A Pause to Dye

Thought since this pattern was small it would go fast ~ and it probably will once the wool gets right.  My plans for the background/sky just didn't make the cut.  It is way too light and bright.  You can barely see the hooked section above the cat.  Plus it would be too light in value compared the wool I've planned for the church birdhouse.

So, into a pot of Warm Sky (Beautiful Wool) dye recipe it went.  There was about half a yard of wool and I used 1 TBS + 1 tsp. of dye.  This is how it turned out.  The left are the results and the right is the other part of the yard I purchased.  Have no idea why I purchased it but with the dyeing it will do fine.  Matter of fact tomorrow think I'll do the remainder in a little darker pot so there will be a variance.

Stay tuned to see Cat Nap.  Can't wait until it is done because I'm hot to trot for my next antique adaptation.  Think it will be another Magdalena rug ~ or at least that is my plan now.  But you know how hot and cold I run with what's on the frame.

Happy Tuesday, happy hooking and hope you are all in a 'good place' since there is so much chaos in the world.  When news gets to me I change the channel or turn it off.  After all, why would I expose  myself to such negativity?  I choose to surround myself with happiness.

Saundra

Various Topics & New Project

After breakfast and with a decent day ahead (no rain!) it was grass cutting time.  With the push mower I cut Ben's back yard.  Yes, I still call it that since my ex put up the fence for sweet boy Ben.  Unlike the other dogs who lived here, Ben liked to wander and look for cars to chase.  

By the time the back yard was cut it was time for lunch.  I made this very delicious salad ~ has a scoop of tuna salad, romaine lettuce, radicchio, strawberries, gourmet medley tomatoes and sliced avocado.  Didn't have any raspberry vinaigrette dressing so used balsamic vinaigrette.  It was as delicious as it looks.

After lunch I started the riding mower and cut the remainder of the lawn AFTER walking around a couple acres picking up pine cones and limbs from yesterday's wind frenzy.  Finally just after 2 p.m. the yard was done, I got cleaned up and could sit to pull a few loops.

You seasoned rug hookers already know this information, so am trying to help the newbies.  Yet it is always fun to read a blog about rug hooking no matter how long one has been hooking.... I get it.

I'm a primitive hooker and one of the basics is to "outline and fill".  That process can be done two ways.  The purpose of that is to keep the motif within the drawn lines.  If you color (hook) outside the lines of the motif it gets bigger and will ruin the intended shape.

Here is the new pattern on my frame.  It is a design by Kelley Belfast called Cat Nap.  I drew mine smaller than the recent order; mine measures 13 x 20.

I outlined the cat inside the drawn lines and will fill.  Later I will put a row of background around the cat to contain those loops.

But there is yet another way of outlining a motif and that is to hook the background around the motif first.  That is exactly what hooker friend Pam Gunn did when she hooked Antique Floral Theorem.  She wanted to be sure there was a good edge to hook the urns against.  Also she would hide her ends rather than having them butt up against the background outline.  

That might be a lesson for another day on how to hide the ends as there are also a couple ways to do that.

In case you are thinking the vases aren't equal in size or shape....you would be right.  The original antique wasn't either.  So when Pam ordered the pattern from me I brought this to her attention as well as the scallops at the top of the urn being wonky.  Pam said to draw it like the antique with all its quirkiness as that is what makes an antique adaptation.

Pam, thanks for your permission to use your rug as an example, and thank you Kelley for allowing me to draw patterns on your behalf.

Oh but my back is killing me ~ with the combination of age, arthritis, degenerative disc disease and scoliosis I'm feeling a little rough.  Think this glass of Cab will help that a little.  Since I don't take pain meds the wine IS my medication 😄.  Now back to pulling a few loops and sipping.

Enjoy your Sunday.  Can't believe it is May 1st in just a couple days.  

Saundra

And the Consensus Is......

The pattern Early Farm Scene is all hooked and have already started binding it.  Yeah, that's a first....to start binding as soon as the hooking and steaming is done.  But I felt naked ~ there was no pattern ready on my frame to hook.  Couldn't make up my mind since I've patterns in my stash and some needing to be drawn yet teasing me to hook them.  Anyway.......

As for Early Farm Scene.....want to know how many voted on which color?  RED had 7 votes.   PURPLE also had 7 votes but one vote doesn't show up in the comment section because it was a personal email.   And there were 2 votes to BOTH.

Wondering which color I chose?  The purple won out for a few reasons: the purple was same density/intensity/value in the circle other than the points which were darker.  There was plenty of other red spread throughout the design but still another hint of purple at the bottom right flower.

BTW, this wasn't a test as it was a question I had for myself during the hooking of the rug.  Wasn't sure which color to go with even tho the purple was hooked first, but when it was done and saw the rug completed I knew the answer.  So that is why teachers have told me to "not pull out loops until you are further along".  

