Hooked, Bound & Labeled ~

Yellow Bird is finally done.  I mean completely done!!!  She was one of my most challenging rugs and without Kris Miller's guidance, I never could have hooked that darn face.  I hooked it all . . . except for the lips 😁.  The background is much more subtle in person.

I don't think I shared the wool used for her skirt.  It is amazing what a good plaid can do.  It's a real workhorse.

My labels aren't fancy like Saundra's, but I will call it good.  They print off white and I coffee stain them after sewing them.

Today we finally had temps above freezing.  Rising temperatures are most welcome.  Have I ever mentioned I HATE winter?  (Only about a hundred times, I suppose.)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Not a Tease ~

The little snippet of the corner of my rug in the last post was not meant to be a tease.  It is a corner of the rug, Yellow Bird, started in a class with Kris Miller in September.  It is a pattern by Ann Willey that Kris sells on her website, Spruce Ridge Studios.

It looks like the last time I posted the rug on my blog was early in November and this is what it looked like then.

I pulled a few more loops after that and here is where I left off.

The true color is somewhere between the two pictures, but closer to the first one.  I probably have not hooked on it since mid November so I guess it's about time to get busy on it.  I have too many unfinished rugs from classes (and will have another class in March).

Please keep my son J in your prayers.  He just finished chemo round #3 yesterday and was feeling pretty lousy when I picked him up.  A two week break and than another five days of chemo and hoping that will be it.  It is not easy seeing a child, no matter the age, going thru this.  At 43, he is still my baby boy.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Quickie Post ~

 

So I am off for a quick little hooking get away with the Twenty Dollar Hookers in Millersburg.  I haven't been for the last year and things have been so crazy for months, I am just driving down tomorrow morning and returning Saturday evening.

What am I going to work on???  Have I started to pack???  Of course not!  

I did finish this little mat titled Nose to Nose by Baskets of Wool (Cammie Bruce) which is a Christmas gift.  Maybe I can get started on the binding?

I most likely will take Yellow Bird, a pattern offered by Spruce Ridge Studios that I started in a class with Kris Miller.  I haven't hooked on it in weeks.

I did hook this fun little flower.  Other than that, no accomplishments to share 😞  Kit can be purchased from the Wooly Horse to make several of them.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Kris Miller Class ~

I had another great class with Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studios.  The focus of the class was letters (ARGH!!!) and eyes (double ARGH!!!).  Kris did a great job teaching us how to do both and helping us along.

Kris brought some of her rugs that featured one or both of the topics.

Darn!  I love this rug.
I wish I had chosen it as my class project!

Kind of hard to see, but check out the fun border she put around the crow rug.  Two rows of beading and two more rows of wool used in the rug and then whipped with a coordinating color yarn.

I wasn't sure how I was going to hook the skirt on my rug.  I knew I didn't want that spider web effect of the rug that was hooked by the designer, Ann Willey.  

Sue (Vernon Junction) brought her rug to show me.  It was a Notforgotten Farm pattern, but since Sue doesn't "do" Halloween, she adapted it.  I love the way she hooked the dots on the dress.  It was something to consider for my rug.

Isn't she just too sweet?

Sue also brought her Warm Friendship rug because someone in the class was also hooking it.  She has not yet done the binding because she is hoping to find someone to teach her to add several rows of braids around it.

I need to trim some of my ends and hopefully finish the face before sharing my rug.

I know Saundra (Woodland Junction) and Cathy (Acorn Hollow) have been having issues with comments and was so happy I was not . . . until I was.  Comments were just not quite right on my last post and I only am showing five comments.  I am guessing there were a few more so please, if you commented, let me know.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

This Too Shall Pass ~

The insanity called my life.  Truth be told, I bring it upon myself 😖

I am co-chair of Crooked River's hook in.  I feel my co-chair has done the bulk of the work and to make matters worse, my son's girlfriend's dad passed away a couple weeks ago and they are having a celebration of life this Saturday, late morning, the day of the hook in, and of course it is an hour+ away from the venue.  (That sentence must be an English teacher's worst nightmare!)  I am hoping I can make it to the hook in sometime early in the afternoon.  On top of everything, I am also a vendor but thankfully have friends who will man the booth.  (I guess I am not being woke . . . lol!)

