Pretty Chicken Kitchen Rug

Pretty Chicken Kitchen Rug.....say that three times fast!  

She's hooked, and now onto the bind off....strips or covered cord?  She will be on the kitchen floor in front of the sink, so will take a lot of wear.

What's Cookin' At Tammy's?

Tammy (middle) invited Sandy (left) and myself over for a day of wool dyeing.  We got an early start at 9:00 A.M.!

Sandy was having fun with spot dyeing......

Yum..............................

I was working with some Karen Kahle recipes for my tea cozy.

Quite a bit of creativity and experimentation began to happen............

We don't know what to use it for.........but we LOVE it!

The fruits of our labors

Thought all the wool might look interesting wadded up like Easter eggs (you'll have to use your imagination a bit).

Lonnie was bushed after a busy day of supervising us wool mavens......
We left at 5:30.....

Thoughts on Rugs and Tranquility

I've so enjoyed working on this little kitchen rug (actually about 24"x16").  I don't know why, but I just don't feel any pressure with my hooking right now.  Why would I have felt pressure in the past?  Good question.....I'm either wanting to get it done for a particular reason, such as the rug show we did in February, or I am wanting to move on to another piece.  Rug hooking is so labor intensive, that it requires quite a bit of patience (as all you hookers are well aware of).  I have been thinking a lot about slowing down and just pulling loops to see where that leads me.  Does that make any sense?  I want my work to be precise, which for me, means really paying attention to the finishing off process.  This is where I get in a hurry, want to be done, and move on to the next project.  I wonder why that is, and as I ponder that question, I realize it's from all the years of teaching and the pressure of deadlines.  I'm so happy to be at a point in life to make time my own, and my rug hooking is becoming sort of a metaphor for slowing down and just being in the moment.  This little rug is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now.  Next on my list (oops........there I go looking ahead to the next project) I ordered Karen Kahle's tea cozy pattern on linen (I'm having a love affair with my teapot that my mom ordered me from The Vermont Country Store a couple of years ago).  I thought I would design one of my own, but if you've seen hers....well, why invent the wheel!  It's absolutely one of the cutest hooked pieces ever!  So, onward, upward, and somewhere in the middle you can find me peacefully hooking away watching for foxes (one post down), practicing my yoga,  putting out flowers, and enjoying a beautiful Ozark springtime........xo

New Neighbor

I heard lots of screeching last night, and this little guy seems to have take up residence around our yard and brush pile.

Chicken Hookin'

This is the beginning of my new kitchen rug.  It will be a "stand upon" kind of rug, so I'll have to be very relaxed about that.  I believe the background will be in dusky sorts of reds, and there are a couple of flowers and a border that I haven't started working on yet.  I got a little carried away hooking miss chicken, but had fun mixing up the colors.

Have A Heart For Haiti

I have finished hooking my little mat (about 12" x 10") for "Have A Heart For Haiti."  It still needs binding, and haven't decided on that yet.  The icon for this auction, which will be in June, is over to the right.  If you are interested in participating with this project, just click on that for details.  Now, finally, I'm going to begin making a rug for my kitchen.  This has only been on my mind since I very first started to rug hook.  I keep getting side-tracked with other projects.  I'm sure you know how that goes........

Deanne Fitzpatrick Blog Giveway!

I received my package from Deanne Fitzpatrick's blog giveaway.  If you read a previous post, you may remember that this particular giveaway required you to respond to one or more of Deanne's diary entries.  I have so enjoyed following her diary and the thoughtful entries and responses by other bloggers.  Well....when I first opened the package, I thought "Wow, Deanne sent me a karaoke machine!".  Well, of course I knew that wasn't really the goods, so I started to dig.

To my delight.....I found a basket packed full of treasures!  I'll just show you a few of the items....

Blank cards with talented hookers designs as playing cards.

Books to read during my convalescences.

A hoodie with a Deanne Fitzpatrick design on the back.

Wool......oh goody!!!!!

I received many more items from Deanne's stash, and have displayed them here before you.  What a great blog giveaway, not to mention a thoughtful and creative way to encourage bloggers to write their thoughts and connect with others.

Houses for Haiti and Recuperation

These cute little "Houses for Haiti" are magnets and were made by students of my dear friend Ann, art teacher extraordinaire.  She is selling these at several shops in our town, and so far has raised over $400!  Ann came over to keep me company yesterday with mocha latte and pumpkin bread.  I'm doing really well so far, and all the credit goes to my talented surgeon, sweet husband Jim, and many years of thousands of downward dogs (yoga pose).  I'm just so excited, have a shoe on today, but will need to get it off after this post to ice and elevate.

What have I been doing?

Well.......I've been reading, drawing, and crocheting mostly.  I've had to re-teach myself how to crochet.  Kind of winging it by making this granny square coverlet.  It's hard to follow the tutorial on-line with my foot propped up, so gave that up and just dove in.  Keeps these antsy hands busy!  My need to hook has really taken over though.  I've been spending time pouring over books of wonderful rugs and mats by some of my favorite rug artists.  I have also been doing some sketching.  I think I'm going to start hooking a small mat of something simple, perhaps a cute little old wing-backed chair I bought from Leolas a few years ago.  It's right in my line of vision during foot elevation.  I think it may be time to set up a still life at the dining room table and move me, my sketchbook, and my foot in there......


Thanks to you blog pals who have posted your kind words of support, and also to friends who have called and dropped by with food and good conversation (Cyndi and Claire, who will probably never read this...but got in person hugs, what pals and wonderful cooks!).  I still have about three more weeks that I will be mostly home-bound.  Oh dear, this may be one giant granny square coverlet!

Granny Squares, Giveaways, and Surgery.....Oh Dear

I did it!  My first multi-colored crocheted granny square, as I promised in the previous post.  Yes....it does appear a little lumpy, and if you look close, you'll probably find more than a few mistakes...but it's my first and I just love it!  I'm going to make gobs in that three color combo for a coverlet on our bed.  The bed has an old faded lavender chenille spread, and I think this is just what it needs to give it some zip.

I got up this morning to the most lovely surprise.  I've been responding to the journal entries of  Deanne Fitzpatrick, a rug hooker whose work has inspired me for some time.  Deanne had a give-away that was a little different than most I've seen on blogs.  She wrote very thought provoking journal entries daily.  People were encouraged to respond to these, and as a result their names were put in a pot for the winnings, which I believe is a basket of goodies from Deanne's studio.  Well, I just got so into checking in daily because these posts really made me think.  We discussed art, life, food (recipes....yum), generosity, and many other topics.  She is going to continue this project, so you may want to pop in and do a little writing.  I plan on continuing because it became more than a drawing for me, it made me write which is something I plan on doing more of......which leads me to.....

This will be my last post for maybe a month.  I am having a very inconvenient, but needed foot surgery tomorrow which will keep me off my feet for the most part of a month.  Even though I won't be posting, I'll be sure to check in with friends to see what's going on.  I plan on using this forced time of reclusion to do lots of writing, sketching (used to do this all the time, but life got in the way), crocheting, reading, and watching movies.  Sounds terrible doesn't it?  Actually, I'm glad to get this procedure taken care of because it has caused me a lot of pain over the past year.

So, even if you don't hear much from me for awhile, I'll be checking in with you.  As soon as I get my basket from Deanne, I'll be posting pictures of my winnings.  Please check into her site.  Her work is wonderful, and the journal entries are well worth taking the time to at least think about, even if you don't feel a need to respond.

Bye, Bye
Dulcy

Willow, Rugs, and Scarves!

Willow loves to be wherever the camera action is!  Here she is modeling how exquisite she looks lounging on my newly hooked rose rug.  She especially likes to be seen on this rug because it's bound in a pretty sage ribbon, and the colors set off her winter coat.

Above, Willow is snugly wrapped in my most recent fiber challenge.  I have so enjoyed the lovely photographs of crochet work I've seen lately on blogs, and especially on Flicker!  So....dug out my hook and thought I'd dive right in.  Well....I sort of forgot how to crochet!  Thank goodness for all the wonderful video tutorials on line.  I found a pattern for this lacy scarf that's very easy. In fact, it's called the Easy Lacy Shells Pattern Scarf.  My scarf success prompted me to pick out three yummy yarn colors, which I'll show you when I have my first granny square crocheted!

Modeling is such grueling work, and now Willow tires.  She does look lovely in a rose colored scarf.  Fortunately, body image is not a problem for her as it can be with many models.  A pretty lacy scarf can hide a lot of Fancy Feasts!

MOXIE, MOXIE!

Tammy Burks, Sheri Demate, and I currently have a rug show hanging at the Moxie Theater in downtown Springfield. The Moxie is an independent movie theater that shows all the really good stuff you may not find at the chain theaters. Right now they are showing "Crazy Heart" with Jeff Bridges (what's not to love?) who has won the Golden Globe award for his part as Bad Blake, and is also up for Best Actor as part of the Academy Awards. Excellent film! Bridges does all his own guitar work and singing, as well as a heart breaking portrayal of a down and out, alcoholic, country western singer. Well....enough about Jeff, and on to the real reason for this post.

The Moxie rotates local artwork on a monthly basis, and the three of us were lucky to be accepted to show during the month of February.

Tammy's pieces are the three to the left, and Sheri's are the five to the right. You may be familiar with some of their work from Skiptomyewe and Shabby Sheep. I simply LOVE everything these two lovely and talented friends do!

Larger view of the space.

My work. A little of this, a little of that. It's been fun planning the show, and luckily for us, my artist husband, Jim, hung everything. He's been showing photography and doing art shows for years, so his expertise was needed. Not to mention his toolbox and ability to stand on the top rung of a ladder! Kisses honey....