Saturday, August 27, 2011

Cleaning and lubricating your Bliss Cutter



It is not difficult to clean and take care of your Bliss cutter. Mine is rather old as you can see, but it runs smooth as glass. Do not be afraid to clean your cutter. (Please click on the pictures for larger images.)


First, you want to clean out all the wool dust . Lower the drum by turning the knob under the machine (unscrewing it a bit, not all the way). The drum will lower. I use an old toothbrush and brush all the areas underneath and on top.

Once all the dust is gone, you can use a lubricant (I use a Lithium Grease. It is like a tooth paste in consistency). To put the lubricant on the machine, I use an old paint brush with stiff bristles.
Lithium bonds to the metal which is a good thing. I bought this tube from Lowe's for about $3.75. This tube will last me more than a life time, but it is also good for door hinges. Lubricate you Bliss maybe once a year or whenever it is not running smoothly.

Clean and lubricate everything that turns on the underneath side.




Get into all the grooves of each gear.



I will also lubricate the handle because it squeaks sometimes.

Take good care of your Bliss. Happy Hooking.








Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Panda progress . . .

I am making some really good progress on my Panda rug. I've had to make a few subtle changes here and there, but I'm trying to keep it as close to the original as possible. My daughter and my initilas were the same when she drew this picture, so I am adding her date before and my date after the initials . . . just not sure what color I want to do them in.
Happy Hooking!

Friday, August 5, 2011

"Panda" and other things



WOW . . . has it really been that long? I have been very busy working on an auction for our Guild. It has been over a year since our dear Nancy's passing, and our Guild has moved twice since then. We are now back to our beloved Crescent Lane and I really think that we now have Happy Hookers.

We were in desperate need of something fun that we all could look forward to, so I convinced the Board to have a Covered Dish Lunch and an Auction where everyone would donate something we could bid on. We are also working on a rug to raffle where everyone hooks a 5 inch square anyway they want. It is turning out so adorable. Here are some samples . . .










I am also working on decorating and having door prizes for everyone attending. It will be a fabulous time. It will be good to have a get-together like this. I will post more about this later.

Wondering about the rug I am working on? My daughter is having her third baby and I wanted to do a rug that would be sentimental to her. She drew the panda picture when she was in the fourth grade, I think that was in 1987-ish. Anyway, my hubby and I always loved the picture and I saved it all these years. I took it to be enlarged, traced it on red dot, and drew it on linen to be hooked. SHE DOES NOT KNOW ABOUT IT YET. . . and she never reads my blog so I think I am safe.

It is a great rug to hook . . . everything is either blocks or little items . . . and it is nice to be hooking again for pleasure and not project oriented.

Happy Hooking!!!