A "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" Tale

With the very minimal cover of snow we have in our area this year, it would be my guess that the deer are not being bothered greatly by their natural predator, the timber wolf. When the snow is deep it hinders the deer in running away and escaping a pack of hungry wolves.

It may not be something we enjoy thinking about but it's one of those laws of nature that one specie feeds another. Deer and wolves have both been surviving in our area for many more years than man has been present. Their own method of checks and balances is one with which we perhaps should not interfere.

Neither Papa Pea nor I have seen a timber wolf this winter but we have seen tracks in fresh snow in various spots around the property.

We have many deer and we frequently encounter them as we go in or out of our driveway through the woods. They also have well-trodden paths through the woods and we see them crossing our small hay field often going from one wooded area to another.

There is a particularly big deer that seems to get great pleasure from standing at the curve of the driveway at the bottom of the hay field and taunting the granddogs. The deer stands like a statue glaring as the dogs bound out to the perimeter of their fenced in area barking up a storm. Smart deer knows the dogs can't get close enough to give him a run for his money.

Watching this scenario being played out again a few minutes ago reminded me of a very unusual wolf/deer encounter Papa Pea and I saw and heard years ago.

It was early summer time and we were living on our first piece of property in this area. Papa Pea was out in the west field cutting hay when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a deer burst out of the woods to the south followed in hot pursuit by a wolf. The pair streaked across the open field and disappeared into the woods partially separating our house area from the west field. Papa Pea shut off the tractor and because the windows of the house were all open, I looked out to see if he had a problem. I had not seen the deer and wolf chase as he had so all I saw was him sitting on the tractor staring into the thick woods.

We knew that a doe had birthed twin fawns that spring and was raising them in the big patch of woods. It was into this very area that the deer closely followed by the wolf disappeared. As Papa Pea watched this drama play out, we heard the screaming of what I assumed was most likely the little fawns. Not having seen the deer or the wolf going into the woods, I had no idea what was going on but knew immediately something had happened to the fawns and they were in trouble.

It seemed no more than seconds had passed before both Papa Pea and I heard the sounds of animals crashing about wildly in the woods. Before either of us had a chance to do anything, out of the woods going back in the direction they had come were the deer and wolf. But this time, and we could hardly believe what we were seeing, the wolf was running flat out as fast as he possibly could with the deer chasing him! It was apparently the mama deer and she. was. mad. Both wolf and deer went down the steep hill to the creek and up the opposite bank and disappeared into the woods.

Papa Pea was about to venture into the woods to see if he could locate the fawns, not knowing what carnage he would find.

Before he even got across the field to enter the woods, mama deer came running back again and straight into where her fawns were.

We decided going into the woods with this already extremely upset deer was not the best idea and made the decision to let nature take its course.

The ending to this bizarre happening was a happy one. The fawns survived the incident unscathed. We never knew what actually happened when the fawns, the doe and the wolf were in the woods for those couple of minutes.

All we knew for sure was that the fawns had had a very scary encounter and now knew what The Big Bad Wolf looked like.

Crocheted Rag Rug Tutorial: Part Three

Okay, grab your giant crochet hook and let's work on down the side of your rug where we left off last time. Got that done? Now let's go around a curve.

Here we come to what I'll call the first curve today. I see no center stitch right at the top of the curve so I'm choosing to make 2 single crochets in each of the two center most stitches.

Looks okay to me.

Around we go and down the other side of the rug.

Here's our second curve to work around. I see a stitch at the very top of the curve so I'm going to try to put 2 single crochets in the three stitches at the top of the curve. First increase in the stitch on the right, then in the topmost stitch, then in the one on the left.

That gives a nice round, even curve.

You can see the rug still wants to curl up, but this is not unusual until the rug gets a little bigger. If the curling bothers you, you can lay the rug on an ironing board and using steam, give it a good pressing and it should surrender, relax and lie flat. Just don't panic and put too many increased stitches in your curves at this point.

The third curve increases are going to be done slightly differently because the curve itself is bigger and wider.

I have a pencil stuck through what I'm calling the topmost stitch of this curve. I'm going to do 2 single crochets in the second stitch BEFORE that top stitch, then I'll do one regular single crochet in the stitch right before the topmost stitch, 2 single crochets in the top stitch, one regular single crochet in the stitch immediately following, and then 2 single crochets in the next. So for this curve we have an increase in a stitch, skip making an increase on the next stitch, an increase in the topmost stitch, skip making an increase on the next stitch and then an increase in the next stitch.

That puts you around the curve and on to another long side.

