Are you deadline oriented?

I have always been most productive when faced with a deadline. In my working life, everything had a deadline, so I was very productive.

That same trait rules my "making" life as well. If I have a hard stop for a project, it will get done. Birthdays, Christmas, baby gifts. All delivered on time. But give me an open timeline, and it will linger - and linger longer.

Lately, there have been lots of deadlines, and so far, I have met them all.

The OHCG Annual is this coming Saturday in Cobourg. A new model, with just one single day. The costs of the weekend affairs were just getting higher and higher, so this is a new test to see if it satisfies the love without blowing up the wallet.

The theme of this annual is Peace, Love, Rug & Roll, and it relies heavily on all our fondest memories of the 60s and 70s. Our icon for the annual is a Hippie Van, which became the star for our first ever hook-along. We hosted this event on Zoom, and we had a ton of folks signed up to attend. Everyone hooked the same pattern and the results, as you can imagine, are as individual as the makers.

Here's a link to a dedicated blog https://2025annual.blogspot.com/ where you can find lots of groovy images of the van and other "wardrobe suggestions" for the day.

This is how my version of the van turned out. Still debating on whether or not it should be a pillow, since it has button hubcaps and other scratchy stuff. 

And look in the background of this photo - that's right, a granny square vest that I made just for the occasion.  I had to relearn the granny square, but it was worth it - and all from stash yarn. 

Another project that had a hard deadline was this little mat for International Punch Hooking Day. Life got in the way, and I didn't get to attend much of the Zoom get-together, but I did get to see Amy Oxford (the queen of punch needle) gush about how far this form has come since she started many years ago.

Again, everyone did the same pattern, called "The Ripple Effect", designed by Robin Whitfield. And there were lots of interpretations.  I am still a relative newbie at punch, but I enjoyed doing this little mat.

One other little project that had no other deadline that a 7-year old's impatience, is Evvie's first quilt. It is for her dolls and stuffies. She picked her fabrics and hand stitched a few of the squares together. Grandma did the rest. It is not perfect, but I didn't change a thing. I hope her love for quilting lasts for years and years.

The projects without deadlines are all waiting patiently for attention. I am working on three sweaters. I am poking away at them, and hope to have one finished in the next few weeks. Not many weeks of sweater weather left, so I am tempted to let them sit until fall.

A Farewell to Edith.

Back in 2009, I bought a UFO (unfinished object, in case you don't know) from an older rug hooker in Toronto. She was well into her 80s and knew that she would never finish it. The price I paid was embarrassingly low, for the pattern (which she had started) and all the wool to hook it. She just wanted someone to finish it. I promised I would. Here is a picture from 2009 when I began. 

Over all these years, I have worked on it in fits and starts, making very slow progress. I realized that I was not emotionally attached to it, and guilt was not a great motivator. I was struggling to get anywhere close to the 40 x 60 size, so I made the decision to cut down the pattern. Then I could sort of fulfill my promise. I reduced it to 24 x 36, a doable mat size versus a full size room rug.

The ends that I cut off will eventually be hooked into pillows, in colours that are more my palette. 

Here is the rug, which I nicknamed "Edith" after the woman who sold it to me, all finished and ready to be part of a fundraiser on Monday. 

Our local rug hooking group is having our second "Estate and Stash-Buster Sale", where people bring things from their stash - or things we have been give by people who are giving up rug hooking. I decided that in addition to many other supplies I don't need - hoops, hooks, an extra gripper frame, and a cutter, I will bring a few finished rugs and see if people are interested.

All proceeds of this endeavour go to our local Kawartha Food Share. Last time we raised over $900 dollars. We hope to do the same again. 

Last Monday I took Edith to our usual session and was whipping the edges. One of the women there (part of the Scandinavian embroidery group who share our space) was drawn to the piece and asked what I was going to price it at. I thought $100 as a minimum bid would be good. People could go higher if they wanted. So she made a "reserved bid" on it, saying that I should take a higher bid, but that might prompt higher bids. I have no idea what to think, but I have a guaranteed $100, which I know is too low, but it is for a very worthwhile cause. 

I am very relieved that "Tribal Kilim" aka Edith will go to a good home. And that I "sort of" fulfilled my end of this bargain. 

A Busy Beginning to a Brand New Year.

 I knew it had been a while since my last post, but I can't believe it's been this long.

Amid a myriad of physical mishaps: a pinched nerve in my neck, followed by a "trip on air" fall, left me out of commission for a big chunk of the end of the year.

However, I was still able to do a limited amount of hooking and knitting. And a lot of reading!!

Two new hats for the grandkids. A ponytail hat for Everleigh - who didn't know they existed - and was crazy about hers. Until she cut her hair into a short bob!!! This is a picture from the Ravelry pattern called "Holey Hat"..

Of course, Jackson wanted one as well, and he picked the Poke Ball hat, which I had already knit for him. He said he "broke" it. I didn't know how you can break a hat but apparently, it got caught in a tree and when he tried to pull it down with a stick 'it broke".

And continuing in the spirit of red hats, my sister Beth asked me to knit her one, and I thought the Anemone hat would be fun for her. I was right, she loves it!! (This is me with it on, not her.) This is me, I might add, a week into a horrid chest cold that I am now on day 16 of - mostly gone.

On the hooking front, I have been busy getting ready for two upcoming Workshop Week workshops. The topic is "Creating a Values-Based Portrait from a Photograph". I have 12 students in each Zoom workshop, and they are very excited, sending photos of loved ones, human and furry, that will be rendered into hooked likenesses.

Although I had some values-based samples to share, I decided to hook a portrait of my mom from a photo when she was about 30. I have had this photo tucked away for many, many years. And this was the impetus to hook her likeness.

Here's the photo

And here is the latest progress shot. Just some background to finish. What a cathartic experience is was to spent this time with her. She passed away when I was 25.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I am spending my other hooking hours working on the polar extreme of this project. I am hooking a 60's van in bright neons and alternative fibres. This is being done in the first-ever "OHCG Hook-along".  The van is the visual "icon" for the 2025 Annual in the spring in Cobourg, Ontario. And 73 people signed up to participate in this event. We get together on Zoom every other Thursday night, until February 27 - so only a couple of sessions left. So much fun is being had!

Here's the latest progress on this silly, smile-inducing project.

So, there's a bit of a catch up. Good to have so many things to share. Thanks for reading.

A Fun Top to Make. A Fun Mat to Hook.

 Yesterday I pulled the last few loops on this little 8 x 10 mat.

It was inspired by an artist I discovered on Instagram. Her name is Debbie Rose Miller, and here is a link to her page Debbie Rose Miller.  When I was sewing this little top in the summer, I came upon Debbie's "Off the Wall" series of paintings, and knew instantly that I had to hook a similar piece to her work. 

I reached out to get permission, and she was so happy that she had inspired me. In her words "That's what art is all about." I shared the finished piece with her yesterday and got back a wonderful response. I think this is the beginning of a long friendship - long in distance and in time.

How wonderful it is when you admire someone's work and approach them to adapt it - and they say yes. A true compliment to them that you want to recreate something they made. This is not the first time that I have had this experience, and I am pretty sure it won't be the last.

The joy is that, unlike artists who are long gone, whose work inspires us, these contemporary artists find out that their work is inspiring others while they are still here.

And Debbie's work is filled with colour and happiness in a time where we desperately need both.

Make sure you go and have a peek. 

A heck of a month.

Not only have I not posted, I have not knitted nor hooked since that last post on September 6th.

A pinched nerve in my neck/left shoulder has had me in its grip, and is just now letting go. My weeks have been filled with heating pads, muscle and joint pain meds, and Lyrica for nerve pain. Little by little, I have been working my way back. With the help of a lot of therapy folks, I am feeling better every day. My chiropractor has worked magic with his gentle, strong hands and acupuncture.

And today is the first day that I have picked up knitting needles, with his blessing and a warning to take lots of breaks and not "look down". I am able to sit at my kitchen island, with my elbows on the table and hold my knitting up, so I don't have to lower my head to see what I am doing.

So many projects on the needles waiting for my attention, including a new one that I had started a month ago, called Sideline Wrap.  Not sure how it will look without a "bun", but will see when I am done. A certain grand daughter already has her sights on one. 

Luckily, I had one good distraction, which was getting ready for a Portrait Workshop in Cobourg, which took place on Thursday evening, all day Friday and Saturday. Not sure who had more fun - the students or me. But it was magical.

Here's a link to the blog post on the Northumberland Rug Hookers blog. Jennifer has written a pretty brilliant post with lots of pictures. 

https://northumberlandrughookers.blogspot.com/2024/10/portrait-topia.html

This was my first "inperson" workshop in a bit over a year, so I was ready for it. That said, it is still an exhausting undertaking for those of us in their 7th decade. lol. 

Now I just have to figure out how to make rug hooking a more "neck friendly" task. I am counting on more frequent breaks and lots of stretching to be the ticket.

Stay tuned!

Colourwork Knitting and Muscle Memory

 What are the neurological benefits of knitting?

Studies have found that knitting engages both hemispheres of the brain, promoting neural connectivity and strengthening cognitive pathways. The complex patterns, counting stitches, and following instructions involved in knitting challenge the brain, leading to improved focus, attention, and mental agility.

Also know as "muscle memory" or "procedural memory", knitting is superior to many other memory games in retaining this kind of memory.

And often, in a colour work pattern, the repeats are easy enough for you to rely on that memory to keep you on track. My latest pattern does not fall into that category.

Introducing "Pressed Flower Cardigan", a sweater that has been waiting for me to start for over a year. I LOVE the pattern and picked my yarn when I fell in love, and it has been languishing in a bag since then. 

Here's a link to the ravelry page, where you can learn more about this beauty.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pressed-flowers-cardigan-2

When I read the pattern, and interpreted the charts, I questioned whether or not this was going to be beyond the scope of my muscle memory. I started knitting it, with a blown up chart and a piece of paper that I paper clipped below the row I was working on and also used my row counter, just in case. 

You cannot see it from this photo, but the legend has the following information:

• S indicates a slipped stitch
• you slip with yarn in the back on the right side
• you slip with yarn in the front on the wrong side
• The blue and white indicate main colour and contrast.
• The dot in the square indicates that you purl on the right side and knit on the wrong side
• There are 32 rows in the pattern repeat - and this is just for the body - more charts for the front, back and sleeves.

Not a pattern for the feint of heart. I was almost discouraged from proceeding. Until, I realized that I could purchase a wonderful "aide" with birthday money from my MIL. Enter the Cocoknits Makers' Board Bundle. 

It is kind of an easel, with magnetic surfaces and magnets to hold your pattern/chart, and a rule and needle gauge that you can use to mark the row your are on. No paperclips or skipping a row with this wonderful set. (I have known about it for some time, but when the birthday money and the Pressed Flower Cardi were working together, I ordered it. A little too pricey for me to indulge, but the perfect gift for me, for sure.)

I am now about double the length that is shown here, but even with my Makers' Board, I still manage to lose my train of thought mid-row, and have to back up a fair amount. This is not a pattern that is "mindless" for sure. I am getting very good at counting to 16, since there are 17 repeats of 16 sts in each row. 

Some days, none of my memories are up to it, but I do try to do a bit each day. Luckily, many other projects are also in progress, so I can trade off to another for a break.

Speaking of others, the Stool Pigeon Stool is definitely in the home stretch. I have stitched the sides together, and filled in the hooking at the side seams. It fits on the stool and my grandson has taken it for a test drive - or test "sit". He loves it.

Here are a top and side view.

Just need to whip a cord into the edge of the backing an finish with tape.

And I am still hoping for longer legs lol. 

Hooking DONE. Finishing YIKES!!

Some hooking projects take MUCH LONGER than others. 

My stool cover may be the longest yet - well at least in the top 5.

This was a workshop that I purchased from Cindi Gay Rug Hooking, and I cannot remember how long ago that was. The stool cover was for an Ikea stool that is no longer in stock, if that tells you anything. Cindi had a template for the cover, and included a variety of designs in the workshop fee. We purchased the stool on our own.

When everything arrived, I was stumped as to what design I wanted on the stool, and eventually settled on one of Cindi's designs, which was a bit of an abstract that I thought would be fun to do. However, something was missing. So I let it percolate with the pattern on, and finally had a eureka moment. If I added some pigeons to her design, they would be "STOOL PIGEONS", which really tickled my funny bone.

Now the hooking could begin. Well sort of. 

I did a post in 2021, in which I shared the disastrous attempt at "punching" this. So I reverted to hooking it, with Briggs and Little Yarn - a show process to be sure. (here/s the link to that post - which I had to search for....) https://theruggedmoose.blogspot.com/search?q=Cindi+Gay  That post solved the mystery of how old this is - I registered for the course in 2019. 

Anyway, hooking progressed, and the pigeons multiplied - I decided I had to add some on the skirt panels as well. So I added two to each, for a total of 12 pigeons. A sizeable flock, indeed. 

This was a project that continually got shoved aside for many others. Especially teaching pieces, or other things with a deadline. But I poked away and a little while ago realized I only had one panel left to hook, so I started taking it with me to my group on Monday mornings, and finally it was done. Or sort of.

I realized that the outside line was not going to be sturdy enough when assembly began, so I did a second line all the way around.

And then it was time to look for those pesky little blank spots we like to call "holidays". I find with yarn hooking, they are harder to find, until yesterday! I was steaming this piece, so that it would be nice and flat before I started joining the corners to make the stool cover. I had checked that everything was the right size before starting to steam and block. After steaming the front,  I turned it over to steam the back. Goodness gracious, millions of 'holidays' showed up. Not huge, but enough that I needed to fill them to make sure the stool cover was good and sturdy.

Usually, I use a toothpick to mark them, but this would have required a whole box, so I came up with a brilliant idea - if I may say so myself. I took some yarn and marked all the spots by threading the yarn through the bare spot and leaving tails on the front side.

Here is a long shot of the hooked cover - you can see a few pieces of black yarn there - well, in fact there are THIRTY! 

Here is a closer look at the new method of marking the "holidays"

And an even closer one.

Using yarn instead of toothpicks means it is easier to put the piece back on your frame and find the spots. I would insert my hook before I removed the black yarn marker, so that I wouldn't have trouble finding it again. I saved all the marker yarn pieces, and counted them, which is how I know there were thirty. 

I got all the spots filled this morning and am now going down to cut off the excess backing, which I have marked according to Cindi's excellent instructions. Then it will be time to start the assembly.

How much longer will this all take? No clue, but I am feeling motivated since I am so close. 

Another little obstacle in the "finishing" of this project. The legs that came with the stool are only chair height. I am hoping my carpenter/contractor son-in-law can make another set that are bar/counter height, since I would like to use it at the island in the kitchen as a "spare".

Stay tuned. More "yikes" ahead. 

Old Dog, New Trick (actually a 60-year correction) plus a New Favourite Colour Combo

First up, let me tell you about this new fave colour combo.

It all started with the little top that I shared the thumbnail of in the last post. 

It's called Collage by Matchy Matchy Sewing Club - here's a link to their pattern page https://matchymatchysewingclub.com/collections/pdf-sewing-patterns

Here is a picture of it finished:

I used some cotton/linen blend fabric that I bought in Barbados many years ago. I never intended to use them together, but when I pulled them out, I thought they suited one another, and I still think they do. This is a delightfully, light fabric and has been worn quite a bit on our "furnace-like" days.

As soon as I finished making this, I decided that I should see if I could replicate the colours in a summer yarn to knit a short sleeve sweater I fell in love with called "Morning Ritual". Here's a link to the Ravelry pattern page https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/morning-ritual-top. Although I couldn't quite match the patterns of the fabric, I was able to find that gave me the same effect. The yarn is 100% Tanguis cotton and the colourways are Denim and Ash. (I just brought this in from blocking outside.)

I love the little bit of colourwork that is the "transition", and I think it will work well as is for the summer, and as a bit of a vest when the weather gets cooler.

So, now onto the new trick -seriously a major correction that took me 60 years to learn. I cast on a new little summer sweater that is a lovely bamboo/cotton combo, and it has a yoke of increasing rib blocks. Between each block of 10 rows are two increase rows - one that has a yarn over every so many stitches, and the second where you knit into the yarn over to avoid leaving holes. 

My first increase rows weren't very successful at not leaving holes, so I decided to go and watch a video of the correct way to do a yarn over. Not the way I have always done it - in fact when I watched the video, it looked more like a yarn under-over. I had always just wound the yarn "over the needle", while theirs was more of a "go under and wrap over". I decided to give it a go, and my second set of increases had nary a hole. How could I have been doing it wrong all this time!!! Oh well, a new skill has been acquired, and I think I know why my sister's yarn over eyelets were so much tidier than mine lol. 

Here, I hope, is a link to the video that corrected my yarn over ways. You may have to watch a VRBO ad first https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-RNKk_TFtk

Maybe I am not the only one needing a correction.

Will share the new sweater as soon as it is off the needles.

A better-late-than-never catch up.

This morning I read an email from a dear friend who lives in Vancouver.  She wrote to me last night, long after I was asleep, so I got to read it with my coffee this morning.

She always checks my blog to see what I have been up to before she emails. And it served to remind me that I haven't posted in quite some time. So here is a bit of a catch up, for me and for you, to show what I have been up to.

On the knitting front, I finished Elton, which turned out exactly as promised. The problem is that it far too hot to even think about putting on a sweater, but when I get the chance, it is the perfect summer evening cardigan.

It is the perfect companion for this new linen skirt. A skirt with a big story. I ordered it online, along with a top that I thought would complete my hot-weather-too-hot-for-jeans wardrobe. One small problem when it arrived - I had ordered the wrong size. I ordered the right size top, but a small in the skirt which may have fit me 20 years ago, but not now.

Returning it appeared to be ridiculously complicated and expensive - not like Lands End or LL Bean, so I decided to see if it could be altered. I have discovered a wonderful dress maker not far from me, who performed magic on a winter jacket that I hadn't worn for years. I knew she could help. There were a couple of pleats in the front by the pockets, which when taken out gave the right amount of waist circumference. And her cost to do the work was less than half the cost of returning the skirt and getting a replacement!! 

One sweater off the needles, another sweater on the needles. That is my routine, and has been for over 50 years. New one is SS&A, a summer sweater that I am knitting in a cotton/bamboo yarn. A friend was wearing it at the OHCG Annual in London and I fell in love. It has a very interesting side detail and a high-low hem, which keeps the knitting interesting. I am still debating short sleeves vs bracelet length.

This is not a picture of my sweater, but a good image of the under-arm detail. My yarn is a pale sage colour, so not much different from this. I figure it will go with everything. I am about 4" down the side detail.

On the hooking front, I finished the two "value portraits" for my workshop in October. In the last post, I shared my results of using the sublimation markers, but since I forgot to flip the image for one, the flesh tone one is a mirror image (and different crop) from the black and white one. These were fun to do and I think they will be great teaching tools. I also hooked a swatch for each one. 

And to round out all the needlework activities, I have been doing a little sewing. Haven't made anything in a while, and I really don't need anything, but do need to do something about my immense STASH. So I got a fun pattern from Matchy Matchy Sewing Club. It is the one called Collage and I used two linen pieces that I bought in Barbados long before the pandemic sent us home last time.  https://matchymatchysewingclub.com/collections/pdf-sewing-patterns

Light and airy, perfect for Barbados - which is why I originally bought the fabric - but also great for the upcoming scorcher of a summer they are predicting. Here's a little image that I filled in with colour to figure out placement. I will share an image of the real top later. 

So while the weather is too hot to do outdoor things, all my comfort fibre activities will continue - hopefully busting some of their respective stashes. 

Another "New - Not Hard" Thing

If you don't know who Kay LaFevre is, you need to go and check her out right now. Here is a link to her FaceBook page https://www.facebook.com/TheWoolGenie/  She is an absolutely brilliant rug hooker, whose work always takes my breath away.

A few years ago, when she was a guest speaker at Trent Rug Hooking School, she shared her passion for Sublimation Ink printing. That is how she prints her patterns. She brought her printer and her press with her for the demonstration, and also shared a simple way that we mere mortals could transfer patterns without all her equipment.

Someone in the Ottawa Olde Forge rug hooking Group has created a one-pager of how to do it. https://ottawarughooking.com/files/Resources/Transfer_pattern_to_backing.pdf

Not sure why it took me so long to try, but this week I did. I guess I am in my "brave girl era".

I went to Michaels craft store to see if they had sublimation markers and they did. They had two kinds. One is their brand, the other is Siser. 

I am using them to make two small patterns of my "geometric face" image. These will be teaching pieces for a fall workshop. I am doing one version in black and white/grey scale, and the other in a simple painterly sketch (using "cut out" effect from Photomania), which I will hook in skin tones. 

Here is the black and white effect, outlined with the Siser markers, ready to be ironed on. This sketch is also from the "cut out" effect, but I changed the colour to make the grey scale study. 

And here is what printed onto the backing - I think I could have used stronger lines, and probably kept the iron on a bit longer, but I certainly got what I needed to do the hooking.  Excuse the scary eyes - I forgot to outline them, so I drew them in with marker afterward. 

This is definitely an easier way to transfer a pattern. A bit of a learning curve. The other thing I forgot was that the image would be flipped on the backing. (Kay warns about that, especially for lettering.) This is my second attempt after I flipped the image to allow for that. It doesn't really matter, but the original larger portrait is oriented this way, so I thought it should match. 

Stay tuned for progress. I have begun to hook the skin tone one. They are only 8" square, so should be quick to do. 

Thanks Kay for sharing this great information. Not sure I will graduate to a sublimation ink printer, but will definitely do this going forward. 

IT'S NOT HARD, IT'S NEW!

I love this expression. So much so that I bought a t-shirt that says so. I bought this from a knitwear designer I started following a few years ago. Here is a link to her. She is one of the most positive people I have encountered, and every Monday she sends a message to my inbox to remind me how I am in control of everything. 

This t-shirt is now a sleeping shirt for my grandson when he comes to sleep over. And I remind him - and his sister - that this saying is a wonderful way to view things. And especially new experiences that seem daunting.

In the recent past, I have repeated this to myself many, many times. Because I was doing a bunch of new things - and they were hard. I kept telling myself they were only hard because I hadn't done them before - and that the next time they will be a lot easier. 

The Voyage Cardigan was an excellent example of how true this "ism" is. Things were only terrifying because I hadn't done them before. And I will be so much wiser the next time around - if there is one.

Here is a picture of the last step in finishing the fronts of the cardigan. I applied ribbon trim to cover the "ends" left behind by the steek. And I think it looks amazing. What a lovely finish, that I would not have discovered if I hadn't decided to try this pattern. 

Things this sweater taught me that I will be better at the next time:

• reinforce the steek with your sewing machine - even when you are afraid your sewing machine will eat your knitted fabric - the crochet alternative is not a good one for me
• be prepared to spend a ton of time finishing a steeked garment - it makes the colourwork go by and match perfectly - but there is more finishing that you can imagine
• be proud of yourself for "going for it" and considering a vest version one day. 

Another project is on the needles - or at least the second sock - from the pattern Larch Peds by Laura Nelkin. Here's a link to the ravelry pattern. It is jam packed with "new" things that did seem extremely hard on the first go - because they were new, I know.

• provisional cast on (which I forget often, since too much time passes before I use it again)
• a lined and folded down cuff, made with using two sets of short rows to create a lined cuff that will never fall down in your walking shoes 
• a method called Lola's Pick-up, this is a technique to replace picking up your stitches on the edges of the heel (Full Confession: I still have yet to try that - getting used to the lined and folded cuff seemed like more than enough for my first pair) Will give that a go on the next pair.
• an alternate way to graft the toe stitches called the Finchley Graft - because the sock needed to be inside out to do it, I stuck with the Kitchener, but will definitely try this on this second sock

I have knit hundreds of pairs of socks in my lifetime (seriously, one Christmas when I was much younger, I knit 26 pairs). Yes way!!!! But I learned more from this pattern and Laura than ever before, including appreciation for her very droll sense of humour. She includes a bunch of videos for each of the new techniques. And as she said, once you have knit a few pairs of these, the pattern will just live in your head. Turns out that Larch Peds is not the only one of her patterns that I love. 

Now in the home stretch of the second sock of the first pair, and yes, that green is from the Voyage Cardigan. 

I have visions of many more to use on my daily walks. Because they won't be hard, because they won't be new. lol