Days Gone By...

I have a bazillion things on my list.  I bet that you do, too.  Don't you?  Among other projects, I need to make a quilt for someone else to give as a Christmas gift.  Before I start on that, though, I need to sew a few other things.  A scrub top, a remote holder, and a coin purse.  None of them are any big deal for me to make.  I just would rather make the quilt.  I keep thinking about it and looking at the fabrics.  But, I know I cannot begin.  So.  Instead of getting the 3 small projects out of the way, I do nothing.  Why is that?  It's not as if I have oodles of time.  Right?  {sigh}  I will get at them.  Everything always gets done.     


Did I tell you that me Mum (well, she's Julie's Mum, too) is coming for a visit?  A nice long visit...9 days.  She'll be here later today.  It will be very nice to have her here. She loves to play cards...dimes, shit on your neighbor (or, in this case, daughters), and cribbage.  I'm hoping, though, that I'll have a bit of time each day to work on my projects.


Knowing that company is coming gives me just the little push I need to get a few things done that I just haven't gotten around to doing.  One example...I finally hung my 2Sheep hooked rug on the wall.  It's been rolled up in a towel since I finished it almost 9 months ago.  

 

Here's a closer look if you've not seen this before.  Click here for the quick story.

I like it on the wall.  I like being able to see it as I walk through the house.  I smile at it.  Making this rug was a long process and I am very happy to finally enjoy it.  


More later.






"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

Baa-Baa...2Sheep

I am so happy that I got it done!

Finally!

I started this rug in 2002.

Hooked on it for a few months

and then put it aside.

Pulled it out in 2007...

completely changed my color plan 
(thank you, Bren!)
so took every single strip out.
 Started over & hooked all but the eyes.

Could not get them to look decent.

Put it aside.

Pulled it out this year.

Finally got the eyes okay.

Not wonderful, but okay.

Put the binding on over the last week or so.

Finished last night.

Steamed the heck out of it.

Too late to get a good photo

so had to wait until today.

I LOVE this rug!!!

It's a Beverly Conway design measuring ~2 x 3 feet.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

The Eyes Have It!

 ...or, do they?

But, you know what?

I'm done with it.

I've tried so many times to get these eyes

how I want them (both 3 years ago & today)

and now I am just done.

They look 'just okay' to me.

But, that's alright.

This rug will be on the floor.

I won't be standing there staring at it.

Nor will anyone else.

Ya know?

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

Back to Work...

Vacation is over.

I'm back to work.

My coworkers are happy.

I am not.

I love staying home.

And working on my stuff.

And, Tag would prefer that I stay home.

Though, I assure you, he does fine here by himself.

I delivered the Kashmir tote I showed here.

O'Mandy LOVES it!

YAY!

(Okay, so her real name is Amanda...

her nickname is Mandy.

But I call her O'Mandy...

from the Barry Manilow song.

Ya know, just can't help myself!)

And, the smartphone cozies went over very well!

Got big bucks for them!

Something fun is on its way to me!

Remember the 'snow days' quilt

that I showed you here?

Ya know, the one I was drooling over.

The one that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

Perhaps 'obsessing over it' may be a better way to put it.

The pattern is now on its way to me.

I did not join the Block of the Month.

I am just getting the pattern.

Which is more than enough to get me started.

I'm so excited!!!

More on this later.

I work out with Mike tomorrow.

Time to get on track.

Must be in shape for all the stitchin' and sewin' 

I have coming up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remember this rug?

Pattern is 2Sheep by Beverly Conway.
It measures 2 x 3 feet.

I last hooked on it in November, 2007.

I started it in 2002.
YIKES!

See the black rectangles where the eyes should be?

That's all I have left.

Think I can do a decent job of hooking eyes?

Apparently not.

If I'd get those eyes hooked, I could finish the edges!

At last!

I love this rug.

I would love it more if it was done.

Seriously...how long do you think

it would take to hook 2 eyes?
Decent eyes.

I would really like to get this done.

Ya know, yet this winter.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

2Sheep

I worked on my 2sheep rug this weekend...it's getting pretty close to being done! The border is finally up around the corner and the background on the left side of the ewe is done! YAY!

BUT, I am almost out of the border wool! OHNO! I dyed some today but it's not quite the same, so I guess I'll have to start hooking it here and there into the already done border so I can use what I pull out. Geez.
I probably won't be hooking for the rest of the week. Two of my sisters are coming at the end of the week for our annual get together - SISTERS Weekend. YAY! I'll write more about that later. At any rate, here's how far I got...


