Grandma Jewell's Last Project

When Jon's Grandma passed away, my MIL gave me a bag with Grandma's (her mom's) unfinished crochet projects.

The last several years of Grandma's life she struggled with poor eyesight. She was pretty much blind. The few times I caught her crocheting was when the sun gave the brightest light in her living room. She would track the sun and get in her crochet time, which to me smacks of the wonderful addiction yarn work creates in those that travel the rabbit trail.

So, I inherited an unfinished granny square afghan. There are enough squares to make a long rectangular throw for the back of a couch or several pillow covers.

The problem I found when I laid out all the squares is that well, Grandma was crocheting blind. No two squares are the same stitch count and even some stitches sequences are mixed up.

Not quite sure how to work this out, but I do know the end result I want is two items, one for each of Grandma's daughters to give to them for Christmas.


I pulled out the squares in August and this has been percolating since. I haven't come up with a solution.

Any thoughts, ideas?

Peace and I Made a Booger Face!

Yarn Over Dyeing and Skull Chair (?!)

I picked a leaf off a tree, handed it to Jon and said, "I want to dye my yarn this color." Fall is upon us and I'm feeling so inspired by all the oranges, greens, purples, yellows and reds that fall in Ohio brings. The vibrancy is short lived and I wanted to capture a little bit of a fierce orange of this fall leaf.

Jon mixed these two dyes...

I mixed it in with the ammonium sulfate (?), salt and synthranpol. (acid, salt and soap)

Soaked the yarn in a soapy water mixture to help prep the fiber. I used skeins of sock yarn I had dyed previously and disliked how they turned out. Well, three skeins of already dyed yarn and a bare skein. Note to self: You hate the color pearberry.

They actually look really pretty in this picture, but I didn't like them individually. Also, it seems this yarn does not take up dye to the vibrant hues I achieve with the Lambs Pride. I'm going to do some more experimenting with different yarns.

I'll show you the finished skein pictures tomorrow!

I'm going to leave you with this picture...Jon has decided he must recreate this picture. His chair alone is gonna scare off lots of kids. I like it.

Peace and We are Building the Castle! *I know...It's only September.* *trust me. I KNOW!*

The Lathe Education

Jon makes woodworking things. He needs a creative outlet...just like me. His aunt once said, "Now I know why you two are attracted to each other...You are both so creative.". Yes, Aunt Carolyn, it was Jon's skillz in the woodshop that inflamed my passion for him.

See this doohickie? It's a bit like those fun toys you see at Walmart that you stick your hand in and get the shape of your hand. This thing has been pushed to the shape of a bell. Jon will take this and line it up to the bare wood and make marks indicating where the bottom, the start of the bell curve, the top of the bell curve and the top of the knob on the bell are, so that he can make the each bell almost identical. We are talking handmade, though, so the character is in the differences.

Jon was in the garage last night turning two wooden bell ornaments on the lathe. It is pretty normal for him to be in the garage doing something. Until I heard, "SHHHHEEEETTTT! Broke the emeffing pulley. Damn the engine is seized up.". Um, hello? How much was this gonna cost?

See the one pulley? It's that silver thing with grooves. Now the back pulley has been pulled off, that is the knobby thingie. There is a belt that goes between the two pulley's that make the lathe turn.

Lathes are good for turning bowls, bells, table legs, canes, crochet hooks, knitting needles...You get the idea, if it is made out of wood and needs to have a curvature, then the lathe is the tool of choice.





We have a fairly large lathe. It's heavy. I've had to move it. Here you can see a work in progress and the case cover over the pulley is raised.

My girlfriends on facebook did not know what a lathe was or what it was used for. Jon informs me that this is normal. Normal people do not know what a lathe is, never seen one or even heard of them.

I posted a series picture blog back in January, when Jon made his first bell. It is fascinating to me how he goes from a block of wood to bells.

Okay, ya'll feel better educated on the lathe? You girls? I swear a guy would never admit to not knowing what a lathe is.

