Two Days...Two Enjoyable Events!

Weeks can go by without a whole lot of exciting rug hooking action to write about.

But the last two days have been jam-packed with interesting and inspiring gatherings.

First was the weekly hook-in at Grant Street. We had a great turn-out with a total of eighteen people attending throughout the day.

Joanne came from afar bringing another new project. I just love this rug! She was working on whipping the edge and....

I think this is the first time that Kathy's friend Joan has come to the hook-in. She brought Kathy a birthday present which is a lovely piece of hand dyed wool. Joan was finishing her rug by binding it with wide strips of wool. Most of us had not seen this method and asked for a demonstration.

My friend Dottie is not a rug hooker but she is an expert knitter, spinner and weaver. Unlike those of us who can't chew gum and walk at the same time, Dottie's needles are flying while she talks and she's not even looking at her work! Anyone interested in learning to knit or just spend time with other knitters can join Dottie on Thursday evenings at the Shippensburg Public Library.

Kathy, Doris, and Joanne.

Doris's 'Study in Black and White' is nearing completion. What a lovely piece! But then, Doris ALWAYS creates excellent rugs.

Barb Continues to work on her quilt. Linda's rug is in the lefthand corner.

Kathy's pumpkin and cat rug is looking nice. Will it be finished by next week?

These two ladies are sisters (Kathy and Mabel). Mabel is showing her applique quilt.

Another of their sisters, Dot, told me she made this quilt many years ago to go by the crib when she had her first child.

And this interesting little mat was made by her grandmother when she was a child.

And here is Dot herself.

And here is Joanne's completed rug! It seems like every time she comes to a hook-in she finishes something! Great job, Joanne!!! Oh, and she also brought the most awesome brownies that tasted like fudge. Joanne, we love you just for yourself, but bringing food helps too!!!

Now on to Day Two!

Jill invited Linda, Kathy and I to join her and Beth and some hooking ladies for lunch and a craft project day. Unfortunately Kathy had other plans, but Linda and I eagerly accepted. And what a fun day we had!

Some of the ladies I have met but several were new acquaintances. I am not good at remembering names! So I am just going to show pictures.

I love the Halloween jacket!!!

Most of us took our current hooking projects for show and tell. Linda is helping someone by properly adjusting it in the hoop.

Snowmen were very popular....

I also had a picture of a lovely original design with a sunflower and butterfly but somehow it did not transfer from my camera. I am very sorry, please accept my apologies!

Jill provided us with penny rug projects. We were so busy working on them that no one had time for hooking. She provided us with a wool background square and then we blanket stitched our choice of mittens, trees, leaping rabbits, etc onto it. With a few snowflakes for embellishment.

Jill is so proud of her progress! LOL! Really she was so busy being a good hostess, that she didn't have time for stitching! She and Beth provided us with a delicious lunch- A great selection of rolls, deli meats and cheeses, apple salad (yum!), a salad with veggies and quinoa (probably spelled that wrong) more yum!, shrimp dip and crackers (even yummier!) and a variety of desserts which I was too stuffed to do justice to! THANK YOU, Jill and Beth!!!!

And last but not least is Lacy showing her project. She did a great job. She's so cute!!! She also had started a hooking project and she was doing an excellent job.

It's always nice to see young people taking an interest in learning fiber crafts.

OK, I'm tired! I feel like I've been writing a book!

Until next time, Happy Hooking!

Deja Summer

I know this is supposed to be a rug hooking blog, but some weeks I just don't have any new rug stuff to show.

I've had a stiff neck this past week, mostly from being cold which makes me stiff and tense. So didn't get much hooking done, did not get to Grant Street on Thursday and did not go to the Brandywine hook-in on Saturday. Thus, no hooking news.

So I decided to warm up by enjoying summer again! These pictures were taken on a warm afternoon in August along the Big Spring which flows through the town of Newville. It's about 6 miles from where we live. It's Zip's favorite flyfishing spot and one of my favorite evening drives.


This is one of the lovliest places in our area. The spring flows through lush grassy areas, with water birds sitting waiting to feed.

All along the road are beautiful old homes that have been tastefully restored.
Most of these were built in the mid 19th century.

And some newer homes that have that wonderful historical look. This is only one of the log homes that are prevalent on Log Cabin Road.

This one is set on a large grassy area with nice old trees all around. In fact, many of the homes are partially hidden by the huge old trees making it difficult to get good pictures.

I just loved this interesting and welcoming looking doorway!

The Big Spring Watershed Authority now owns this old mill. Zip says he doesn't know what plans they have for it, but they have done some restoration to keep it from further deterioration.

This is part of the channel that once fed water into the mill.

This is the catch and release flyfishing area where Zip spends many of his evenings. No, that is not him down there along the stream. In this area, any fish that are caught are to be put back into the water unharmed. Further downstream fisher people may catch and keep fish according to the game commission rules.

And here is the head of the spring where the water just comes bubbling up out of the ground at the base of the hillside. The water is a constant 50 degrees all year round. I find it totally amazing that all the water that flows down the stream comes right from here!

Hope you have enjoyed the mini tour through one of my favorite places.

Hopefully I will have some rughooking news again soon.

Until then,

Happy Hooking

Dying the background

It's been a nice weekend. Yesterday we went to Fayetteville/Chambersburg to feed and spend some time with Brad and Kamie's kitties. B and K were at a WW2 event so we were the kitty sitters.

Afterward we spent some time with my Mom. She was going through her extensive collection of Christmas things, trying to decide which to keep and what to give away. I came home with a painted and stuffed canvas Santa. Should have taken a picture, he's cute!

Then we spent the evening at a bluegrass and gospel concert in Newville. The band consisted of six young men who were very good musicians with lots of spunk and energy. It was a great show!

Today was an at home day so I decided it was time to dye the background for my rug. I had gone to Lowe's a few days ago to get paint chips. Wanted something between a dark cream and a light tan with a hint of gold. The colors don't show up very well, but I picked the one on the bottom right side. It's darker than shows up in the picture.

I had two nice pieces I planned to overdye- some heavily tea dyed natural and some taupe. Both seemed to be too gray for what I was envisioning, so I thought an overdye with some gold would do the trick. NOT!!! I seem to have a penchant for making nasty bright golds!

Sooooo...I decided some silver gray wound mute it. NOT!!! It turned a creepy hornworm green! Well, those two pieces will now be a future overdye with antique black or brown.



Got out the dye books, but the right color just wasn't there. Made the smart decision not to use any formula with GOLD in it!. Got a clean piece of natural and started with old ivory. Too light, so got out the tea bags and added a few of them. Still not quite deep enough. I liked the toasted tan in the Woolyn Willow book and thought it would mottle nicely over what I already had done. Turned out a tad darker than I wanted, but it will be fine. Besides, I'm going to need at least another half yard so I can dye it a little lighter and blend them together.

The mottled wool and the paint chip look pretty much the same.


And here's what it looks like in the rug.

I think I can live with that! Am deciding if I like the line of gold on the inside edge of the border. But that can be reverse hooked if necessary.

Hope all of you have had a good weekend.

Happy Hooking!

Thursday at Grant Street Woolworks

What a lovely fall day! Perfect for a trip to the Grant Street Woolworks hook-in! Linda made a tree from bittersweet vine to celebrate the season. It doesn't show up in the picture, but she has swirled strings of little amber lights around it. A lovely display to greet anyone coming up in the elevator!

And GOURDS, too!

Joanne came all the way from the Philly area again, and we

are glad she makes the long trip! How else would we get to see

the wonderful primitive designs she works on?

This week she brought a tree skirt with lambs and

stars, which she says she's tired of working on and wants it FINISHED!

I'm sorry my pictures aren't arranging very well today! I am in a hurry and nothing wants to go where I want it! Oh well...

Kathy is working on a cute cat and

pumpkin design. She and Barb both

had birthdays this week.

Linda brought the cake decorated in cheerful fall colors. Chocolate!

Thank you Linda!

And many more happy years to Kathy and Barb!

This is the first time I have met Jenny.

She was trying out several different frames that Linda has available to see which feels most comfortable. She was really making progress on her border!

Doris was unable to come this week, but I wanted to show a picture of her lovely pillow. Linda had finished putting it together and sewing on the trim. I just took a shot of the center because I want to save the whole effect for Doris to see first.

This time I stayed late enough in the evening to get to see Sherry

who joins us after work. She's working on a very primative looking rug with kitties on it. Yes! Another cat person!



Linda brought her fruit basket rug in fine hooking out just as I was packing to leave. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, because she is doing a wonderful job on it! I am soooo envious!!!

And here is the happy ending! Joanne finished her tree skirt!

Check the picture above to see how much she had to do yet.

She's amazingly FAST!!!

OK, Joanne, what's next????

Until then,

Happy Hooking!

Windy Day

Fall is here!
It's a lovely 60 degrees outside, the sun is shining, the air is cool and clear. It seems like I can see every individual tree on the mountains. Ant it's WINDY!!! Really windy!!! A few medium sized branches have broken and fallen from our trees. More yard work! But I do love this time of year!

As I'm sitting here typing, I can feel a major draft from the door behind me. Time to tape the cracks. We have used the woodstove a few evenings already. Yesterday I made applesauce from some of our apples. So far I haven't canned any because we have been eating it as fast as I make it. The garden is finished except for some turnips and swiss chard.

Two weeks ago I bought a new embroidery machine. This one does ONLY embroidery, no normal sewing. So far I haven't done anything too creative. It takes time to learn the software. The on-line user's manual is only 660 pages long. It will take me a while to get through that!!! LOL!

Here I'm still playing with designs for my rug labels. Haven't produced one yet that I really like!
Keep on trying....

Got this desk during Bulk Trash Days. Zip did a great job of cleaning it up and painting to match my kitchen chairs. My first idea was to set up my computer in the kitchen, but decided that really wouldn't work. So it is going to be a nice place to do paperwork and pay bills. Might make those boring chores more enjoyable!


And in the evenings I've been working on my rug. Since I haven't dyed my background yet, I'm making good progress on the border. I think this is the first time I will have ever finished the border before the rest of the rug!

It's so relaxing to sit and hook and listen to books on CD. The long dark evenings are not a good time for me, but as long as I can keep occupied with interesting projects, the winter is bearable.

Until next time,

Happy Hooking!