By the skin of my teeth

I just pulled the last loop on the "Blossoms and Butterflies" rug. The last half hour of hooking was a little tense. The background color strips were getting dangerously low in the bag. With every new strip I pulled from the bag I thought ....."what if I run out.......I hate to pull out and re-adjust....I don't want to buy another piece for a few inches...." As the exposed linen space began to shrink, I started to think I just might make it.......

Whoopie.....I pulled the last loop and had 2 strips left about 6 inches long each. Can you believe it???

Sorry, but no completed picture yet. I'm still trying to decide on my finishing method. I like the idea of framing it but have never done that before. I would love to hear from any of you who have framed a rug before.

There is fairly high stakes involved here. A teeny tiny competition that I MUST win. As I mentioned before, this rug is going in a charity auction. Last year my friend Terri's husband donated one of his paintings and I donated a rug. My rug sold for more than his painting. (insert Cheer here) Ever since then we have had a hilarious rivalry. Terri says he is driving her crazy. LOL I would hate to lose my title!! Sooooo, the finishing method I choose is very important.
The pride and bragging rights for all hookers is at stake girls!!!!

Heading towards the finish line

I can see the finish line in a couple of different areas. One major project has been a somewhat large scale re-organization at my workplace. This has been hanging around for close to a year and seems to be almost reading for launch. I enjoy change, so I am looking forward to it more than others. But since nothing is final yet, the uncertainty is causing considerable stress to many. I have been trying to be the "cheerleader" but after awhile it just gets to be "Rah, Rah, BLAH!"

On a more positive note, I only have one corner left to hook on the "Blossoms and Butterflies" rug! "Rah, Rah, Rah!!!"

And I actually have an idea for the next rug and even have a working sketch. It needs a little tweaking, so I may be asking for your help in the future. I have a blank spot that needs "something" but no idea what... The design will feature a crow and some blueberries and that darn empty spot. Hmmmm, just once I would like to have a complete thought....

Sunday Already??

Again another weekend has flown by in a blur. There is company coming over for supper and I got up early and have a Sirloin Tip slow roasting on the oven. Smells great so far.

I have to tell you about the amazing facial I had Friday after work. Now, I have only had 2 other facials, many years ago and they were OK, but from what I remember I spent at least half of the hour in the room alone. However, after my last massage session, I allowed myself to be convinced to try the services of the new esthetician, as the massage business is expanding. WELL......I was not disappointed.

There was not 2 minutes that she was idle. There were 2 points during the session that a lotion or "goo" has to stay on your face for 10-15 minutes. So, I expected her to either leave the room (as they usually do) or putter around. Nooooo, she gave me a foot and leg massage. IMAGINE! (I'm so glad I bothered to shave my legs that morning!) Then, as if that wasn't a nice enough surprise, while the mask was setting she did a scalp and shoulder massage! WOW

Definately worth it and was a great start to the weekend.

The butterfly rug is coming along. Probably about 3/4 hooked and I am hating it a little less. Maybe its because I know its almost finished.

Its Facial Friday

Rug Update

First, thanks to those who posted to my blog and their own with stories of "January Blah's". It was great to hear that I am not alone. Man.....I can't seem to get my butt moving this week. Its starting to tick me off! Yesturday I seemed to get a little spurt of momentum and worked a little more of the background in the rug after supper. You know, this rug isn't very big but you might have had the impression it was huge, by the way I have been moaning about it! LOL
I can't wait to finish it and move on. I hope whatever my next project is, there are no pastels in it! I'm baby pink and blued to death!
Time to cut some more baby blue strips..............

Which is it??

It's not that there hasn't been lots to report and blog about but.........
I can't seem to decide if, in the past few days, I have been too LAZY to post........... OR.......if I've been too BUSY to put the thoughts and photos together into a coherent posting.

For now I will leave the conclusions to you.

Better, more informative updates to come!

I was at a crossroads....

As I have been progressing with the latest rug, I had started to have mixed feelings about where it was going. I had decided on a pale sky blue for the background and I hooked a bit around the monarch and a branch or two. All good!
But the more background I hooked in, the worse I started to feel. It was kind of making me sick!! The soft pink blossoms and the soft blue sky.........I actually felt like you did when you were a kid and ate too much cotton candy at the fair!! That sickly sweet feeling......blahhhhhh!
I thought maybe I just couldn't "see" it yet, so I continued to hook in blue. Maybe this was one of those things that until its finished it won't make sense. I was getting close to a "point of no return". I had to decide ASAP what to do with the background....keep going or rip out the blue and go a more neutral color. This rug HAS to be done by Feb 12 and with my crazy life I could easily run out of time.
Plus, I realized that these pale, pastel colors and not quite my taste, but this rug isn't for me.

