This 'n That ~

I do have a rug finish to share.  I finished hooking it many months ago but wanted to tweak the eyes a bit and it took this long . . . sigh.  You know me and faces and eyes.  We don't play nice together.  Anywho . . . the eyes are better than they were . . . but definitely primitive!!!  This is a pattern by Caroline Twigg of Eagles' Nest Woolens, started in a class with Caroline in October 2022.  Titled Fierce Lion, I affectionately have called him Fierce Lion with the Batman Mouth 😁  I am happy to finally have him hooked and bound.

After 33 years of being together, my brother and his significant other are finally getting married this Saturday.  Lyn and I go waaaay back.  We lived together long before they got together.  I love her dearly and the other day she told me she was happy because she always wanted an older sister.  Smart a**.  (I am a grand total of 4 months older . . . lol!)

My Las Vegas son is flying home for the wedding.  Just a quick trip, arriving Friday before the crack of dawn and leaving Sunday evening.  It will be so good to see him.  Thankfully he won't mind the chaos of my house.  He is a carpenter working in homes so understands that it always has to get worse before it gets better.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Home Again ~

How can it really be Thanksgiving next week?  I love that it is early this year ~ more time to get ready for Christmas 😁

As usual, I did not take pictures at the hooking get away.  Only got one of friend Linda's rug that she started in a class with Cathy Stephan a while back.

I did get some hooking done, but of course not as much as I would have liked.  Nothing new there.  I finished Fierce Lion, except I still need to redo the eyes, and of course I will procrastinate for quite some time.  He is not nearly as white as the picture shows.

Progress was made on Gypsy.  Not too much more to hook, and some reverse hooking needs to be done.  The colors are WAY too washed out, but if I try for a better picture, I may never get this post done!  Sorry that my pictures are worse than normal!

I also started Mr. Jingles ~ a Christmas gift.  He is such an easy hook.  He will most likely have antique shoe buttons for his eyes and buttons.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Gypsy ~

Gypsy was started at Cedar Lakes Rug Camp in May.  I have pulled a few loops since my return from camp, but not for quite some time.  The wool I took to camp has never been sorted.  I should have removed the wool that was not going to be hooked in to the rug, but of course I did not.  Plus I "borrowed" a few pieces of the wool I used to put in other rugs I started.  Dumb, dumb, DUMB!  I have this entire large tote full of wool.  I really should sort through it and remove wool that will not be used.  Right now it is a hot mess.

I can't find a picture of what the rug looked like before I started hooking on it today.  I was not happy with part of the horse so I have been reverse hooking some of him.

I only have background left to hook on Fierce Lion - plus some serious work on his eyes.  I will take him to work on at guild Thursday.  No brainer hooking.

Next week the Twenty Dollar Hookers are meeting for a few days in Millersburg.  I will take Fierce Lion to finish and hopefully will make progress on Gypsy.  That will still leave me one rug in progress from a camp this year, Love Birds.  It, too, has been neglected.

I have often said I am a city dweller, but have woods nearby.  Deer are a huge problem.  It's not unusual to see them in the yard or walking down the street.  Last evening I was coming down the stairs and this young buck was approaching my bird bath that sits about five feet from the house.  I had to walk to the kitchen to get my phone and he was in no hurry to leave.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Whirlwind Trip ~

 

We are back from our quick little get-away to the Colonial Williamsburg area.  We left early Monday morning and arrived home Thursday night about 10pm.  1100 miles in four days.  WHEW!

Around Colonial Williamsburg ~

The majority of the homes in Colonial Williamsburg are privately occupied, either by employees or donors to the foundation, and not open to the public.

The Capitol building, a reconstruction.

A few of the tradespeople demonstrating . . . 

A man of words & not of deeds

Is like a garden full of weeds.

DSO got to fire a musket.  He was a happy camper.

Heading to the Yorktown Battlefield.

The gravestones were mostly from the Civil War, not the Revolutionary War.  Most people believe that coins on gravestones represent the military service of the person buried there.

On to Yorktown Battlefield . . . 

Trophies of War . . . 

"Surrendered by the capitulation of Yorktown, Oct. 19, 1781."

Our final touristy destination, was Jamestown, the site of the first permanent English colony, established in 1607.

Pocahontas ~

Captain John Smith ~

With a couple stops, the travel time to Williamsburg was 9-10 hours.  I hooked most of the way there, but only a few hours on the way home.  I did make some progress on Fierce Lion.  I love his funkiness 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Graduated ~

Woo hoo!  On Friday I graduated from my "boot" to an ankle brace.  I was very good about wearing the boot until this past week . . . then wore it sporadically.  It was just so much easier to walk and felt so much better "sans boot".  Yesterday I actually got 10k steps in for the first time in six weeks and this morning went for a walk.  We are finally having a few gorgeous days on Ohio's north coast.  Here is a view of Lake Erie taken this morning.

Progress is being made on Fierce Lion.  I know the eyes need work . . . and I am sure it is the absolute last thing I will do on the rug.  

I found this guy on my driveway this morning.  Woolly bear caterpillars - also called woolly worms (who knew?) - have a reputation for being able to forecast the coming winter weather.  If their rusty band is wide, then it will be a mild winter.  The more black there is, the more severe the winter.  I do hope his prediction of a mild winter is true.

Early tomorrow DSO and I are heading to Colonial Williamsburg for a quick little get-away.  (And you know I haven't yet started to pack!) It has been 3+ decades since my last visit.  I will hook my way to Virginia and back.  Thankfully he is very tolerant of wool dust 😁

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Fierce Lion ~

I think a more apropos name for this rug would be Funky Lion 😁  His mouth reminds me of the batman symbol . . . lol.  He just makes me smile.  The body is done but I do need to outline the eyes with a beauty line to make them stand out.  I normally struggle to hand cut a very narrow strip, but am heading to hook for a bit tomorrow and I will use their #3 or #4 blade.

A miserable, cold, windy day here on Ohio's north coast.  We had a few snow "pellets" come down.  I am so not ready for high temps only in the 40's.  Not sure if I am allowed to call it this, but where is our Indian Summer?

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Caroline Twigg Class~

This is either the 4th or 5th class I have had with Caroline Twigg of Eagles Nest Woolens.  She is just lots of fun!  I thought I had taken a few more pictures, but I guess I did not.  Typical me.  A few of the class projects.

I chose to hook Fierce Lion.  I am loving him!  Just a funky guy.  These are comments I got from a couple of my friends.  "Interesting."  "Really different."  I get the impression they are not impressed 😁  His butt is just too cute.

This is the third class I have had this year and none of the rugs are nearing completion.  Plus I am about half done with a hooked Christmas gift that I am unable to share.  I think I need to get hooking!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren