but my husband doesn't so I wash everything even if it isn't dirty. This weekend since it was going to be so cold we had taken about eight blankets. We also took lots of clothes for the costume changes. I will be busy all day!

Linda

I ran out of room!

This is not a bad thing, really. A while back I had bought some shelves to put my inventory on. Had I given it some thought I would have gotten something larger right from the start. I have outgrown the shelves and was on the look out for something larger. Our daughter had this wardrobe that she didn't want anymore so off we went to get it. Here it is in it's new home.

I don't have everything in it yet but I think this will work out well. So far I have hats in one drawer and dish towels in another. In the large section are rugs. I may put shelves in there. Right now it is just an open space. The drawer with the hats is full so I may have to have two drawers of hats.


I am getting ready for the Foothills Craft Guild show next week. This is my first time doing this show. I will be in a booth with the Tuesday Weavers. Usually when I do a show I have one other person to keep me company. This time I will be with other weaving friends. This is going to be fun!

Linda

More hats

Here are the two hats I finished last week but didn't post a picture of. I used my handspun  on both hats.

Linda                                                                                                                                                                                         

Happy Anniversary!

Can you believe it has been one year since I started this blog? The time sure has flown by. It seems the older I get the faster time flies by! Remember when you were a child and something special was coming up and it took forever to arrive? Not anymore!

I sold several hats last week at a show so I have been busy knitting up a few more. Here is a picture of one I finished last night. I have two more done but the pictures are in the camera at the studio. Why is it that my camera is always somewhere where I am not? This one is made of my hand spun yarn. The blue was dyed with indigo.

I have tried to make every hat differently. On two of the hats I used colorful novelty yarn with the rest of the hats being a dark solid color. They sold fast. On this hat I tried stripes. This was a good way to use up small amounts of yarn that I had left from making other hats. These hats are nice and thick and will be perfect for the cold weather that is coming soon. Making hats is something I do in the evenings. I weave during the day and make hats at night.


I have a confused cactus! When I bought it I thought it would bloom for Christmas but instead it has bloomed for halloween!

Thank you to all of the followers of my blog. I hope I have made it interesting and not too boring. Maybe this year my picture taking will improve!


Linda

A Sunday drive with a bit of history

Yesterday my husband and I decided to take a drive. We took back roads hoping to see things we hadn't seen before. We found ourselves in Dayton, Tn. Dayton is where the famous Scopes trial was held. It was also known as the monkey trial. You can read more about it here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_Trial

Here is a picture of the courthouse. In the basement is a nice museum.

The tree colors weren't as spectacular as they have been in years past but we did get to see some pretty leaves. I didn't get any pictures of them during our trip but here are a few that we can see from our home. I wouldn't trade this view for anything! We have woods all around our house.

The previous pictures were taken with my phone. Here are a few taken with my camera.

I was being lazy this morning. I stayed in bed longer than I usually do and got up to a phone call. It was a friend wanting some dish towels! I don't know if I have any in the colors she wants. If I don't that is okay. I have a warp on the Schacht already so I will only have to go and get them woven up.I will have to go to the studio and see. This was a wonderful way to start the day! 


Linda

No naked looms!

I don't like naked looms! When I take a warp off a loom I have already planned what will go on next. Part of today was spent winding two warps onto warp beams. Here is what went onto the Lervad today. It is a scarf warp. This time I am weaving only five inches wide.

This is a dish towel warp that went on the Schacht.

There is a table runner warp on the Glimakra. I really need to get back to weaving this. I started to take pictures of all the looms in this room but I somehow didn't get a picture of the Studio loom.

Have I told you I like to shop at thrift stores? Sometimes I go in just to look. I usually don't really need anything but I like to look anyway. This is what I found this week. It is a silly three foot snowman. He is kind of cute don't you think. I suppose I should put him away until winter, huh.



As I was walking home from the studio I spotted this! We have had hot weather, cooler weather, and then warm weather again. I think this poor little thing is confused.

Linda

What I did and didn't do this week

I really enjoy my weekends at Wilderness Road State Park. This past weekend was our fall encampment. On Friday we had school tours. It is enjoyable teaching children about history. For my part I tell them about how clothing is made. I take them from shearing the sheep to making my husband a wool shirt. All in about fifteen minutes. I really have a lot of ground to cover!

Some of the other things they learn about is tanning hides, how the cannon works, cooking,  and candle making.

When I come home there is always laundry to do and lots of it. Even if we didn't wear some of our clothes they always smell of wood smoke. This is what our deck looked like on Monday.