So I called Corinne and explained how looking at this rug made me sick and I might want to swap out some wool! I knew she would tell me the truth. Remember, she is the gal who tells me when my butt looks fat and I need my roots colored! Gotta love a friend like that! LOL

But she liked it. So I trust her opinion and I will keep going. She even had a great idea for the finishing. I think I might take it to be put in a simple rough cut, white-washed frame. So it might look like looking out an old window pane. Maybe......but for now I continue to hook in background and keep the Pepto-Bismol close just in case I get that cotton candy over-dose feeling again!

Its "Massage Tuesday"

After a somewhat stressful "labour-management" issue at work today, "Massage Tuesday" is seeming better and better. As soon as I leave this "office of stress" I am getting a massage.
Ooooh, the lavender and silver decor of the treatment room, the soft music and lighting, the warm almond scented oil, and the pre-heated massage table.............(its 16 below here today).
Heaven.....I feel like a decadent princess!!
I'll be all relaxed this evening for some more work on "Blossoms and Butterflies". I started working on the background - a soft sky blue and added 4 little butterflies to keep the Monarch company. I may have to adjust some of the palest pink blossoms to a shade darker pink. Some seem to be getting lost in the background.

OH YEAH, and I did buy a sewing machine last night. Come on now.......you knew I was going to do it! I'm sure my future adventures in learning to sew will be entertaining!

To Sew or Not To Sew?

For awhile now I have been toying with the idea of buying a small (I mean cheap) little, basic sewing machine. I'm always trying to track down a friend or my neighbor when I need a little seam sewed, and it always seems that schedules conflict etc. (I guess by now you have figured out I have NO patience and like to do things THE MINUTE I think of them!)
And I think that there are lots of little craft uses I could come up with other than zigzagging along a piece of rug burlap........

What do you think........?

New Rug - Day 2

I stopped in to Momz Wool after lunch for some color advice and another few minutes of cutting on Nancy's Townsend cutter. Did I mention how amazing that machine is?
Corinne was dyeing some great new colors and her Mom was there so I had some great resources for color and pattern advice. Stupid me ran out the door without bring my rug with me (DUH!!) so we were kind of winging it. But I did take a couple of color choices home to try out. Its great having them 5 minutes away, because if these pieces don't work, I can swap them.

After the unpleasant chore of grocery shopping (I swear they move stuff around so you can't find it) I got home and started hooking the first butterfly. I chose the Monarch butterfly and he will be the largest of the butterfly motif. Below is the photo (google) I used to visualize.

And this is what I ended up with........

I'm pleased with how it turned out. I used a #3 cut. Wow - tiny. Tonight (hopefully) I will add a few other smaller, less detailed butterflies in yellows, blues, and purples.

I still haven't decided how I want to go with the background. Any suggestions???? Please.....

Early Blossoms

Here is an early peek at the Blossoms on the new rug. The photo colors are not great, but the blossoms are a pretty soft pink with pale yellow.
Tonight I dug through my stash with a photo of a Monarch Butterfly in hand and found some colors I think (hope) will work. I'm very nervous about this butterfly and the detail. So I headed to Corinne's house with wool scraps to sneak some time with her Mom's Townsend cutter. I thought a #3 or #4 cut might help with the details. WOW, that machine is AMAZING! Cuts like butter!
Hmmm, maybe I might have to start saving my pennies for one. I'm sure if I think hard I can find a way to justify why I NEED one as opposed to just WANT one. LOL
Anyway - Back to Reality for a minute.........my weekend goal is to hook the one larger Monarch butterfly on the edge of one branch. Then maybe I can see where the rest of this rug is going. I'm kind of winging it here!

Inspiration from the strangest places.....

Yes, this is a piece of paper towel. Not exactly a place I would typically think I would find the inspiration for my next rug. But its true. This is the basis for what I think will be called "Blossoms and Butterflies" . Stayed tuned for updates.

Time flies when you are having fun

2 weeks vacation is over in a few short hours. Can't believe I have to go back to work in the morning.

The holiday was so relaxing - well.....until the end. Yesturday we got hit with a storm and we lost electricity last night for about 6 hours. Cold, dark and bored about sums it up.

Bad weather continued most of the day and I had to drive to the airport about 35 minutes away to pick up family. Terrible driving conditions - I passed 2 tractor trailers in the ditch - but I continued to white-knuckle it until I arrived. AND their flight was delayed over an hour. Arrgh!

I was planning to catch up on a few reports for work while I was home but that didn't happen either. Oh well! Maybe my boss will be so busy tomorrow he won't have time to look for me?? I'm hopeful! LOL

I'm planning (I mean struggling) with a new rug design. My friend has requested butterflies but I'm not feeling it. It has sentimental meaning for her so I am really trying and it needs to be done by mid February. I have a vague idea in mind but because I know what it means to her, I am over-thinking it. I think I just need to start hooking it.

Oooooh tomorrow morning is going to be rough.....