A crime scene and a frog.

We are having a monster rain storm.

If it were snow, we would be buried, but it's 50 degrees outside,  so it's rain.

I don't really mind, this is where I'm spending my afternoon.

I haven't been doing much dyeing, but another weaver asked me to 

dye this for her.

My daughter said it looks like a crime scene.

It dries overnight in front of my Toyotomi heater....which also keeps the studio toasty, 

for not a lot of money.

Willie is overseeing my work.

Here it is, dry and chained.  She approved, and it is on its way to Illinois.

These towels just came off the loom, 

I seem to be into plaids lately, not sure why, but they were fun to weave.

My youngest daughter bought me this tree, and it's about as festive as I get......

Except for this little light, $1.50 at Big Lots.

It does occasionally bubble like it's supposed to, and brings back memories of being enchanted and somewhat envious of the Christmas tree that my aunt and uncle put up every year.

Ok, let me tell you about the rabbit hole that I have just fallen in.

My youngest daughter is Dale's mother, and the other day she told me

about an Instagram that she lets Dale watch, about a frog.   The Instagram

site is IndiaRoseCrawford, if you are interested. She has 1.6 million followers,

and she makes frog videos.

Dale is obsessed....addicted, to this little green frog.

When questioned, the maker of the frog, says that she does not make them to sell, oh no, 

she is far too busy making videos.  If you visit her on Instagram, you will

understand.

But she did direct me to a lady in France, owner of the pattern to make the frog.  I ordered 

it and downloaded it to my computer

My daughter says she did not ask me to make the frog.

And to be fair, she did not. 

She did, however, know perfectly well that I would take the bait.

And take the bait I did.

This little frog doesn't have a name, although I admit to calling him a few.

I admit to having great admiration for the creator of this pattern, even while I cursed it, and her.

So, here's the upshot.

Yarn in correct weight and color:  $32

Armature wire for his arms and legs:  $6

Plastic safety eyes that almost caused me to 

have a nervous breakdown putting the backs on them: $7

Polyester stuffing, smallest bag I could find:  $7.99

Knitting needles size 0,  the only needles I didn't have,

because who wants to knit on 

needles that small:  $11

Glue stick, pack of 2: $3.99

Labor:  6 hours more or less.

All I can say is that I hope her surprise, and the look on her face

when she sees him is:  Priceless.

First snow.

This was pretty much the first snow fall, not enough to plow, but that's coming, for sure.

If I'm not paying to mow the lawn, I'm paying to plow the snow,  that's the way of it.

It is pretty.

I actually don't mind winter, as long as the sun shines.  

When it's terminally gray, like it has been lately, that gets kind of old.

The sun really makes all the difference.

We walk every morning, and this morning was pretty cold.

During the day I'm in the studio, but in the evening, you will find me and the dogs cozied

up right here  in the living room.

These pictures are actually deceiving, they look so neat......not shown is the sofa, where we ALL sit together.......and the ottoman which is covered with my books and whatever

else I am doing at the moment.

 So not all that photograph friendly.

After FIVE years of not knitting, I have started again.

My English mother taught me how to knit when I was 4, and I have knitted all my life.  For

some reason 5 years ago, I stopped.   And I couldn't get going again, even though I tried.

Fast forward, and just recently, I was motivated to try once more.  This time it worked.

I'm glad, it's very Zen, and thus very soothing, especially on long winter evenings.

I did just finish 22 towels, and hopefully will soon have the cupboard full again.

I usually have a color scheme and pattern picked out in my head for my next warp, long 

before the one I am working on is done.  

It's an addiction, clearly.

Sometimes on a gray day, I turn on all the lights in the studio, just to brighten things up.

That loom is where Lois weaves, she likes her spot by the window.  I try not to change anything in her little world over there.

This is where I'm weaving  at present, but a new loom is coming, and things are going to have to shift a bit.

On the left is my  computer/sewing  corner.   

So there was a gas fireplace here, that replaced the old wood burning one, that was falling apart, and not very efficient.   Over the last 18 years, I have used the fireplace about 5 times, and then not for long.   L and I really don't like to be quite that toasty in here.  We are working.  If I get cold, I put on a sweater....novel idea, right????   and L is NEVER cold.  Then I found a bat in the studio, because the gas insert did not fit perfectly and there was a space of about 1/2".   The bat was escorted out, with no contact, and he flew away, not happy about the whole daylight thing.

And I had the gas insert removed.   Yay.

So now it is sealed, and insulated and just waiting for "something".   I have not yet come up with something inspiring.  

I have thought of a mural, a painting, wall paper, paint......what?

 I would attempt to draw a village on it, but the idea of getting down there to do that, with my knees, is not something I really think is doable.  Guess I should have done it on the wood BEFORE it was installed.

  I need some ideas......

and you know I don't want "blah".  

I want something unique......but what????   

I know one of you will hit the nail on the head.......!!!

Still

I wonder sometimes if you are all sick of seeing what I'm weaving.....

My life does seem to revolve around it, so there's that.

It really makes me happy, but you probably already know that.

I've also been busy doing things to my house, because my house also makes me very happy.

It's home......and that's powerful.

New stair runner.

I also have spent a great deal of time getting ready for the Hudson Mohawk Weavers' guild show that I do 

every year.

It was last weekend, and I am happy to say that I did VERY well.  Over for another year, big sale on what's left, starting Friday after Thanksgiving, on my FB page, Crazy as a Loom Weaving.   Then I can start weaving for next year.  

Oh, the planning!

I am not sure what these are called.  We see them on our morning walks with the dogs.  Something to do with spiders???

My spoiled dogs get walked every single morning.  It's not a LONG walk, but apparently it 

is mandatory, and they seem happy with it.  I don't always want to do it, even though I usually

enjoy it, and I know it's good for me.

I know I've shown you my new bathroom, but the sun was coming through the 

window just right, and I wanted to show you the "window treatment" I chose.

No curtains, no shade, just a frosted coating with birds.

I've also done a little dyeing, but I plan on ramping that up after Christmas.

I have so much yarn to dye.

This one of the jackets I took to the show, it sold pretty quickly.

The warp and the weft were hand dyed.

It might be one of my favorites.

And yes, it has pockets!

This is an evening photo of my favorite upgrade.  There was a dishwasher

on the left, and a gas stove on the right.  I hated the dishwasher, and never used it.

The stove always smelled like propane to me, little whiffs of it here and there.  I 

had the gas company come, and they basically said it was me, not the stove.

So I got rid of both of them.  

Damn, did that feel good.

On the left......one cupboard with pullout shelves for my pots and pans, and to the right

of it, my trash can and recycle bin!!!

The stove is my new Induction Range, and I cannot say enough good things

about it.

AND.........no more whiffs of propane.

I love this new space.

For those of you who have followed my blog for years, I tell you this.

L, who has been with me since 2010, my apprentice, my friend, my accomplice, has Alzheimers.   It's ok to put it here, because she can't find my blog anymore.

It's a loss I cannot comprehend.

I make sure that she has lots of easy things to weave, because while she cannot thread or count treadles, her muscle memory is spot on, and she can weave plain weave and do a great job.

So I make sure that the loom is ready for her always....it gives her purpose every day, until it doesn't.

Lots of changes in my life, Bill, Sydney, now Lois.  

I have come to understand on a deep level, that finding joy and serenity in this day, is all 

that really matters.

So I continue.

Thanks,  for being out there, still, after all these years.

Sydney

Anyone who knows cats, knows that they are very good at hiding just

how sick they are.

Right after my last post, Sydney started walking into walls, and doors.   She stopped

using the litter box, and was definitely in distress.

I took her to my vet, who explained that she was in kidney failure, and her BP was

probably so high, that it caused retinal detachment and sudden blindness.

With my heart breaking, I let her go.

She came here in 2009, was hiding in my barn.  She weighed 6 lbs and 

was very pregnant.

She's been here ever since, and she could never get enough to eat.

She was in charge, no matter how many cats we had in the studio, or even when dogs 

came to stay.

She was the queen, and she knew it.

Before I lived at the studio, we used to call her the "Walmart Greeter", because 

she ran to greet everyone who came in the door.

After we moved here, she got spoiled with having people around all the 

time, so she stopped doing that, only greeting a select few.

She was a presence in this old house, and getting used to this empty space she left won't be easy.

Also, before we lived here, she was allowed to sit in a box on the kitchen counter.

That was when she could still jump up there.

The box became so ripped and flattened because she was too big for it, so much so that 

one of her fans send me a roll of fancy duct tape to reinforce it.

She was a big girl with a beautiful face and expressive eyes.

She didn't feel one bit bad about her size.

She had the shortest little legs, we called them "bunny legs".

She may have had a rough start in life, but for the last 14 years, she has lived her 

best life, even going out the dog door into the dog yard the last two years.

I think she's winking at me here.

Good bye sweet girl.

You will be so missed.

Her two buddies looked dazed for a while, like they just didn't get it.

They knew who the boss was.

"So now who's running this joint?"

Updates

Eighteen years ago, when I bought this old house for my weaving studio, I put a gas fireplace in the old fireplace.  Over the years, I have only used it a few times.   In fact, I didn't like it.

Besides, weaving warms you up so you don't need extra heat.