My next blog post will be about the 'outline and fill' concept.  There really is more than one way to do that.

Happy Weekend and Happy Hooking.

Saundra

Aged Well Hooked Rugs

Biding time to finish Early Farm Scene thought I'd show you some old rugs.  It is the aged rugs which make my heart go pitter patter and why I try to hook that look into my adaptations.

Compote of Flowers was hooked in the 19th century and measures 22 x 33.

Bunnies and Hearts with hit and miss background was hooked by Maria Beck Warning in 1884.

This Ship at Sea was hooked 1920 and is more whimsical than most old ship hooked rugs I've seen before.

I think the hooked dog rug resembles a Pug.   It was hooked late 19th or early 20th century... you're welcome Lauren (Rugs and Pugs).

A beautiful floral shirred rug but have no date.

Central Horse with diamond shapes, some joined to make 6 pointed stars.

This antique hearts rug below I first saw on Kelley's blog.  Was hooked between 1880 and 1910 and measures 32 x 52.

Have a great evening.  Now back to finish my rug and decide which color will remain in the rug....red or purple.

Saundra

Which Color ~ Red or Purple?

You know I'm always finding something else to tweak and this rug has been no exception.  Getting down to the nitty gritty thought I'd take a serious look at my purple choice in the rug.  

Early on hooking this rug wanted to use my worms so pulled out the purple.  Then, as hooking progressed questioned my use of purple and thought it should be red.  

So which do you vote for ~ the already hooked Purple .....

....or replace with Red?

There's still the bottom right quadrant to hook yet until I finally decide.  But at least I've these two photos to ponder as I do that.

Saundra

Happy Easter

At long last this UFO stair riser is finally finished.  It was started over a decade ago and wasn't enjoying it so put it where it wasn't visible.  Once the hooking was done the whipped edge was only worked on at doctor office visits or fleeting minutes at home.  

Happy Easter to Everyone.

Saundra

This and That

Let's start off with a Kelley Belfast design.  Rug hooker Kathy wrote asking for a rug pattern she'd seen on Debbie's blog several months ago.  Here is what she saw ~ Debbie did this adorable needle punch glass case.

I wrote to Kathy saying that was Debbie's rendition of Kelley's original design and I'd need to ask permission from Debbie to use her idea.  Debbie graciously permitted me to draw a rug pattern for Kathy and I love it so much I'm thinking of hooking one myself.  Thank you Debbie for giving permission.

Kathy took a little creative license with grass and flowers, what a delightful rug it is.  She is gifting this to a friend who has a cat named Monkey ~ you can see the cat's name hooked into the rug under the bench.

On another note, I had an 'unknown' ask a question about Townsend Cutter sizes.  Since that person is a NO-REPLY blogger I'm unable to correspond to her.  The only way I could reply is if that question had been sent via the "EMAIL ME" section on the right side of my blog.  

But my advice to her would be to buy the second size you think you'd use most.  When I first started hooking my 'go to' size was #8 cut.  Now my favorite is #8.5.  However, I have #6 thru #10 and use all of them but use my #8.5 most often.

Seems more bad weather is predicted beginning this evening.  I've already received 'flash flood' warnings on my Apple product.  

Happy Good Friday everyone.  

Saundra

The Tortoise and the Hare (Updated)

Before getting to the tortoise here are a couple pictures of 'hares' otherwise known as rabbits.  

How cute is this bunny pushing/pulling a wagon!  So dang cute.  Was to have been hooked late 19th century early 20th century.  

OMG!!!!!!!  Two people said they saw a duck.  Now I see it is  a duck pulling a wagon and NOT a rabbit pushing the wagon.  😁  Thanks gals for the enlightened but embarrassing moment!!!!  har har har.

The Rabbits and Eggs rug below also from the late 19th early 20th century time frame is from the Vogel Collection.

Now, onto that tortoise!!!!  OMG, what a surprise I saw when riding my bike from the mailbox back home.  At a distance saw something dark in the road and was too big to be a snake so thought maybe a squirrel got hit by a car.

Approaching closer realized it was a HUGE turtle with a big head, big hands and claws.  I was pretty sure it was a SNAPPER.  Went back home, got my camera, a tape measure and back to take photos.  Took this photo first at a distance.

Still being cautious I pulled out the tape measure and put it in the back out of it's view to get an idea of the width of the shell.  The turtle pulled in its head.  Must admit was shocked at the dinosaur look of the saw tooth tail. 

The photo below was taken just after the turtle flipped it's tail, pulled in the head and was focused toward me.  Look at those claws!

Turtles, so I've heard, go back to their familiar parcel of land each year but this is the first time I've seen this one.  Naturally I didn't flip it over to see if it was male or female as I was sure it was a snapper and it had already gotten tired of me hovering over.  Wishing it well and a long life.  From the picture it appears the turtle had just un-buried itself from a long winter's nap.

If you'd like to check out Delaware turtles click HERE. 

NOTE:  Lauren (Pugs and Rugs) asked me how the sex of a turtle is determined.  The male turtle will have a bottom shell (plastron) which is somewhat concave whereas the female plastron is either flat or somewhat convex.

Saundra

Misc. Rug Hooking Chit Chat & Tornado

The last couple days hooking Early Farm Scene realized I was critically close to the end of Old Patina dyed wool.  Luckily there was more solution left so grabbed approximately one yard of cream, white and wheat wool to over-dye.  It is in the dryer now and only hope there will be something to use for the rest of the background.  Since weave and wool content varies it is always a surprise when dyeing.

This is what Early Farm Scene looks like now.  Looking closely you will see a color and slight value difference in background on the left between the tree and black sheep.  That was in the original antique so was able to use some of my olde patina wool from previous dye lots to get that look.

This is the original antique.

The linen I'm hooking on was purchased on ebay for a good price and is not drawn to scale.  Seemed like a great deal on linen (and it was) but now realize if I'm crazy about hooking an adaptation then I should draw it out myself.

Some things I want to change, which was not the fault of the purchased pattern, is pulling out the purple in the top motif (is that a sun or crop area?).  That purple needs to be red.  Also my Cross is unevenly hooked so that must be fixed.  The reset I can deal with.

Now to the tornado. Here in Delaware we get snow storms, hail, flooding, hurricanes, had a couple mild earthquakes and sometimes tornado warnings.  Of all those things it is tornadoes which scare me to death.  

When living in California was terrified of the earthquakes because they had more magnitude than encountered in Maryland and Delaware.  

During the wee hours this morning there was an EF2 tornado touched down between my town of Seaford and neighboring town of Laurel.  On the news it was reported to be about 50 yards wide and the wake of damage traveled 6.2 miles, you can see some pictures by clicking HERE. 

After enduring the two trees blown down with just straight winds last March 2, 2018 this would have been very scary if I'd had my iPad in the bedroom when the warning was announced.

My new Olde Patina dyed wool is in the dryer and hope there is something which will work for the remainder of the background.  But, if not, I'll do what was done before....use what I have.

Saundra

What I Missed ~and Didn't Miss

For sure I missed the fun of rug camp, another great class with Cindy Irwin and seeing all my friends.  What I didn't miss out on tho, were a couple 'goodies'.  My friend and camp roomie Deb dropped by my house on her way home from camp yesterday and gifted me with some camp treasures.

One such gift was something I was looking forward to working on in Cindy's class.  It is a pre-sewn pouch and we could embellish it with beads, wool roving, etc.  

Cindy was generous letting Deb score one for me and sweet Deb needle felted that cute sheep, tree and moon which spread an interesting glow over the area.  

The pouch has a snap closure which is incredibly clever and each of us could make one ourselves by using parts of a metal/retractable measuring tape or tossed out mini blinds.

Another kind gift from Deb was this knitted and felted vessel.  It could be used for wool snippets or do I want to put candy in it at future camp ventures?  Meanwhile it will be a pretty gift for me to enjoy and reflect on friendships.

The floral hooked and beaded purse was done by Deb and will soon be made into a purse with leather.  I will show you the finished product when she receives it back from the leather maker.

Below is the same pattern but hooked in different colors.  

The only rug photos Deb provided was one where her rug was in the show.  Deb's rug is the pastel square rug to the left of the lady in the photo.

For those of you wondering how I'm doing ~ There is finally a diagnosis to my problem.  During the endoscopy and colonoscopy a biopsy was taken of the lining of my stomach as well as the colon.  The diagnosis is Collagenous Colitis.  Soon I'll start medication and plan to attend Cape May Rug camp in September!!!!

Happy Saturday.

Saundra

THREE Dogs TWO Ways

Was looking thru my antique rugs for something else and something else caught my eye.  This is the rug previously posted on the antique rug show.

This must have been a rug design offered by someone but don't know who.  Isn't it fun to see how people make a design their own with adding or deleting motifs, as well as color choices.

Chilly day in Delaware this morning.  Thought spring was here but not today.  It will probably go straight to summer in a week.

Saundra

Early Farm Scene

Yesterday I'd planned to post an update of this rug but told  myself..."just another few loops", or 'finish the other flower first".  Always an excuse to hook a little more so the post never got made.  Well, here it is.

Already I've started pondering what to hook next.  Running thru my cranium is an antique adaptation I'd fallen in love with a few months ago and also a Kelley Belfast design.  I've proven to be a very fickle hooker so who knows what will go on my frame next.

