This, That and The Other Thing (edited)

THIS is what I'm working on now, have had this Primitive Spirit pdf pattern for years and finally decided to hook it.  As I often do, took the liberty to change something in the design.  The original has Santa holding a sack from which the small sheep is showing out of the top.  I felt that unnecessary and distracting to my eye so changed the mitten somewhat and hooked Santa in his clothing only, no sack.  

Figure the black mittens make the eye think there are legs folded under.  But I think the eyes and mouth needs a little work to make him look more happy.

Am editing the post to show you a view of the original design.  Should have done that upon doing the post yesterday.  

I'm hooking it in 8.5 and the sheep are hooked with varying sizes from #8 thru #9.  Below is the wool I'm using for the sheep and something purchased from Gail Dufresne several years ago at camp knowing it was a perfect sheep or Santa beard wool.

Santa's beard, however, is hooked with a very fuzzy white wool my pal Deb shared with me a few years ago.  I didn't take a photo of the beard wool as the fluff didn't show up, but here is a picture of the wool purchased from Gail.  

This wool is rather thick and I did hand cut a lot of it but when my hand tired of pulling wide strips of the thick wool I ran it thru my Townsend in #8.5.  It was a slow processing guiding that wool thru but made it more manageable to hook as I wasn't able to get uniform strips with hand cutting.  

THAT would be providing something Halloween for Cranky Crow's ravenous appetite.  In my sewing room I have two Halloween items hanging all year, one is yet another of Tonya Robey's handmade items.  Just love this wool Halloween stocking with the words BOO stitched near the toe.

I keep the Vintage Halloween Cat as a reminder to make a rug pattern from it.  The hanging ornament is a little worse for wear, has some bent pieces, areas taped and toes missing; but he is the only vintage Halloween item I own.

Took a photo of the back and you can see years ago when sold it was 10 cents, when I purchased it from the thrift store a few years ago I paid $1.

THE OTHER THING is taking a lead from Lauren (Rugs and Pugs) and make a "Project List" to monitor my accomplishments or lack of.  

    Wooly Santa ~ pattern to linen - hook - bind - label

    Old Tom ~ Hook - bind - label  😞  Sadly that task hasn't been done since the rug was hooked in September.  These are not the true colors of Tom as he isn't neon gold in person.

Okay, over and out for the day, gonna go pull more loops on my Santa this rainy day in Delaware.  Yesterday the temperature rose to 80* which is well over 10* higher than normal for this time of year and today will have a high of 56*.   Delaware is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Honey...... I'm Home

 Another fun class with Kris Miller.  I took a pattern for which I had no idea on colors.  So took my 'go to' colors of dark red, some greens, gold and light green mix for background.  Of course I purchased a few fat quarters of wool to add in the rug too, plus some for upcoming projects.  Kris did a wonderful job color planning it and am quite pleased with the results.  It isn't done yet but will be soon.

Here is Kris color planning a huge rug named Lucinda's Quilt.

Below in the foreground is my roomie and pal Deb.  In the background is Kris color planning a future rug named Knitting Sheep for Patty .  

This whale design is what Patty was working on in class.

On the other side of the room is a class being taught by Loris of The Wool Farm.

A must have (I have two) are those brushes ~ one stays by my side at home and one permanently with my rug camp gear to ensure I have it.  They are wonderful for brushing off wool dust and bits from the rug  you're working.  She also has great wool, so check out her etsy web site.

The empty seat is mine with project on the frame.  In the background is Renia on the left and Deb on the right.

Renia was hooking The Eyes Have It by Spruce Ridge.  She will finish this soon as there is only background to do.

Deb was working on Over the Moon also by Spruce Ridge but with changes to represent her daughter's dog.  I also have that pattern and bought some wool for it. 

Not sure when it will be on my frame as I may do Old Tom first as I purchased wool for the turkey from Kris too.  Uh, grabbed it right out of her hands.  Here is the hooked sample of Old Tom Kris brought.  The wool is in the body and wing section from just one piece of wool.

Cathy was working on a Sally Kallin design which I have long admired.

Was told the name of the rug below and designer but have forgotten.  It's coming along nicely.

My neighbor was hooking a Gail DuFresne sheep.  Kris showed us a technique to achieve that poofy top on the sheep.  She uses two different pieces of wool (similar value), pulls two loops at a time then separates the wool to make it appear curly.

Joanne's project, The Reverend ~ don't you adore that cat?  The Rev is hooked awesomely too.

Be still my heart!!  Tonya was hooking an antique adaptation of a sheep by Jan Cole but it was huge.  Makes me want to hook one too.

I previously showed this antique rug on my blog ~ described as Reclining Lamb made late 19th or early 20th century, original measured 23 x 41.

Pam brought a previously started rug on which she lost her rhythm.  Kris certainly went above and beyond the call of duty as a teacher to get Pam back on track.  

On the other side of the room in Loris' class was a gorgeous rooster being hooked by Peg.  Look at that wonderful border which when hooked looks like chicken wire.  WOW!

In addition to wonderful rugs in progress, one gets exposed to helpful tools when attending a rug camp or hook-in.  A few of the ladies had these wonderful carts.

And they collapse.

Tonya and Joanne were using cushions which both ladies claim makes a huge difference in their back and spine comfort.  So I will be making a purchase of one before next rug camp.