Also, as a side note, I am a safety person, and the lathe is not to be used without proper instructions and safety precautions. This is a high speed turning machine and you are using sharp chisels with flying wood flecks...Know your stuff and wear your safety glasses.

Oh, and girls! do NOT ever use a chisel as a screwdriver. It'll take years for your guy to forgive you and everytime you mention using a screwdriver you'll get the question, "You didn't use my chisels, did you? They are expensive.".

Peace and Love a Woodworker Chucking Wood Chucks!

!!!Happy Happenings!!!

Jon has decided to grow a full beard and mustache to add to the authenticity of his Halloween costume. One year it was Christmas, but this year it's Halloween. Anyway, it is a source of amusement for me because he's been growing this for over a month and I just noticed last week. I am definitely winning the Wife of the Year award. His facial hair makes me smile when I do notice it and he was feeling fun enough to let me take the picture. See the red? Jesse gets her red hair from both sides of the family. My dad had red hair when he was younger and it turned blonde later in life. My dad has a penchant for growing facial hair too, but the one time I mentioned how hard it was to read his lips with it, he immediately shaved. Jon...eh, I hear him just fine. ha!

I struck a deal...A deal similar to this deal...I LOVE deals! Finished the hat this past week and now need to sew up the ends, say a prayer that it fits and send it on its way. So excited to reveal this one and what I get in exchange. :D

Lordy, I dyed up some pink yarn and still am in love with the colors. I am currently contemplating tossing four skeins of sock yarn into the dye pot and dyeing them a fierce orange. Only I need Jon here to approve the fierceness of the orange. I'm pretty sure I need to do pumpkin orange, add a little blue and a touch of something...See, Jon and his eagle eye for color needs to be here. Especially if I want a specific color. I'm a willy-nilly dyer and if I want exactness, Jon is my guy.

Gosh I LOVE this time of the year! Pumpkin candy corn is the bees knees!

Yesterday, Jesse announced she was going to make grape jelly. It all started with 1 lb of grapes, a cooler of water and the microwave and morphed to countertop mixing of butter, sugar and powder sugar with the grapes (which Jesse cut up into small pieces with a butter knife). She was quite insistent on the mixing and "We HAVE to make something, Mommy!". I love my little chef-in-the-making.

Peace and Happy Times in the Handy Household!!!

Fast Friday

This week I feel a little bit like this frog. A little green, a little bloated, resigned to my fate in the hands of sweaty paws and ready to jump at the first sign of freedom.

You may have noticed the lack of blog posts. It seems the trip to Aberdeen, OH sucks the life out of me. I have no mojo (though I did knit a hat) and I have no desire to blog. Eight to nine hours a day is spent in a powerplant and I come back to the hotel black and grimy with only the desire to eat and curl up and go to sleep.

I will get back to regularly scheduled posting next week. What are your plans for the weekend?

Peace and Love Fall!

Three Hats and A Baby Hat

Jesse dyed this gorgeous hat. It is a baby blue, pink and yellow variegated lambs pride bulky yarn dyed with ProChemical Washfast Acid Dyes. I wish I had captured the original picture sequence from bare yarn, to her dyeing, to the final skein. Instead I have this cute little finished project, a knit hat with a roll brim. I LOVE it. I may keep it for myself.

What I do have is the dyeing portion of this hat. Jesse and James took on the job of dyeing this skein for me. They chose the colors, squirted willy-nilly and the end result was an adorable hat with pink, blue, turquoise, yellow, orange, peach, green, and a gorgeous mixture of the funnest colors they could get their hands on.





The skein second from the left is the what the twisted version of this yarn looks like. It's pretty amazing to me that the original dye looks like it is going to be a vibrant hot mess, but once rinsed, dried and skeined, it becomes this adorable cotton candy yarn that I just wanna eat up.

The orange, purple and green dye combination was the result of my efforts. It was one of my first skeins I had ever dyed. The vibrant hues just popped and made my heart happy. I was trying to capture Wicked in yarn.

