The slub trap

Hello dear readers.  It's the final weekend of January - spring is getting closer.  But not close enough for me.  I haven't been out much this week so I had planned on going into town for a good cup of coffee this morning.  Not to be.  We are getting several inches, again, and I'm not taking a chance on another accident just for good coffee.  If you've ever tasted mine, you may disagree and feel it's not only worth the risk, but necessary.

My fingertips have a few painful cracks from using cleaners and washing so often to remove paint, so I decided to try charting the teal horses instead of stitching.  Not as easy as I had hoped, but it's coming along.  I plan on stitching it as I go, charting 1/4 at a time, so I can see if my colors and shading will work.  If I wait until the entire piece is charted, I may have to go back for changes.  This way, I can see what may be off and correct it in the next 1/4.  

I started a few stitches prior to cracking and learned something about linen slubs.  On dyed linen, they are a trap.  I know you aren't supposed to pick the fat fuzz off or try to lessen their bulk, but I do anyway.  When I've come across a break in a weave, I took a linen thread from the edge and wove it in after removing the broken thread. The entire way if a small project, or just where the break happened in larger cuts.  If you leave long tails of the weave on the back, you can add the new thread in the damaged area only.  It's really not difficult to do and so unnecessary if you are sane and do not pick slubs. 

Unbleached and natural is what I use most and had no idea about the trap.  Here is the big fat slug slub on the backside after picking.  See that white strand?  It was covered by the fuzz and I have no idea why it did not accept the dye, but it didn't.  Good thing I saw this and worked from the back because the front is still good.  If I would have paid more attention to the weave before starting to stitch, I could have avoided it.  It's smaller now and won't be messed with again!  Would this happen to every dyed linen?  Who knows.  I'm probably the only wacko that tries defuzzing, and in my defense, it has always worked before.

We rigged Squeak's house with a 25 watt bulb about an inch away from the styrofoam top and sides.  Doesn't seem that warm in there to me, but my brother (cat man) claims that 15 watt is better.  He still leaves at night.  I touched him yesterday while he was eating and he made his brrt sound and didn't swat me.  This is the new toy that they all seem to love.

Except for the steel exterior front door that won't be painted until the weather cooperates, everything else is finished in here with two coats. I think I finally found the trick to painting door panels.  I did the recessed areas separately, and used a wet rag to wipe any paint that overlapped onto the flat areas.  Once those coats were dry, I used a cabinet sponge roller on the flat areas.  You have to work really quick with that roller to get an even finish but it worked so much better than trying to do the entire door at one time.   I know you saw these doors before but they are done and I'm happy to move on.  I'm glad the new room's trim, crown, and base were coated before installation so only the final coat is needed, but not glad that I didn't use the final color.  The important thing is - I like it much better so the extra work is worth it.  I use leftover plywood and drywall pieces for paint tests and purchase the $3 samples first.  It helps tremendously!  But I still have a paint problem.  They really hate to see me coming.

I found out a little more about Bloglovin.  I have seen a few now that list their blog on the profile page, so the ones I viewed that had no option for that, obviously don't have a blog.  I was mistaken in believing that everyone using it was a blogger.  I still use my reading list on my dashboard.

Enjoy your weekend, stay safe and warm.

Thanks for visiting!