Now back to my regular diet as I've two new pounds to lose.  Happy Hooking.

Saundra

Throw Back Thursday

This is going back to a 2009 class with Gail Dufresne.  In advance of the class I told her to please pull me out of my comfort zone ~ you all know what that is by now.  That would be dark earthy colors and antique adaptations.

I was very uncomfortable using bright colors and that color scheme wasn't anywhere in my home in 2009.  So with input and ideas from Gail and the group I drew and hooked this rug which I named The Great Escape.

Since this wouldn't fit anywhere in my home it was sold at an Artisans show one year.

Here is a picture of Gail Dufresne, me in the middle and Gail's sister Yvonne Wood.

Gail is an excellent and patient teacher who gives her 'peeps' her all,  Yvonne also an excellent hooker.  One important thing I learned in the class is stay true to yourself and hook what makes you happy. Try tho I may to hook colors outside my crayola box, it is awkward and not as much fun.

Regarding the previous comment about bright colors being nowhere in my home, there is this rug which I hooked 2014 and is in front of my garden  bathtub.  

Now that the crispy grass weeds have had a drink of water a day or so ago it is time to cut it once again.

Saundra

LOST and FOUND

A few years ago my computer with WIN07 crashed and along with it went pictures on the hard drive.  Sadly I didn't think ahead so not all my rug photos were saved to a flash drive.  Recently when starting to recreate my list of hooked rugs (also lost in the crash) was unable to find a particular original design I named "Great Escape".

That is until yesterday.  Out of the blue I receive a phone call from a gal I met over 10 years ago while visiting Cape May rug camp.  Caran wanted to know if I was attending camp this year and if so which week. Long story short....she said thru a photo of a fish rug she had on her iPad she was able to track me down.  

Say WHAT??????  Did it have a purple fish in it?  She said it did and sent me the photo.  Who'da thunk it!  Here is the lost picture of the rug ~ it is found again and safely saved to a flash drive.  Below is a photo in bright sunlight on  my deck.

Below is a photo of Great Escape in subdued lighting without a flash on my back porch. 

Here is a photo of the rug in bright sunlight on my deck.  As the colors are not something I could live with in my home sold the rug at an art fair at a beach resort.   

Oddly enough several years later I am to design and hook another rug with bright colors which does live in my house.  The one below I named Ali Katz.

It is fun to see the Great Escape again and it brings back fond memories of the class with Gail DuFresne.  Thanks Caran, for the phone call and hope you enjoy Cape May whichever week you visit.

My heart goes out to all those living in Texas.

Saundra 

Spring Daffodil and Sheep Challenge

Yes, it is finally done.....well, a few more stitches to tack down the cotton binding on the back is all.

Oh, Elaine, I wanted to respond to you personally but since you are a NO-REPLY blogger the emails don't get to you.  But yes, I have done all types of binding rugs, wool yarn whipping, wool strip whipping, the Betsy Reed primitive edge binding, wool covered cording edge with wool back, you name it and I've done it.  If you use the search engine at the top left corner you can type in the words to see  how I did those techniques.  And, if you want to find out how to FIX the NO-REPLY Blogger problem click HERE.  Thanks to "Anyone Can Decorate" for putting together such an easy visual to fix it.

Here's my Little Lambie Pie.  She is wearing a wool collar with a bell so I can tell where she is.

I hooked this using mostly #8.5 and #9 wool strips but did try to use worms whenever and where ever I could in various sizes.  The daffodil trumpets strips ranged from #8 to 3/4 - 1".

The sheep was hooked in a hand cut from a piece of delightful wool which was purchased from Gail Dufresne a few years ago.  Even tho it would go thru the cutter I hand cut ensure the lumps would not be cut in the middle but in the ditch of the weave. 

Am in the process of putting my grandson's design on linen but not going to rush to start hooking it tonight since there's a bit more hand stitching of the inside of the binding tape.  Plus I'd like to steam that section again to make it smooth in the back.

Have a fantastic evening everyone.  If you are wondering why I never respond back to your wonderful , kind and welcomed comments, check to see if you are a NO-REPLY BLOGGER by clicking that link above.

Saundra

It's Show Time

At least it is SHEEP show time.  Part of the flowers were toyed with but color to still be determined for the final hooking.  The house colors haven't even been pulled or decided yet.  

Here is my sheep in progress.  I wanted so much for the lumpy natural sheep look so was hoping the wool chosen for this project would work.

The wool used for the sheep I've had for years.  It was something  Gail Dufresne  was selling at a rug camp and thought immediately of a sheep.  I believe I've had this wool for at least 9 years and happy to finally use it for a sheep.  

 This wool would rip at wide widths but I hand cut every two rows over.  And THEN, if I needed a thinner strip would cut that piece in half.  

Here is a close up of the sheep and the hand cut strips used for the majority of the sheep.  

Was so hoping to leave some length to the strips so it would appear as a shaggy sheep but the ends wanted to stick out straight like a sore thumb rather than hanging downward.  For now will leave those few ends and see if that provides the look.  If not then I'll trim them down like we do most ends.

If anyone would like to join in the Facebook Out of Hand Rug Hookers Challenge click on the link and ask to be part of the event.