My friend Deb is enjoying the class with Cindy Irwin and hooking one of her purses in the evening and a rug in class during the day.  I'm sure Deb will provide great photos of what I'm missing and when she does I'll share them with you.

Saundra

Missions Accomplished

Yesterday I completed the two tasks I'd set for myself ~ got those wild onion stems and flowering weeds mowed as well as dyeing two pots of wool.  Seems my light blue wool was depleted and I'll need it for a rug  with Kris Miller in September.

Was in such a hurry to pull wool and get it in soak that no 'before' picture was taken.  I grabbed pieces of natural, white off the bolt, wheat and recycled white clothing pieces.  Amazing how some wool grabbed more color than others.  

Already had a jar of Prochem blue dye mixed so used 1 tablespoon in each pot with +/- a yard of wool.   Bottom row in the middle is the wheat colored jacket pieces , no surprise there.  But was very surprised how two pieces to the far right ended up having more of a periwinkle color.  

Since I do primitive rugs all of these will serve me well in some rug.  At least now I've a variety of blue shades for my stash and even have more solution left if I need more.

Oh, and I did get a few loops pulled on the Early Farm Scene.  Maybe tomorrow there will be an update.  Happy Hooking.

Saundra

Multi-Tasking Sunday

Some wool is in soak for dyeing today.  Was a little envious of Jo and Lauren's recent dye results so thought it was time for me to do a little dyeing myself.  Last time I hooked a sky realized the shade needed wasn't in my stash and as it happens there is some dye mixed sitting in a jar just waiting to be used.  

Meanwhile as I'm consuming coffee this morning will post a few old rug photos.  From a private collection in Pennsylvania comes the 3 dogs with saw tooth border. It measures 24 x 45.

Now a tribute to friends of felines ~ a black and white cat which the auction house said was hooked around 1880.  Looks in pretty darn good shape to be that old.  Size is 30 x 40. 

 My previous blog post showed 3 hookers' versions of this antique rug.  This Red Lion was said to be hooked late 19th or early 20th century.  Bet you'll scroll down to compare to what we hooked, aren't ya?  😀

This is a piece of burlap from E.S. Frost of a Turkish design.

Below, a Horse with primitive scrolls, stars and hit & miss border was hooked 1910.

Pre-1900 this floral measured 11 x 18.  Don't know what the hooker used but it looks quite fluffy and bet it felt good underfoot.

The description on the listing for this rug was it was a Panther hooked rug from the 19th century measuring 20 x 60.  

There ya  have a few old rugs to enjoy.  My other task for today is mow the tall onion stems and other weeds in my front and side yard.  There isn't really any grass, just weeds but they look horrible and drives me batty when looking out the window.

So with dyeing wool, mowing the yard and pulling some loops later, it will help keep my mind occupied.  I was to leave for rug camp today but am still having intestinal issues spoken of early in February.  Won't bore you with any details, only to say, "yes I've had tests and have a follow up and another test coming up".  But keeping busy today will help keep me from missing camp so much.  My gal pal Deb is able to make it and will share her fun with me via emails and photos I'm sure.

Happy hooking and dyeing.

Saundra

Throwback Thursday

Turning the calendar back to 2017 you will see a few photos from rug camp in Cape May, NJ.   Rugs by the Sea is a great camp organized and hosted by Norma Batastini and Linda Woodbury.  

That year I was in Cammie Bruce's class; here is a group photo of the students with Cammie in front.  

This is the Victorian Chalfonte Hotel where classes are held and our home for 5 days.  My friends and I have climbed the narrow steps all the way to the Cupola many times.  It is quite fun to view the area from above.

Americana Stars is a design by Cammie.  It is a combination of hooked rug and wool applique border/edge.  Definitely an attractive design with that edge but too much trouble for me.  I don't like binding rugs in any form and this beauty would be even more time consuming. 

Below is a design by Lori Brechlin, pattern offered  by Spruce Ridge Studios and hooked by my friend and roomie Deb.

Friend Evelyn hooked this Hutchinson style Mermaid rug.

Marilyn is a huge rug hooked by friend Cheri and is complete with real fur, as you can see.

Stubbs Horse Trainer was hooked by  me and unfortunately I still haven't hung it on my wall.  Was just thinking about that last night.

I know we all like to see how different people hook the same design.  So here is an antique adaptation Red Lion and we all three chose to hook our version close to the original antique.

First is hooked by Charlotte.

Below on top was hooked by me and the next one was hooked by pal Evelyn.

There's my contribution for 'throw back Thursday' this week.  Now to go out and pick up limbs in preparation of hopefully starting the mower to cut the enclosed part of the back yard.

Saundra