My column for June

June column

First I want to report that the Farm Girl Fest at Cave Spring School north east of Sarcoxie was really a lot of fun. It got a little hot in my long prairie dress but at least we had our shade. Ended up having to put my flip flops on so that at least my feet weren't hot. There were some great vendors prestent. I set up with 7 other Fiber Folks and I think people enjoyed watching us spin wool into yarn and weave rugs. They had good food and entertainment. Looking forward to perhaps doing the show at Red Oak in the fall. For now I have plans to go to Butler for their Summer Festival on June 8^th and 9^th. It is a living history farm so they encourage us to dress in our “old” cloths and do demonstrations of our art, plus we get to sell our products. My sister and I will take in this event together.

For this month I read a variety of books. Actually I read more than I can report on but will report of the three that I liked the best.

Milkweed

by

Jerry Spinelli

Milkweed is a book written for young adults and would be very good to use to teach about the Holocaust.

A young boy in Warsaw in 1939 survives by stealing what food he can, but he knows nothing about his background. All he is called is Stopthief. He thinks he might be a Jew or maybe a Gypsy. He is befriended by a band of Jewish boys and they give him the name of Misha. When he sees people being marched in the streets he thinks it is a parade and he is excited and wants to join in. He sees the Nazi soldiers and admires their shinny boots and marching, so he thinks he wants to be a Nazi. He does not comprehend what is happening. Eventually he is marched into a camp along with a young Jewish girl and her family. Because he is so small he is able to squeeze thru a hole and continue to steal food to help the family survive. This is a very good story for young adults to read and be able to see the events of the Holocaust thru the innocence of the eyes of a child. The ending of the book was unexpected but was heart warming at the same time.

In Search of Eden

by Linda Nichols

Miranda comes from a difficult childhood with an unfeeling mother who forces her to give her baby up for adoption with out even knowing if it was a boy or girl when she was 16. She was told that the baby went to a safe place. Later as an adult of 27, when her mother dies she finds a clue hidden in a desk, a picture of a baby with the name of a town. She sets out to this town in Virginia to try to find her child that she knows nothing about. The local sheriff takes notice of her and is suspicious of her from the start. It is fairly easy for the reader to put the pieces together that the sheriff's niece is her lost daughter but Miranda doesn't find out till the end. Miranda searches out the connection of why her daughter was sent to this small town and finds her own sad family history that helps her to understand her mother. I really enjoyed this book and will look for anything written by this author.

                                                     The Guardian

by

Nicholas Spark

What could be better than a Nicholas Sparks book with romance and a faithful dog. I am never disappointed with any of Sparks books. This one starts out sad as you know this young woman looses her husband, but he has left her two things, a promise to watch over her and a puppy, a great Dane of all things. Four years later Julie has a dilemma of two suitors. The dog becomes very possessive and the book takes a twist into the thriller type mystery that makes you want to hit Julie on the head and say “Listen to your dog”! A very good read.

sample of leno lace

This is just a beginner sample of what I learned at the fiber guild mtg last Sun.  We were learning how to do some fancy patterns on the little rigid heddle loom.  Still have a ton to learn but like the idea here.

Just took this big 80 inch rug off the loom last nite, still has the filler in place and ends not tied off.  It is actually more gold and browns than the picture shows.

Had a great time Sun doing another weaving demonstration and actually got to sell a few rugs at same time.  Here is a pic of me at my post.

You will notice that my feet got hot!   Also the guy on the left is spinning some nice rose dyed wool into yarn.
Off on a little vacation for a week.  Will have pictures when I get back.

Thought for the day: Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light

How long does it take to weave a rug Part Two

I managed to get a little work done in my weaving "studio" (that would be the living room that we never use so I took it over:)  Here is a picture one end of the room where I try to keep the majority of my "stuff".

I managed to finish threading the warp thru all the heddles and then get it rolled onto the back beam,  I forgot to take a picture of it as I started that process but here are 2 pictures I took of another wrap I did on same loom last winter.