I made two hats with this yarn. One was suppose to be an adult size hat but turned out in baby size. So, I went to the Fabric Shack and purchased this fun orange and pink polka dot minky fabric to line the hat.


What a great weekend! Three hats and from start to finish, I feel a sense of accomplishment that every aspect was inspired by me or my kids. It was fun to share the process with them.

Peace and Happy Faking It Till I Make It Monday!

Great Grandma's Letter

The White House
Washington

February 5, 1955


Dear Mrs. Montgomery,

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letters of recent date to the President, one of which was also signed by Miss Helen Montgomery.

The Vice President advises me that before appointing Mr. Robert L. King as his Administrative Assistant, he personally assured himself of Mr. King's ability, character, integrity, and complete loyalty to this country. Before accepting the appointment, Mr. King resigned from his business association--where he was simply an officer-employee. He never had any financial interest in the Southern Comfort Corporation, and he has none now.

Sincerely,

Gerald D. Morgan
Adminstrative Assistant to the President

Mrs. Emma Montgomery
1542-11th Avenue
Moline, Illinois


So, my Great-Grandmother was a Bible thumping Presbyterian who definitely sent many many letters to the White House about this issue. I googled Southern Comfort and Robert King and this is the article that ran in the Time Magazine, December 27, 1954:

Battlers in the cause of prohibition read Tap & Tavern, a trade journal of the liquor industry, with the same horrified avidity that anti-Communist crusaders bring to the Daily Worker. Last October Tap & Tavern announced with pride that Robert L. King, vice president and general manager of the Southern Comfort Corp.* in St. Louis, was going to Washington to be the top administrative assistant to Vice President Nixon. In his new job, Nixon announced, King would handle "considerable legislative matters."

Temperance organizations across the land rose to the attack like blind tigers. A hurricane of protesting letters swirled into the Vice President's office and the White House. Meeting in Chicago, the Council of Bishops of the Methodist Church got off a wire: "No man connected with the liquor industry should be placed in such a position ... We do not feel that organized liquor traffic should have a place of honor and power in your Administration." Amen, cried the W.C.T.U., the National Temperance League and the National Temperance and Prohibition Council.

The storm caught the Vice President, a fairly temperate man himself (he drinks an occasional martini or Scotch highball, loathes champagne, and had only five drinks during his arduous electioneering in the fall), by surprise. King, he assured the temperance groups in a form letter, was a World War II Communist fighter, a former FBI agent and a man of distinction. He had resigned from Southern Comfort, moreover, and had never had any financial interest in the company.

The Vice President's explanation was enough to take the curse off King (who is also a moderate drinker) with some of the critics. "We still think it's not too good," said a W.C.T.U. spokesman, "though a man can always adjust himself and change his views." But most of the drys were unmoved. Nixon's letter, a Methodist Board of Temperance official felt, was "cocky." "It is the mind-set of a distillery general manager which matters," editorialized the respected Christian Century. The drys were particularly disturbed lest ex-Southern Comfortman King bring his wet influence to bear on legislation (e.g., the Langer bill, which would put restraints on TV and radio advertising of wine and beer; the liquor lobby's efforts to reduce taxes on distilled spirits).

This week, as the battle raged on, Nixon held firm; King will report for duty next week, as planned.
*Its product, a fruity concoction of trade secrets (rumored to be apricot brandy and bourbon), is a favorite of elderly ladies, is sometimes served with cracked ice and a canned peach in a solid-stemmed goblet.


Isn’t she so cute?!!! I love that she was an advocate. It’s still running strong into my generation and Jesse’s.

Peace and We Love Grandma’s!!!

My Heritage

It took some digging, but I found pictures. My mom mentioned in the comments in my post yesterday, the heritage of knitting/crochet I come from: Mom knits/crochets to keep her sanity. (It came in handy when teaching you to drive - I didn't see objects like mailboxes that we missed by inches . . . ) Gamoo knitted/crocheted for exactly the same reasons you do! She never got the specialty yarn or dyed yarn and would have LOVED it! Great-grandma knitted/crocheted during the Depression. She made incredible things like doilies, dresser scarves, tablecloths. Great-great grandma knitted/crocheted and made handmade lace in Ireland. You have quite a heritage of ARTISTRY!!!!

My mom is Margaret, my Grandma is Helen Hartz, and my great-grandma was Emma Hartz (picture above) and my great great grandma was ???. I'm a fifth generation crafter. Makes ya wonder if knitting and crochet are genetic predispositions, rather that nurtured tendencies. Because while I LOVE the fiber arts, I didn't pick it up because of my mom. In fact, I probably hesitated as long as I did, so as to not have anything in common with my mom.

My mom had a good point. Maybe my rant isn't that people today don't appreciate the fiber arts, but that the fiber arts died and I'm part of the resurgence. The tidal wave is gathering and I'm excited to be a part of a generation that is reclaiming the fiber arts, is homemaking, homesteading, breastfeeding, gardening, and all those wonderful skills that used to be so commonplace.

My mom did spend some time teaching me in the early 1990's how do do a crochet chain, single crochet and double crochet. At most I churned out miles long single crochet ropes or flat pieces of acrylic double crochet with no useful purpose. As soon as the skill was mastered, I left it.

It was January 2003 that I decided to try crochet, again. I bought myself a "Learn to Crochet" book and some Lion Brand Jiffy yarn.

At my girlfriends baby shower that February I gave her my very first crocheted baby blanket.

Then my SIL had a baby shower and I made her a stuffed bear.

From there it was all downhill. I've been crafting since. 2007 was the year of the afghan. Everybody got an afghan for Christmas. I don't think my wrists ever recovered from the endurance crocheting I did that Fall.

My mom and I reconnected in 2009 after over a decade. One of the things that has transcended our history this past year is our connection over our love for the fiber arts. Despite everything, we connect unreservedly when talking knitting and crochet and for that I am thankful.

I'm thankful to be a part of the legacy.

My sister, Janne, crochets and paints, my sister, Beka, sews and my sister, Katee, crochets. Marical is 15 and will I'm sure at some point will drink the juice or smoke the dope.

I suspect before it is all said and done, all five of us sisters will continue the knitting and crochet legacy we have been handed. It is definitely one that I am proud of.

My Grandma on my Dad's side crochets, as did Jon's Grandma. It's a legacy I'm proud to continue and will pass on to my children.

Peace and Memory Lane is Good for the Soul!

Monday Morning Misc...

I attended a 31 one party. You know, one of those bag parties. I ordered James a lunch bag for $20. My original plan for his bento box
was to make him a bag. The purchase involved some serious talking to myself. Originally I was not going to purchase a single item, because I am able to MAKE! a bag to fit certain needs. In fact, a felted wool bag for James bento box would probably insulate just as well as this bag I purchased from Thirty-One. I could even put James name on my mythical Made bag. Instead, I purchased a bag with insulated interior and James name embroidered on the outside. Know why? It was an emotional purchase. To support my MIL and SIL who were hosting and a consultant for Thirty One respectively. You know what $20 bought me? Yeah. I take all the goodwill I can get.

The after party involved the ladies sitting around visiting. At one point I pulled out my knitting to show them the 16 cm of strap I'd finished (which took me 10 hours). I have 10 more cm to go and another strap to finish. The straps alone are going to take over 50 hours. Anyway, I was trying to convey to them, these ladies, the hard work, and I failed miserably. My SIL commented that it was "a nice color". Hello?! The stitch work is pretty, the techniques are interesting, the yarn itself has a gorgeous stretchy quality, the color is hand-dyed....These details were missed because they did NOT know.

When did it all go to the wayside? These ladies, who I've know over 10 years, think my enthusiasm for the new Superwash Merino Wool by Lion Brand, my purchase of 2000 yards of seconds Lambs Pride Bulky yarn from Sheep Shed Studio, my hand-dyeing, my enthusiasm is odd to them. They don't get it. Then I realized, you my blog readers probably don't get it either. You haven't drunk the juice, gone down the rabbit hole, knit just for love....

