A VERY Good Weekend

It was a VERY good weekend, though as always, not enough hours in the day or days in the weekend.

Bright and early Saturday morning hooker Melissa and I headed to Ann Arbor, MI,  for a hook-in.  On the way we stopped and picked up the Evening Stitcher, Bobbie.  Can you say wool heaven?  At least a half dozen vendors selling the most wonderful wools.  I behaved myself and only bought a half yard of wool and Kris Miller’s book on finishing techniques.  Hooker luck was with me as I won a door prize and the third prize in an additional fundraising raffle.  Oh, I so wanted to be the second place winner – over 11 yards of hooker’s crack, but my winning was a hand turned maple bowl, perfect for snippets.  I even managed to pull a few loops on my rug! 

Several years ago at the fall In the Spirit of Friends Show, I almost bought a small hanging cupboard Bobbie had for sale.  It was not old, but a well made reproduction even having been made with square nails.  Can you believe she gifted it to me?  How sweet and thoughtful!  This summer I hope to switch my hooking room with the guest room and will have the perfect spot for it!

Annie is so afraid she might miss something!

Isn't she wonderful?  She can also be turned 180 degrees and hung that way, too.

Sunday morning Annie and I headed to a 5k run put on by a local rescue group, Love-a-Stray, NOT to run but to work at the Ohio Pug Rescue booth.  It may have been Annie’s lucky day.   A young couple, with no children, a fenced yard and two other dogs fell in  love with that tongue and underbite.  They already have two rescue dogs – a beagle mix and a puggle.  They were looking for a playmate for the puggle and decided Annie would be a perfect addition to their home.  They went home, filled out the application and since I had given the co-ordinator a heads up, she watched for their app, immediately called them and agreed that this may be a match made in heaven.  Tonight I called them and set up the meet and greet for May 11 (the wife if out of town this weekend - darn!) and if Annie and their dogs don’t have any major issues, she will finally have her furever home.  Yeah Annie!  I’ve had her for about 7 ½ months and she’s very attached to me, but I know she will adjust quickly.  Say a pug prayer that she is on her best behavior when she meets the other dogs!

AND . . . I won another raffle!  They had a Chinese raffle and I won the red, white and blue raffle.  (I was really hoping to win the tattoo basket . . .lol!)  I think I need to go buy a lottery ticket!  I didn't take everything out, but there is a cool tote bag, star pillow, dog door stop, dog bowl, dog toy, bag of dog food, water bottle and I think there's a patriotic blanket in the bottom.  Maybe there are also some treats because Annie sure was interested in the basket.

Next post I will share rugs from the hook-in with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)

Lauren

Copyright Questions ???

There has been much discussion on blogs recently regarding copyrights and what is copyright infringement.  I guess I’m confused (though it doesn’t take much to confuse me . . . lol!)  I understand if I’ve bought a pattern already on backing that I am not allowed to copy it.  I understand that I cannot post someone else’s pattern on the Internet to allow others to copy it. 

BUT . . . What if I’ve bought a paper pattern.  Can I use it more than once?  Am I allowed to sell it once I am done with it?  What if I’ve never used the pattern?  We’ve all bought patterns that we’ve decided we’ll never hook, stitch, etc.  Can it be passed on or sold?  Am I legally allowed to share it?  What about patterns found in magazines and books?

I’ve read that there is no copyright protection on rugs hooked before 1923, I believe, yet some pattern designers indicate they have the right to it.  Many people sell Magdalena Briner Eby patterns.  Does everyone have the right to do that since they are pre -1923?

What about a simple design such as a flag?  I don’t know how anyone could say that is their pattern and you can’t copy it.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who is confused.  I’d love to see someone post on this topic.

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A post wouldn't be complete without a picture, so here is the progress I've made on my rug.  It was taken with a flash so it's a little on the bright side.  I was hoping to have half the background hooked before tomorrow's hook-in.  Close, but no cigar :)  I'm not sure about the eyes.  I may need to work on those.

Hopefully I will have LOTS of rugs to share with you from the hook-in.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Pedal to the Point

Pedal to the Point is a two day, 150 mile fundraising bike ride in early August to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Fellow blogger, knitter, spinner, and chicken raising hooker Andrea of That'll Do Farm will be riding.  In order to participate, a rider must pay a fee and then pledge to raise $250.00 for MS.  Can you spare $5.00 to help her reach/surpass her goal?  If you can help, please click here.

I definitely admire her.  I'm not sure I could make 5 miles.  I hope she has a comfy seat!