In the lower picture here you can see the warp being warped onto that back beam (on the far left)  It is all wrapped onto that back then the ends in the front are tied onto the front beam and you are about ready to weave. The first pic below shows that back beam on the right. So the warp will be pulled toward the front with a hand crank as I weave.

I am weaving this rug from a batch of selvage  that I order from a company.  You can see it wrapped on the stick that is laying on top of the loom.  It is the cut off edge of fabric that a factory has left over when they weave huge bolts of fabric or blankets, afghans and such.  It is stringy looking but packs in and makes great textured rugs.
If you see the "rag balls" in that first picture you will see the "rags" that I create to weave into rugs.  These may be denim jeans, sweaters, t-shirts, sweatshirts, or old sheets.  I have been known to pick up a yardage of fabric at garage sale and cut it into strips.  All this has to be laundered prior to cutting or ripping into strips, then the strips are sewn together with the seams trimmed, then rolled into balls.

So you can see it may take me from 1 to 2 hours to WEAVE a rug but the prep time may run into days, with actual hours not possible to count accurately.
As with all fiber arts, it is a thing you love to do and you don't count the amount of time involved.
As I said before it is all a labor of love. 
That can not be measured or priced.

How long does it take to weave a rug??

I get asked this frequently.  I usually just smile and tell them about an hour of actually weaving.  BUT  here is how much work really goes into weaving a rug.

I borrowed this pic from the Internet but have one just like it, but didn't have a picture of mine.  This is the first step, it is called measuring the warp.  The warp is the "string" that runs the length of the rug.  Each cross on this is one yard, so if I am counting this right there is  about 9 to 10 yards of warp so will make several nice size rugs.

The warp is taken off the warping board by making these loops over your hand to sort of hold it all together then where the cross over is, you slip the lease stick into it. See how handy that folded up tread mill is??  That is my little table top loom sitting on the floor.  But I am warping up the big floor loom for my instructions here.

This picture shows that lease stick tied to the front of the loom.  By the loops being crossed it keeps them straight so you can thread them thru the beater bar that you see here.  There are little slots and each 320 ends are threaded thru. I really like to warp my loom from the front to the back.  So much easier when doing it by myself, and I get an even wrap which is extremely important in weaving.

You can just see to the left of last picture the wire heddles, each one has a hole in the center and you thread the warp thru these heddles in a certain sequence depending on if you want a pattern to your weaving.  So now I have 320 ends to thread thru these.
I have been a couple weeks puttering with this so far.  I will add a couple more pictures as I progress with the warping of the loom that has to be done before you ever weave at all.
So what do you think I should say when someone says "how long does it take you to weave a rug?"
I do have to say that most weavers would never complain about all this work as it is a labor of love and each step is important for the end results.

Fabric bowls

Been working on fabric bowls to sell at craft shows this year.  This is the first time I have made such large ones and I like them alot.

This is a pretty orange/white fabric.  I am weaving a set of matching mug rugs to go with it. 

This one is 12 inches across and 3 1/2 inches deep.  Hope my hands hold up,  twisting the fabric on tight is rough on my arthritis I am getting in my thumbs.

So this is what I have been up to this week besides getting my looms warped.  The 18th of May I am doing a weaving demonstration at a local (40 miles away) Civil War deal.  They are raising money to renovate an old school house.  I get to set up a table, with my table top loom  and sell some of my rugs so that is good.  Will be wearing my prairie dress.  Then in June I have another one a little further away (will stay over nite as it is 2 days)  It is a living history farm festival that should be fun, again in costume.  Going to be hot hot hot... Sister going with me and a big booth set up, share motel expense.
Needless to say I have had to change my store hours.  They were interfering with my activities.  LOL  So no more Saturdays.  I picked up Tue. instead.  It will work out as Sat. is usually slow and I have had to be closed several times on Sat. so folks prob don't know if I am coming or going.  There is a sign on a coffee shop on main street that says:  Always open except when closed!  Thats ME!

