Getting My Groove Back

Simple Things Shawlette knitted in hand-dyed sock yarn

After finishing up a few knitting projects, (this is a picture of a new little shawl hot off the needles and drying on the blocking mat) I realized that I need to catapult myself out of my prolonged hooking absence and get on with making some new mats.

So I spent some time on Rug Hooking Daily this morning and was inspired by lots of new photos on the photo page. Inspired enough to leave some comments and upload a couple of my new pieces. No sooner had my fingers left the keys than some comments came in. And there's nothing like encouraging words from fellow hookers to re-ignite that spark. Thanks to all of you who left comments.

In responding back, I found some new great works and a new blog to share. It's called Laura's Loops and Laura is one extremely talented lady. You will have seen her work in Rug Hooking Magazine and she is a very active teacher.

I'm sure you will LOVE her  blog. And her website too - you will find a link there.

Falling in Love with Fall

A perfect little maple on the path.

The leaves here in the near north have just begun their colour show. And it is very localized, it seems. On Saturday, we drove to Huntsville and there were lots of glorious leaves along the Aspdin Road. But on Sunday, we went to Killbear and there was barely (no pun intended) any change there.

Our magnificent "sign" maple, which is common in these parts.

At Killbear, the change is just beginning.

Some pretty berries on the rocks.

A remarkable sign of how much the water levels are down.

 As we drove around and ooh-ed and aah-ed at the colours, I realized that I think they are the most splendid when there is still green around them. Without the contrast, they aren't quite as spectacular.

And my mind kept going back to this incredible piece of wool that I won at a hook in last summer.
All the glorious fall colours contrasted against the greens and blues.

Mother Nature NEVER gets it wrong.

Sometimes all you need is a rainy afternoon.

And we had that today to be sure. Incredible winds that eventually brought in the rain. So I had an afternoon to spend inside and no work waiting for me on my computer.

Amazing what you can accomplish in a few hours. Here is the front (or back) of my punched bag - all punched.

I was thinking how the colours were unusual for me, especially the green. And then I put it on the oriental carpet in the dining room to take this picture and practically laughed out loud. All the colours in the bag are in the carpet!!! We do really come with a palette, don't we?

For those of you who haven't punched, here is where I left off last time. And I took this picture of the in-progress bag and the handles. Something screwy with all the colours, but in real life, they look awesome.

As I begin to hook the second side, I have learned many lessons from the first. I will share them in a future post when I see if my learning makes side 2 better.

Stay tuned.

Enuff with the Baby Stuff!

Well, nearly enough. I promise not to keep doing knitting posts and get back to hooking (or at least punching). But before I do, one more little shot of "adorable".

Using the same sock yarns, I did a little hat that is newborn size and so cute with the blanket. And then I couldn't resist doing a few of the little "bunny nuggets". They seem to be just the right size for little hands to hold.

Now that the baby knitting is done, I can move along on my other projects - of which there are many.

I am just doing the sleeves on this "slouchy cardigan", which I knit before in a yarn that didn't suit. Hopefully this yarn will work, as it is now on its third iteration. I am becoming the Queen of Ravelling.

When that is done, I have some beautiful yarn with a delicious colourway that may turn into this Noro pattern.

And this dramatic lace cardigan has been waiting patiently to be knit for some months now. It should actually come ahead of the one before, so I'll see when I finish "slouchy".

And then, in true September style, I have made a list of hooking projects too. Lots to whip and finish, but a whole set of stair risers, which I think I will do in a combination of wool strips for the "critters" and punch needle backgrounds.

That of course, after the Bala Bag is done. 

The "A" Babies are Coming.

One arrived on the weekend. Little Ayla, for whom I knit the apple green blanket, is here safe and sound. I will hopefully get a chance to go and meet her next week. In the meantime, I made a couple of other little things to go with the blankie, since I couldn't find more wool to knit the little cardi I showed a few weeks ago.

What a cute little hat, isn't it?

 This hat was a free pattern on Ravelry, called "Berry Baby Hat".

And I love these little creatures.

And these little "Bunny Nuggets" were also a free pattern that I found through Ravelry as well. I think I giggled the whole time I was making these. And they didn't take long.

The next baby to arrive will be Abby, due next month. She is the one for whom I have been knitting the second zig zag blanket. It is now finished and just needs the ends tidied up.

There might just have to be a couple of "Bunny Nuggets" to go with this blankie too. There's certainly a rainbow of possibilities.

I love knitting for babies! It's fast. It's joyful. And there is absolutely no happier occasion for knitting. I am reluctant to do sweaters any more, since they outgrow them in about 15 minutes. So blankies and softies are definitely my preferred way to go.
 

Knitting Begets Punching

Punchneedle hooking that is.

I am well into my second zig-zag baby blanket and over the long weekend was bitten by the urge to transpose the zig-zag pattern to a purse. Since I already a Bala bag (Jenn's pattern) on backing, I simply needed to create a grid and away I went.

So here is the begetter.

Wow, it looks really red in this picture, when in fact it is more like a raspberry pink.

And here is the begettee (I don't think either of those are words).

Everything is just yarns from my stash, but the colours are driven by a pair of turquoise leather handles.

And this much progress took only a couple of hours yesterday afternoon. We had a quiet weekend and such a smelly upstairs (staining the beams and logs in the great room), so I hid out in the studio and got lots done.

I also finished my beautiful Alga sweater. Here is a picture of it on the floor. I'll see if I can convince Rick to take one of it one me when I get it blocked.

If you look closely at the left side, you'll see the pleats.

The little pleating detail doesn't show up as well on mine as it did on the orange one I showed a few posts ago, but I love the denim colourway of the delicious Madeline Tosh light merino wool. It will be fabulous with jeans, don't you think? And it may just be cool enough to wear it today.