Tweaking

I ended up tweaking the bird on the rug. After looking at the photo, the bird seems just a little too fat on the left side. So, I took out a row of black loops, and replaced them with the oatmeal background. The crow now has a sharper beak, and seems a little more appealing. Now onto binding.

Yesterday I was out shopping, and found these Pendleton wool pants. They are a pretty tan/cream color. Can't wait to cut them apart and wash them. It should be nice wool to hook up.

I also found these wood board. The painting won't stay. I could see some type of punch needle or hooked rug attached to it. Yet another piece to put on the pile to do ~ sometime. But for a "whopping" 25 cents, I couldn't pass it up.

Didn't get any crafting done today. Instead, I took one of my teens to the doctor. He had a cold that turned into an infection. Hopefully he'll feel better now that he'll on antibiotics.

~*~ Laura ~*~

Almost finished

Almost finished! Last night I finished hooking this small rug (approx 14" x 12"). I steamed it, and it just needs some binding. I did end up putting in my initials in the corners for something fun. Maybe I should use some fabric transfer paper and make some rug labels, but that's another project. I even thought I should keep a record of what I used for each rug. I might be a good reminder of colors, and how certain wools/colors change when hooked. I did learn that the green in this rug is darker than the original plaid. I thought more of the lighter values would pop out, but I still like the overall effect.


While my saltbox rug was drying, I started re-hooking the blues in the floral rug. I like this blue a lot more (although the other blue was very pretty, too, but just not the shade I was looking for). I'm still debating on the background and what to do. I have seen some other wools that are a mottles/spot dyed. I wish I could test them out. Hey, that might a whole other concept of selling wool: see the entire wool piece, then see how it looks when hooked in a rug. =)

I'm even thinking ahead to another project that could use the brown/tan wools..... I found an adorable rabbit rug pattern. Not springy or Eastery, just plain folk art. I could get it in either monks cloth or linen. I've only hooked with burlap and monks cloth. Should I go for the linen on this next one? It might be fun to try, especially when I get my Christmas gift that I ordered. I didn't get in in time for Christmas, but I'm waiting for a new lap frame! (been using a Morgan hoop, and need to get an upgrade). I'm hoping the UPS guy brings it to me quickly!


Chuck, our pet turtle, has been getting lots of attention while everyone is home on break. Chuck even got some Christmas gifts: a water mister, new mulch, and some hay. He's one lucky turtle!

~*~ Laura ~*~

Doing "nothing"

Today I did nothing. :) I stayed home, with the exception of driving one kid to a friend's house. Other than that, I watched a movie, and worked on a rug that I started a couple weeks ago. The house and flowers were done with an Oxford rug punch. My hoop isn't big enough to hold the rug tight, so I opted to hook the background. Just need to get some more of the grey plaid wool to finish the border and the binding. The greens are a green plaid, the house was done with 3 different overdyed red plaids, and the flowers were done with 2 of the red plaids. The rood and border are the grey plaid that is under the silver pick in my previous post. The grey plaid really hooks up nicely ~ lots of subtle shading.

This is my youngest and I last evening. We stopped at a local park that gets all decked out in lights and light figures (trains, windmills, ships). One of my teen sons wanted to quickly try his new camera, so James and I posed for photos. No snow on the ground this year, but that's fine with me!
I received my wool for the background of the floral rug. I got a soft black, grey, brown, a brown/green, and khaki. I did try a test strip, and attempted to marry the wools. The before is the lower wools, and the after are the strips on the top of the photo. Not much difference. Not sure if I need to add more black wool when I marry the wools or not. Or if I should just leave them as is and see how it turns out. I'll have to re-work the blues first while I'm debating the next step.

Here are the newer blues for the flowers. A lot more muted/primitive shades. I really like the newer shades of blue!

Then to decide how to attempt the hooking of the background. Do I try one color around all the edges of the flowers and stems? I'm thinking just cut the wool, and randomly pull the strips out of the basket. It's suppose to be primitive, so I just might see what random looks like.

Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!

~*~ Laura ~*~

MeRRy CHRiSTMaS!

Merry Christmas! I've had the last week off of school/work, along with my youngest. The high school is in a different district, so they had school through this past Wednesday. I enjoyed the quiet of only having one kid at home for a few days. I finally finished all my shopping, wrapping, and Christmas cards. This evening was church, then out to dinner for Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we'll open gifts, then head to my parents for dinner.

More rug photos to follow this week. I've been working on a small saltbox house rug.

~*~ Laura ~*~

Picks and Parades

I did a little shopping this past weekend at my local quilt shop. I found the wool in the background, which will work for a roof on my next project. I also found this silver nut pick. I'm going to try it out when I'm rug punching. I don't know what tool to use to push the wool ends to the other side. I would think scissors might accidently cut the wool. I don't have any prody tools, so this will do (I think!).
I found these 2 wool skirts at a local thrift store. The black plaid is 50% wool and 50% lambs wool. I can't wait to see how it will wash up! The green has lots of flecks, and will work well for grass. It was almost a long skirt, so lots of wool for cheap.

Today was the annual Merry Cary Parade in our town. I went to see Matt in the marching band.

At the end of parade, Santa always makes an appearance. In the downtown part of town they have sleigh rides, a petting zoo, and a couple kiddie rides. My kids have outgrown the kiddie rides, but I saw a couple kids from school in the parade that must have had a good time.


Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

~*~ Laura ~*~

GiNGeRBReaD MeN

I started getting out some of my Christmas decorations. These adorable gingerbreadmen are a new addition for me this year. I found them at a garage sale this past summer. I think I paid a whopping $1.50 for the entire set! The person was downsizing and getting rid of all her craft items/supplies. I really didn't need any of the supplies, but was happy to take these.

I've been hooking on my rug the past few days. I have everything but the background done. I still want to get a more muted blue for the flowers, but will need to decide on where to get the background wool. I'm thinking of an antique black background. I want lots of different variations in it. I'm thinking several different textures/plaids all overdyed the same black. I don't know of anyone who would carry 5 different textures. I've found a couple sellers that sell 3 textures, but I'm not sure if that's enough variation. Anyone have any suggestions for sellers? Something that has black, tan, and hints of possibly green? I'll end up using the wool to bind the edges, too. That way it's guaranteed to match the background.

It's been back to school/work for me after having last week off. I do have to say it's nice going back to a job I enjoy. I really enjoy working with the kids, and we have a great class this year. It's low pay, but the hours are good and it's close to home. =)

~*~ Laura ~*~

Not a Creature Was Stirring, Not Even a Mouse

I just finished a whole bunch of these mouse ornies! Photos don't do them justice, as they are much cuter in person. I might be listing some on Ebay soon, so I'll keep you posted. Now that this project is completed, it's back to the rug I've been working on.

For Thanksgiving, our family went to my parent's for dinner. Today, I stayed home from shopping. (with the exception of a trip to Ace Hardware) I didn't want to deal with crowds and getting up at the crack of dawn. I guess there wasn't anything that I saw on the ads that made me want to deal with the Black Friday chaos.

This past week has flown by too quickly. But, only 3 more weeks of school until I get 2 weeks off for Christmas. I now need to take down the fall decorations, and start putting up the Christmas ones. Guess that's my project for the remainder of the weekend.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

~*~ Laura ~*~