Men's Ties ~

 

I hope this day finds you well and happy and enjoying life!  Weather in Ohio (and many other places) is less than ideal, but it is early May and we must deal with it often.  Just drizzly enough to prevent yard work (is that a bad thing?), so hopefully I will get a few more loops pulled today.

I got together with my brother's significant other last week.  She mentioned my brother FINALLY cleaned out his ties.  
Me:  What are you doing with the ties (as my ears perk up)?
Lyn:  They are going to the thrift store.
Me:  Can I have them?
Lyn:  With a very puzzled look on her face . . . sure.

I assumed I would be getting a dozen or so ties.  She gave me this.

Fifty+ ties, some silk, some polyester.

At Rug Week at Sauder Village in 2019, there was this little rug I had taken a picture of that I thought was very cool.

A close up of the edge.

I will make something similar for Lyn's birthday.  I know it will be much appreciated!

Adios, mis amigas y amigos.
Gracias for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Quick Like a Bunny ~

What my mom always said when we needed to hurry.  Well, today has flown by.  My to-do list is still pretty much full, and I must leave soon to buy some wool and drop off a birthday gift.  More on that later in the post.

I am home from my hooking retreat.  As always a wonderful time with lots of laughs.  

I was going hooking a couple weeks ago and had nothing ready to work on, so grabbed a piece of linen that was already zig zagged and drew out a hit 'n miss mat.  My "go to" project when I need something quick.  I only had 3 squares left to hook so quickly finished that.

Then I moved on to the my challenge rug that will be displayed at Sauder Village during rug week.  One of the guilds I belong to, Crooked River, had a challenge of "All Things Chicken".  Well, nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I had most of the chicken hooked before the retreat and came very close to finishing the little mat.  The area around the circle is what I had left to hook when I ran out of the background wool.  ARGH!!!  I know I could have fudged it by incorporating a similar wool, but I am taking the easy way out and buying more wool this evening.  I won't reveal the finished piece until after rug week.

ALL DONE!  Thankfully I had just enough ties with colors that coordinated perfectly with the hooked area.

I just love the Nordson ties.

The back.

I wanted to incorporate this tie because my brother had a sailboat for 40 (?) years, but it just would have stuck out like a sore thumb as one of the tongues.  I was just going to stitch a piece to the back, but one of the hookers suggested putting the label on the tie.  Perfect!  this will be delivered to the birthday girl this evening.

Will share some of the rugs being worked on in my next post.  

Please think good thoughts for DSO.  He is having back surgery on Wednesday.  Praying that he will recover quickly with minimal pain.  He has suffered long enough!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Such Talent ~

Well, here I am back blogging on my desktop.  I must try to figure out (I mean I hope DSO can figure out . . . ) how to resize the pictures when I blog on my iPad.  They are just too big.  I hate being technologically challenged :(

The ladies I met on Edisto Island are some of the most talented women I have ever met.  All are quilters.  Between them, they  hook, embroider, spin, knit, crochet and more.  

Julia, our hostess with the mostess, is a quilter extraordinaire.  This is a crazy quilt she has on a quilt rack in her living room.

If my memory serves me correctly, she said her friend Cathy painted the cat.

A quilt being made of men's ties.  Cathy is also making one but I did not get a picture.  Julia said they have bought hundreds of silk ties, no two being alike.

Julia gave us a crash course in yo yo making.  This is in a 4" x 6" frame, so you know the yo yos are TINY!

For reasons unknown to me, My iPhone will not download the picture of the quilt hanging over over Julia's couch.  Two years in the making, it was totally hand quilted.

Two of Jennie's rugs.  The first, a pattern by Cathy Stephan, Red Barn rugs, was bound as we visited.

I believe this is a rug from Caraway rug camp.

Cathy, Julia's friend, contemplating her quilt top.

So many little, WONDERFUL stitches.  I believe she said this was to top a KING size bed.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

A Lesson Learned ~

Before leaving for Tennessee, I started this little oval mat.  I've never hooked an oval mat such as this before, and started on the outer edge.  After getting the first four rows done, I took a good look at it off the frame.  I didn't like what I saw.  The exposed inner linen was wonky and not lying flat.  I wasn't sure if I should proceed, but decided what the heck.  That was a lot of hooking to tear out.  

I have found that hooking in DSO's Honda Pilot is easy, and since it is a larger SUV, I have plenty of room . . . and thankfully he does not have a problem with the wool dust.

There is even a built in snippet bowl in the door 😁

I got lucky because it ended up ok.  In fact, it lay perfectly flat before I even steamed it.  But . . . by the time I got to the center, I no longer had oval rows.  They ended up being rectangles.  Not exactly what I wanted, but no way am I reverse hooking any of it!!!  Friend Heidi, who also teaches, says that I should have started in the center and worked my way out.  The finished size is about 15" x 19".

Here are some of the ties I will be using for the "tongues".  They all belonged to my older brother and the mat will be a birthday gift for his long time significant other, Lyn.  Her birthday is the 24th of this month.  She may will be getting this a few days late.

My brother spent his career at Nordson Corporation, and I think it is so cool I can even incorporate his Nordson ties.

I am off bright and early Thursday for four days of hooking heaven in Millersburg.  I was not going to procrastinate this time and be ready early.  Guess what?  Isn't happening . . . LOL.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

In the Hooking Queue ~

 

 

So many hooking projects are in the "queue".  It seems like I have been working forever on the binding of Madi's Favorite.  I don't know why it is taking so long, but I am very close.

I hooked three small patriotic mats and they are awaiting the binding, also.  The largest is for my brother's DSO's footstool.  I think this is the last of the seasonal mats I needed to hook for her.  The rectangular one is for my old drawer and the small round one is for a friend's mini cast iron skillet.  I think this, too, is the last of the seasonal mats for her.

Scaredy Cat (look familiar, Robin?) is being hooked for another friend.  We go way back, to when our boys were young.  We reconnected after many years.  She mentioned she liked Halloween, so I thought I would gift her a little mat when we meet for lunch next month.

Brother's DSO, Lyn, and I go way back.  I mean WAAAAAY back.  Years before she and my brother got together.  Her birthday is at the end of July and I want to to hook her a mat using my brother's old ties as tongues.  I blogged about it here.

Next up is a mat that needs to be hooked for the rug show at Sauder Village in August.  Our guild had a challenge, "Anything Chicken".  I committed for 2020.  2020 didn't happen for obvious reasons, and I really forgot about it . . . or maybe chose to forget it.  Since I said I would do it, well . . . I guess I'd better get busy on it.

Geez, when all these are done, I may finally get a chance to work on The Poser.  I have not pulled a loop since class.

I hope everyone's week is going well.  I can't believe we will soon be heading in to July.  HOLY HELL!  Where is the time going?

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs 😊
Lauren

Fun ~ Fun ~ Fun

 

Cedar Lakes Rug Camp has been around for many years, but this year was the first time I got to experience it ~ and I had such a good time I've already signed up for next year.

 

Cathy Stephan of Red Barn Rugs was my teacher of choice and a GREAT choice it was.  I highly recommend her if you ever get the opportunity to be in a class with her.  She has so many wonderful patterns to choose from.  I had narrowed it down to three patterns before camp and she brought them all with her, along with her completed rugs.  Local hooker Val and I both decided to hook her Floral Scroll Runner (16" x 50").  It is the long, narrow one on the left.

 

More of Cathy's rugs.  The lighting in the room wasn't the greatest - for hooking or for pictures.

A hooked "braided" edge.  I need to try this some day.

On my hooking bucket list.  The original was hooked by John Filker, a man from my hometown of Amherst, OH.

Rather than try to hook the dots representing stars, Cathy ties a knot.

Class projects.

Karen

Linda

Joyce

Kathi's rug - started by her late mother

Mary Ann

The other Valerie

Lynn



Carol ~
I love how she hooked her last name initial in to the rug

Pat

Melissa got her rug done :)

Val's Floral Scroll Runner.  She got so much more done than I did!!!

 

My runner.  I normally don't do much reverse hooking, but that darn star flower on the right was tweaked three times.

 

Our class.  That is Cathy seated on the left.

 

More to come.

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren