Obstacles.....

Bye Bye Winter....

Welcome back the light.....so long winter blues.... I really think winter does a number on my body, mind and spirit..... Thanks to all of you who have emailed me or phoned me to ask if I was still alive and kicking...I will try to be more present on my blog.

Have a look at some antique rugs from Quebec, Canada. These are from my personal collection. We think these were hooked in the 40's - 50's and 60's. The style is typically Quebec "paysage" or landscape. The first two are hooked with cotton cord or yarn on fine linen, while the third is hooked with mystery fiber on burlap.

Happy First Day Of Spring!

Making/Finding Time to Make Handmade

In the midst of all of the preparations for the amazing race to "THE DAY" (read christmas)... I found some time to make some homemade things - (I took the Handmade Pledge in 2010 and tried as much as possible to adhere to my pledge. So as I have 5 min. today, I thought I would share three little christmas ornaments I punch hooked with Amy's No. 14 punch hook with you. They were given as gifts to three of my dearest colleagues. Most of the 2 ply  wool yarn is Briggs and Little Heritage that was hand dyed by me. Enjoy!

Happy New Year

Slowly....Some Progress

I managed to get some leaves and my pumpkins done...slowly....as my back is doing better ....a little punching here... and a little there. I manage a about a 1/2 hour at a time. I add up my 1/2 hours and there I am - some progress.
I am learning much about working with yarn and punch hooking - CONTRAST is extremely important. Notice how my leaves sort of blend altogether - even though I dyed up some very different values, and purposely made one a blue green and one a yellow green. Thankfully the two oranges work - just. The stems of the pumpkin and the crow read almost the same value as well. I will have to wait and see 'til I put in some background to see if I need to take out some and replace.

Slow Progress...

When you are suffering from a broken back:

It is really really hard to do this:

The good thing is that I am able to move around now. Hoping to make some progress on my Crow rug this week. I'll post when I have something to show.

Crow and Pumpkins - New Project

I finally started punch hooking on my crow pattern. It has been in my head and now has been drawn and the punch hooking has begun. I am using my Oxford punch # 10 hook  www.amyoxford.com and Brigg's and Little www.briggsandlittle.com Super 4 ply White washed wool yarn that I have dyed. Here is what my crow looks like so far.

You are looking at the front side of the rug. Remember we punch hook from the back, so you can't see the rest of the pattern. I will show another photo when I have punched more. Have a look at the colors I have dyed to complete my piece.

Happy Halloween