Andi's ride

I skipped hooking tonight to take Annie to a fundraiser for Ohio Pug Rescue hoping that just maybe she'd find someone interested in giving her a forever home.  I guess it wasn't meant to be, but on Sunday we are attending another event and maybe we'll get lucky :)

Saturday hooker friend Melissa and I are heading to Ann Arbor, MI, to meet up with Bobbie to attend a hook-in.  I'm sure it will be great fun and hopefully I will even pull a few loops.  Is anyone reading this attending?  If so, please let me know!  I've made a bit of progress on my antique adaptation that I started at the retreat a couple of weeks ago and will post a picture soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

I Apologize ~

 

 A couple posts ago, I posted a picture of this rug and said "These are absolutely horrible colors."  I was referring to the colors of my photograph, NOT the colors of the rug!!!  The colors of the rug are beautiful, vibrant colors.  It's my photography skills that are sometimes horrible.  Jen, if you read that and took it the wrong way, I am so sorry.  I would never criticize someone's rug on my blog (other than my own!).  {Thanks to my DSO for pointing that out to me.}

Happy Tuesday to you!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

The Talent of Susan Feller ~

{{ So I sit down to do a post, and I get a message that says "Your browser is no longer supported by blogger.  Some parts may not work and you may experience problems.  If you are having problems, try Google chrome."  Well, on my desktop, I've been trying for what has seemed like an hour to download Google chrome and have finally given up.  I think I was able to install it on the laptop.  We'll see . . . !  I don't know about you, but being almost computer illiterate, I just HATE when they change things.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  I don't want new and improved!  OK.  I'll get off my soapbox now :) }}

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Susan Feller, of Ruckman Mill Farm, is a most talented hooker and what a pleasure it was to spend the weekend with her in the beauty of West Virginia.  Here is a sampling of her amazing talent.

 

 

I see that my pictures posted to my blog in the opposite order that I downloaded them.  Did that happen to you, too?

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

More Inspiration ~

I wish I had taken more pictures, but hindsight is 20-20.  Here are some completed and almost completed rugs by some very talented ladies.

This was the first of four rugs that was to depict each of the seasons from the same view.

I believe this was a Bea Brock pattern.

What a fun edge!

These are absolutely horrible colors!  I think this was hooked in a 2 cut!!!  It was hooked on a very fine linen by the granddaughter of Mary Sheppard Burton, Jen.  The background was not going to be hooked because although it can't be really seen in my picture, it was a pattern drawn by Mary and her initials are at the bottom.  For any of you who attended the rug show at Sauder Village in 2010, you may remember Jen sitting there hooking next to her grandmother's huge alphabet rug.

Mary is probably best known for her Noah's Ark.

As always, thanks for stopping by!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Retreat into the Mountains 2012 ~

The retreat started with a talk on color by Susan Hoekstra of New Jersey.  Susan is a needlepoint designer and an expert in color planning.  I know NOTHING about color and tried my darnedest to grasp what she was saying.

We learned about using a gray scale to determine value.  This tool can help a person decide if there will be enough contrast in colors to hook them next to each other.  I'm hoping practice makes perfect :)

The majority of the hookers were fine cut hookers.  We are talking anywhere from a 2 to a 6.  Even though they were using a narrow cut, they were not doing the fine shading that I normally associate with the smaller cuts.  I have so much to learn!  The four Ohio hookers were all hooking with an 8 and higher and I believe there were only 2 other women hooking with higher than a 6.  It made for a very eclectic group.

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Here are some of the rugs in progress.  Forgive me that for the most part I can't remember who hooked what.  I do know these two rugs were started in the same class. 

This was Donna's (Crows on the Ledge) rug at the beginning of the retreat . . .

. . .and this is what it looked like a couple of days later.  I believe she was hooking it in an 8.5 cut.  She was one of the Ohio hookers.



Shirley was another Ohio hooker.  She is hooking this 3' x 5' rug as a wedding gift.  What a lucky couple!

Another Ohio hooker, Melissa ~ and my partner in crime ~ brought this almost completed rug to camp.  It's a Joan Moshimer pattern and she chose the perfect colors.  

Here's the rug I started.  I bought the paper pattern from Debbie of Woolnsails and had it enlarged.  It is an adaptation of an antique rug.  I have not found the time to pull another loop since returning home.  Maybe tomorrow . . . sigh.

Hookers on the porch . . .

 

Susan helping with color planning.

Stay tuned for more rugs.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren