My Muskoka Magdalena

If Magdalena Briner Eby had lived or cottaged in Muskoka, I wonder if she would have featured different animals in her rugs? That was my thinking as I set off on this course to design my own version of a Magdalena rug. With that goal, I hopped in the car on Friday with a basket of odds and ends of wool, which I figured would be perfect for this project.

The workshop was held in an absolutely stunning century log home near Mount St. Louis - well century log studio on property shared with the century log home. And the venue could not have been more perfect. Loree, our hostess and convenor, whose studio is called Back in Thyme, is pictured here among many of her primitive treasures.

The teacher was DeEtta Beebe-Gillard, a friend of Loree's from the US, about who you can learn more at her website which is www.fiddleheadfinery.com.  What decent Maritime gal wouldn't fall in love with someone whose logo is a fiddlehead? There were lots of other reasons to love her too - an incredible warmth, love of people, great sense of humour and on and on and on - not to mention a very well-prepared, organized teacher with great teaching skills.

I tried to take a "normal" picture of her, but there was so much laughter and merriment, that this is the one I have decided to share. DeEtta in a witch's hat that she designed and created. There's a whole other story about why the hat was appropriate, which I will only allude to by mentioning the "Witches Walk" in Coldwater at Hallowe'en.

The day began with fresh scones and an exercise in moving down memory lane in order to help design a Magdalena rug that would be personal - filled with your own stories. And it was a great creative stimulant. Really got the grey matter going back to things you hadn't thought about in years.

And we all had to tie a piece of wool around one finger, so that if we started to over-think what we were doing, we had to give the string a pull and let it go. Quite a helpful trick, I must say. From the stories we created templates of animals that we drew ourselves, in a folk art style, and then arranged them on our backing.

To get ready for the class, DeEtta designed quite a few Madgalena style patterns, which she shared with us. The names of her patterns were very clever and demonstrated how they all came from her bank of animal stories.

She also hooked this little mat to demonstrate the style.

Here are a few pictures of the student designs in progress. Mine is at the bottom. They were all so different, it was fun to see them evolve.

 

After designs were on backing, we had a delicious lunch inside Loree's home - complete with white tablecloths and a great salad dressing, for which we got the recipe. The bar has definitely been raised in the world of "workshops".

In the afternoon, we began hooking and had to tug on the string a few times to stop from thinking about how we were hooking. Upside down animals, hooked in the vertical or horizontal is just part of the whimsy of the style.

I left the workshop feeling exhausted but energized and eager to get back on the frame, which I did a lot over the weekend thanks to the combo of rain (at last!) and the Olympics. I made myself finish this goose stair riser before I started, which brings me to a "planets aligning" story that goes with this as well.

The stair risers I have been hooking were designed by Evelyn Lawrence, an amazing rug hooker and designer, who just happens to be the co-author, with Kathy Wright, of the book I bought on Magdalena at the workshop. Evelyn is probably one of the most knowledgeable rug hookers about the style of Magdalena rugs and has reproduced virtually every original rug that has been uncovered to date.

Here is the book. The ISBN number is 978-0-9838905-0-8  with another number below that says 52495. It is a great addition to your hooking library, especially if you are interested in the style. The thing that I love about this style, as much as the simplicity and the folk art animals, is the treatment(s) of her backgrounds. You can definitely see that she used what she had on hand and that she didn't care if she was mixing styles or motifs. I guess that is truly what makes it folk art.

So, how far did I get with the rug? Let me just say that there is something so freeing about this style, it's like taking a holiday from all the discipline that exists in the other forms. I know that it is a style unto itself, but it's a style with a smile in every loop.

So what makes for a Muskoka Magdalena. The animals of course, but the "Group of Seven" pine tree is in here as well, albeit fractured to make it a bit more folky and less expected. The Magdalena leaf or feather motif will be interpreted as a fish, and I can hardly wait to get on to the background.

Here are a few pics of my Muskoka critters under way.

I promise to share progress as I go, though I fear that it won't continue at this brisk pace, now that real life will replace the Olympics. LOL

Primitive Thoughts

Although I have been doing a lot of reading in these past hot weeks, I have been doing a little bit of hooking in the early morning before it gets too warm. I finished the Stand Up Paddleboard mat and forgot to share a snap.  (Technically, not quite finished - still have to press and do something with the edges, which I will do when it is not to hot to hold.)

