And a Good Time was had by All!

Last evening was the Christmas party at Grant Street Woolworks. What a time we had! If you follow my blog, you know that this is the 'rowdy' group of hookers! LOL!!!

It started out fairly quiet with our hostess, Linda, arranging the tables and the rest of us sitting around catching up on the news.

It wasn't easy finding room for all the food. There were only fifteen of us, but somehow there was enough to feed a small army.

There was a little bit of 'show and tell'

May we eat yet???

There are some excellent cooks in this group!

Doris even stopped by earlier in the day and dropped off that lovely chocolate cake. She couldn't stay because she no longer drives after dark. Thank you, Doris for your generosity!!!

A little more show and tell....

OK, we're eating! And a wonderful dinner it is!

We could have our own cookbook with all the tasty recipes. It was above and beyond good! Thanks to everyone for bringing such a wonderful meal to share!

After the meal we played games.
How many Christmas songs can you name? Several rounds of Christmas Bingo....
Sherry's mom is receiving her prize.

Then we proceeded on to the secret gift exchange.

All the gifts had to be somehow fiber related, no mater how far fetched! Like cookies to eat while hooking, candles for aroma therapy while hooking, hand lotion for soft hands while hooking...you get the picture! And of course, there were some nice pieces of wool!

As you can see, the party is getting a livelier! Lots of laughing and talking! Gift wrap flying around! What on earth is it????

Now that everyone is all excited, there is yet another game! Kathy is explaining the rules...

I decided not to embarrass anyone by showing the 'action' part of the game on the blog. Or offend my more delicate readers! Those of you who wish to may use your imagination...

This is the winning team. They look ready to take on the national competition.

I will be printing out the rest of the pictures. For those who are foolish enough to want to view them, you will have to come in to the shop. Just ask to see the Plain Brown Envelope kept under the counter.

At this point in the evening, Zip and I had to head home to give medication to our kitty, Sophie. I know the party continued on for hours after we were gone. And probably got even crazier!

I hope Kathy has gotten some pictures!

Not much hooking went on, but Hey! we can do that another day!

Thank you, Linda! And Kathy and Barb who helped set it up!

Hooking Fun, Fellowship, and Food...

That's what makes a good party! Right???

The Blue and Gray rughookers had their Christmas party yesterday near Gettysburg. What a great group! We had lots of ladies, lovely rugs, food and friendship galore! And Santa (aka Joan) came to visit. Kathy is keeping her back turned, having a serious conversation with Santa. She doesn't want the rest of us to know she's asking for more wool!

Look at all the work going on! Some of these projects need to be done before Christmas!

There were many lovely primitive rugs being hooked.

And a few more traditional ones, too.

I really over did it with pictures this time. I knew I wasn't going to be able to concentrate on hooking with all the activity going on, so I didn't bring a project. I decided that talking, eating and taking pictures would be enough!

Look at the amazing detail in Barb's rug!

Ruth is not only a rughooker, but also an accomplished machine embroiderer. She made this delightful patriotic quilt as a present for her daughter.

Joan is enjoying the results of the wool exchange while Marian works on her barn stars. I tried to take a close-up of Marian's stars to better show the shading but it didn't come out well.

Everyone is in a circle while Ann reads a Christmas story with many 'lefts' and 'rights' in it to indicate the direction in which the gifts are to be passed.

The buffet was filled with goodies galore. Hooking and Cooking just naturally go together!

And here are the finished rugs!

Sorry I don't have the names of the ladies who hooked all of them. I do know that Santa-Joan did this winter scene.

I have one more rug picture that I deleted by accident that I will show in a future post.

I think everyone had a great time at the celebration. I know I did!

Enjoy your holiday preparations. Try not to get too stressed out!

Please take some time to relax and hook!

Winter is Here...Brrr!!!!

It's looking like December. And Christmas!
We finally had a nice little snow. And now it's getting very cold and windy. This was the view out my kitchen window on Wednesday morning.

The kitties are all snuggled in, enjoying the warmth of the woodstove. Deiter is worn out from watching the snow fall. I love those three black spots!

Sophie is looking grumpy because I disturbed her nap.

Tippy is waiting patiently for me to get rid of the camera and hold her.

