Returning

It seems like a long time since I last posted.

I started this month with cheerful motivation to do lots of new projects.  Then illness hit me upside the head.  It started the day after I had a very stressful incident over my Mom's long distance phone card which involved dealing with the phone card company and my credit card company, and Mom.  By the time the whole thing was resolved, I was a nervous wreck.  And then the intestinal disruption started.  And on and on it went for over a week.  The bathroom was my best friend and worst enemy.  There was no getting away from it!  I could not go anywhere for a week.

At first I thought it was an intestinal flu, but now am wondering about irritable bowel syndrome.  I have all the symptoms (except weight loss!!!).  From now on when I get this affliction, I should take note of the stress level preceding the incident.

I was able to get some knitting done.  I started my Braids Cardigan in the brown wool and then decided that the color was too dark to show the braid pattern effectively.  So I selected a blue yarn and awaited it's arrival.  Since there wasn't much else that I felt up to getting involved in, it seemed a long time coming!

I chose the color to go with a silk scarf that was a gift from my dear friend Willa.  She hand dyed this beauty.  I think they will look nice together.

On Monday I finally felt as though I could go out of the house and make it to the Blue and Gray hook-in without having to wear Depends!  Just joking!!!

It was nice to get out and talk to other hookers after my seemingly long confinement.
I didn't get any group shots, too busy talking.

Our featured Hooker of the Month was Pat Donahue.  I hope I spelled that right!
She is a very talented primitive hooker.  Her colors are perfection!

This flower basket is my favorite!

This is only a portion of the rug.  It was so large that I couldn't get a full shot without standing on a chair (which I did not attempt!)

Isn't this dog portrait wonderful???  Even in a wide cut, it's so realistic.

The day was lovely for the drive down to Biglerville.  There were only a few trees left with leaves still on them, but they were the ones with very rich exciting colors.  I wanted to stop and photograph every one, but driving on the narrow curvy roads with no place to pull off didn't allow it.

This lovely tree was at the edge of the parking lot at the church where we held the hook-in.

Hope next time I post I will have some rug progress to show.

Rugs and Another Finish

NOTE:
I just changed my comments to a pop-up box instead of 'imbedded' to see if it helps for those who were unable to leave one.  Thank you, Lauren for the info!
I want to get this problem under control before the give-away!!!
So please email me if this still doesn't work.  patandzip@hotmail.com  or wengerweaver@ gmail.com
Thanks!

On Monday I took the scenic drive down through Adams County to Biglerville to the Blue and Gray hook-in.  The weather was delightful, the trees are just starting to show their wonderful colors, and there was the fragrance of ripe apples in the air at the orchards.

We had a small group, everyone must have been out enjoying the weather.

Our featured hooker for the month was Becky M.  She is an expert at choosing colors and textures for the primitive look.  Her rugs look like antiques from the start.

Aren't they great???

Here is another one that impressed me.  I'm not sure now who was working on this.  Aren't the colors lovely.

Hard at work on a big one.

I'm almost finished with my little star runner.  All done but the whipping for which I need to dig out some navy blue yarn.

I finally finished the sweater that I started in January.  The knitting part has been done for months, I was dragging my feet on the blocking.  I decided instead of soaking, spinning dry and pinning it out on a board, I would press it with the steam iron.  It's not a perfect job, but it will have to do.

I don't know why.... well I DO know why I bought such a boring color.  I thought it would be practical and go with anything.  Now I'm contemplating whether or not it will fit in my big dyepot.  Maybe I'll wear it in it's present state for a while before I take drastic action!

I need a new project.

When it's Done...It's Over

My toy sheep rug is finished.

I always start out thinking primitive, and somehow as things evolve, they end up, well....COLORFUL.

The whipping took longer than expected because I changed my mind again.  I had planned to do it in navy like the border, but after pondering, I decided I wanted the small outside edge to look like the background.  I went to several yarn shops trying to find yarn with the right combination of dark green, olive and brown with little tweedy flecks of tan.  I guess you figured it out before me, that particular yarn is impossible to find.  I didn't think trying to spot dye to match would be successful.

My next best choice was to do the whipping with wool strips, but I only had a little piece, approx. 6 x 8, of the background fabric left.  I had purchased this piece of plaid wool several years ago in East Berlin at Woolgatherings.

Off Zip and I went on a field trip.  Hopefully not a futile one!  Thank goodness Carol had two pieces left.  The day was saved!  To celebrate Zip and I went to eat, of course.

This is Hog Wild on the main street in East Berlin.

