Yes, antique black is it!

I've finished the main background area around Mr. Baaaa.  That's the sheep's name so far.  It may change, but for now it's Mr. Baaaa.

I love the antique black background mix surrounding Mr. Baaaa.  It sets him off  so well and when you are close to the rug, looking at the mix of different wool textures is so interesting.

As I mentioned in the last post, the antique black mix is made up of many various wool strips.   Out of curiosity, I pulled a variety of strips from my big bag of worms that I use for the antique black background to examine the mix more carefully.  I  easily found 20 different strips that comprise the background.  They blend together well if you use short bursts of each strip.  In hooking a space of two square inches there may be 5-8 different wool strips due to hooking just a few loops of each strip of wool.

Here are some pictures of the mixture but the camera flash distorts the actual color.  They appear quite dark in person, verging on black, but not true black.

The browner strips are more pronounced due to camera flash.

Camera flash makes the strips appear brighter and more washed out than they really are,
but this will give you an idea of all the textured wool going into the background.

And here is Mr. Baaa with the antique black background.  I love it!

Hmmm, as I inspect this picture I see a strip that may have to come out.
In the lower right corner, just below the flower, there's a long discoloration strip.
I'll have to check this out for possible reverse hooking.  This is why standing back from your work is important.
You can spot pieces or sections that are not blending well.  

A close up of the bird so you can see the play of different dark strips of wool.

Lulu approves.  But of course, she's a herding dog so sheep are in her blood!

And speaking of sheep, did I ever show you the completed Peaceful Valley sheep pattern?  I don't think I ever posted the final pictures of this rug.

Next, the triangles on Mr. Baaaa!  Ugggg!

A Great Finish

Charlotte from Texas sent me a photo of her finished Dancing Rabbits rug which she began in my workshop in Texas in June.  Isn't this rug precious?

Charlotte from Texas with her finished Dancing Rabbits pattern.

And just as precious is Charlotte!  She is a relatively new hooker, but you would never know that by her quality of hooking and how fast she adapts to ideas and experiences in primitive rug hooking.  What a pleasure to have Charlotte in my class.  I so look forward to seeing you again Charlotte!  Thank you for sharing your finished rug.

If you wish to pin pictures from my blog for Pinterest, kindly give credit to this blog in your pin.  

Fine Finishes

We are back from Texas and had a wonderful trip to the Lone Star state.  Before sharing about the trip and rug camp, I want to pay homage to two fine hookers who sent me pictures of their finished rugs while I was traveling.

A couple posts ago I showed you Ellen's rug in progress and she has now finished the rug which memorializes her Oda Mae Cardigan Welsh Corgi.  Ellen elected to make the sky a sunset in this rug as Oda Mae died suddenly and unexpectedly after Ellen ordered the pattern from me.  The pattern is a rendition of an antique rug which I customized to include Ellen's Cardigan Welsh Corgis.

Here is Ellen's beautiful rug; Oda Mae is the brown dog laying down in the rug.

Ellen Eckerd, memorial rug for Oda Mae.

My rug in progress with my Pembroke Welsh Corgis.

I also received a picture from my good cyber pal Trudy Johnson who has hooked a couple of my dog patterns.  I love the way Trudy hooks primitive and often would rather have her version of the rug than my own!  Someday I hope Trudy and I can hook on a pattern at the same time, in person, together to yak, yak, yak about our choices for wool in a primitive rug.  

Shep's World by Trudy Johnson.  

My version of Shep's World.

I love seeing patterns I've drawn as hooked by others.  It is rewarding and fun to see how each hooker puts their spin on a rug.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing these fine finishes.  I'll share all about Texas soon, once I can catch my breath from moving, travel, camp, fun, fun, fun and getting back home!

Please Note:  if you download pictures for Pinterest purposes, please kindly give credit to my blog and or website for the pictures.  Thank you.

Closing in on a finish!

Shep's World is coming along and nearing completion.  It is always satisfying to finish a rug.  This one is in the running for binding before mid-week because we are running away to Arizona for 12 days.  We leave on Wednesday.  I will be binding in the car as my husband drives.

While in AZ I will be taking a class with Sharon Smith of Walnut Creek, CA.  Now being from CA, and only about 2 hours from Sharon you may wonder why I would go all the way to AZ for the class.  Good question.  Well, AZ is especially nice in the winter months and we are very fond of the state.  It's a great get-away place for us and I've made many hooking friends there from attending classes and teaching there last October.  Taking a class with Sharon will be lots of fun and a very exciting part of the adventure is meeting up with my friend Loretta (aka, Hooked on the Lake blog).  Loretta is coming in from Canada to take the class. I met Loretta last March in AZ in a Karen Kahle class so here we are rendezvousing again!

Shep's World before the border is added.  

I hope to finish up hooking on Shep today by adding my border rows while at my first Saturday hook-in group .  I have a quirky border in mind and can see it in my mind's eye, but will it actually turn out the way I want?  I will only know once I've hooked it.

I've got my wool cut for the border area, and guess what?  I made a mess cutting wool and it's OK to make a mess for the first time in 4 months!  This is because we received an offer on our house last weekend, we are in escrow and the public showings are over with!  Making a mess doesn't cause the same pressure as it did when the house could be shown at a moment's notice.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us to close escrow in early February.  We've made an offer on a home in our desired community and it will be a good house for holding hook-ins because there is no organized hooking group in the community.  If all goes well we will be moving in mid-February.  I'm afraid to be excited till the check is in hand, but it feels like everything is going to work out this time.

The Story of Izzie Mae

Thank you -  I've received some positive feedback from adding a new banner for the blog.  It was fun to make the banner, and it made me think I should tell you the story of Izzie Mae.  Little Izzie is part fact, part fiction and a whole lot of story from my mind.  As the banner says "A girl, a hook and lots of stories" so let me tell you the tale of Izzie Mae.

Before starting, I recognize I will either lose you as a reader because you will decide I am entirely crazy or you will find my tale entertaining enough to come back again for more sheepy nonsense.  I hope Izzie Mae's story makes you smile rather than doubting my sanity.  So here goes:

I love rug hooking more than any other artistic pursuit, and let me tell you, there have been many hobbies, interests and attempts at different crafts.  When I retired last year I took some basic altered art classes.  I was scheduled to be a vendor at the Hooker Hill Rug Retreat, a small and intimate camp run by fantastic women, and I wanted to make something different for camp.  I wanted to make a statement and keep up my reputation:  the hooker who makes crazy stuff.  This all coincided at the same time I found Izzie Mae.

Izzie May's name is from my imagination as is her persona which developed after my purchase of a tin type photo of a little girl and her mother.  I named the girl Izzie Mae and so began the saga of her life as a hooker girl.   Izzie shows up sometimes as a normal girl, but she evolved into a sheep girl and has many versions.  Some of the photos are not so great; it's hard to photograph altered art.

Me and Mama - Mama knew I was destined to be a Hooker.

It's only natrual Mama let me be a Hooker when I grew up.

Color - That's the answer.  Color.  The spice of Life.  Lots of color.

Izzie Mae's life story collage.  Story is below.

Izzie Mae Hooker- Snooker

I was born’d on Hooker Hill in July 1847.
Becuz of my natural talents, Mama always
said I was meant to be a hooker.

  I been hookin’ for
so many years I can’t
  remember when I started
but I love every
 minute of it.  I tried
   bein’ refined and usin’
 those small cuts, but
I’m a prim girl at heart.

I’ve tried a lot of
  things, but hookin
is my best talent.

In 1863 I was married to
Billy T. Goat & we’z plannin’
 on havin a big
brood of kids startin’
any time now.

And this is Izzie Mae's cousin Matilda.  They don't show much family resemblance between one another.

Now that you know Izzie Mae, will you still come by to see me for future blog posts?!