Instant Gratification

Leo keeps watch on the front yard from his perch on the Colonial.

I'm in the midst of a lovely, leisurely Monday off, enjoying solitude and the lack of an agenda, with my furry friends around me.  Most everyone writing on this blog has been hinting about gifts for our delayed Christmas party, and I got a new window of opportunity to join in, thanks to the icy, snowy weather.  I started my mug rugs yesterday, and I'm going to completely spill the beans about mine.  Otherwise, I'll have nothing to write!

  The warp is hemp yarn I found in a desk drawer at work.  My predecessor in the preservation kitchen was even more of a hippy than I am, so it's no surprise she had hemp yarn stashed away in desk drawers.  I wound the warp late Saturday and early Sunday, even before I had a pattern chosen.  The hemp is a lot like linen:  crisp, scratchy and chunky.  It's very strong, and I suspect it will soften with washing.  The color is perfect for the cup I've bought for the gift.  I wound 3 1/2 yards, because everyone needs a mug rug, right?  And I've chose a pattern I want to play with for a while.

I've chosen Marguerite Porter Davison's very own pattern, Valley Forge Dogwood, in honor of the tree I planted earlier this year.  By the way, the damage from the ice storm is barely noticeable by now.  The top rug mug is yellow and brown, but out of focus, since the camera was focusing on the pink below.  The pink, I must confess, is not a mug rug, but a toilet tank runner!  It's pink and brown thrown together in the pattern pick, and I didn't like it as a mug rug.  It would be perfect, however, as a runner on my toilet tank!  Could that be the first toilet tank runner in history?  I've never heard of one, but maybe because other weavers are too embarrassed to admit they made one.
  I've kept the one for the mug out of sight, but it is in there, already wound on the front beam.  This warp has given me lots of practice in hem stitching, something most of you know I am not fond of.  I am getting very good at it in this project, though!
  I have avoided weaving mug rugs, which many of you love weaving, because I thought they were, well, kind of silly.  That is until I got one for a Christmas gift.  I love it!  I pick it up with my cup of coffee when I head off to different chairs.  It's lovely, thoughtful and extremely useful.  Plus, there is instant gratification in making them.   Hemstitch, weave the border, weave one motif, border, hemstitch, NEXT!  I love it!  I plan on trying more!  I'm using this project to use up all the bobbins I have full from finished projects, kind of using up the orphans.  On now is green and brown, both from last year's challenge.  Next is rust and orange, I think from the same project.
  The pickled beets are done, 7028 jars, finished on the 23rd.  When I called my boss to tell him, he informed me that they just ordered 2300 more jars of peanut butter.  Sigh... Ah, well, job security is defined many ways.
  Happy, prosperous, peaceful New Year to all of you!  Happy weaving!
Maggie