Done by my little grandpeople!! Over the holidays, the Seattle grandchildren wanted to hook and I was very happy to have that happen. Haylee, who is 11, started this hooking this heart FOUR years ago when they were here at Christmas! Two years ago (they come every other Christmas), she worked on it about 5 minutes and was done! This year, the day they left, she decided she would finish her heart! They do the motif and I hook the background and finish it and will send them on their way!
Hunter, on that last day, decided he wanted to hook! This star was started by grandson, Luke, in '08 and didn't make much progress so I told Hunter to have at it!! When Luke figures out this is his star, I'm guessing I'll have some 'splainin' to do, but I had no time to draw something new!! I really think they do a nice job for beginners ~ it's fun having them share my artistic interests!
Eight year old Hannah is the one who would really be my hooking buddy if she lived nearby ~ she did a great job on this fish and spent a lot of time in the hooking room over the holidays! I copied the fish from a painting that older sister, Haylee, had done last year and Hannah picked her own colors. I love this little mat ~ Hannah wants to give it to Haylee for her birthday in March ~ isn't that sweet? I did hook the head and eye for her but she did all the body and fins and really worked hard at it. Next time, I'm going to draw on linen as she really struggled with the threads that make up the monks cloth. Two years ago, she hooked a star and did just a grand job for a 6 year old. I'll label each of them with all the details and hopefully, they'll have them through the years and remember hooking with their Bobo!
Since I last posted, I've covered a lot of ground! Friday morning, I drove to Columbus to the Heritage wholesale market ~ didn't find a lot but did get a nice piece of paisley! My friend, Vivian, went along and we did a little shopping and had a nice lunch ~ she made me promise we'd go to lunch!!! Friday night, we went to a party at our friend Rita's ~ a shared birthday party for Sonny and our friend, Ken. Saturday morning, I drove to Columbus for a different wholesale market ~ again, not too much there for me but the January shows are smaller. I like to add pieces of folk art to my booth to have something that appeals to those that aren't into rug hooking ~ I'm sure I'll find some things at the March shows!! I met Sonny for lunch on the way home ~ he was at the tool show in Columbus that morning.
That night, we had his six brothers and their wives for our annual get together ~ kind of a brothers' bonding time! I started pork and sauerkraut on Friday since I was going to be gone most of the day on Saturday, with the thought that it could finish cooking after we got home. Sonny boy put it in the oven at 2:30 and when I got home, it didn't look like it would be ready by 6 ~ so I jacked up the over to 500 degrees ~ I love to cook on high and hot! By 5:30 things weren't looking a lot better and the kitchen was hotter than Hades ~ so I ran to Subway and bought some subs to feed them until the pork was ready!! As it was, we didn't eat till 7:30 as some of them came later ~ I had taken the lid off the pan so the juices would cook down ~ therefore the pork roast was harder than a hockey puck on top - one of the brothers said he thought he was gonna break a tooth!! What a fiasco!! In the end, it actually was all very good ~ the subs, too ~ but it about made me crazy!! The sister-in-laws all bring food and for a while I thought it was pork and pies ~ we had at least 6 of them ~ all yummy!
In the midst of all that, Sonny found our freezer in the basement unthawing ~ that was a nice topper to the day! So, he bought a new freezer on Sunday (I stayed out of it!). He decided to clean the coffee pot when he got home ~ it was running too slow ~ that worked out swell ~ after he was finished the damn thing didn't work at all!!!!!!!! Yesterday, I bought a new coffee pot ~ wonder what else is getting ready to roll over and play dead!!! I hope it's not me!
Last night we went to a 5th grade band concert ~ Luke & Jakob were playing the saxophone and trumpet. It was really pretty good ~ it's amazing what these kids learn in a few short months ~ we get to go to another one in April! And believe it or not, I went back to Columbus today to the car dealership and squeezed in a trip to Whole Foods ~ I love that store!!! I brought home lots of good things to feast on!
Tomorrow I'm home all day ~ thank goodness ~ and then to the lake for the weekend to celebrate the old guy's birthday!! Ta ta for now ~ hope you're having a good week!
Alice
When you're having fun!! It's not that I've been having so much fun but I sure haven't taken the time to blog! The year end reports and tax forms took precedence and since I have those things all in the mail, I can get back to the fun stuff!
This is a close-up of Susan's work ~ you can see her needle felted flowers and proddy sunflower and her very nice appliqued pumpkin. Take notice of the hill that we used to ground the pumpkin ~ the little orange circles are quilling or what I call 'cats' paws'. It's interesting that in Maria Barton's blog and Kris Miller's latest blog post, they both are doing the cats' paws as part of a sheep's body! I learned it in a Kindred Spirits class a couple of years ago. It's just a little different way to use your wool strips to give some interest to a particular spot that could use a little jazzing up ~ like this hill ~ it would have been kind of dead but the cats' paws give your eye a place to land.
Many of you know how to do them, I'm sure, but for those who want a little tutorial, I ran downstairs and put one together quickly. You can use all one color, two contrasting colors or several, if you choose. Put the strips together and wind into a circle ~ when you get the desired size, run thread back and forth across the circle to hold it together, making sure to fasten the strip ends and then tack it to your foundation fabric at the place where you want it. You can also shape your circle into a diamond shape or a square or even a heart shape. Hook right up around your cats' paw and voila! Something new to try! On one of rug hooking forums, on the photo page, there were pins made out of cats' paws. 
A shot of frozen Lake Erie, for all of you who are somewhere warm where the sun shines!! This was last weekend and nothing much has changed. It's been REALLY cold this week ~ 18 degrees right now at 3 in the afternoon! Stay warm wherever you are!!