Eyes are still undone and I see a few more things I need to correct. One being the upper left corner leaf. The original pattern used that leaf as the outside corner, but I added 2 rows...may have to rethink that. I have another photo with all of my 'to be tweaked/fixed' areas circled! There are a lot of circles, that's for sure! Do you have that going on when you hook? Photos are great, cuz they allow you to see what you're doing from a distance and all kinds of things show up!
I just want to be done with this so that I can start my next project! I started pulling woolens out of my stash...am most anxious to start it!
Tomorrow is Monday...and no mail. I only work 3 days this week. YAY!

2Sheep

I'm getting there...slowly. Here is the entire rug. The eyes are yet undone and I have about 5 other areas I need to tweak or just plain do over.

Here is a closeup of the border, which is a yummy black/brown...

Hook ON!

Hooking...

I got quite a bit done on my 2sheep rug...have just that little bit of background to do and this corner will be completed. I'm over half done with the background/border now...YAY! I hope to do more hooking tomorrow, but thought I would show this now. I am anxious to get 2sheep completed, as I have a very fun and exciting NEW project waiting. I was going to do the 'antique symmetry' pattern I have, but the one I am going to do instead just cannot wait. {grin}

2Sheep

Here's where I am with my 2Sheep pattern...I'm about 1/2 done with the border and background! If the eyes look a bit odd to you...it's cuz they're not hooked, yet! No special reason...just haven't done them. You know, I'm not a huge fan of hooking round shapes...I've already hooked 15 of those berry/cherry/grape thingies...and have 21 of those little suckers left to hook! ugh!!

This has been a great learning experience for me...it's the first time I've used several different textures and it's been very interesting! The only areas that are NOT textures are the border and the background (ohyeah, the ewe's face and legs). The border is a brown/black and the background is Kashmir, a dye recipe of my own. I started this rug in 2002 at the one and only rug camp I attended...became determined to finish it this year! I have completely changed everything I had done back then...even the color planning!

That's it for now!

Labor Day Weekend...and Mom's visit.

Yesterday, I drove over to my sister's house in Wausau (about 2+ hours from here). Her son, Tony, is home on leave from the Air Force. After breakfast today, I headed back home, bringing Mom with me to visit for a few days.



Here's what our day was like...

This is at the breakfast table in Wausau...Tony is not quite awake, though he did manage to wolf down several pieces of yummy french toast.

Ater Mom and I got here, grocery shopped, ate lunch and got unpacked, we tried to work on Sudoku puzzles. I tell you, I have a mental block where they are concerned. Cannot for the life of me do one...not even a 'very easy' puzzle! YIKES! What is the matter with me?



Then, we each had a dove bar...YUMMY!!!!



After that, we worked on some crafts. She crocheted and I hooked on my 2sheep rug.





"...You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em..." After supper, Mom and I played cribbage and a card game called 'dimes'. I beat Mom and then she beat me. Here she is...I think she should work in Las Vegas...CardShark Shirley...and one of my winning hands.



Then, we had popcorn...kettle corn, to be exact...another YUMMY!

We gabbed a lot while doing all of this...all in all, a very pleasant day!!!

In Progress...

I haven't written about my rug hooking. I actually haven't been doing too much of it, what with moving, final exam/grading for my online teaching course, etc. While packing up my personal rug hooking 'stuff', though, I did remember to keep my latest project here in case I had the time - or the desire - to hook. So, my 2sheep rug is what I'm working on...I did pick up the hook and pull some strips last night for the first time in almost a month. I started this rug at my first rug hooking camp back in 2002...and it's been sitting here all these years, waiting for me to pick up where I left off. Funny how things work...when I pulled it out this last time to decide if I was inspired enough to finish it, I had an entirely different idea of how I wanted it to look. I tore it all out (had the ewe's head and all of the baby done, is all) and started anew. I have struggled with it a bit, but right now, I think it's looking okay. Here's a photo of it...



I am reallllly looking forward to organizing all my rug hooking (business and personal) woolens, patterns, etc. at the new house. I have 1/2 of the entire basement to spread out in...can you imagine having all that space? Wall to wall wool (well, maybe not at first...ha)!!! Believe me, I am sure that eventually I'll be using all of that space up, though! Why crowd things if one has room to spread, hey? I'll take photos as I go along. ohyeah, I also need to get going on a top 10 priority list of projects.

I started with punch needle this past winter and find it fascinating (and soooo quick!). I completed punching a few pieces, but haven't done any finishing work on them. Looking forward to rediscovering what I have...I'll probably be surprised.

It's a beautiful and sunny Sunday morning...