They have THE BEST smoked pulled pork sandwiches!  Other specialties are smoked sliced pork, pit beef, barbequed ribs and chicken.  We have been buying sandwiches from Rick and Tina for years and they just keep getting better.  If you are in the area, stop in and try these delicious sandwiches filled with meat smoked right there in their back yard.  It's worth going out of your way to try this place.

I love this planter they have out front with the water running out of the pump.

Now for the reason for the post title.

Quite a few people ask me what I do with my rugs when they're finished.  Do they get put on the floor?  No, they'd be a mess with cat claws and hair sticking all over them.  Do they get hung on the wall?  No, I don't have that much free wall space.  Do I give them away?  Not usually.  Most of my friends are also rughookers.  Giving a rug to a rughooker seems kind of...redundant.

What I do is photograph them and then roll them up and into the top of the closet they go.  When I tell people, I see shock on their faces.

Why would I do that???  Because for me all the fun, the ROMANCE, is in the designing, color planning and hooking.  I love the designing part, the drawing and tweaking, copying and enlarging.  Then there's the excitement and angst of color planning, looking for just the right piece of wool to make it look the way I hoped.  I love the sitting and hooking while listening to a book on CD, it's hypnotic and relaxing.  Then there's the little snags along the way when a planned color doesn't quite work out and the hunt for another better wool keeps it interesting.  Then when all the colors come together it's smooth sailing, with just the joy of mindless hooking.  I even like whipping the edge.

For me all the fun is in the creating and doing.

When it's finished, the love affair is OVER!  And I want to be on to the next challenge without a backward glance.

No sense getting attached.

I guess I'm a HOOKER.

Question of the Day.

Some opinions, please!

What do you think of this border???

Is it 'too much' for the primative look of the urn?
Would smaller rounded tongues look better? 
Or something totally different???

The view without the flash.  I think the first picture is closer to the trrue colors.

This issue needs to be worked out before I go much farther.

I'm not always good at decisions.
So thank you for your input!!!

A Can of Worms

More accurately, a deli tray of worms.

I do not like leftover worms!
My first instinct is to throw them out as soon as I a finish a rug.  That would be wasting wool.
I do not like wasting wool.

When I designed my flower urn rug last week, I purposely put in those little circle flowers to use up worms.

I didn't do ANY color planning.  I just took out random pieces of wool I wanted to get rid of and put them in a pile.  What to take along to Grant Street today so I have plenty to work on?

The kitchen table before sorting and folding the wool.  A MESS!

It was a beautiful day for driving to Chambersburg, cool breeze, sun shining, fluffy white clouds.  Who would have guessed that the night before we had tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms and torrential rains?

I arrived about noon and there wasn't a lot of people there.  Most of the hookers arrive later in the day, appropriate for  Ladies of the Evening!  So we had time to chat and check out each other's rugs.

Marian is hooking a commemorative rug for a family member's wedding.  There was a lot of discussion about which textured wools would look best for the border.

Kathy has one horse finished and is starting on the red one.

Barb is working on a small colorful quilt.

This is Linda's rug.  It's a large Jacobean style design in soft colors.

Linda also made these cute carrots  (which I thought were ears of corn.  LOL!)  I can see them done in some of the textured wools to look like Indian corn for fall.  

I really love this dog rug which was hooked by Nancee.  I'm amazed with the color choices which make it look like an instant antique.  I'm envious!!!

For once I didn't spend ALL my time talking.  I worked on my rug and got a nice amount finished.  Since I used so many colors in the flowers and the urn, finding a good shade and color for the background wasn't going to be easy.

Kathy pulled wool quarters off the shelves and we debated the pros and cons.  I was hoping for three slightly different textures and shades of the same color.  We tried gold but I thought it was too bright.  Purple/lavender just didn't work.  We finally settled on a sage green.  My leaves and stems were already hooked and showed very dark.  I thought the much lighter sage would have enough contrast to look OK.

When I got home and cut my strips, the stems and leaves blended into the sage background.  YUCK!!!
Luckily I had bought some much-needed gold wool and used it to outline the foliage.  I can live with that!

I want to welcome the new followers who have joined recently.  I hope you enjoy what you see and read here.  And a big Thank You, to all the regulars who put up with my foolish wanderings.

Please have a great weekend, everyone!
Good weather and Happy Hooking!!!

Back to the Drawing Board

We had a nice little snow last night.  Not enough to make driving a mess, just enough to make everything white and beautiful.  It was a little more than predicted.

That's why we seldom plan very far ahead at this time of year.  Zip's music instructor is holding an all-day bluegrass workshop tomorrow.  We've been debating for several weeks if he should commit because of the uncertainty of the weather and the fact that it's over an hour drive from our place to Hagerstown, MD.  Finally this morning with the storm seeming to be over, Zip called and registered.  Now there are predictions of three more inches by morning!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get a project ready that will last me all day.  I need to start a rug!

I had been drawing some patterns for a few other people lately, starting with a picture, making a line drawing, enlarging, and then transferring from paper to mesh to backing.

I use a lightbox to create a line drawing from a colored picture.
Notice the black and white Deiter body in the upper right corner!  Love that boy!!!

Then I scan it into my computer and use a really nice program called Irfanview to crop and resize if necessary.  Irfanview is a FREE program that can be downloaded from their website.  I've used it for years to modify my drawings and photos.

Next I measure my small picture.  Then I decide how big I want the finished design to be.  Then I mathematically figure out how much I will have to enlarge the drawing to make it into the finished size and use the Paint program that comes with Windows to print it out.  I then tape the sheets together.

My favorite transferring mesh is a sheer drapery fabric that I purchase at the PA Fabric Outlet.  It's a very fine mesh that is easy to see through when copying the design.  It's also very inexpensive.  Since it's very fine synthetic thread, it doesn't suck all the juice out of the markers.

After I transfer the design to the mesh, I pin it to the backing and draw it on.

I have signed up for the Rug Hooking Daily challenge, 'Grandmother's Trunk'.  While I'm working up my design I plan to photograph the steps for getting a design from the paper to the backing with detailed instructions for people who have never done this before.  I will put it on my website as a tutorial.

Here's the finished design on the backing.

It's been a long and busy day and we must get up early tomorrow to get to the workshop on time.
Should I choose some wool now or wait till morning???

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Reggie had his neutering (ouch!) surgery on Tuesday and has recovered nicely.  He's flying around the house doing his usual acrobatics.  He doesn't seem to realize he's missing some parts!

Rugs and Vegetables...Oh! and cats

Anyone who lives in the northeast and even further west, I guess, knows this has been the hottest summer since who knows when.  I haven't felt like blogging, hooking or sewing.  Unfortunately, the sewing gods started to throw thunderbolts at me this week!  All the orders needed to be done at once!!!  But this afternoon I finished the last of them and now here I sit, happily at the keyboard.

On Monday I did take the time to spend a few hours with the Cumberland Valley hookers who meet in the Falling Spring Presbyterian Church in Chambersburg.  There is a lovely old graveyard behind the church.  It was so cool, green and peaceful looking.  A lovely resting place!

We only had about a dozen ladies attending, a nice small friendly group.  I took pictures but didn't write down names.  So I am not sure who all the rugs belong to.  I'll tell what I remember!

Naomi was doing the pigs.  Isn't the little one cute looking up at it's mom?

I love this red, white and blue one Karin is working on!

 This rose rug is a kit, would you believe!  I wish I could remember who was working on it, but she has been hooking for a long time and said she has never done a shaded rose.  I think the kit was a Joan Moshimer design and a very high quality one.

Marian was working on a big acorn and Sandy was doing the checkerboard.

The lovely calico kitty lives with Joyce's daughter.  She is working from a photo of the cat.

And another adorable kitty piece, this one by Thelma.  What a cutie!!!

With the heat and dry weather, our garden is producing but slowly.  Our very small sweet corn patch yielded several meals of tasty corn.

The green beans are over.  Zip plans to plant another row tomorrow morning before it gets too hot.  The tomatoes are finally producing with great enthusiasm.  Why do they all ripen at once???  If anyone who lives nearby would like some, please let me know!

I just couldn't resist some kitty pictures taken during the heat wave.  Here is Deiter and Penny laying at the back pantry door on the cool concrete.

A cool breeze would be perfect.

Izzy.  It's hard to get a picture of her because she's always in motion.  And I thought she was going to be quiet and shy!!!

While I was sewing, the two little Siamese twins, joined at the tail, lay on the table behind the sewing machine and took a nap.

 And the green-eyed queen, my wonderful Tipper serenely watched it all.  The babies are so much fun and lots of entertainment, but when you want a conpanion to share the quiet times, there is nothing like an adult cat.  They have a way of calming your soul!

Tomorrow is the day we get to post our Forest Secrets rugs on Rug Hooking Daily.  I just can't wait to see what everyone has done!  I will be posting my pictures here in a few days.

I'm thinking about my next project. 

Happy Hooking!!!