Just a while back, I found a LIVE BAT in the studio, a few feet away from this old fireplace.  The gas insert did not fit perfectly, and I think the bat squeezed through the half inch space around it.

That was reason enough to get rid of the fireplace.    I have also wanted to to reduce any gas consumption in the house.   So I had it taken out, and my contractor, who happens to be L's brother, put insulation board in the opening, and then made this awesome piece to block it off permanently.  I have not decided yet.......leave it alone, or stain it a light shade.   I don't want to paint it.

Weaving continues,  getting ready for the Hudson Mohawk Guild Show coming up Nov10th.....

I decided to make a Naya cloak, and a Möbius shawl.

So far I have about 100 towels, and 45 pieces of clothing.

Since I am no longer doing shows, this guild show is my only 

selling venture of the year.

Right after the guild show, I will be having a HUGE sale on my Crazy as 

a Loom Weaving FB page, with 30-50% off everything.

So if you do not follow my FB biz page, you should.

I'll announce it here when it's happening.

I have a lot of returning customers who don't live close enough

to do the guild show, and they get a lot of their 

Christmas shopping done when I have this blowout.  I really like to 

empty the studio, and start over for the new year.

I never thought I would love this loom so much....one of my two Louet David III looms.

I thought I needed a computerized multi harness loom to be productive, but that is obviously

not true.

For all of you who have followed me for the last decade......this is my sweet 

grand daughter Dale......who just turned 10.    

How I love this girl.

And her is another girl........she is about 16 now........

Miss Sydney Sue.......who used to sit on the counter in a box.

Now she is too arthritic to get up there.

She had some serious matted fur on her back, so just recently, she went to 

the groomer, and got shaved.

I was worried about doing it to her, but now I realize that she must have 

been uncomfortable, because she is now revived...

Very vocal, very loving.

She has also found the dog door.

She used to just go out on the screen porch, but then she realized that she

could go out, and in, and out......

So now she goes out and lies in the grass in the dog yard.

She's too fat to climb over, so it's safe.  

She is always in by dark.

So I believe she is living her best life.

The nights are cool, and today was clear and sunny.

I love autumn.

Until next time.

Transitions.

When I bought this old house back in 2005, I fell in love with the old "pantry".  

I'm sure this was where they stored all their canned goods and probably 

everything else, since there are really no closets in houses built this long ago.

For many years, I made good use of this space.  At first it was filled with rolls of 

fabric for rag rugs, and then when I changed it up after my head injury,

and started weaving clothes and towels and yardage, these shelves were full of cones of 

yarn.

I used to have to use a small step ladder to get to the top shelf.

The cupboard on the right was my "tool" and miscellaneous stash.

Not seen in the photo are the frames of two "cut outs", places I imagine

that were used to hand stuff out to the old kitchen, and the dining room.

Here's another blast from the past, back when I was weaving all those SOCKS.

These were the chair pads, that we sold as "Sweet Bottoms".

Lois was cleaning out the barn at her house, where she used to weave on an

old Weaver's Friend loom, and found a dozen of these that never made

it back to the studio.

I'm sure they will find new homes.

Back to the pantry...............I decided that it was time for a change.   I don't need the volume of

thread that I used to.  I am not weaving production anymore.   And being honest and realistic, it's time for a downstairs bathroom.   

Oh, yes, I am fully capable of going up and down stairs at present, but we know, don't we, how quickly time goes by, and how surprisingly life can change.

So if in the event, I am more comfortable NOT going up and down the stairs in this old house, I could conceivably live downstairs.

This renovation has gone on all summer, and I am very pleased with it.

It is, however, very gray.

There's  a grab bar to go on the wall yet, 

I requested a different shower head, so this is the new one that's in there now.

Today I finally decided to go buy some towels.   On the Friday of Labor Day Weekend, 

right before school starts.

Not my smartest move.

It was mobbed at Target.

But I was on a mission, so I persisted.

I was looking for a "pop" of color.

I think I found it.

If you zoom in, you might be able to see the frosted film on the 

window, with birds in it.

I am still not convinced that I will leave the window that way, even

though you can't see through it.

It looks out on the "inside porch".

That's the excitement around here.  I plan to stay home for the weekend, as I

am not a fan of crowded places, and everyone will be out and about celebrating.

One very positive thing in my life is that I have finally gotten off the drug

Metoprolol, that I took for a year and a half, during my atrial fibrillation episode.

I am not a fan of a lot of medicine, I resist taking it almost every time

it is prescribed.  I took the Metoprolol because I was so miserable with AF.

But I haven't had AF  since last October, and I finally called the cardiologist who did my ablations, and he said I could stop it.

It's been a week now, and I am amazed at how good I feel.

I can actually say that I feel more like myself than I have felt in a very long time.

So there's that.

Always a reason to be grateful.