Travelled home from Barbados on the 31st of March. Even after 86 days it was hard to say goodbye. But nice to know we are booked to come back again next year to do our "winter aversion therapy".
Once home it was pedal to the medal for the OHCG Rug Hooking Annual in London, Ontario. Lots to get organized since my friend Elaine and I were running the workshops - a big undertaking that started over a year before. Finding teachers, preparing contracts and invoices - figuring out space allocation at the venue - preparing lists for publication and then waiting for registration. Classes filled quickly, with a few hiccups in the registration spreadsheet, but all went smoothly on site.
Phillippa Flamingo made her debut there as well. When I was still in Barbados, I came up with a better plan of how to display her. I ended up putting her on a 2" thick piece of styrofoam, so that I could attach her to her rebar legs and then set her in a large planter. Here is the result.
When I got her home, I had every intention of donating her to a local children's centre, but alas they were unable to take her. As they said, she is so tactile and if little germy hands are all over her, there would be not way to keep her clean. So for now, she will reside in the studio and add a lot of pink cheer.
Once home from London, I had to get down to the business of upcoming classes at Trent Rug Hooking School in June and Newfoundland Rug Camp in August. I am teaching two classes at Trent - the first is a weekend class called "Initially yours" and in this short sprint, folks will hook a single letter. There are 26 letters to choose from and so many options - it will be a lot of fun.
I started an additional sample that will go to my grandson, Jackson. For whatever reason, I chose a different style than I have ever done before - I guess to demonstrate how wide-open this category is. Kind of a Bauhaus style (which reminds me of licorice allsorts lol). I am a bit further along than this picture, but this was on my computer, so teasing you with it.
Also on the frame is a new portrait for the week-long class at Trent and the rug camp in Newfoundland. The class is to fun and simple portraits that take the fear out of the equation. This is a Warhol effect that I found and this is my grand daughter in progress. Lots of tweaking to do. Even though I drew the same image 4 times, they are all quite different, and colour plays a big role here. And I am hooking these in polar fleece, which is "blurrier" than wool. Still lots of fun!
The reason that progress has ground to a halt on everything is that since I returned home, I have been having hip and shoulder issues, which have finally been diagnosed as Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR). With some physiotherapy and medication, I think I am - after 6 weeks - starting on a path to recovery. During this time there has been very little I have been able to do. No hooking. Just a bit of knitting when things are calm.
And that brings me to the story of my Shifty sweater which you can find here. It is a very interesting knit and very nearly didn't make it to fruition. While at the Annual, I misplaced the project bag it was in and nobody seemed to have seen it. It turned out that Judy K., who created so many of the incredible birds at the Annual had scooped it up with her stuff and once she realized she had it, sent it back to me. Yippee!!
I am now well into the body - ready to do the hem, and eternally grateful to have it back. Not only is it the work in the sweater, but the cost of the wool as well. I gasp every time I start a new project, but refuse to spend my time on "bad yarn", so just suck it up.
Now that I am on the road to recovery, I am hoping to get back into the studio next week and get going on these school projects. Before I can do that, the studio needs to be put back in order after our wee "flood" in the basement while we were away. All good now, but let's just say the Service Master folks did quite a number on my space while fitting all the furniture from the family room in there. It will be good to have it back again.
In the meantime, I will keep working away on the sweater. Just about to put it on waste yarn and see how the fit is. Fingers crossed.
1 comment:
ruggedized displays
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