Big Dog Hollow all Bound

Oh but it does feel good to completely finish a rug.  And I hate binding but once done there is a sense of accomplishment and relief.  At one time think I had 3 rugs to bind and was hooking yet another and it drove me crazy seeing those rugs laying in the wings.  Here is Big Dog Hollow all done, again thanks for initiating the swap Kathy.

A few posts ago I showed how I prepared the foundation before rolling it forward.  The next thing I do is do a stay stitch (whip) it in position using a heavy thread.  Doing it this way might seem like double work but it goes more smoothly for me rather than rolling and holding the roll while it is being whipped with wool. 

I am using a different wool yarn than I've used before.  Previously I've used Halcyon bulky yarn to whip rugs and asked my friend Evelyn what kind of wool she used.  She provided the name of elann to me and their wool yarn is a lot cheaper.  As you can see from the label I used Highland Bulky.

The finished rug measures 27" x 33 1/2" and took just a smidgen less than one skein of wool to whip the rug using doubled yarn.  The skein measures 54.5 yards (50 metres).

So now I can finally hook on the Red Bird of Pennsylvania antique adaptation without guilt.  I've missed these last couple days of non hooking so perhaps tomorrow I'll have a little progress to show you on my Red Bird.

Have a wonderful evening.

Saundra

Big Dog Hollow Revisited

Had it not been for computer woes these last several days I probably would be done with Big Dog Hollow by now   ~ well maybe, maybe not.  This is what the rug looks like now.

And since just getting back to pulling loops think I'm in a quandary about the sheep colors.  So now I've got to decide what wool to use for them.  Obviously I can't use a tan or beige because that would blend in too much with the background.  So had decided on a grey and white hound's-tooth for the body and a darker grey for the legs and face (shown below).  Yes, I could outline them as I did with the cow and will probably need to do that no matter what color is chosen.

So think I'll attempt to use what I've got here and if that doesn't work will go back to the wool room.  Both the rabbit and sheep appear as tho they will be TOO light/bright white and will require some tea or walnut dye to tone it down.  But it is getting close.

If you're reading this Robin (Bird in Hand), I had to take my sick computer that holds my web site (not this one) to the Geek squad and a terminal prognosis was given to the XP and subsequently my web site.  But tomorrow I'll send the Two Roosters Facing giveaway pattern.

Saundra

Big Dog Update and Oscar Night

The last couple days I haven't gotten a whole lot of hooking done because I've drawn out 17 designs with 2 more to go before shipping tomorrow.  Plus I've been having a fight with my Big Foot floor stand (another story for another time).  But the rug is beginning to look like its getting close to being finished.

There is still one more pup to hook and in looking at this picture think I'll replace the wool of three legs and top back strip from the pup just under the mother dog because it looks grey in the picture and don't like what my eye sees in the photo.

For the border think I'll use darks and not do original antique design because the design is really busy enough and don't want to distract from the activity happening in the rug.

For those of you who may be wondering or just tuning in, the size of this rug is 27 1/2 x 33 1/2  and a design offered by Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art. 

What I'll hook next hasn't been decided but clearly it won't be anytime too soon as there is still more hooking to be done and then the dreaded binding.

Tonight my friend Jon is having his annual Pre-Oscar Party.  I've attended the last two years and even wrote about it on my blog with pictures. Since it starts rather late and have no designated driver have opted to miss the event this year. I'm sure I'll hear all about the wonderful time everyone had and probably be sorry that I didn't go.    Here is a picture the first year I went and decided to go dressed in a gaudy gold lame' vintage dress, all the rhinestones I could round up, wore my grandmother's mink coat and had a blast.  Here is a picture of me with cocktail in hand.

And this is last year with my friend Jon, the host....uh notice the red carpet?  The first year I wasn't sure IF there was a red runway or not so gifted Jon with this for his annual event.  Hey, momma had to walk the red carpet, right?  And, since I started out getting dressed up figured that I'd keep with the tradition.

Something else about the party is that Jon gives each of his guests a CD of music from all of the movies being nominated for an Oscar.  Not sure what surprises he will have on hand tonight but there will be gourmet food (he is a great chef) and also a great mixologist. 

I previously posted more pictures of the events  from 2011 and 2012 so if you do a search on my blog for Oscar Party, perhaps they will pop up.

