There hasn't been a lot of time for hooking this past week ~ but for lack of much to post about, here is a picture of one evening's progress!! Pitiful, isn't it ~ I've set down to hook once since last week. It was a busy week, believe me, with grandchildren here and all else that goes on in our life!!

Luci & Jordyn, love to pose for the camera! I took the little girls and grandson, Luke (he opted not to be in the picture ~ he's too old ~ 10 ~ that's too old ~ he thinks) to see the new Hannah Montana movie!! I took the camera because I thought there might be a big poster that I could take their picture beside but there was not ~ so I snapped it as we went into the theatre!! Actually, the movie was not too bad ~ they loved it ~ including the one who thought he was too old!

These are the newest of Sonny's creations ~ he made these from apple wood that was just cut and the color is beautiful ~ dark and rich ~ the green wood really soaked up the oil that he rubs on ~ it took several applications before they looked really good. One set is going out to Seattle with us this weekend ~ we are headed out so Grandpa can fish with the kids in the annual fishing derby that's held on their lake. My son tells me that they also have Little League games, lacrosse games and all-star tryouts ~ all of this on Saturday and Sunday ~ sounds like fun, hm??

Last Wednesday afternoon, my niece, Kim, that I hadn't seen in 18 years, came to visit! We had a really nice day trying to catch up ~ certainly there is more to be said but it was very comfortable and we'll definitely keep in touch now! My brother was her dad and after he died, I lost track of the kids and as a result of joining Facebook, I found them again!! I enjoyed her company a lot!

The weekend was busy with a fundraiser for our builders group and a wedding on Saturday. Now I'm trying to get last minute office work done (it's the middle of the night by now!) so that tomorrow I can pack. I have customers coming in the morning and then I'll be like the white tornado ~ flinging clothes into the suitcase and tying up loose ends so that everything will be ready here for Tad and his sitter. I hope you have a great weekend and I'm sure I'll have some tales to tell when I return! Enjoy this Spring weather ~ here in Ohio, it's freezing cold today, but somewhere, it's Spring ~ I'm sure!!
Alice

HOOK-IN FUN ~ ~ ~

Last week, Heidi and I went to Akron to the monthly hook-in at the library!! Now that Heidi is retired, I have a traveling buddy so we go more often!! Arlene always has a little project going and this is such a cute proddy flower ~ I swear I can't remember if it's going to be a pillow or maybe just a little piece to hang!! Very cute!


This is Betty ~ a well-known teacher in the area ~ maybe even further than that!! Her sweet little flower matches her shirt ~ she's soooo color coordinated!!! And this pansie is hooked in a four cut ~ lots of detail!
Karen's runner is a great design and I love her colors! Karen hooks in a really wide cut and hooks very high ~ it makes for a very cushy rug under your feet ~ and uses lots of wool! We were having the discussion similar to the one on The Welcome Mat about measuring wool for a project ~ since Karen hooks so high, she figures eight times the area!!!!

Miss Jane is working on a cute little sheep ~ I should have asked her to turn it around so we can see it better! Of course, I love to hook sheep, so this is right up my alley!! These gals get so much hooking done ~ almost always a new project each time we meet!!
This was the first time that I got to meet Rita ~ she was the recipient of my Secret Santa gift swap on the old Wool Snippets online forum. She's a very nice lady and doesn't she look happy to be here?! She's recovering from hip replacement and looks like she's doing great! Another thing that's great is her hooking ~ love the antiquey colors in her rug!


Last but not least ~ here's Heidi! She's working on a stair riser that is a challenge rug for a hook-in in June. Have I started mine yet? No, but maybe now I'll be inspired!
This is a progress photo of my sheep ~ just filling in the grass under his purple legs!! I had also taken the American Fish rug that day and finally finished binding it ~ and then took this along and got some hooking done! This is a busy week here, so probably no hooking for me!!!
And this ~ is my Easter pie!! Son, Ted and family came for Easter dinner ~ they brought a wonderful ham from our local meat market ~ and we fixed the rest of the dinner. This grandma doesn't do Easter baskets and buy a bunch of stuff ~ but they do know this is the grandma they can call to mend a stuffed toy, shorten their pants, help with an art project or look up in the stands of their games and see their biggest cheerleader! Since we are a blended family, there is no shortage of grandparents for these kids and I'm the go-to grandma for the creative stuff!! So this bunny pie was my effort at Easter festivities!! We had a good time! Sonny's kids go to their mom's but we did see all the men/children that day ~ they hauled our hot tub over to Teddy's house ~ nothing like a bunch of guys putting on hot tub on a trailer ~ they were in their glory!!

I'm off to Columbus this morning to meet some friends for lunch and get my car serviced. We are babysitting Luke & Luci this week, so I'm taking granddaughters Luci and Jordyn to see Hannah Montana this afternoon after school!!! So I better hustle ~ big day ahead!!! Have a good week and thanks for reading!!
Alice

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!! HOPE YOU'RE HAVING JUST THE KIND OF DAY THAT MAKES YOU THE HAPPIEST!

ALICE

LAST MONDAY ~ ~ ~

A week ago last Monday, that is ~ these girls came for a class on different ways to finish a rug! Penny, Joan, Susan and Lauren brought these finished pieces to work on and by the time they left, we had worked on five different ways to finish off their rugs! We had a great time ~ I served them homemade soup and pie for lunch ~ and I think we all learned some new things! I learned that I need a BIG needle if I'm going to whip with wool strips! Thank you so much, girls, for coming to spend the day and allowing me to share what I know with you and also the opportunity to learn from you, as well!!


Susan brought her proddy sheep rug for me to photograph ~ this was done in a class here a couple of years ago and I think she did a wonderful job! I love it all ~ her background, her border, and of course that woolly sheep!!
And Joan did a fabulous job on her proddy sheep and the flag background! Before she left that day, we talked about braiding the border, figured the wool in my odd way, and sent her on her way!! She did a great job and I was so happy to see her finished product! Thanks to both of them from letting me put their rugs out there for the world to see!!!

Here's the newest progress picture of the sheep rug ~ I'm doing the border in a hit-and-miss style! That's a really hard one for me ~ I am tempted to say that I'm way too controlling to be that random about using what's in front of me ~ but that sounds kind of negative!! Wish I could think of another word ~ I was going to say 'too anal' ~ we don't like that word either!! But you get my drift!!

And this, dear friends, is how I go about hit-and-miss!! I dumped the strip basket onto the floor !~ sorted the strips ~ and then choose from there!! Since there are lots of these little blocks running around the rug ~ these strips aren't going to do it ~ I have another basket that contains pieces of wool a couple of inches wide or so, that were left from other rugs ~ so I will soon delve into that pile! It should be interesting ~ and of course, I'll keep you posted!!

This has been quite a week, weatherwise, here in Ohio ~ like so many other places in this country! Snow ~ rain ~ COLD temps ~ you gotta be tough to live here, me thinks!! The daffodils are trying to hold up their big yellow heads under all this ~ kind of like many of us in this country right now!! That was profound, wasn't it?? Okay, I'm off to get the gray hairs colored ~ bless my daughter-in-law for taking care of that for me!!!!! Have a good day, friends!
Alice

YESTERDAY'S PROGRESS ~ ~ ~

Yes, I actually hooked again yesterday ~ for about 3 hours ~ and I'm happy with the progress!! This little rug will go in the small guest bath here on the main floor ~ there's nothing hooked in there and it will make a nice warm place for our tootsies!!! I'm using mostly 9 and 9.5 cuts ~ some are smaller, like the darker line in the sheep body for better detail. The background is two wools but since one is double-sided, it has the appearance of three ~ and as they are the same value, you might not notice any difference at all. There is one gold sparkly star right now ~ I have always hooked the star first and then background around it ~ this time, I hooked the background first and then filled in with the star. I don't much care for it ~ the star shape got lost ~ it will probably stay in unless the other two, which I will do my old way, stand out ~ then reverse hooking may be the order of the day. I don't like to reverse hook! More hooking today ~ pictures to follow!!

Yesterday morning, we went to an auction ~ we used to go to many but our house is full and our lake weekends take precedence ~ so this was the first auction for us in quite a few years. It's a unique property that includes an old schoolhouse made into a home and 15-car carriage building & guest house,that Sonny built for the owner back in the 80's. We were anxious to see both and curious about what was being sold! Actually, the property was purchased yesterday by the son & wife of some friends of ours and they are so excited to be the new owners! The contents consisted of lots of old things ~ but the only thing we bought was an old hooked rug!!!!! Very primitive ~ very folk 'arty' ~ there's one little damaged place but I'm so glad to have it. It needs a good beating (to get the dust out!) and a good cleaning! When I get it all spruced up, I'll show you a picture!! Then I'm going to make it into a pattern that will be available for purchase!!

That's it for today ~ hooking awaits!!! Have a good Sunday ~
Alice

Oh ~ I must add that the little sheep does have a face ~ it's just not hooked in yet! I'm using roving and do it last so it doesn't get caught on the frame teeth!!!!!
Ta ta

EIGHT DAYS ~ ~ ~

Yes, eight days since I last posted ~ holy crow ~ time flies!!! I have been getting the taxes ready for the accountant and had to keep my nose to the wheel until those were done ~ I delivered them this morning so now life can go on!! This little sheep rug is on the frame now ~ I started it while my friends were here last week and then worked on it last night as my reward for the tax prep! Notice his little purple legs and red hooves and he has sparkly black ears!! Yeah, team ~ I'm back to hooking!!

Last Saturday, my friend, Heidi, and I went to Bowling Green to a fiber show. We had never been to one but the info we saw made it look intriguing, so off we went! There were quite a few booths ~ this one had beautiful rovings and yarns ~ absolutely beautiful yarns for knitters and finished product for non-knitters!!
This is Liz Cowdery with her absolutely fabulous dyed roving ~ look at all those colors ~ a feast for the eyes! I bought her white roving to dye or sell as-is for hooking sheep or beards! I actually purchased several different balls and hanks of dyed roving to use in hooking ~ we really didn't know that there were so many businesses out there to purchase from ~ the spinners must have been in hog heaven!!

And last but not least, my friend Heidi and our friend Kris Miller and husband, Ken, standing in her booth! I told Heidi to watch for her picture ~ she loves it when I put her in here ~ I know Kris will, too!! Another thing we purchased were two fleeces (like - right off the sheep!) ~ I love to hook sheep with the actual fleece so we're gonna get grubby and wash it nice and clean and then I will dye mine to sell and leave some as-is!! It's not a very fun job, people ~ but as with many things, the result will be worth it!! We really had a fun day and we're so glad we made the time to go ~ we'll definitely go next year!!

These pictures are from our Friday night fun! This is grandson Camden getting his head shaved for the St. Baldricks charity event for kids with cancer. The two lovelies are my daughter-in-law, Miki, on the right and on the left, is our friend, Beth who works at Miki's hair salon. Miki, Beth and Abby did all the head shaving that evening and grandsons, Camden and Jakob participated for the second year and let Aunt Miki do the honors!!
This is Jakob before he lost his locks and he is shaving the head of our friend, Melody ~ you've seen her on here before ~ she is the proud owner of the Leicester Sheep rug! Melody volunteered for the second year to get her head shaved with the boys ~ she is their school librarian and was inspired by Camden two years ago ~ they all had sponsors and we're so proud of each of them!! It takes the giving hearts of people like Miki and her girls, kids like Jakob and Cam, and library ladies like Melody to give something to others that will help in research and treatment so little kids can be healthy and happy!! We applaud all of them!!