May column

Tomorrow is May Day, May 1st so I am really on the ball to post my newspaper column today.  So I am caught up and maybe can find something interesting to post before long.  Have been doing alot of sewing and some weaving with my little rigid heddle loom to get some things ready for a craft show coming up in 3 weeks then another one in June.  I am excited about them so will write more soon with some pictures.

May Column:

I have had my book store open since 2006 with the one and half year out in the middle when I moved out of state. I have always been open on Saturday but am rethinking that and have decided that I will change my days to Tuesday thru Friday 10 to 4. Saturday's are usually pretty slow and I have been finding that I have other projects that seem to always fall on Saturdays. I belong the Fiber Folks of South West Mo. Check out our web site http://www.fiberfolksofswmo.com/ I will be at Farm Girl Fest on May 18^th in La Russell Mo. Which is just east of Carthage. They will be raising money to help restore and old school house. The Fiber Guild will have a booth also and we will be wearing our Civil War costumes and be doing demonstrations in weaving and spinning. A good event to check out.

Also want to mention I will be closed for a week the end of May so I can catch up with my friends in Iowa and stomp around again in Van Buren County where I grew up.

Can't believe how many books I have read this spring. It is going to take a bit to catch up with them. This month I have a mix of mystery books that have caught my eye. Usually I don't like mystery's because I am afraid they have gruesome stuff in them. Silly me, they don't all fit that category.

Catch Me

                                                    by Lisa Gardner

Charlene Grant believes she is going to die. For the past two years, two of her childhood friends have been murdered one by one. Same day. Same time, one year apart. Now she’s the last of her friends alive, and she’s counting down the final four days of her life until January 21. But she doesn't plan to go down without a fight. She has been working with a trainer to learn to fight and shoot, and she has picked out a homicide detective, D.D. Warren to handle the investigation should her efforts be in vein.

But as D.D. delves deeper into the case, she starts to question the woman’s story. She would like to dismiss her as nuts but Charlene is very convincing and in her own way assists in finding the killer just as the day gets closer. She is drawn into the drama and you will have to read the book to find out who “done it”. Gardner has written six books with detective Warren as the main character. I think I will read a couple more.

One Second After

                                              by William R. Forstchen

I found this to be a very scary book because of the plausibility of the facts. Newt Gingrich writes the forward for the book and gives warning that the events could happen to us. It is an apocalyptic thriller about a high-altitude nuclear bomb of uncertain origins exploding over the USA, unleashing a deadly electromagnetic pulse, EMP, that instantly disables almost all electrical devices in the U.S. The country is plunged into darkness and chaos. The story setting is a small town in North Carolina. Professor Matherson, who is also a retired army colonel, lives there with his two daughters. The town is just a small cosmos of what is going on all over the country with starvation, disease and roving gangs. I found the story to be very well written with the town working to safeguard their own survival. It really makes you see how vulnerable we are and how poorly prepared we are for any kind of event like this. Actually the only way to prepare would be to be proactive and have our equipment made so that it would withstand this kind of attack. We could be destroyed without a shot fired. Very scary stuff!

Monday Mourning

                                                  by Kathy Reichs

Kathy Reichs has written at least a eighteen Temperance Brennan novels with a voice of authority since like her character she is a forensic anthropologist and formerly the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina. Reich was the producer for the FOX television hit Bones. In this book Tempe investigates three skeletons that were found in the basement of a pizza parlor. She discovers that the victims are young women who were killed in the 1980's. Thru Tempe's forensic sleuthing and attention to details she pieces the puzzle together. There is romantic tension involving Andrew Ryan, a Montreal detective. It is easy to get caught up in her personal life and her dedication to finding the cause of death when she examines bones. I think I will be reading a few more of her books.

April Column

I just about forgot to post my April newspaper column.  So here it is.  Been a busy month as I was closed the first week of April due to a little surgery I had on my shoulder area.  Doing real well and getting back to normal.

April column

First thing on my list today is to report that I will be closed the first 10 days of April. I am having a little surgery on my shoulder and not sure how long before I can drive. So don't forget me and come in when you see my flag out.

Do you believe in synchronicity: I do and love to see it pop up in my life.

One day a couple weeks ago I left the store a little early so I could go to the local country store to pick up a bag of oatmeal that I had ordered. So it took me on a different highway to go home from there. I had the radio on to this oldie's country music. A song was on by Jimmy Dean called Big Bad John. The split second that it came to the part of the song when he sang about him going to the Promiseland, I looked up and was passing a country church with a huge sign (you guessed it) Promiseland! It was really like I had just received a message from someone. You could call it God, The Universe, My higher self, what ever your belief. But it was real and I smiled all the way home with a feeling that I had someone watching over me and they just wanted to give me a little nudge to remind me.

Consider the Butterfly

by

Carol Lynn Pearson

I have believed in synchronicity for many years. I have often read a word that I had never heard of and in the same day seen it on a billboard. When I saw this book I knew I had to read it. The author talks about how you can find meaning in your life by watching for these “coincidences” She calls it “transforming your life thru meaningful coincidence”. Carol finds things almost daily that make her believe that there is someone watching over her. The title of the book comes from an event that in a single day at least 8 phrases about butterflies came into her life that gave her meaning to connect with a child she had lost that had an affection for butterflies. I challenge you to watch for these “coincidences” in your life, and remember there are no coincidences!

I have never actually read and entire “diet book” But I was intrigued with this one when I saw the author on one of the TV Doctor shows. I would call it a nutrition book and after my report I think you will see why.

The Happiness Diet

by

Tyler Graham & Drew Ramsey, MD

The first part of the book gives a very clear explanation of how we have eaten for centuries and what the turning point was that completely changed our eating habits and for the first time in history, too much food is making us sick. They refer to the Modern American Diet (MAD) that is expanding our waistlines but also starving our brain resulting in a big increase in obesity and depression and they explain how they are linked. I found that sugar is the number one “bad mood” food, no real surprise there. I find it interesting how in the last 100 years or so we have discovered so many “new” diseases and disorders while at the same time we have greatly increased consumption of sugar and other refined foods to the extent that for those who eat the MAD diet are most likely to be sick or depressed. I have actually tried to avoid all processed foods and chemical additives like artificial sweeteners for the last 2 weeks. I have focused on whole grains, fruits, and veggies. Also I tried to not eat anything that listed more than 3 ingredients. I honestly can say that I have more energy. I think this is all stuff that we already really KNOW, but it becomes to easy to ignore. Maybe we need to stop ignoring the elephant in the room.

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

I enjoyed this teen fiction book. It is the first in a series of 3 books. If you like apocalyptic novels, you might want to find all three books to read. The Uglies is set several hundred years in the future where the Rusties (people of our time period) have left the civilized world in ruins. Living in a Utopian world a young girl named Tally is getting ready to turn 16 and go thru the transformation surgery to make her beautiful and give them a new personality. But she meets Shay who is a rebel and takes her on a trip to the Smoke, which is a primitive settlement in the frontier where the rebellious Uglies go to avoid the operation. The theme of conformity against individualism is strong. Tally eventually learns that she isn't ugly at all and she fights to avoid being forced to conform. I think it was a well written book and can see why the younger crowd would enjoy reading this. The second book is called Pretties.

Lastly I want to mention that a gentleman came into my store this last week. He also writes a column for this paper so you will be familiar with him. Randy Turner has written three books now related to the Joplin tornado,May 22, 2011. I will be carrying them in my store to sell if anyone is interested in them. The first one is Spirit of Hope and is about the tornado and the events afterward. The second is 5:41 and is about the rebuilding of Joplin. The third is Scars-from the tornado and it is composed of personal accounts, mostly from Mr. Turners students of how they survived and are recovering. It looks like he has done a really good job to document this historical event.