Oh, and friend and blogger Acorn Hollow is hosting a giveaway, visit her at:  http://acornhollow.blogspot.com/ to check it out.

Have a great evening, enjoy the Oscars and be kind to one another.... as always, thanks for dropping by.

Saundra

Antique vs. Present Day

As you followers know I'm hooking an adaptation of an antique rug and the first picture is the original antique.  Can you see moon faces or stars in this antique?  Can you see any birds other than the owl which isn't a bird?  The moon faces and stars blend into the background.  And, the birds take a little time to identify.  But this is folk art and women used what they had.  

The pattern I'm hooking is an adaptation of the rug by Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art and her hooked piece is here:

I love the fact that Kathy has just one moon and more stars.  And her stars blend into the background as well, but are more easily seen that in the original antique.  In the antique you can hardly see where the stars and moon are because the value was the same.  

This is what my rug looks like now after making a couple changes. Tomorrow I'll show you difference.  I changed the bird's head, put a different value around the moon but am still not sure if I want all light bright stars or mixed.   After all, the antique rug you could hardly decide where the stars were.

Since I'm still undecided think I'll hook a few more motifs and just live with this version until more is hooked. 

Saundra

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope all my friends have a special event planned for their significant other ~ or rather your significant other has a special event planned for you.

My significant other is Ben but he can't have chocolate (bad for dogs) but I'll give him a chew bone which will please him even more.  And of course he will walk around the house fretting on where to hide it so no one will steal it.  Then he will lay beside it to keep a watchful eye on it for extra security.  Eventually sometime today he will whittle that rolled raw hide bone to a nub.  But that is a ritual with him so maybe part of the enjoyment is just looking at it in anticipation.  Sorta like how I get when I know that I'm going to a rug camp..... the excitement of anticipation.

For those of you who have just recently started reading my blog thought I'd let you know more about Big Dog Hollow.  It measures 27 1/2 x 33 1/2   and is the pattern that I chose when Kathy inquired if I'd be interesting in doing a pattern swap.  She wanted one of my Frost Sheep designs  (the one with birds and flowers) and I chose her Big Dog from her web site.

Most of the background colors are comprised of these wools but also use some of my woolie worms sprinkled around ~ some extra blues, grey, a tan and orange texture and anything else which might make it look like 'that is all she had'.

The house I used 3 different colors of tan textured wool and various darks for the roof.  The house outline has 3 different shades of red/orange and they were woolie worms as well.  I feel so good when I can use up some of the leftovers.  Hard to believe that when I first started there was no wool stash here at all.  And now?  It is out of control and need to take a couple days and just organize it all.  To prove it to you, tomorrow I'll share pictures of my massive stash and you will all gasp.

And now the right side, as you can see there is still much for me to hook

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day.  Thanks for stopping by for a spell.

Saundra

A View from Afar

I removed the design from my Snapdragon frame (jut love that frame because it keeps the backing drum tight)....anyway, wanted to see what it looked like on the floor as well as in a picture to see if anything shouted at me.  So thought I'd take a picture to share with you as well.

Previously I told you that this rug was a great opportunity to use of woolie wormies, and it is.  The funny thing is that the rabbit is hooked with probably all that exists of a tan and off white wool.  I went thru my worm baskets and bags several times looking for just one or two more strips so I could finish the rabbit.  Each trip rendered a couple more small strips and luckily my final search found two pieces which finished it off.  But, had I not found any more of that same wool would have 'made do' by putting something else in.  You know that old saying:

"Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without"

This is what the Big Dog Hollow looks like now.  As mentioned in the previous post the design measures 27 1/2 x 34 and was a great pattern swap that Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art traded for one of my Frost Sheep designs.

I sorta want to hook the owl next but guess I should work on stars and sky so that the star color can be decided before I get too far along on the critters.  When looking at the pattern up close the rabbit seemed a little invisible with the background but can see now with the flash that it shows up just fine ~ even a little bright in the picture but think I'll keep it like this. And not sure what wool I'll use for the sheep.  There I go thinking about the critters again.  

Not sure what I'll do for the border.  It would look great to do it like the original shown here but am sure it would be a pain filling in around all the circles along the sides of the curvature.

Have also considered just a primitive dark border, no design, but more of a framing around the rug.  But it is way too early to decide that and perhaps the further along I get the rug will decide for me what it needs.

Thanks for dropping by.

Saundra

Big Dog Hollow

It is so much fun having a new project to work on AND knowing the other rugs have been finished, bound and no longer a UFO (for you newbies that means Un-Finished Objects).  What's more fun with this Big Dog Hollow design is that it allows me to pull wool from my worm baskets and they just add to the old look of the piece.  

Okay, okay, there are times when I hook a worm in and it isn't right but most of the time when you hook in that random piece of wool you just feel it was hooked by a woman who used 'what she had'.  But hooking antique adaptations feels so good to me because that is what first brought me to rug hooking.  I loved the magazine Country Living and adored the antique rugs on the walls, above the fireplace mantel, below the hearth, on the floor or the harvest table.  Those were the rugs that beckoned me to become a rug hooker.

Have I teased you enough?  Well..... first..... I could have accomplished more than this since starting it but have had a few annual physicals which took precious time from my hooking.

Okay, promise this is it.  Here is what Big Dog Hollow looks like right now.  It measures 27 1/2 x 34 and so far have used #8 and #8.5 cuts but when I get to the rabbit, cat and smaller motifs will use a somewhat smaller cut.

That star was hooked in before the background started.  Actually that is why I started the background ~ I wanted to see if that color star would work or if I should use another of my worms for the stars.  And just might vary the star wool colors  to the right just a smidgen to see which color works best.

Thanks for dropping by and sorry I don't have more to report on the progress of this rug.  AND, Kathy, if you are reading my blog would like to thank you for even considering me to do a pattern swap.  

Saundra

The Secret Swap

Okay, now I'm going to reveal the secret swap partner and pattern I've been teasing about.  But first, the story ~ there are a few hooking bloggers that I consider friends even tho we have not met yet we communicate via e-mail fairly often.  

One day an e-mail came in from Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art and she said she would love to hook my Frost Sheep w/Birds and Flowers and did she have a design I'd be willing to receive in exchange.  Are you kidding???   I knew there were several I'd like but wanted to select my most favorite , so I chose Big Dog Hollow.

Since Kathy was travelling and knew she wouldn't be home until after this weekend (she arrived earlier), was keeping it under wraps so we could each blog about our respective achievements.  So I wrote to Kathy confessing that I'd started hooking Big Dog but haven't blogged about it until she could start the Frost rug.  Today I received an email from her saying she would be quite busy and probably not get to it for a while and it would be just fine for me to break the silence of the secret swap.  So some time later she will share her progress on the Frost sheep design on her blog and I'm looking forward to see her work in progress.  But in the meantime I can share my achievements on Big Dog and feel SO FREE of the self-induced restraints.

This is what I have accomplished thus far but just might change out the color of the collar and star but not just yet until I see how it will go with the sky color and have more hooked it.  Oh but it was great to  use wool from my wiggly worms and hook in the dog.  If you look to the left of the picture you can see my boy Ben's paw-paws in the picture and I didn't dare crop them out.

When I start a new project I have all my colors individually bagged and slowly the mess starts to appear.  It isn't all of a sudden so if I took time could control the  mess.  But hey, it is much more fun to hook than clean up, even wool strips.  You can see the wool on the sofa arm, there's also wool on the end table to the left of that and loose wool strips hidden behind the hooking frame.  Please tell me I'm normal.

Thanks for visit and feel free to drop by any time.

Saundra

Back to the Lion Rug

Well finally I'm posting an updated picture of my lion rug and already I'm trying to decide what to hook next.  Since there's been no loops pulled lately on the spiral rug guess I could always pick that up to work on.

Even tho I know how to do the hidden initials and messages, taught by Bev Conway (previously posted on my blog last year between September and November) I think I'll just hook my initials and date with a dark wool which will blend in with and gently seen in the background.  This rug is getting tedious now since all the fun things are about done.  Only the border lines remain as fun and then the background above the lion will seem to take forever.


Among the rugs I'm contemplating as my next project is the Lollipop Bouquet.   
I love how Kathy of Briarwood Folk Art hooked hers and it looks so old. Click the link to see what she did to make hers look so old. 


Try and stay cool in these steaming temperatures; tomorrow the heat index for the Delaware/Maryland area will be a 'feels like' 110.


Thanks for visiting.  Saundra