I went on to do the fourth curve the same as the third.

All right, this rug is getting through to me now. I can't coax it to lie flat, it's still curling, so to the steam iron we go.

Voila! Flat as a pancake!

As the rug (and the curves) grows in size, I look at the curve before starting my increases.

Just eyeball it and mark with pins (evenly spaced around the curve is best) where you want to do your increases. (Above is our fifth curve to be worked, if anyone is still counting.)

Every time I finish a curve with the increases, I stop and pull and pat the curve to see if it will lie relatively flat without cupping or waving. If I like the way it looks, I go on. If not, I simply pull out the stitches around the curve and place the increases in different spots or make more or less of them. (Remember that you never make increases along the long sides of the rug . . . only around the curves.)

The next curve, the sixth today, looks a little pointy to me so I'm going to make an increase 2 in the stitch to the right of the point, do a single crochet in the next two stitches and increase 2 in the next stitch. (I'm trying to "fill in" a little on each side of the very end stitches.

That gave me a nice, round curve with no more point.

The bigger your rug gets, the larger your curve will be and (usually) the more spaced apart your increases will be. I've never made more than four increases evenly spaced around a curve, but if you think you need more, try it.

I'd always rather have a rug that cupped slightly ("slightly" perhaps being the operative word) than one with a wavy edge because when laid on the floor, the cupped one will flatten out from being walked on. The wavy one will probably never flatten out.

My rug at this point measures approximately 7-1/4" x 18-1/4".

It feels like I'm getting a little too much cupping so I just did four increases on the right hand side . . .

. . . and will do the same on the left hand one coming up.

Bottom line, don't be afraid of your increasing on the curves. It's a small matter to pull out a curve and try again if you don't like the looks of it. The bigger your rug gets, the more easily it will lie flat. If you take the time to look at a curve and mark your increases with pins or some other markers evenly spaced before doing them, I think it's easier to get a nicely rounded curve.

So how about some pictures from those of you who have had time to start your rug? I'd love to see them.

Next time I'll show you how to end the rug and how to weave in that 6" tail that is still flapping around where you first started the rug.

A Personal Question?

I think it can be generally said that females are born nurturers and caregivers. We are hard-wired to think of other family members (and often lots of people outside of our own families) before thinking of and caring for ourselves.

Creating with my hands has always been a relaxing and fulfilling way for me to re-energize, center myself, turn off my monkey mind and return to some semblance of feeling good about myself and my emotional and physical environment. Reading also is something I enjoy doing immensely.

I can remember a period when our daughter was young and we were spending what seemed like every waking moment trying to carve our homestead from a wild 80-acre piece of land and establish ourselves in what was then a new community. There were years (yes, literally) when I didn't do any hand work . . . or in any way take care of myself. I would allow myself to read when I got in bed at night, but I was usually so tired I would fall asleep within the first ten minutes of cracking the book.

In hindsight, I realize not taking care of myself was a very stupid thing to let happen (well, duh) and I now know it would have been so wise, so much better for my sanity and well-being to have somehow, by hook or by crook, made time to take care of myself. No doubt, it would have been beneficial in more ways than I can count for those around me, too.

I'm going to be big and brave here and admit that although my circumstances have changed and I now have a lot more flexibility of how I manage my time and the direction in which my life goes and flows, I still have a hard time know how to "take care of myself."

So what I would like to ask you, dear readers, if it is not too personal a question, is what specifically do you do to make sure your mind, body and spirit stay in good shape? What works for you? What do you do to take care of yourself?

Crocheted Rag Rug Tutorial: Part Two

Okay, everybody got their glass of wine? I just downed half a bottle trying to get this all written in a halfway understandable manner. I promise you making the foundation row of the rug and getting started on the first couple of rounds will be the hardest part of the whole process. So if you can hang in with me through this, the rest will seem easy.

To start your rug, you'll need to make a chain that will be the basic foundation of the rug. To know how long a chain to make, you need to decide what size you want your finished rug to be. (My demonstration rug is going to be another one about 2' x 3' so we'll work with those measurements.) Simply subtract the width (in this case 24") from the length (36") which leaves 12". Twelve inches will be the length of the chain I will make to start my rug.

Start the chain by making a slip knot about 6" from the end of your fabric.

Here's a close-up of the slip knot on the hook. Make sure your hook is pointing away from the tail and toward the bulk of your strip you're going to be crocheting with.

Then make a chain about 12" long. It took me 26 chains to reach the 12" mark.

This close-up of the chain shows that it looks almost like a flat braid with loops on both sides. For the first time up and down this chain, you will be putting your hook through those loops one at a time and picking up the strip of fabric to make your single crochets. Stay with me, you'll see what I mean.

You have your chain made to the correct length so now we're going to turn and single crochet into each of the loops going all the way down one side of the chain. To do this, with the chain on the left, turn and make a single crochet in the second chain stitch from the hook.

Right in there.

Put your hook through that loop and make your first single crochet.

Continue making a single crochet in each foundation chain on this first side of the foundation row . . .

. . . until you get to the next to the last chain stitch which is the one the pencil is sticking through above.

Starting with this next to the last chain stitch, make 2 single crochet stitches in that stitch and then 2 single crochet stitches in the next stitch which should be at the very end of your foundation row. You will be working close to your slip knot stitch, but don't worry about it, just make sure the slip knot and tail stays to the BACK of your work.

This increase you just made will make your first curve around an end.

Above is a closer look at the curve.

Taking a peek at the back of this curve, you will see your slip knot and tail which probably won't look very smooth or neat. Don't worry about that now. If the lump-bump doesn't straighten itself out, we'll beat it into submission later.

With your foundation row again on your left, continue down the other side making a single crochet stitch in each foundation chain stitch.

When you get to the other end, find three stitches that will be used to make another curve. The center one should be as much at the very middle end of your foundation row as you can find. Above the pencil lead is on the first or right hand stitch. My thumb nail is on the third or left hand stitch. The middle stitch is the closest one to the very end of the foundation row in between the right and left stitch and will count as the second stitch.

Make 2 single crochet stitches in the first (right hand) loop, then 2 in the loop on the very end (middle stitch), then 2 in the loop on the left.

You'll now be ready to start down another long side.

This time around, the only difference will now be that you are inserting your hook into the top loop of a single crochet stitch rather than a chain stitch (of your chain foundation row). This will now continue throughout the rug.

As you go down this row, your rug may start to curl up but don't worry, as we keep building on each side it will get it straightened out and I promise it will lie flat.

You now have a nice curve at each end of the rug and will be making a certain amount of increases around these curves so your rug will lie flat. I know this sounds scary (and I will illustrate more increases in the next tutorial) but you will be making a judgment call as to how many increases and where they should be made on the curve as you go along. When I made my first rug, I obsessed endlessly that I was either making too many increases and my rug would have a wavy edge or not enough and it would end up being a large, cupped bowl. If you just occasionally lay your rug down on a flat surface and give it a little patting, tugging and smoothing out, it's pretty easy to tell where to put the increases and how many.

Since I want this rug of mine to be scrappy and colorful, my fabric strips aren't long enough to go very far. Already I've run out of the yellow fabric I started with so I need to stop and add another strip in order to continue.

Open up the end of the strip you're currently using and do the same with the strip you're going to be adding. Put the right sides of the fabrics together.

Join them with a 1/4" seam.

Having done that you're ready to continue on crocheting.

Here you can see (sorry for the blurry picture) a few inches I've already crocheted with the newly added strip.

I think we've all had enough instruction (and wine) for this go-round (and this post is certainly long enough) so I'll end this installment of our tutorial.

Until next time!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Mama Pea

Apologies to all of you who are eager to get crocheting on your rag rugs. I had very good intentions of getting the next installment of our tutorial up yesterday, but life has conspired against me and I'm not going to be able to get it posted for perhaps a day or so. (But I'll do my best to get it up asap.)

What's the saying that goes something to the effect that "life" is what happens when you're making plans? No, nuthin' bad going on here, just lots of little things that need to be taken care of . . . and that are seeming to take more time and eat up the days faster than you think they ever should.

But have no fear, I promise we'll get back on the rug making wagon just as soon as possible.

In the meantime, go plan your garden. Despite the snow, sleet, and ice that fell on us here overnight, that time will be here before we know it!

For You, Jane

Because she thought she spotted a deer antler on my kitchen counter in one of the pictures in this morning's post, Jane at Hard Work Homestead wondered if the picture of the deer I took first thing this morning was quickly followed by me trading camera for gun and viola, deer antler on the counter and venison in the freezer.

What you saw, Jane, was a unique bottle opener Papa Pea got for Christmas from our very creative and talented carpenter and good friend, B!

I don't know how B did it, but the antler fits your hand very comfortably enabling one to open bottle after bottle of beer with very little fatigue.

I hadn't even realized the antler opener was in the picture this morning. Guess it just goes to prove you can't put anything past Ms. Jane!