Rug Label Time

I feel there are three stages of rug hooking... the fun, the not so fun and the labels.  Fun part is the hooking, the middle part is the dang binding  then comes time for a label.

My grandson's Christmas gift will have two labels.  One of him in his soccer uniform and the other of family when they went to see the Barcelona soccer team this July.  Those should give him fond memories as he gets older. 

You can see how I made these labels by clicking a previous BLOG post.  I've still more labels to stitch on the last few rugs and they will be done in time. 

Saundra

Bind Two Rugs..... ✔

Yup, finally completed the binding of the two rugs and just two weeks before Ocean City rug camp.  So there are other priorities now... like house cleaning and pulling wool for the next rug.

Above is my grandson's favorite soccer team and he is a great soccer player himself.   I put in a sleeve on the back for hanging it but he can choose to use it however he wishes.  

Soon there will be two labels on the back of this Christmas gift and will bore you again when that part is accomplished.

The other finally bound rug was On the Loose which was started at Cape May camp last month.  It is a design by Bev Conway and I hooked it in a class with Cammie Bruce.

Now to clean a bit (I hope), organize my wool room and get ready for the next camp.  Unfortunately this is only my second camp this year as I missed camp with Barb Carroll in May.  So am definitely ready to have a good time with like minded folks and see Betsy Reed once again.

Saundra

Chaos in the House

There has been chaos here the last two days having an old (won't die) TV pulled out.  Then a temporary delay for a day and finally successful installation of the new HDTV today.  

After my son pulled the TV out of the box is when I realized the old TV stand was not going to work.  That meant checking on line to see what local business had a suitable size stand for the 40" TV and then call to see if they had one in stock.  Luckily Big Lots had one and asked them to take it to the register that someone was on their way to get it.  

Ben wanted to be right in the middle of all the activity and why there WAS chaos in the house.  I tried to block his entry into a part of the living room by propping up the TV box against a rug frame but bully boy shoved his way thru a few times.  He'd step on the stand framing clanking them together, kicked the screws and just couldn't understand what the big deal was for me insisting his staying away.  Thankfully all is good now and calm has restored to our abode.

So now to show an update of my grandson's Christmas gift ~ his favorite Soccer Team logo from Barcelona.  

I can see now the "E" in Barcelona needs to be downsized.  And, the dark burgundy stripes need to be hooked a little closer so the foundation doesn't show.  

**So this is a lesson to be learned...no matter if you follow a hooking rhythm of every three holes for a certain size, it may not work depending on the structure of the wool strip.  Those strips were rather felted and hard.  So I will have to pull out the strips and hook it like a 3, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, and see how it looks.

Have a great evening.  The rain will begin tonight but I have a great new HDTV to keep me entertained.  Now I can watch Jamie of Outlander in High density and all his glory.  AHHHHH.

Saundra

Grandson's Favorite Soccer Team

With the sheep rug and pumpkin mat off the frame it was the perfect time for me to pull a few loops before starting something new.  Am taking my time on this project since it isn't due until Christmas.

My grandson Zach loves to play soccer and his favorite pro soccer team is Barcelona.  He and his family recently went to a game which they played in the US.  Zach was over the moon when his parents told him they had tickets.

Unbeknownst to Zach, grandma is hooking a wall-hanging for Christmas. Will also give him another team shirt too.  

Must tidy up my wool room a tad and finish binding the sheep and the pumpkin mat but stay tuned to see what will be on my frame next.

Happy Saturday,

Saundra

Movin' On and UFR's

I tend to get bored working on one thing at a time EVEN IF I love what I'm working on.  Presently I have 3 hooking projects going ...otherwise known as UF?  Huh?  Why were they called UFOs?  So I think that this day forward they should be known as UFR's.  Un-Finished Rugs.

Anyway, tucked safely away is my sheep (which I want done before Cape May), Kelley's adorable pumpkin (an October rug), and my grandson's rug which is a Christmas gift.  Yes December is a bit away but must be perfect for my grandson and want it done in good time.

Now I'm getting excited about working on this one for my grandson again.  It has been in the basket for way too long.

Hope you have a great evening.  Frankly I'm on edge as tomorrow is Ben's stay and play test to see if the kennel will accept him so I can attend rug camp at Cape May in September.  

Saundra

This and That

Did a variety of things today and was busy.  First and foremost was taming the rat's nest of tangled wool worms and putting them back in containers.  Even tho I use a lot of old worms seems I replaced them with other wool strips as the bulk hasn't seemed to dwindle much.

Steamed the Goat rug and it is resting for now.  Eventually and slowly will do the pre-wool whipped roll forward but will save the actual whipping for the ride to Barb Carroll's in May.  That will give me something to do while my partner drives and make the mountain ride less stressful for me.

Had an order for Magdalena's Goat so started drawing that but still have more to go as I had an exhisting pattern order for someone which needed to be drawn and shipped.

There is a new project in line to hook but don't have the wool cut for that so pulled out my grandson's rug to work on until then.  You can see my boy Ben guarding the front of the house and his mum.

Back to the Goat pattern..... I hooked the original size of Magdalena's rug which was 29 x 35 and drawn on linen that size would be $75 plus shipping.  

Then thought some may prefer to hook a smaller size like 22 x 27.   For those of you who are interested in buying this pattern let me know if you would prefer smaller or original size.

Have a great evening.

Saundra 

After Stepping Away.....

It was a nice step back from the Magdalena Goat and am looking forward to pulling loops on it again.  During that break I worked on my grandson's next sports wall hanging. He doesn't know about this one yet as I'm saving it until Christmas.  Must say that starting it early was great to have an 'interim' piece when you need a break.

As you might surmise, the background wool will be blue and have already sewn on the wide heavy cotton binding.  There will be a sleeve sewn at the top to accommodate a yard stick for hanging. The stick might need cutting at the ends to fit inside but does a great job. That is what was used for my grandson's other Sports Rug last year.

On a side note, my son Greg stopped by yesterday and showed him progress of this piece.  He said he'd purchased tickets for a game between Barcelona and (??? can't remember) coming to the DC/Baltimore area in July.  OMG, Zach was off the charts ballistic when told of this.  

Greg said the tickets for the 3 of them (dad, mom and Zach) was over $500 but said it was worth it for Zach.  I reminded him that IF they had to go to Spain to see them play the cost would have been MUCH higher.

Have a great evening.

Saundra

Oh So Close!

Okay, I'm guilty of taking breaks from whipping the edge of my rug with wool yarn so every once in a while needed to pull loops on my grandson's rug.  This one is a piece of cake compared to my son's Cave Man Rug and my grandson's Favorite Sports Rug last Christmas.

So, when the last of the wool whipping is done on the Horse Trainer my grandson's rug will rest for a few months so that I can begin my next project.

Above is the Horse Trainer and all that is left of whipping is 36" at the bottom. It WILL require one more steaming.  I have concerns with the corners. It looks wonderful from the top and coverage is good.  But it seems the corners curl and are longer (stretched out).  Am hoping the steaming fixes the look.  Any advice from your experts????? 

Have a great evening and plans are that whipping will be accomplished tomorrow.  BUT.... I have a pattern order which needs to be drawn, the wool room needs to be cleaned up before before wool can be cut for the new project.    Trust me there is no one more excited about starting the next antique rug adaptation than me.  So we will ALL have to wait.

Have a great evening and am so sorry for the horrendous snowfall for our neighbor's in Canada.  Hope you still have electricity and enjoying your Storm Meals.

Saundra