Finished Rug

Here is rug I just finished this afternoon. Hooking, whipping, binding all done!

The inspiration for this rug came from a photo I found a few years ago in Country Living. Here is that photo:

I believe it was in the section of the magazine where antiques are valued. I took this photo, traced it, scanned it into the computer and opened it up in Adobe Illustrator and traced the image. Printed the image, and drew onto a monk's cloth foundation.

The interesting thing about hooking this rug was the use of a sparkly yarn that I pulled up with the wool strips in the diamonds to give it the sparkle it needed. Unfortunately, it isn't visible in this photo. The cuff of the sleeve was hooked with a fine mohair yarn. I used three strands of that as it was so fine.

Here is the finished product:

African Embroidery

At our last hooking meeting this past Wednesday, one of the hookers had a piece of African embroidery she was working on. It was very colorful and caught my eye and my interest. I looked online and found lots of images related to this topic and also a Web site selling patterns and kits.

Here's what I ordered. Another project that sparks my curiosity. Can't wait to see it!

Latest Rug

Here is the rug I'm working on right now. It is based on this photo my husband took in Italy.

New bird at the feeder

Saw two of these beauties at my feeder on Sunday.

Listen to their song:

Pizza Party Hook-in

Lucky for the hookers of the Saratoga-Capital Region, one of our members has an outdoor bread oven. This past Wednesday she invited several groups to her farm for a hook-in and homemade pizza (dough homemade, too!) Although I failed to get a picture of the immense oven and log cabin lean-to covering, I did get several snaps of the rugs people were working on.

 Mary Jane's floral fine-cut. She is working with teacher Nancy Blood on this rug.

 Pat's finished floral primtive. She hand cuts all her wool!

 Mary Lee's primitive chicken.

 Sharon's four-season houses. She's hiding behind her rug!

 Sad to say, I'm not sure who's rug this is, but it's a beauty.

 Mary O's happy snowman.

Mary's Thomas the Train.

A fun time and a gracious hostess!

Book of the Day

The book of the day has to be Dan Brown's latest:



Another Robert Langdon thriller! Loved Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code. Check it out.

Way Too Long

It has been a long time since I've blogged. Not sure why. First the holidays, then the winter. Oh, well.

Here is a peak into what I've been up to. I finally have a studio space to call my own!

This last photo shows my Garden of Love rug based on the U.S. Postage stamp called by the same name.