New green hobby: Rug Hooking!

Sometime last winter my sister picked up rug hooking as a hobby. What is rug hooking? Basically, it's an old way of reusing scraps of cloth by making something useful like a rug. Now it's mainly a traditional craft/art that people do as a hobby, though some people seem to be able to make some money by selling their creations. Sadly most rug hookers seem to use new materials made for rug hooking. Myself I still prefer the reusing aspect of it.

So after my sister showed me the basics....that are very easy to pick up, I also became a hooker!
Here my introduction to it http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-aJSb2AK2_I . The second part. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SNhpp1tWPjQ
And of course the more you hook the easier it gets ;). It would be hard to explain the basics so the videos should help you learn this. Put simply, you weave strips of cloth through burlap or monk's cloth using a hook...hence hooking.

For me it's the perfect winter craft, inbetween snow storms ;). And even after a good closet Spring cleaning I haven't trown away a single piece of clothing. I even find myself eyeing clothes in stores or on people's clotheslines with envy. The colors or the different textiles always seem like they would be good for hooking.

As far as creativity goes well it seems to satisfy my needs. I usually freehand my drawing on the burlap and think up the colors I'll use in my inventory. Then depending on the size, I have a few hours of hooking fun ;). Once the rug is done you get to keep your masterpiece where ever you like it! I have yet to sell one. So far they make great gifts but I'd like to sell one just for fun ;).

So! This is my latest green hobby!
Make sure, if you're intrested to check up on the subject. If you're a bit crafty ( even kids can do this easily!) I'm sure you might like this hobby too ;).

Thanks for reading. -PainChaud

Testing the Blogger app for iphone ;)

So I kinda left my blog go for a long while now. But now that I've discovered this app and got an iphone. I just might start posting again. ;) I'm not sure how many of you, my followers are still here. But I guess I'll see and probably welcome new followers eventually ;).

Now a bit of news.
I'm still struggling towards a greener way of living. With all the useful sides and problems. At least I'm not regressing ;). My garden is about the same size as before. I'm still uploading videos about it on Youtube. I've picked up greener hobbies. Like rug hooking, swimming and biking. Oh and I'm using an iphone insteaf of a big computer for most of my internet needs ;). So let's finish this with a picture of tomatoes and wish for comments ;)

Making you own butter super easy!

Here's a quick video on making your own butter, using new techology!

You only need a blender and some 35% cream!

If I had my own goat or cow I'd be even more selfsustainable....but it's a start ;)

How to grow a potato indoor, in my man cave

I really don't understand why you'd have a plant that doesn't give you fruits..or in this case, potatoes! Last year I planted a spud from a bag of potatoes I had. And I was so surprised after 3 months of it growing, to find potatoes in the pot! So have a look at my video to see how easy it is! ;)

2010 Garde vlog 62 Freezing veggies and bugs

This is a video I did late this Fall on freezing yur carrots. It's a very good way to store them for the winter. but you do need freezer space. So right now my freezer is half full with grated carrots ;)

Hope you enjoy!

2011 garden vlog 2 Composting in winter!

Well I have to keep the flame alive even during winter! So I compost in my garage ;)

I can't say it really composts...but at least it keeps it all untill I trow it on my outside compost pile ;)

2011 garden vlog 1 Reusing coffee grindings

This is the first garden vlog for 2011

Just a quick video on the benefits of coffee grinds and used up tea bags

start collecting those!

New Garden vlog season!

And this year I will post my videos on my blog too. As well as photos and such. So I really hope you take part of this year's gardening experience by commenting ;)

Here's the two first 2011 vlogs

The first one is on why you should keep tea bags and coffee grinds

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNw_WtF39kY

And the second one is on composting during winter when the soil is frozen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBBnjT8qquk

Thanks for watching ;)