This is only a small part of what I washed. What  you aren't seeing are the sheets, blankets, cloaks, frock coat, my son's clothes, dish cloths and several more stockings. It was pretty chilly the nights we were there. We took about three wool blankets each!


I haven't woven this week. I can't believe I am saying that with a show coming up in two weeks! Part of Monday was spent winding a dish towel warp. Yesterday I spent the day caring for a sick grand child. On the way home today I stopped at R&M Yarns. This is one of my favorite yarn shops. When I got home I took our son for his flu shot. Before I knew it it was time to cook dinner!

Tomorrow I will be spending the whole day with a dear friend who is visiting here from Missouri. We only get to see each other once or twice a year. Always in October. Tomorrow is going to be fun!

Friday will find me back in the studio, I hope!

Linda

This is a test

It seems that I can't comment on my own blog! I am going to try a new post and see what happens.

Linda

New weaver!

One of the most rewarding things, for me, is to pass on the art of weaving to someone else. Recently I showed you a picture of a reproduction 18th century tape loom that my husband built. It was a gift for a young woman that I know. We recently gave the loom to her with a lesson on how to use it. She has discovered that she loves to weave!

I thought you might be tired of seeing the studio in winter so here is a picture I took recently.

Linda

My new van

About eight weeks ago my good ole truck of a minivan broke down. We knew this was coming but when it happened I was still shocked. It was supposed to last longer. I really liked that van! I used it to haul hay ( I could get 15 square bales in there!, kids, goats, one very large dog, looms, camping gear and assorted stuff. But it was eleven years old and had multiple problems so it was decided it was time to stop driving it. Now the search was on for the next van. We looked and looked but we weren't finding what I wanted at what I could afford. I wanted a grand van. I love the extra space. I wanted stow and go seats, low mileage for a great price. I know. I was asking for a miracle. Then last Friday it happened! My husband saw an ad at work for my van! We test drove it and bought it the next day. I had secretly wanted a red van but I didn't mention that to my husband. It would have been too much to ask for, right? I love it! I especially like the stow and go seats! I am getting a bit too old to be lugging the seats in and out all the time. Here it is! What is really funny is....right smack in the middle of the steering wheel is the Dodge ram head. Now, I ask you, how perfect is that for someone who raises goats? I have already gotten it dirty. It needs a bath!

Here is what is on the looms this week. A scarf warp on the Lervad.

Place mats on the Glimakra.

Table runners on the Gilmore.

Another runner on the Gilmore.

Well, that is all the news for this week. Have a great weekend!

Linda

Want to meet my husband?

Wow, two blog entries in one day! That sure isn't something I usually do.

Recently my husband was having a problem with his car. A big problem. It wouldn't start. He ordered a part on line and installed it. It works! Both the car and the part. Here is a picture of him installing it.

Isn't this a funny picture? This is what it took to get the part installed under the dash board!

My husband is quite a guy. He can fix anything! He is really handy to have around. I think I will keep him!

Linda

The latest shaggy rug on the loom

I finished the burgundy, forest green and cream chenille shaggy rug. I really like how it turned out. I love that color combination.

When I was at Great Northern Weaving a few months ago I had bought two bags of chenille selvages. The other bag is tan chenille. I had some of the selvages left from the first rug. At first I couldn't decide whether to use it all in in the first rug or not but then I decided to save some to use as an accent color in the second rug to keep it from looking too bland. I think it is looking pretty good. I wish you could run your hand over this. It is so soft! I am weaving five inches of the tan and then two shots of the accent color.

Hubby has been busy for a week working on building a tape loom. I think he did a fine job! These are for those who want to weave narrow bands. Perfect for reenactors. There are only 27 slots and holes so the weaving is pretty narrow. Once I challenged myself to see how narrow I could weave. I used only seven threads and wove a pink and white band perfect for my stays! This loom is a gift for someone. I can't tell you who in case they read my blog!

I have been walking around my studio thinking about what I really need and don't need. I have come up with a short list for a few things to sell. This is a very short list because it is hard for me to part with anything! So far one item has been sold. Two to go. I have decided to part with the Union weaving loom. It is a work horse of a loom and I have woven many rugs, table runners and place mats on it. I am thinking if this one sells then I can move a loom out of the living room and into that spot. The whole idea of having a house for a studio was to not be crowded like I was when I only had one 14" x 15' room. The living room is looking a bit crowded.

The other item for sale is a Strauch Petite drum carder. It has hardly been used and has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years. It needs to go where it can be used and appreciated, don't you think?

