Halloween & Fall Hooked Pieces ~

When I first started hooking, I hooked totally alone and it was in the very early stages of me being online.  I drew all my own patterns and they were very small.  Here area few of my early pieces.

These next mats, I am just not able to get a good color.  The greens just aren't showing up properly no matter what light I put them in.

Jack's Crow, a pattern by Winter Cottage Studio.  Probably my favorite Halloween rug.

Pattern by Spruce Ridge Studios.

Fun pumpkin rug from a class at the 2011 ATHA Biennial (in Lancaster, PA) with Maria Barton of Star Rug company.

A free pattern given to students in a class I took a number of years ago.  I made it in to a pocket . . . and forgot to add some flowers.

A fall mat I received in a blog swap many years ago!

Purchased on eBay many years ago, I think I show this every year.  I absolutely LOVE it 💖

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

At Long Last ~

I finally have had hook in hand!!!  Actually feels so good 😁  I started hooking Pumpkin Man, a pattern by DG.  I asked on Facebook if anyone had any idea who DG was, and she/he remains a mystery. 

The margins on the pattern . . . what can I say?  On either side they are only about an inch.  A little more on the top and bottom.  Now any hooker will know it is impossible to hook it on a frame with so little a margin.  

Had I thought ahead, I would have transferred the pattern to another piece of linen and then used the reverse side of this piece to draw something else.  You know what they say about hindsight!  Even adding muslin to the pattern to allow me to use it on my frame, I will have to make the pattern a bit smaller so I will have enough linen to turn back before binding.  Live and learn, but the pattern was a bargain at only $5.

Pumpkin Man's body is hooked.

Not yet sure what I am going to do with his face, so I plan to work on some background next.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Happy (???) Fall ~ Y'All

Mother Nature must have gotten the memo that today is the first day of fall.  We went from HOT a day ago to downright chilly, gloomy and windy today.  I say it every year and will say it again . . . I would love fall if winter did not follow.

I finally picked up my hook after barely pulling a loop in months 😢  I will show what I am working on next time.  Since I have nothing hooking related to share, I will leave you with a few more rugs from the rug show at Sauder Village.  Better late than never . . . sigh.

Hopefully now that my computer is working so much better, I will back in the groove of posting more often.  I have been a real slacker.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Pity Party ~

I am trying to put my fracture in perspective, but I am having a really hard time.  Like I said previously, I am thankful it is not worse and surgery is not needed, but the thought of having to depend on others for 4-6 weeks is depressing for this independent person.  And now, because my shoe (left) and boot (right) are a slightly different height, there is pain in the left thigh/hip.  Argh!!!  A few people have asked if I will become a left foot driver, but I am thinking it is better to be safe than sorry, and at 70 years of age, this dog doesn't need to try a new trick.

One of the reasons I am so ticked at myself.

I prided myself on getting my 10k steps in each and every day.  That has come to an abrupt halt 😢  OK, 'nuff whining.

I haven't yet picked up my hook, but I am working on binding Ole Jack, and you know how much I (and many other hookers) enjoy that process.  I also finished the Halloween decorating.  The boxes were hauled down from the attic before the trip last weekend to Indiana.  The goal was to be done before leaving but that did not happen.  What should have been done in a few hours took a few days with this boot.

I was lucky at the hook in and won a door prize ~ a pattern from Cathy at Red Barn Rugs.  Thanks, Cathy.  

Off this evening to set up for tomorrow's Crooked River hook in.  It is wonderful life is getting back to normal.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Miscellaneous Stuff ~

The computer is back from the tech hospital!!!  Just from turning it on and starting this post, it seems to be MUCH faster.  Hallelujah 😁

On our way to the hook in, friend Val and I stopped in a quaint town with many antique shops.  We are talking REAL antique shops with true antiques.  The first shop we stopped at was an old log cabin.  The person working there never acknowledged our presence.  Good thing there wasn't anything I wanted to buy there!  Lots of great antiques but overall I found the prices sky high.  I spent a whopping $12 on two old textile spools I hope to use some day for cross stitch projects.

The Woolkeepers hook in was great fun.  It was so nice being a hooker (though I did not accomplish one thing) rather than a vendor.

Of course I bought wool.  Now I need to figure out where to put it . . . sigh.  Most hookers will understand that it is an addiction.  I also ordered a pattern.  Let me tell you, it is a very small world.  The pattern was designed by Diane Firman and sold by Baa Baa Barrett Woolen Designs and Such.  The owner of Baa Baa Barrett had ordered a couple of my pumpkins on coverlets.  Diane happened to be in the booth when I stopped there.  She is one of my blog readers and had recently purchased a heart necklace from me.  (Thank you, Diane!)  What are the chances?  So here is the rug ~ I am guessing it is 3 1/2 feet long.

A lousy picture of the close up of the wonderful background ~

~ all achieved with this wool!  I was so thankful to have found it at the hook in.  I never would have visualized it hooking up so cool.

And look at her wonderful label!

So I have some bad news.

Sunday morning I missed the last step leading to the garage.  DSO insisted I go to urgent care.  I have to admit, he was right.  I have fractured my fibula.

The really bad news . . . it is my driving foot 😢 . . . and I will be wearing the boot for 4 - 6 weeks.

But the good news is . . . saw an orthopedic doctor yesterday and I do not need surgery . . . and I am thankful it is my leg and not my hip.  I am still in the "feeling sorry for myself" stage, but that, too, shall pass.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Sauder ~ Celebration of Hand Hooked Rugs

Celebration rugs are the premier juried collection of the year's best hand  hooked rugs.  If you have received the Celebration book, you will see many, many more rugs!

Tomorrow my desktop computer (where I blog and leave comments on others' blogs) is finally going to the computer doctor.  Hopefully they can speed it up . . . or I will be forced to buy a new one.  Fingers crossed I won't have to.

Friday hooker friend Val and I are heading to the Woolkeepers hook in in Indiana, about 5 1/2 hours from here.  Bev Stewart who put on the hook in for many years sadly lost her battle with cancer and her husband has dubbed this her Memorial Hook In.  I opted not to vend this year and it will be fun to attend with no commitments 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren