Cabin Fever, A Rag Rug & 160 Meters

Well, I told you yesterday I was bored. Today the garden is still white, the pastures are still white and the road is still white, which is really odd for here. This afternoon I was looking through a bunch of links I have saved on my computer. I have a bookmark folder called research. It probably has several hundred sites saved, some with interesting articles, some with how-to stuff, some with gardening or even soap making sites. 

While I was there rummaging around I ran across a folder with information I had saved about making rag rugs. It may have been a year since I looked at this, but today it flipped my switch, as Frank likes to say. I wanted something constructive to do that I would enjoy and learn something new. I made a braided rug a number of years ago, but it kept coming apart. It was one long braid sewn together into an oval. What I liked about this rag rug technique is the way it is constructed. It's all one piece, so it can't come apart. I have lots of fabric scraps from all of the dresses I have made. By the way, I can only remember buying one dress since I graduated from high school over three decades ago. I never saw any reason to buy a dress when I could buy fabric on sale and make one the way I wanted it for around $10.00. Anyway, I have lots of fabric scraps that should work great for a rag rug.

Another great thing about making this is how simple it is. Tear the fabric, yes tear it, into long strips anywhere from one to two inches wide. I actually enjoyed tearing up this fabric, it was funny to be able to tear something constructively. So, in this case, you can rip things up and enjoy it. When you watch the videos provided at the Rag Rug Cafe, you will see the easy way this woman attaches the strips together, and constructs the rug. It is very simple and easy. No needle and thread required.

 

One thing she did have was a tool to kind of weave the fabric together. They made it out of a wire clothes hanger. I started off using a large safety pin for this tool, but it didn't work very well. We have one metal clothes hanger that is already being used as a tool of sorts, so I borrowed a few inches off of one end. Frank was busy and this is how my original version turned out. It worked okay, but the end was kind of big and sometimes hard to use. Later on, when Frank wasn't busy, he re-fabricated my rug tool. Now the 'sewing' end of it is easier to use and works great.

 

Original tool

New and improved, via Frank's fabrication.

 

So, after a few hours, here is my rug. I haven't decided how big it will be, but I'll show it to you when I get it finished. It's nice to be able to tear things up to create something useful, while learning something new, and forgetting about having cabin fever. And one good thing about this project is that you can stomp on it when it's finished, if you have anymore frustration you need to work through.

Frank has also been busy with something new lately. He has been a member of our area Communications Support Team for a couple of years. This is a way he is serving our local area by using his ham radio skills. By the way, Frank made his first contact on 160 meters today. You see this weekend there was a 160 meter contest, so there was a lot more traffic than usual. On the average day, when Frank spins the big dial, he might hear two or three folks rag chewing on 160 meters, sometimes he hears none. But tonight the band was full. It's good to know those folks are out there. And it's good to know that you can make contact on 160 meters. Frank was tickled he had his first ever contact on 160 meters. 

For the past few weeks Frank has been attending a CERT class, Community Emergency Response Team. In conjunction with that he has attended a Storm Spotters Training and become a member of

the Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corp. All of these organizations provide some excellent training dealing with disaster preparedness, fire safety, search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. Not only does volunteering for these organizations provide Frank with the opportunity to serve the people of our area in the event of a disaster, it provides him with training, and contact with a group of people that will be in charge if things ever get dicey around here. Attending the closest meetings or trainings is a 50 mile round trip, but he feels it is well worth the effort and expense to be able to serve the people in our surrounding area. Volunteering and serving is something Frank has always done, and will continue to do. It's just a big part of who he is.

So, that's what we've been up to. They've already called off church tomorrow because of the weather. I'll probably get a lot more of my rug made, make some sourdough bread, do some reading, maybe peek in the fermentation crock and see how the cabbage is doing, and read all of the comments you leave. I always get antsy and impatient for spring this time of year. Having about three inches of

Spring, 2014

snow on the ground and dark gloomy days doesn't help any. I just can't imagine the many feet of snow the folks up north are buried under. It's supposed to rain for the next number of days, so we should start off March with lots of mud. But that's okay. We'll keep learning and before you know it, it will be spring.

Until next time - Fern