DARA'S RUG ~ ~ ~

 TA DAH!!!  Friend Dara sent a picture of her finished mat from last week's class!!  She's on her way and I love how it turned out!  The crow was a dyed remnant and the mottling is just perfect highlights on the crow!  Another student stopped by this morning to pick up a frame ~ and I'm sure she'll now have hers done in no time!!

 Last weekend at Sonny's class reunion, they had a silent auction as a fundraiser!  I bought this cute handmade hat and fingerless gloves that classmate Sandy knit!  There's some sparkly yarn in there and that just did it for me!! She was such a fun gal that I just had to have what she so lovingly created!

This might not show up well but I wanted to show you a little damaged shirt rescue!!  My DIL, Miki, burned a hole in a cute shirt when a spark from the grill jumped out at her.  She felt really bad because she liked her shirt a lot!  I told her I would take it home and work a little magic on it!  I had this sparkly fabric (surprised?) and made a little flower to cover the burn mark (she likes it)!  Then I took a shirt of mine that had two little pinholes (where do those things come from) on the sleeve right at the shoulder  and did the same thing ~ stitched on a flower and a heart that I handcut from the sparkly material!!!  I used a little stitchwitchery and ironed it in place before sewing it on so it didn't move around!  There are a couple of blogs that I've run across that have done this kind of thing so I went to my memory bank (which is a scary place) and put that info to good use!  Otherwise, the garment is useless!  Try resurrecting something that you thought was ruined ~ it can't hurt!! 

That's it for today folks!!  It's a beautiful Ohio day ~ enjoy!!

RUGS FROM FRIENDS ~ ~ ~

Susan sent this picture of her house rug that she hooked for a gift ~ it's hooked from one of my patterns and I think she did a great job! I love the variety on the border ~  I drew in some various options for her and then she ran with it ~ this pattern can be on monks cloth or linen.

Lisa ordered this small crow pattern and posted this picture on Facebook ~ so instead of waiting for her to email it, I just lifted it  so I could put it on the blog this morning!  Love the red background ~ both these photos this morning have red backgrounds!

This has been a long week but tonite's the night ~ Miki and Teddy's open house at Michelle's Salon!!  The decorating is basically done ~ Sonny and Teddy were meeting at 6:30 this morning to give the floor a final coat of sealer.  We have to shop for the snacks yet ~ I talked Miki into going back to her original thought of a cheese and wine reception ~ yay!!!!!!!  Then I'll go over this afternoon and set up the table, then come home and get ready to party!!!! 

Can you believe it's Labor Day weekend already?  This summer has gone so fast ~ hope it's been a fun one for you!

Alice

CROW RUG PLUS ~ ~ ~

It took a late night session to get this little rug finished ~ I was way too tired and decided to add a little dyed hand-spun yarn to the bottom ~ it seemed way too plain so in my delirium, I decided to dress it up! Not sure that's a good thing but it will go to the lake with me this weekend for binding and maybe then I can figure it out!!
This is a close-up of Cilla's pumpkin rug ~ I'm hoping it will give you a chance to see all the different types of materials and hooking technique's that were used! Some of the pumpkin stems are dyed nylon tricot ~ pipe cleaner tendrils ~ lots of hand-dyed fleece! The middle pumpkin is proddy while the one to the right, is hooking that has been clipped open ~ lots of different textures!

Last evening, we went to visit friends and to meet their new neighbors ~ and watch the debate! I expected it to be a little more rousing that it was ~ Sarah did a pretty good job ~ I will be so interested to see what Tina Fey does on Saturday Night Live ~ Sarah didn't give her as much material as last week!! I will be in Pennsylvania rug hooking on election night ~ that should be an interesting evening!!

Tomorrow is our annual Kelley's Island day with our lake friends (although one of the couples can't be there~so sad) It's going to be a chilly day BUT ~ there's going to be an Oktoberfest at one of the pubs ~ I'm excited ~ schnitzel and sauerkraut balls and cabbage and noodles and bratwurst and German potato salad and just maybe - a little German beer!! Yippee ~ sounds like fun is afoot! Hope you have a fun fall weekend, too!
Alice

CROW RUG PROGRESS PLUS ~ ~ ~

Another hour + of hooking last night and the background of the crow pattern is done! It was late when I finally got to my hooking room but I was committed ~ tonite (by 'hook' or by crook) the border and star will be finished!


The next two pictures are in our kitchen - keeping room. This one is over the dry sink ~ an old drying rack filled with antique baskets, artist's baskets and even a couple that I have made ~ I've done a little bit of everything thru the years! The pumpkin mat is one of my favorites for sure! Cilla Cameron made this piece for the class she taught us when our group went to England in 2006 ~ after the class I practically begged her to sell it to me and happily, she agreed! It is a combination of hooking and proddy and clipped hooked loops, too. There is a bit of dyed nylon that she hooked for the stems, dyed pipe cleaners for the tendrils and dyed Wensleydale fleece used in the border and as accents thoughout. It is absolutely a great piece ~ beautiful depth of color in the dyed wool ~ creative use of a variety of materials ~ and a wonderful basic design to work from!! I thank Cilla so much for letting me bring this piece of her artwork back to Ohio with me!!'

Sitting below all that is the antique dry sink that belonged to my husband's grandmother ~ we bought it and the butter churn, at the left, at auction when she broke up housekeeping over twenty years ago ~ back when we really didn't have money to buy such things but so glad that we did!! The hooked Welcome mat hanging over the sink is a Margo White pattern that I started at a class of hers at Shaker Village in Kentucky several hears ago now. It's perfect over the dry sink where I serve a 'welcome punch' when the various groups come for lunch ~ a little candlelight ~ a little rosemary lemonade ~ I hope it's a nice way to begin their visit!

Last night, our good friends took us out for dinner as a belated Anniversary present ~ what a nice surprise! Then I came home and hooked on the crow mat and shorten a pair of pants for grandson, Luke ~ which had to be delivered before school this morning!! That would be me ~ why do today what I can put off until tomorrow!!! I have two more pair to do for him ~ wonder what would happen if I did both of them today??!! Can any of you relate to that??
Alice

Two nights in a row!!!! I've gotten to hook in my hooking room!!!! Amazing! Again, while watching Dancing with the Stars (I'm glad they saved Cloris one more night ~ she's a character!), I hooked for an hour and got quite a bit of background done. I'm using a 9.5 cut for the background and a 9 for the crow ~ both those cuts make it move along pretty quickly and obviously, it's just working with very basic colors and filling in the space. That's what makes it a good beginner's pattern ~ you can just get the feel of working with the hook and pulling the loops!

This buttery soft plaid makes a really nice neutral background for this old crow. The tricky part will be finding the right border wool ~ and I like a red or a gold star ~ that might be a little challenge for tonite's hooking! But I've hooked two nights in a row ~ I've done office work, two days in a row ~ and I've exercised two days in a row!!!!!!!!!!! I'm on a roll now, people!! By the way, I do sell the plaid wool for $14 a half yard, if you would like to try some for yourself!!

Yesterday, my friends and I went to an Amish farmer to buy pumpkins!! They were really well priced (cheap) at 20 cents a pound!! WE loaded up the back of Cathy's blazer and off we drove ~ all the pumpkins separated into piles so we each would know what was ours! Cathy came to a stop ~ put the brakes on ~ the pumpkins all started to roll ~ some of them flew up into the seat with me, between the captain's chairs ~ we had pumpkins everywhere and of course, after all the careful sorting ~ we had no idea whose was what!!!!!! Only the big green one that was mine ~ the rest all looked amazingly alike!! Pretty funny! Then Cathy and I went to the 'funky pumpkin patch' north of town to find the unusual white pumpkins, Cinderella pumpkins, bumpy ones, etc. We got pie pumpkins and the little ones that I put over the door transoms. It was a fun fall morning for three gals who have been neighbors for over 30 years!!

Off to get the gray hair colored and find some mums ~ time to dump the summer flower pots and adorn the gardens with fall things! I love the colors of fall and it brightens everything to add all those gorgeous oranges and yellows to what has become a little drab. Enjoy your fall day, wherever you are!! Oh ~ now I've blogged two days in a row, too ~ this is scary !!
Alice

BACK TO HOOKING ~ ~ ~

After three weeks, I finally am back to hooking!! This past weekend, I worked on my UFO for the Wool Snippets challenge ~ not a lot but at least a little progress! Last night, I started a small pattern ( 10 x 15 ), which is an enlarged version of one of my starter patterns for beginning rug hookers ~ and it's also a good pattern if you need a small project or gift for someone! The star motif was a little off kilter and had to be moved, so it wasn't something I could offer for sale ~ the next best thing was to hook it myself ~ it can be the example picture to attach to the pattern! The crow wool is a really dark hand-dyed burgundy ~ kind of a black cherry ~ so with all the variation of color and a plain black strip for the wing distinction, it hooked into a nice looking old crow!! There is a nice buttery-feeling, kind of neutral plaid that appears to be a good background wool ~ I'll give it a try tonite! I hooked for about an hour, while watching Dancing with the Stars and will do that again tonite. I miss it when I put the hook down for too long and am trying to put into practice the goal of hooking a little every day!! As with most of my good intentions, it's difficult ~ but it won't happen if I don't give it a try!!

We had a most fun weekend at the lake ~ Friday night, we were left to our own devices, as all of our lake friends were in other places!! We went to Mon Ami winery for the free food at happy hour ~ then went on to a Japanese restaurant and ate in the sushi bar (no sushi for me ~ a lovely lump crab & avocado parfait and a fire-roasted lobster appetizer ~ YUMMY!) ~ Sonny had sushi and sea bass ~ we were quite happy when we left!! Then a stop at some other friends where we watched the debate (sort of) and a stay that was way too long!! We decided that Friday night would be our belated anniversary celebration since Thursday night, we stayed home and ate brussel sprouts, beets and redskin potatoes for our supper ~ that was an event!!

Saturday, Sonny's daughter and two of her girlfriends came up for a night out! We had cosmopolitans on the rocks (you know how we like to rock-sit) and then to Mon Ami for dinner and dancing!!! The old guy and I danced till one in the morning to the Traveling Lounge Lizards!!! We had used a local taxi service for the coming and going and we were so happy to have them pick us up!! The next day, we put the girls in the back seat of the car and drug them around Catawba and Marblehead ~ in and out of shops and showing them the local sights!! It was a fun day and they all had a great time ~ a short weekend without their kids and time with such fun parents!!!! I heard one of them say (I think Sonny's daughter) "they're so cute"!!!! We're cute alright!! At least, we are still able to shake a leg on the dance floor!!

Office work awaits but I just had to post this ~ my 'intention' was to blog every day or so, but it's hard to find the time and the subject matter ~ well, not if I write about every dumb thing we do!! Hope all is well with you! Ta ta for now!
Alice