overwhelmed....

....and exhausted!  I am home, safe and sound.  Here is a quick summary of the weekend, in just one photo....

(my sister made me promise to share this on the blog)

A great big thank you to everyone for their support, acknowledgement, encouragement, and kind words.  So much love and sweetness this weekend, that is for sure.  Wowza.

I will be back soon with a full report. But first I am going to go and spend some quality time with my couch - I think it missed me!  :-D

Binding begins

Last night I decided to just bite the bullet and get started on binding Jumbo.  I was feeling a little tired to do much more than just sit on the couch, so this was perfect - minimum movement required.  Once I got everything set up, of course!

I unwound my whole roll of black twill tape the night before, washed and rinsed several times while the dye gushed out....then put the whole mess in a folded towel and stomped on it several times to sponge out most of the water.  It was dry by morning...and I set about pressing it last night.  Once all of the wrinkles were gone, I loosely wound it back into a roll.....and then set about trying to convince myself that I should really embroider it before I start.  It was a fierce debate - between my wise self and my tired self....but eventually my wise self won.  So the sewing machine came out, and after a couple of false starts (poor 1st thread choice, lazy lack of bobbin change, etc.)....the words were on there.  I am by no means an expert, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  Not quite perfect, but then, few things are....

I am basically using this technique....with a few tweaks.  I am actually sewing the binding tape on the loop side first, then basting the RW in place, and finishing with the tape on the underside of the rug.  I progress through each step, a couple of feet at a time....and have three threaded needles on the go to speed things up.  As I make my way across the edge, I shuffle my body along the couch to keep pace.

And it was pretty speedy.  I ended up getting about 1/6 of it done (~6+ feet) in 3.5 hours of TV time.  Much faster than whipping!  And it's looking very promising that it will be finished in time for displaying at the Annual.... :-)

hard to ignore....but not impossible

You would think that this sight (including the three teetering stacks of flannel and the rug log that I have to step over each time I go past) would be enough to spur me into action when I'm home.  But alas I have spent most of the last couple of nights on the couch, cuddled up under a blanket - too 'tired' from my day at work to do much else. In fact, I'd like to just lay there all day today.  Don't we all just have days like that.... ;-)

Luckily I've recruited my mum (again!) to come over this weekend to dye.  This attempt at scheduling should help me stick to my plan, and soon the place will be awash in wool dust while I snip and rip and cut the lot.  The prep work for the Annual is going well, maybe that's what's causing me to be such a slacker...?  Probably - when I have a lot to do, I usually get it all done....but when I have just a little to do, I often get nothing done.  Inertia. 

Jumbo goes on a crash-diet....

Today has been filled with more unpleasant and annoying events than is fair (beginning with my return to work and finishing with the snow that's currently falling outside, with lots of in betweens), and I'm looking forward to a whole new day tomorrow.  This is actually my third attempt, since 8:15am, at posting today....and fingers crossed that it's the charm!

Yesterday PP (Princess Pfaff - my trusty sewing companion) and I headed up to my mum's to perform lypo on Jumbo.  We chose a nice sunny day on purpose, since we thought it would be a lot easier to confine all of our activity to just one location - the deck - and reduce the amount of furniture moving, shuffling, etc.  required to make a big enough space for Jumbo to lie down and be unrolled and rolled again several times. 

 We set up the sewing machine at one end of a big table and arranged some chairs to help support Jumbo, as it passed through the machine.

One side at a time, I pulled a thread (snipping it in several shorter pieces), about 13-14 threads out from the edge of my last row of hooking.  The pulled thread serves two purposes: it acts a guide for zigzagging (sewing on the hooking side of the gap), and also helps to reduce the amount of fraying after it's cut (since you mostly have just end pieces of cotton, not sideways pieces as well - they are either caught up in the stitches or cut off, since you cut in the 'ditch' where the thread used to be).  I always use the stretch zig-zag (marked with the dotted line zigzag - each zig is comprised of 3 stitches, and so is each zag) to finish the edge of backing.  It seems to be a lot more stable than any other option, including serging (IMHO, of course!) 

Once we 'loaded' it onto the chute, I sat and stitched and mum manhandled the rug....moving it along the queue, trying to keep the unrolled section flat, pushing and pulling.  Several times we remarked that we didn't know whose job was worse - but we agreed that neither job was easy!  LOL!

After the first pass, the excess rug warp was trimmed off, and then we sewed a second row for insurance.   Next the rug was unrolled and then re-rolled with another side facing out....and the process was repeated.  And repeated.  And repeated.  And then we re-rolled it one last time, so that it was rolled along the short side - and it could fit in my car for the trip home again...

So now it's lying on the floor again in the middle of my living room, waiting for the serious hand-sewing that awaits.  It's a brand new week, and I'm hoping that there is lots of time in the evenings for sitting and sewing....

since Monday

Well this week isn't quite working out exactly as I had planned....perhaps because I didn't really have a refined or defined plan...? It has been very enjoyable so far, though.....but I am starting to feel the need for a swift kick in the butt to help me improve my productivity. Thinking about the long list of things that need to happen between now and the Annual is enough to bring on a panic attack.

So since Monday, I've...

• read 2 books
• been to the gym twice (for the first time this year)
  
• cooked a delicious salmon dinner (with yummy leftovers :-D)
• ripped up a couple of dozen yards of wool (it still litters my floor....)
• steamed and squared Jumbo
  
• Dyed and dried 27 skeins of slub
• had a haircut
• Fabreezed and sunned the stink out of my latest shipment of sari ribbons and yarns
  
• visited my local quilt shop that is (sob!) closing, and scooped up a few more batiks and met a local rug hooker for the first time, while I was there.
• done 4 loads of laundry
• gone grocery shopping
• made a shambles of my mud room by taking out 1/2 of the boxes from the closet and being too busy dyeing to put them back.
• made a shambles out of my whole place, actually. Too many piles of things on almost every surface. That (hopefully) ends tonight.

So to recap the steaming.....basically the new steamer is the Cat's Ass. It is awesome. I used to think the Elna press rocked the rugs I've hooked, but now I know that it's just a long-lost cousin of my Rowenta DG5030 Pressure Iron & Steamer. It makes miracles happen right before your eyes. I had some serious wows and waves along the borders, but they have now vanished. I was pretty worried earlier this afternoon, when I was just starting. I thought there was no way that I was going to get one of the long sides to lay flat. But a couple of steaming sessions later, it looked just as good as the other side.

Armed with tape measures, rulers, pencils and paper, we set about the big job of blocking the ginormous rug (actual measurements today were 128" by 93"....so 10'8" by 7'9") Because of the sheer size of Jumbo and my desire to really straighten all of the edges, I did try something I've never done before - I nailed it in place while it dried. Yes, this made for extra work, but it was very much worthwhile IMHO.

My Mum and I were having a hard time getting everything squared (90º corners), but after a quick consultation with my Dad we knew the secret -- measure the two diagonals (they should be the same). Apparently this is what builders do for walls....and it appears to have done the trick for Jumbo, too. The two diagonal measurements, from corner to corner, should be identical (as should the measurements for each of the two sets of parallel sides, obviously). We had to do a little shifting on one side by 1.5" or so, but once that was done, it was simply a matter of holding it in place with nails (small finishing nails, placed about every 6" or so. The finishing nails have such small heads that it's easy to make little adjustments without having to change the nail position (just lift off the backing and then place it over the nail in another place to stretch or retract the edge). I tried to place the nails about 1" outside of the hooking (to allow for wiggle room and adjustments), and made sure they were inserted in between the backing threads (not splitting them)

Because the sun was so warm, it dried very quickly. I did end up re-steaming most sections of the rug a couple of times, and then did one last final tour around the outside edge to tweak it a bit more.