I think it is okay. I need to learn to communicate the enthusiasm better. I need to hook you into the handmade movement if you aren't there yet....If you are, give me a shout out in the comments, cause this hooker is feeling pretty alone right now.

I'll work at it. The weekend was spent sewing quilt tops. My first ever attempt. I believe the blog will take a turn after the new year to more sewing. After sewing two quilt tops in 5 hours, I felt the urge to run down to The Fabric Shack and buy more fabric to make more quilt tops! How crazy is that?! This week I will purchase the batting (which I'll tell you why I chose the batting I chose) and figure out the edging. I have no idea on what I want to do for the edging. Blanket stitch? Cotton binding? Crochet edge? The edging has me at a loss. I haven't seen a tie quilt in person in forever and the Internet isn't much help.

What are your thoughts? Do you think about why you do what you do? Are you the odd duck in your group of peeps?

Peace and Crazy Work Week Takes My Mojo!

Fast Friday

bunnies, originally uploaded by saraOH.

Boomer Man and Joey say "HEY!". They have been working really hard at liking the kitty cats. Boomer Man lunges at them and Joey hides from them. They are making progress. :D

Dear Sister Mine

Dear Sister Mine,

Wow! Another week went by and time for another letter! I feel like I haven’t talked with you much this week. I know you were working nights this week which I hope you survived! This has been a pretty busy week for me. I worked, did school and had a weekend full of races :)The cars below are called Wing Modifieds. They fly like the wind although I am not a huge fan of them. Like Becky and Tracy? They were hilarious! I didn't get to see to much of the race at one point cause they were laughing so hard at something that I think they would be horrified if I said it here :) Lets just say it involves farts and an old man standing behind us..nuff said.

I spent Saturday night with Dad, Tracy, Becky, Chelsea and her friend. John was supposed to go too but on the way there he got called into work. Dad got called into work also when we got there which put a damper on the night! So us girls just watched the races and took pictures til Dad got back :)

Sunday was a busy day! Dad and Marie had the whole family over for a cook out. Dad grilled

some awesome spare ribs and we had a smorgasbord of food as the pictures show. The cookout had so many guests! Chester, Becky, CJ and Tracy's biological dad was there as was Jennifer and her new baby. Jaila is so cute! She looks like Christopher who is Justins little boy. He entertained us all day as well as at the races :) After the cookout we were off to the races again! The SUPRS were racing which was why I wanted to see this kind of race at least once this year. The SUPRS are the fastest cars in dirt track racing in my opinion :) The pictures I took were of some of the modified sports cars. It was dark out and still don't have the hang of taking pictures at night LOL I was out til almost 4am and had to be at work at 630am. Aren’t I a sucker LOL I love races! Heres some pics from the weekend! I think we have the best, most handsome dad in the world don't you think? BBQ, dirt track racing, Dad= a great weekend :)

Love you and hope your week was fun!

Janne!

Man! It looks like a blast. LOVE Love love the pictures. What an amazing Labor Day weekend. Becky and Tracy look good as always. Tracy get her teeth, yet?

Dad...all I can say is just that profile picture makes me miss him even more. I wish I could be there, but our life is here in Ohio for now. Where is a picture of you?

Work was crazy busy this week. I'm such a goon. On the drive home from work Friday morning after working 5pm to 7am all I could think of was "I need to know Jesus better. He's got the best marketing campaign ever.". Blasphemist much? Anywho, I about hit 3 runners who were running on the road in the dark at 6am. While I admire their dedication, I'm still pissed at the guy wearing all black running into traffic on a four lane highway. I'm their worst nightmare, lack of sleep, and coming down off a 5 hour energy drink.

Love you so much! Friday. Friday I can plan the date that I will be coming to see you and Dad. I'm so excited!!!

Love, Sara