That time of year

It's the time of year that I get pulled in many many directions.

It's been a unique spring and summer.

This pandemic thing has altered my plans - no weekend vendor events.  And no sales of inventory....

I'm still working in town at my part time job during the week.

Doing errands and such for the parents to keep them somewhat contained takes up some of my time, too.

This is the latest warp I have put on the Union.  It's navy blue, natural and a dark burgundy/red.

Undertones of patriotic. 

I have not been inspired to weave much lately...

Might be that I'm not going to events and getting the feedback that helps me choose where to go next?

Or maybe it's that there is so much to do around the place - like mowing - which hasn't happened because the lawn tractor is in the shop.  May need to turn the horses or cows into the yard it's getting so deep!

Or maybe it's because I get offered the distraction of helping with the cows - which involves horses :)

My daughter took this picture of me aboard Bucky - following a group of cows to their fresh pasture.

At this point I had kicked my feet out of the stirrups and was starting to feel the effects of horseback sorting and trailing these cows up and down the coulees and hills.

It's been quite some time since I've spent any considerable time in the saddle.

Before I moved here, I was working so many hours that I had no energy or at times daylight to even consider riding.

And since I've been here, I've dealt with the injury. 

Ruptured hamstring - Tore the thing right off the left seatbone.   Five follow up surgeries trying to clear up the infection in the bone and around the anchors that were used in the original repair.

All in all, I am actually a bit surprised that I am not even more uncomfortable than I am.

I am really tight in the hip, lower back and seat.  Really no independent seat left. 

I think the rest of my body did its best to automatically protect my seat, as I am muscle sore everywhere!   Neck, shoulders, abs, back, and even my calves!

It took a bit to find a stirrup length that worked.  I like a long leg, but we put the stirrups up 2 holes, and I think another hole might be even better if we go out again soon.   Mid ride I started to get short periods where I was able to relax and let my seat do what it should, so there is hope that it's not gone forever!

Bucky took good care of me.  He is very well trained and responsive to me and I never have to fight with him at all.  Only thing is he is very tall!  I need a bucket to get on him!  LOL

Bucky is my son in laws horse -- I was so long without riding my own, my girls have either aged out, or developed health issues that keep me from riding them.  I'm hoping my youngest mare, Flutter, who is blind in an eye will go to stud.  If we can find one we like nearby that is.

Anyway,   I'm hoping I find some inspiration to get some more weaving done.  But if not, a rest and reset may be what I need right now.

All for now,
JULIE

Dribs and Drabs

I've been throwing the bits and pieces of leftover weft strips in bags, and totes and corners...  :)

The dribs and drabs of weft when I was doing a pattern in a rug, or a certain length.

The other day whilst looking for what to weave on that blasted bright green warp, I started consolidating all those little stashes.

I finally decided to do something with these. 

I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out or if I would be terribly disappointed with the resulting rug.

I was basically weaving randomly.  I would do a solid and then a pattern usually.  And I like the colors to play nice next to each other, but I didn't lay them out before I started.

They ended being kinda cute!

In the end, I had to do yet another rug to get to the end of the warp.

Three different bed sheets and a little bit of brown sheet between each color.

And finally that warp was done.

I've been weaving away on the table runner warp, and took a few off the beam and finished those and wound on the next warp on the union for the next bout of rugs.

Since my last post, I've had a birthday and now today mothers day.  I got treated with meals and even a visit from daughter #2.  Son couldn't make it, but that's ok. 

It SNOWED yesterday and is right at freezing now.  Where did spring go?!?

So this past week, another early summer event I had paid into has been cancelled.  And the smaller events that sign ups would be just showing up now in my mailbox, are being announced as cancelled for the year.

Sigh.  Very irritating and distressing.

All for now,
JULIE

No rules in rag rugs

On occasion, I will run into someone who is looking at my rugs who will say, I didn't think you could do it this way.  Or even more strongly, you can't do it this way, or use that fibre, or that pattern, or etc etc etc.

I am self taught.  I got the loom at an auction sale.  I figured out how to warp on my own, prep rags, weave,  finish, etc.

That being said, I do a lot of reading, looking around asking of questions.  So I'm not TOTALLY self taught.  I didn't recreate the wheel or anything!

I've always been the type of person who is willing to try something, to see if it works.

Or to do something another way, since I might not have the 'right' tool, or material, or technique.

I think it's freeing to not have such artificial constraints on me!

Sometimes I have a good result, some times not so much.  But I learn something and can apply it to the next big experiment!

These are rugs that I finished this weekend wouldn't have come into being if I had followed all my own 'rules'.

They are made out of polyester.   Strike one.
They are stretchy.  Strike two.
They are not your normal rug making fabric.  Strike 3.

But I liked the color, and from experiencing another fuzzy type material in a rug (that was a request to use from a friend)  I decided it was worth trying it out.

They make some really squishy, fuzzy, delightful rugs.

They aren't very heavy.  They aren't stiff.  And I don't think i would use them in a heavy traffic area because they would probably get matted and not look great pretty quickly.  But I think they would be heavenly beside a bed or other such area that could use a soft and warm place for some toes.

I pretty much live my life the same way.

I am a person who wants to know the rules so I can follow them -  but if the 'rules' are arbitrary or don't make sense to me, I do my best to find out why they don't make sense and if I can't, I do my best to work around them, or get them changed. 

I think I drive some people crazy, because I 'do things differently'.   But I also hear from many people that "Julie is good at everything".   I don't agree with that, but I do agree that I am good at trying new things.

That is something I have tried to instill in my children, and also in the many 4-H club members I have interacted with over the last 30+ years.

So the takeaway from this is this.

"No rules" doesn't mean to be a rule breaker.

It means to me 'Be an innovator'.

All for now,
JULIE