This Thursday and Friday, Kris Miller (Spruce Ridge Studios), is teaching a 2 day class for the guild and of course I could not pass up such a great teacher.  I have had her several times in the past and am looking forward to having her again.  She tells THE BEST stories.  The pattern I have chosen is different than I normally choose.  It is a pattern by Ann Willey, offered by Kris, and titled Yellow Bird, measuring 24" x 32 1/4".  I am going to wish I chose a smaller pattern . . . sigh.       

       

So in addition to doing some odds & end for the hook in and getting items made for vending, I have also been working on consignment items for Kris' rug camp in October.  Here are the pumpkins and snowguys I got done.  They take much longer than they appear to take.  (Ugh.  Washed out colors as usual.)

AND!!!  Last year since I was in the midst of my kitchen/bath remodel, I did not get my Halloween stuff out.  I am currently knee deep in Halloween boxes.  No one should have this many decorations.

Then the day after the hook in I volunteered to work a pug event for Ohio Pug Rescue, well over an hour away.  I don't think I have been to a pug event since pre-Covid.

In a previous post I mentioned a family matter that had come up.  A close family member went to the ER a couple weeks ago with what was thought to be a kidney stone and left a few days later with a probable cancer diagnosis.  Surgery was performed yesterday and now it's the waiting game to find out the biopsy results.  Please keep this family member in your prayers.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊

Lauren

Treetop Birds ~

 

Treetop Birds, an antique adaptation that I enlarged to 22"x 35", is hooked and bound!  I did not care for the colors of the original (but it has that blotchy background that Saundra loves) . . . 

. . . so in a class with Kris Miller we came up with this.  I think I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I am the one who chose the greens, and I do like those grey/greens, but I am not sure if it is just too much green!  BUT . . . it is what it is and it is DONE 😁  If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with Kris, don't hesitate.  She is a great teacher who is lots of fun.  The color is closer in the picture of the entire rug.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Crazy Busy . . . Once Again

Happy Flag Day.  God Bless America!

I never envisioned being this busy in retirement 😮  I thought I would have plenty to keep me occupied, but had no idea life could be this busy.  I was going to hook for hours a day and have plenty of free time.  HA!  I am not complaining, but I wish things would slow down a bit.  I know, I could slow them down . . . but I guess I choose not to.  Between now and July, I only have 4 days without something already on the schedule.  My niece from Chicago is stopping by today and tomorrow, Friday and Saturday it's the Twenty Dollar Hookers and Sunday will be spent in Detroit (about 2 1/2 hours away).  

I have finally been pulling a few loops!!!  Treetop Birds, an antique adaptation, has only the border left.

Little snowguy will be cut out and attached to an old pelt stretcher board.

And finally last night needed a no brainer so worked on a pumpkin with hand torn strips.

If I am going to get my walk in this morning, I'd better get my rear in gear.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Treetop Birds ~

Since Saundra always names her antique adaptations, I thought I needed to follow suit.  I have named mine Treetop Birds.  I started this in a class last month with Kris Miller and had hoped to have much more hooked.  My goal was to have the green scroll-like border and the antique dark background around the tree done before my class next week with Cathy Stephan (Red Barn Rugs) where I am starting an even bigger antique adaptation.  It wasn't meant to be . . . sigh.

I am not sure why I chose the green.  I am not much of a green person.  At least the five wools I am using are more of a grey-green.  

I also finished hooking and am working on the binding of this little 10 1/2" x 10 1/2" mat that will be a door prize at my guild hook in this September.

The pumpkin is hooked with just this one reversible wool.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Kris Miller Class ~

Saundra can attest to the fact that a class with Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studios is both fun and informative.  Sadly I forgot to get a picture of Kris or her finished rugs, but did get pictures of the rugs being worked on.  This is the third class I have had with Kris over the years and I would not hesitate to take another given the opportunity! 

Two of our overachievers were hooking a pattern titled Hurky Jerky Turkey.

Two were hooking a sweet snowman pattern offered by Kris.

Another fun pattern, offered by Kris, was being hooked by two.

Other rugs being hooked.  I hope I did not miss anyone 😁

And finally . . . my progress on the antique adaptation I am calling Treetop Birds.  I am not hooking it like the antique.  Totally different colors.  I had seen two other hooked versions and did not want to copy one of those even though they were both great interpretations.  (And of course I just can't get the correct colors of the wool 😖)  I better be a hooking fool before my next class in a month because I have chosen an even bigger antique adaptation from my pattern stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs 😊
Lauren