The next step is to zig-zag around the edges and trim off the excess rug warp....but as we've decided it's a 3-person job, I still have to coordinate a good time for that with my sister. It's so great to have family so close by! :-D

P.S. I know that the steamer is pricey, but I think it would make for a great group or guild purchase. Or hey, you could always recoup your investment by charging your hooking friends each time they want to use it -- $5-10 per rug would pay for it PDQ, especially when they see what an amazing job it does, and so quickly..... ;-)

Dear Jumbo....

Dearest Jumbo,

I'm writing today to let you know that I'm setting you up on a blind date. I recently found her online and I picked her out specifically with you in mind. I really think she's just what you've been patiently waiting for, these last few weeks. Here is her snapshot....


Doesn't she look amazing? I know she may seem a little bit like a mail-order Bride, but are you excited or what? It seems so many people are meeting their soulmates online these days, and who knows you better than I do? We've spent so much time together these last months. I'm planning to introduce you formally, later this week, when the weather is right for a nice picnic out on the deck and the two of you can enjoy the Spring weather and get to know one another a little better.

I have a funny feeling that the two of you are going to hit it off right away, and I expect you'll be spending quite a bit of time together. A lot of intimate time together, if you know what I mean...
Now, I don't want you to feel nervous, but sometimes in these situations things can happen quite quickly. Not always, but sometimes - you form a immediate bond and in no time at all, it can get very hot and very steamy. Regardless of the outcome, remember to just relax and enjoy yourself.

There may be a swirl of emotions, as you're stretched and pulled in all sorts of new directions, and sometimes the anticipation of discovering every last inch of one another is almost painful.....but I'll be right there by your side, to make sure that it all goes off without a hitch - and no-one gets hurt.

Until then, rest up my sweet - we're both going to need all of the energy we can muster....

all my love,
Jen xxoo

Week 41: 90 square feet (or thereabouts)

Well, I did it! Finished pulling loops on Saturday night, just after 8 o'clock. Pushed the furniture out of the way as best I could and then rolled it up and ventured into the bathroom to hop on the scales. (I sure hope that I never see such a large number when it's just me standing there - yikes!) When I did the math, it ended up weighing in at a whopping 43.3 pounds. I expect this number will shrink a bit once I cut away the excess rug warp around the edges, but imagine it will still be above 40 pounds. It's just tucked underneath in these pictures - the rug still needs a major pressing/steaming and binding.

It was my mum's birthday today, and we had a lovely day together. My sisters and I took her and AB and some of the kids out for all you can eat sushi feast for lunch (delish!), and then came home and sat around chatting into the evening, with cake and ice cream for supper. Somewhere in there we hauled my rug out onto the deck and attempted a photo shoot. It was impossible to get a proper picture of the whole thing at once.....without the aid of a step ladder or a professional basketball player - and we had neither nearby! Even my tallest sister couldn't get a square shot of the whole thing, while standing on a chair (that's her feet in the next picture - we're all wanna-be foot models in our family, I guess....LOL!). I will wait until later this spring when its a nice day out and spread it down on the grass and shoot it standing up above, on the deck. Hopefully that will do the trick!


Everyone wanted to 'try out' the rug, including the Pat (my parents' lab/Newf cross).....and these pictures help to show a bit of the scale.


I have a whole list of little things I wanted to mention about it, but they're still just darting around in my head, and I need to head to bed. I will try to jott a few down and share in a post later this week. For now, I'm just enjoying a little bit of bliss -- and finally again being able to sit in my living room without having to compete for space with wool bins and piles and the rug itself. Now onto the desperately needed dusting....

Week 40: 84.4 square feet

By the time the weekend arrived, this week was starting to feel like the week that never was -- it flew by so quickly, with just a huge pile of work (real, not fun) in its wake. It was like springing ahead by 5 days, not just an hour. Instead of making up for lost time on Saturday, I took the youngest 3 nieces and nephews tubing....and then went up to my parents for my dad's birthday celebration. We spent a few hours preparing and assembling 32 Cornish Pasties for the feast (once everything is sliced and diced, we have an assembly line and each person is responsible for adding an ingredient...and my two sisters do the sealing and traying. Fun, delicious....and enough for leftovers!)

Needless to say, I'm not quite where I was hoping to be on this end of Jumbo's border....but still pretty good progress considering all but 2 squares were completed yesterday. Just 89 squares left to go, and I will definitely be back at the frame tonight (and hopefully every night this week!) If I can get a good chunk done this week, I should be able to squeeze in the last bit on the weekend - for an even 40 weeks of actual or intended hooking. Wowza! I still can't believe it! The end is soooooo close.....

prep work

I must confess, I didn't pull a single loop last night. Truth be told, my hands were rebelling a little bit, following the marathon session I pulled on Sunday. And yesterday's busy day at work catching up (and sending a whopping 110 emails while I was there, amongst other things) didn't really help. All morning long, I felt like I was 80 years old and suffering from arthritis, while I pecked away at the keyboard....willing my fingers to work properly. It was a lot better by the time I arrived back home, but I still though a little break might be in order.

Rather than completely 'waste' the evening, I decided to do what I can to make the coming evenings' worth of hooking easier. First I popped up my little table and started drawing the gridlines, counting out the threads between the different sized sections, and crossing my toes that it would all align when I got to the other side. And it did! Then I started arranging my knotted bundles of strips.....and was so happy to discover that I'd pre-cut almost enough. I guess spending all of that time over the last few weeks while I've been cut up bundles for the other sides was worth it in the end - I had enough to go this far.....


...and only needed to cut for 9 or 10 more squares (to fill in the holes, above).

But with all of these piles, I did need to come up with a system for keeping my plan straight....and happily discovered that I had more than enough lids from my bins stacked up and waiting patiently until I'm finished with the bins, and they're are ready to go back on the shelf.


When they're all stacked up like this, it doesn't seem like so much is left to do, eh? Just 110 squares to go, plus the checkerboard (the equivalent of 11 more squares). Tonight I begin again....


P.S. Thanks again for all of the Jumbo love....your comments are motivating me to the finish line! xxoo

Week 39: 82.4 square feet

I arrived home at the end of the week, hooking Thursday and Friday nights, Saturday during the day, and Sunday all day and all night. I was on a mission to finish off this side -- and I just made it! Actually, I had a little time to spare, since I also hooked my edge row on the first side (it wasn't until I was mid-second-side that I had settled on what to use, and I've been hooking it in tandem with the rest of the border). Because of all of the vertical rows, I wanted a row of something going all of the way around to help put a halt to the curling that tends to happen otherwise.

I also decided to take a bit of time yesterday morning to fix up the part in the centre that has been bothering me since last year. I knew that if I left it until the very end, that I would be feeling so relieved to be finished that I would just leave it alone. So yesterday was the day, when I felt like I had some 'spare' time to mess with it.....and two hours later it was reborn. It took so long, just because it was very awkward to hook with such a large amount of (heavy) hooking in my lap, but I'm glad that it's now done.


There is the before (above) and here is the after (below)....


On Saturday morning I plotted out all of my wool for the remaining 45 squares, cutting what I needed to finish off this end. Having the colours pre-determined saves a lot of time when I'm hooking.....since I'm making multiple decisions at once, instead of one at a time. I'm going to try and do this with the last remaining side, this week. I'm hoping for a sprint to the finish, but doubting that it's humanly possible to work that much hooking in and around everything else - even the stuff that I can't really ignore for 7 days, like work, cooking and eating, sleeping (I need my beauty rest!), showering, etc. Fingers crossed I make good progress this week....

Week 38: 77.875 square feet

This week's recap is a bit early, since I'm heading out early tomorrow morning and won't get another chance to hook again until it's 'next' week. Despite the short week, I'm pretty happy with my progress and hopeful that I can finish off this end on the weekend that I return - right at the beginning of March.

I read the funniest thing on someone's blog the other day - I'm still chuckling about it a few days later. I can't remember where it was, but basically the blogger had been crocheting a huge (and gloriously colourful) afghan for the past couple of months, and blogging the process. One night she mentioned to her husband how she couldn't wait to be finished, and he replied, "I bet your readers can't wait either." I can relate - and I'm sure you can, too....so my apologies for all of the Jumbo talk over the last couple of years. It will soon be over - I promise (or I will die trying....) - and I, for one, am so looking forward to starting (and sharing!) some new and different projects soon. Oh, so soon.....just 12.125 square feet from now! :-D

P.S. I had grandiose plans of pre-writing a few blog posts or at least taking a bunch of pictures for more of my 'knit parade', but alas just never seemed to make the time (and hooked instead). I will try to blog a bit from the road, even if it's just to post a picture of something interesting I happen upon in my travels....but I expect things will probably be a little quiet around here for the next week or so. Back soon...

Week 37: 75.5 square feet

Before I started hooking Jumbo on Friday, I decided to unroll and re-roll in the other direction. Although I hadn't yet completed the corner, I'd passed the edge of the centre and figured it would be easier to maneuver (and complete the corner) with the new orientation. This rug is getting heavy – 37lbs and counting! (Which needless-to-say makes for a very nasty number when I hop on the scale holding it on my shoulder!) Here is a snap showing 1/2 of the rug.....


With the log now along the 'short' (8 foot!) side, I was thinking it was going to be a lot easier to manhandle...since the log would lie parallel along the back of the frame. Unfortunately my system of supporting it by tying it onto the top bar of the frame and then propping the bulk of the leftover log on a stool was not really working as well with the change in direction -- mostly because the log kept sliding off the stool and making a big thump (and subsequently tugging at the work, etc.) So I had to come up with a new system.....and luckily it's also waaaaaay better......


I ended up turning my couch around, so that I could lay the log across the back. Now when I'm ready to hook, I push my frame right up against the back of the couch, get the backing positioned just so.....and the scoot my loveseat up to the frame, Fred Flintstone style. Big felt feet on the furniture thankfully make this quite easy, and I love how the weight is supported the whole time I am hooking – and even when I'm not – by the couch. My living room looks a little strange, though, and there is not much seating.....so it's a good thing I don't get a lot of company! LOL!


I really should have taken a picture when I stopped hooking last night, but I just wasn't thinking (there is too much light coming in the windows in the daytime). This coming week will be a short week, hooking wise, since I'm leaving on a week-long business trip on Thursday – and Jumbo is not invited! I will take some snaps and post them before I leave with an update...and hopefully the colours will be a lot better. But right now, I'd better get hooking!

Week 36: 71.5 square feet

The rug is getting harder to man-handle, but I'm learning some tricks. The bulk of the already hooked section has been rolled and tied every foot or so, with heavy, strong yarn....and before I even try to position my work on the frame, I've been using some more yarn to secure one of these ties to the top-bar on my frame. This has done a good job of keeping the weight up enough that I can centre and square the part I want to hook on the gripper frames (without gravity skewing it all sideways. I've also started holding up the rest of the 'log', using either a stool for it to balance on, or lately I've just been propping it up on the couch (opposite from where I've been sitting to hook). You can get a bit of an idea of the funny set-up in this picture.....


The last corner is getting much closer, and I hope to be working on a short side sometime this weekend. Of course, that will necessitate another grand unrolling and re-rolling....just so that I can reposition everything and reach the section to be hooking. But it's not all bad - seeing it all at once should be quite motivating for a sprint to the finish. Plus, since it will be shorter, I might not have to hop over it every time I go in and out of my bedroom (or worry that I will forget it's there if I get up in the middle of the night! LOL!)


Speaking of finishes.....I am already starting to stress about how I'm going to press it when done (and regretting not doing the middle all of those months ago). Any suggestions? I usually use an Elna Press and a wet tea towel, but that's not an option -- mine isn't anywhere big enough to accommodate such a huge roll (I'd only be able to do the outside several feet). I'm contemplating buying a proper steam iron - and I'd be grateful for any feedback if you've ever used one before on your work.

Week 35: 68 square feet

I started this past week with a bang, as far as hooking is concerned – hooking almost a square foot on both Monday and Tuesday. Which was a good thing, since I was away for a couple of days after than and I had a bunch of errands and odd jobs that required a bunch of my time on the weekend. All of this means that I hooked almost as much in one week as I hooked in the previous 2 weeks....and I've completed half of this second long side of the border – and the whole border is now half-hooked! Yippee!

I am now more eager than ever to 'just get 'er done'....and hope that I can meet my self-imposed deadline of having it completely finished (including the steaming and binding) by the end of March. Cross my fingers - and toes!

What I learned this week is that some days I just hook faster than others. Take yesterday, for example, when I hooked just 7 squares in about the same time as I was hooking 14 squares earlier in the week. I think I was just tired. And maybe a bit distracted. Yeah, I think that is it. Hopefully I don't have that problem again this week - I'm away on a business trip again this week. Not being here for 3 days will crimp my style a little, but hopefully I can play catch up on the weekend, again.

Happy Monday everyone!

Week 34: 64 square feet

I really had to motor this weekend to meet my self-imposed goal of 3 square feet every week.....and I just squeaked them out. Having my basket of knotted bundles of cut strips definitely saved a lot of time -- but it's amazing how quickly the supply is dwindling. I think I am going to cut and bundle more random colours/textures and just continue pulling from the basket. This simplified approach seems to make selection much easier.

With just another night or two of hooking, I'll be one-third of the way along the long side - a far cry from my plan to be finished this side by the end of January (tomorrow!)....but at least I'm still making progress and not stalled at stop (where I spent most of the beginning of the month). Onward and upward!

Week 33: 61 square feet

Pretty good progress considering I only really hooked yesterday -- and I had a bit of a rough start. During one of my many avoidance sessions, I calculated there were 495 (now 475) 3" squares still to be hooked...so with the checkerboard trim added in, there are just over 32 square feet still to be hooked (or a space about 6.5' by 5'). Now there are a couple of different reactions to discovering this -- and I'm hoping that I am able to continue to see it as motivating (instead of depressing).

I have to go away overnight for work just once this week, so I'm hoping that I can fit it A LOT of hooking every other night when I'm home....and on the weekend, too. I find the momentum of regular hooking can become a bit like a snowball -- and I'm in desperate need of resuscitating this habit.

thank goodness for coffee....

...and the clarity it brings! I finally sat down at the frame this morning, after running out of good excuses for delaying and being overwhelmed with guilt. After a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and sweet salsa (my favourite: 3 pepper blast), I sat down with a cup of green tea and got to work. I settled in quite quickly and was soon pulling loops – and regretting my delay in getting started... (sadly, it isn't going to hook itself!)

After a couple of hours, I stopped for a break to make a latte. When I sat back down and took a look at what I'd accomplished so far....within minutes, I discovered a problem. After a quick double-take at where the squares were starting and stopping, I instantly saw my grievous error: I was off by 1.5"! Basically half of what I'd done needed to be ripped out. I don't know how I managed to miss it before, in all of my many checks....but I am oh, so grateful that I discovered it now. And so early in the process. A major PHEW!

So if you haven't had your cup of coffee yet today, I encourage you to do so....you just never know what you might be missing without it! :-)

Week 32: 58.81 square feet

Although I didn't pull any loops on Jumbo this past week, the counter still adds another week. You see, I'm keeping track of how long it's really taking me to hook this rug -- both weeks when I'm actually hooking and also those when I plan/want/expect to hook, but for whatever reason it just doesn't happen. This week was one of those weeks.

Truth be told, my reintegration to work was not a gentle one....and most every night I can home feeling tired. My brain and my body were both too tired to try to figure out where I needed to start hooking, calculate the shape sizes (notes? what notes...? LOL!) and whether or not it should be a light square or a dark square in the corners. So instead I read, and read some more, watched TV, ate birthday cake, and did some general crafting -- kinda like my 'holiday week', but with more shorter days and several long interruptions :-)

So yesterday, after scrutinizing pictures, flipping them around, counting, re-calculating, sketching, drawing and double-checking, I am feeling pretty confident that I am actually ready to start hooking. But to be certain, I will have one last triple-check tonight....'cause there is the potential for a major screw-up, and I don't want to figure it out only after hooking another 15+ square feet. That would require medication. A lot of medication.

Week 31: 58.81 square feet

Well I did it! I met my short-term goal of being finished the long side before Christmas. After pulling the last loop late yesterday afternoon, I quickly started pulling back the furniture to make room on the floor for the grand unrolling....

(the colour is a bit more true in this next photo - without any flash. At this time of year I find taking photos a real challenge -- complicated all the more from the sheer girth of Jumbo)

Even after pulling stuff out of the way, it was a tight squeeze -- and impossible to see all of the way to the ends. I was immediately struck with one thought: "it sure is big!" immediately followed by "I must be crazy...." I don't know what I was thinking when I embarked on this ginormous project , but I'm totally invested now -- in more ways that one.

I do really like it, though....especially how the border is a bit darker than the centre, but still relates. I was a bit worried that the colours I chose more-or-less at random from my shelves for the border might not fit with the rest of the centre, but it works. At this point, I'm wondering if it really needs anything else on the outside edge (and I don't think this is just because I am eager to be finished.... LOL!)

P.S. Jumbo's current weight is a whopping 29 pounds -- it sure isn't pretty to see that number on the scale (I hop on holding the rug, and then again without it and calculate the difference)

Week 30: 57 square feet

It was a slow start to the hooking week this time around -- I didn't pull a single loop until Saturday afternoon. Luckily, it was a relaxing winter weekend, where I treated myself to just staying home for two whole days. After the last of my Christmas making was complete (late Saturday afternoon), I wrapped the rest of the presents and then mostly just sat around and hooked....and watched 'the Big C' (v. awesome show) on Netflix.

In my photo above, you can see my amazing discovery of the weekend. Up until now, I've been keeping the sausage roll off to the right of my frame as I hook....but this weekend I wondered why I hadn't just been sticking it through the centre hole in the back of the frame. Granted it makes the frame more difficult to man-oeuvre, but everything hangs a little better and it's definitely easier to move my work around on the top. When I'm done hooking for the evening, I just lift it off the grippers and let it fall where it may....

I'm feeling on track to have the long side completed before Christmas (my last night for hooking is the 20th)....and my reward will be unrolling it and seeing how it really looks, when I can see the whole centre and not just a sliver.

My so-called colour planning for the border has been very hap-hazard. When I first started, I would just pick and cut wool for the number of squares I was planning to hook that day/night. Now I prefer to plan for a number of squares at once, and find that an old baking sheet makes this task a lot easier. I basically just arrange the piles of cut strips in the same order I plan to hook them. The little odd bits of similar wool that are hooked in together are plucked at the last minute, just as I start hooking a given square, and then all leftover bits are returned to the same bin.


Since I'm just using up all sorts of little and big bits of wool from my shelves and large basket of skinny pieces, I am more or less just planning as I go. And, I'm getting very good at predicting the amount of wool I need to hook 9 square inches! Now when I cut strips from a bigger piece of wool, I cut enough for another square (or two, if that is all that's left)....loosely tie them in a knot and then place them in a basket. I'm hoping that having this basket of little bundles will speed up the hooking on the other long side, in addition to helping spread colours around. In the almost 200 squares that I've hooked so far, there have been few exact repeats.