I haven't been working on my album quilt rug for a couple of weeks. Haven't had time and I just got kind of bogged down in it and lost interest. It's kinda big to haul around to hook-ins. So I decided to work on drawing up some smaller designs that are easier to carry around.

I did this one of an Amish couple and another of a sleeping cat. Was going to take it to Grant Street on Thurs. but hadn't finished the color planning.

And here we are at the hook-in. Jill is whipping her flower basket rug. By the time I was ready to leave, she had it finished. Sorry I didn't get that picture.

Marian is working on her star mats. The shading really looks good!

We nust be really getting into the spirit of the season. Marian and Jill are both wearing red.....

And here's Linda's 'the stockings were hung' piece. The red is finally right!!! Doesn't it look great! I think she might even get it done before Christmas. She has some child-sized antique stockings that she is going to hand with it. Can't wait to see it finished!


Kathy is doing this cute little punch needle snowman as a gift for a friend.

Linda has the shop all decorated and ready for Christmas. This is a great place to shop for the hookers on your list.

And the antique collectors, too!

She has some lovely quilts and coverlets. Plus lots of other little treasures.

Check out the cute little sheep on the feather tree. She has kits for making floded paper Moravian stars in several sizes, which also look great on an old-fashioned tree.

So for that One Special Person on your list (YOURSELF!), indulge in some holiday hooking happiness!

I was so inspired by the joyous spirit of the season, that when I got home I drug out the rug and started back to work. I'm feeling more positive about it now.

Deiter is still napping, though he has gone to the dining room table for a change of scenery. It's closer to the woodstove.
Check out the folded paper Moravian stars! Also the cute snowmen from Meadowbrook Gourds.

It's a busy time of year but don't forget to find some relaxing time to hook.

Why We No Longer Put Up a Christmas Tree...

I was digging through a pile of photos this evening and came across this not very clear picture of Deiter in the Christmas tree. At the time he weighed about 12 lbs. (he now weighs 20 lbs.) and by the time we took the tree down, all the branches were hanging very low due to his climbing. He's near the top in the picture. Kinda scary isn't it??? Especially with the one yellow eye and one green eye. Does add kind of a Christmas light look to him! Ho-ho-ho!!!

Grant Street Woolworks, home of the Charbroiled Wool...

Hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving! We did! It was small, only six people, but the food was good and the talk was non-stop. I went through the whole day of eating and gabbing and forgot to take pictures! Duhhhh!!!

Aren't these apples lovely? They are the last of a bushel that I got in Biglerville a few weeks ago. They have them in the large orchard bins, they give you a bag and you can choose your own. And they have so many varieties! I picked some from each bin and ended up with a lovely mixture that made excellent applesauce.

On to the hook-in!

Marion had asked me to draw some small mats using the three dimensional looking barn stars that she is going to hook up for Christmas gifts. Thank goodness, she's a pretty fast hooker, because there's not much time left! Here Marion Joan and Kathy are color planning the mats.

With so many colors and textures to choose from, it's a major decision! I think they've finally decided on some browns and golden browns for the stars. And one is going to have a deep blue background.

Joan has finished the hooking on this delightful winter scene.

Barb is working on her quilt blocks.

This woman is also named Linda and she's working on a large latch hooked piece.

And here is my dear husband, Zip, who's looking kind of overwhelmed there behind the Townsend cutter.

Linda Keller was working on her 'the Stockings Were Hung' piece which I forgot to upload the picture. She was starting on the red background when.....

The red just wasn't the right red!

OH NO!!! Deja red! Linda has a major problem with getting the RIGHT RED! I keep telling her that the elusive 'right red' is a figment of her imagination, but she just keeps trying....and dying....

So while the rest of us here hooking and talking, Linda is all by herself at the stove with the dyepot. She's dumping in the color, mixing and stirring the dye. Hmmmm, maybe a little more black....

She has a piece of wool that she's going to compare with what she dyes. She lays it on the stove beside the dyepot....

Do we smell burning hair??? Oh No! The wool is now branded! Charbroiled!!! LOL!!!

Did Linda ever achieve the Right Red??? Will she finish her piece before Christmas???

Stay tuned for the next episode!

Happy hooking! And Dying!