Off the subject of rug hooking for this post. Some of you may know that I belong to a prayer shawl ministry. We are a group of about 30 knitters and crocheters who get together twice a month. Besides doing prayer shawls for the community, we have taken on several other projects through the last four years. Some of those projects include: - Wool caps for the soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq;
- Confirmation and baptismal stoles for the local Catholic Church;
- Afghans for the VA Hospital buddy program in Albany, NY;
- Hats, mittens, scarves, socks, etc. for a the local Giving Tree Store for the needy in Saratoga County. The group that runs this store serves over 325 needy families in the county at Christmas time.
- Baby blankets for stillborn babies dispersed by the Angel Names Network;
- Knitted items for Operation Shoebox (Samaritan's Purse) that are distributed worldwide;
- Sweaters and other warm winter items for an area school district that serves a very impoverished area;
- and various other small projects that come up throughout the year.
As you can see, we are very busy! As it is with rug hooking groups, our knitters and crocheters have become close friends which makes this ministry such a worthwhile group to belong to. Anyway, here are a few of my latest contributions:
A prayer shawl crocheted in shades of green, cream and turquoise blue. 
A confirmation stole knit in the tradition prayer shawl pattern of K3 P3. Sorry the photo is so bad!
I had a question about how I hung my garden rug. Here's what I did: After the rug was finished and after I found a spot for it, I began to think about how I wanted to hang it. At first, I was going to sew a pocket along the top and use a wooden dowel to display it. But the rug is so heavy, I was afraid it wouldn't hang straight. I sent a message to Gene Shepard through his blog, and he suggested carpet tacking, something he had used to hang rugs. I decided that was the way to go. We went to our local hardware store and got a package of carpet tacking strips. There were three four-foot sections to a package for around $12.00. This would be enough, as I mainly wanted the full length on the top of the rug and the bottom. For the sides, I used a smaller piece and centered in the middle of the side length.
As you can see from the photo, there are small tacks sticking up with a larger screw spaced evenly along the strip. You first have to level the strip and then screw the strip to the wall. Be careful when hanging your rug as the nails are sharp. Luckily, the nails are not very long which means they won't pop through the rug. There are plenty of them to keep the rug adhered. My husband and I hung the rug, first hanging the top of the rug, then pulling the rug straight and fastening to the strip along the bottom. At this point, the rug was hanging securely, but the sides were showing some slight ripples. The side pieces took care of that.
A prayer shawl crocheted in shades of green, cream and turquoise blue.
A confirmation stole knit in the tradition prayer shawl pattern of K3 P3. Sorry the photo is so bad!
