Busy...ness

 You might think Butch and I haven't been doing much. Surprise! Yes, we have. Butch has continued helping Leo with the taking down of over 30 trees due to ash bore. For two days they have been taking turns grinding stumps with a rental stumpgrinder. That is right up Butch's alley! Some of you might remember when we were work camping at Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado and Butch was supposed to pick me up for lunch at 11:30 AM. At 2:00 PM I sent people to look for him. He was in a "stump grinding" zone and was oblivious of the time. Who knew he would get to stump grind again?

I have done various crafts for years. I tried to think back to when I set all of it aside and it is fuzzy. However, I think it coincided with the buying of the Jefferson house because now it is mostly done and I find myself looking for something interesting to do. My search actually started with a casual remark made by a Swedish Weaver in Texas. I was at the annual show where crafts are featured. Of course, I checked out the Swedish Weaving section. I was asked if I knew how to do a nun stitch, which is a finishing stitch for the edge of an afghan or throw and I said "Yes". So I mentally put that on my todo list to make sure I remembered. So that is why I started digging into my craft supplies, starting with my Swedish Weaving items. I was surprised and pleased to see I had everything I needed for quite a few projects.

There were two projects that were partially finished so I decided it was a good time to finish them.  This is one of them.  The finishing row by the fringe is called an Italian stitch. And below that is the finished throw.

The other project was a piece that someone else started and quit on, then giving it to me. The fabric (Monks Cloth) was of poor quality so I tore out the beginning yarn and started fresh with my own design. I gave it away before getting a photo. 

I have enough fabric for several more projects.

So then I had so much fun doing that I decided to get back to my beading. In my opinion, the difficulty level is a step or two up from Swedish Weaving, not that that matters. I have far more supplies for beading! I need to do something like sell it or bead with it! So I decided to make one of the easier bracelets. And here is a photo of it. It takes far less time to gain a finished project in beading but far more knowledge. I had to contact another beader I know to get started.

I made this one yesterday but got carried away and it is much too large for me! And there are some flaws that only a beader would know. I may take it all apart and start over. You know, pride in your work counts.

I am enjoying these crafts again! I plan to keep at it for a while. And now you know!