Well, that is the news for today. It is a beautiful day here. It is so nice to see the sun after so many days of clouds and rain!

Linda

Took a better picture, I hope

Here is a better picture of the scarf I finished yesterday. In this picture you can kind of see the dark green, tan and brown.  It is a little better than the picture I showed yesterday but still not as good as I was hoping it would be.                

I wound a warp for another scarf. I have had this yarn lying around for a while wondering what to make with it. I am  thinking about using a raspberry boucle yarn as weft. Sometimes I have a plan of how things will work in my head but then in person it doesn't look as nice as I thought it would. So we will see.

Other than putting tags on the dish towels, tying knots in fringes on two mug rugs and doing small things around the studio that is all I have for today.

Linda

What I was doing today

We have had so much rain in the last two days. I heard on the news that my area received five plus inches and the rain isn't done yet! Living on a hill is a good thing.

Today I finished weaving a scarf I started last week. I miscalculated how much I would need for the weft and had to order another skein from R&M Yarns. Phyllis mailed it out and it arrived in two days. Per my usual photographic skills the colors aren't quite true. This is eyelash yarn. The colors are dark brown, tan and green.
I don't think it is very pretty but who knows. Maybe there is someone out there who will love it! To me it looks like camouflage colors. You might think that too if you could see it in person.

I also started a rug on the Studio loom. I am using some chenile selvedges I bought at Great Northern Weaving when I was there a few months ago. I really like the colors! They are burgundy, green and tan. I like how this is turning out.

Also today I put the finishing touching on three hats and twisted and tied fringes on the scarf and washed it. I didn't accomplish as much as I usually do but at least I accomplished something!

Linda

What is happening this week

Here are the latest dish towels off the loom. Don't they look nice sitting there on the shelves? They are all hemmed and washed. All I need to do is put tags on them.

Today I did something I have meant to do for sometime now. I wanted to drill holes in the looms for double headed  nails. These nails will go into holes that I drilled in the legs of the beater bars and the looms. Now the beaters will stay in an upright position while I am threading the reed. Now, altering looms is something I almost never do. I usually like to keep them as original as possible but I had seen this done on a loom, a Schacht, I think, and I thought it was very practical. Here is what the nails look like.

Here it is on one of the looms. I attached a bit of yarn to it so I can hang it on the loom when I don't need it.

I also was able to get a warp on the Gilmore loom today that has been lying on the top for a while now. It is blue and white cotton yarn. I have about one more inch to go in threading the reed and after tying on I will be ready to go. I didn't think to get a picture of it.

Another thing I didn't get a picture of is the wool rug I just finished. For a while I couldn't decide how long I wanted it to be. Then I decided to just weave it until all the green wool was used up. The rug is 166 inches long.

Today was our youngest's 17th birthday! I just can't imagine how the time has flown by. He is a senior in high school and is taller than I am. Hmmm, I don't know how that happened either! We will be having two celebrations this week. One for his friends and the other with family.

Well, that is what has been going on around here this week and the week isn't over yet. No telling what else could happen!

Linda

How long is long enough?

Part of today was spent cleaning up the store room. I had let it get to be such a mess that no one could walk in there. It was pretty bad. Recently I had been to the Little Debbie Snack Cake store in Collegedale, Tn. While I was there I saw that they were selling some card board barrels. I thought it would be the perfect thing to hold rug weft. I don't know how much it holds but it comes up to my waist. It can hold a lot. I put a most of my stash in there and it will be nice to have it all in one place.

The rest of my time was spent weaving at the Newcomb Studio loom. I am weaving a runner but I can't decide how long is long enough. Any ideas? Right now it is 91 inches long. Maybe I will measure my hall and then decide. I really like how this rug looks and I just might keep it for myself rather than putting it up for sale.

Linda

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe how quickly summer passed by. We have been pretty busy but now that school has started  my time is more my own. The fall shows will be here before I am ready! I really need to get busy and weave up more things!

Here is what is on two of my looms this week. I put ten yards of 8/2 natural cotton on the Schacht standard loom. I like to use a cotton novelty yarn for weft. I have made lots of these and they sell very well. What you can't see are stripes of colors done in twill at both ends.

I am also working on a wool rug on the Newcomb Studio loom. It doesn't show up very well but the wool is a pale green with dark green flecks in it. Here is a close up.

I haven't decided how long this rug will be yet but I am leaning towards making a runner.

I still have warps waiting to be wound on two looms. It sure would be nice to go to the studio and find that someone has warped the looms for me! So much to do but so little time!

Linda