I was invited to visit a group of fiber artists in Coldwater last Tuesday and wanted something small and lighter to bring, along with my knitting. I had to figure out what to start next and was drawn back to my series of stair risers. I had an amazing time and feel privileged to be included in their ranks.

The goose is the second in a series of stair risers.  I still have a fox, raccoon, bear, skunk, squirrel, turtle, rabbit and beaver left to do. I posted the moose picture before, but am sharing it again.

 Of course, I had to do the moose first.

The sense of whimsy in the designs of these stretched out critters makes me smile and also serves  as a reminder of how much I enjoy doing primitives.

I have decided to make them into small pillows instead of stair risers, for a couple of reasons.
I think a pillow is more useful. It can go on a bed, a chair, a sofa - wherever I want and I love the way they look sitting proudly on display. The stair risers were going to be for my studio stairs, which means only those who come into the "bat cave" actually get to see them. I think they need to be shared.

I have seen pillows this size in lots of decorating stores -  hand made, though I think they are punch needled in India and the price makes me believe that the creators (as usual) are getting very little for their labour. Once everyone has their mark up and duties, etc., they are selling for $50 ($39 in the US)

Speaking of primitives, one of the gals in the group on Tuesday was talking about a Magdalena workshop she is hosting next month. I am a HUGE fan and have been wanting to take a class on this for quite a while. If you are not familiar, Google Magdalena Rugs, or go and visit Rug Hooking Daily and see the group they have there. There are links to a few blogs and websites of the really devout followers of this style of rugs.

I was heartbroken to learn that the class was filled, but this weekend I found out that I am being squeezed into the group. YIPPEE! I am so excited.  The teacher is DeEtta Gilland from the US and she will be teaching us how to design in the Magdalena style. I promise to share more after the class.

The Revolving Door of July Guests

Seems like everyone's favourite month for visiting is July!!! And who can blame them.

We have been having so much fun with a series of guests - pretty much back to back. A day off in between to do laundry and re-stock the fridge and then the next batch arrives. I will think back to these very fun weeks in November when I am feeling lonely. Trust me, nobody is lining up to come in the "ber" months.

Lots of SUP (Stand Up Paddle board) lessons - and virtually everyone had success. I think I could post some funny shots, but wouldn't want to do that. Everyone is a little wobbly their first few times.
But we are all of an age where trying something new is a very brave thing, and despite achy knees and hips, everyone managed to get up and stay up.

The weather and water temperature have been perfect for guests. In fact, there has been nary a drop of rain all month, which is a bit scary. I am worried that every time I dip my watering can into the lake, I see the level go down. I don't remember a summer like this in the 20 we have been on the lake.

Speaking of weather, how can people keep predicting thunderstorms - day after day - when the skies are virtually cloudless. Aren't clouds a prerequisite for storms? They are predicting the same thing for today, but now I am completely skeptical.

So, what I have been doing in the studio - not that much, except in the wee hours while the guests are still asleep. 

I did finish the little paddle board mat - will now figure out how to finish.

I have done occasional rows on the knitting project.

I read two amazing books: The Postmistress and Sarah's Key. Loved them both, especially the first one!!

I did discover an incredible artist, whose work I LOVE! Her name is Rea Kelly and I suggest you go visit her site with a cup of coffee.

I did visit a couple of markets and craft shows, including the Muskoka Arts and Crafts show this past weekend in Bracebridge. This year my hubby didn't join me, so I was able to go to the fashion and jewellery booths that he normally hurries past. Here are my treasures:

The little link ring above the silver one was made by my friend Lisa Ridout. She and I go wayyy back to my early copywriting days. She went back to school to study jewellery making many years ago and makes absolutely stunning things. This was her first outdoor show in 10 years. She is a regular at One of a Kind and has a few retailers who carry her lines.

Sorry for the bad shot (into the bathroom mirror). This is an up-cycled dress I got from a vendor who makes all their wares from recycled items. This is made of t-shirts and the thing about it is the design. I think there is some magic in there because although it looks incredibly body fitting, it hides a multitude of sins and is very figure flattering on nearly every figure. Plus it is unbelievably comfy - after all, it is old t-shirts!!

Although it's not easy to see in this picture, this is an incredible scarf that is made by a textile artist who uses a free arm quilting machine to marry all kinds of fibers. This has sari silk, roving and ribbon - in all my favourite colours and it is light enough to be worn all year.

There were many fabulous vendors, but by this point I had blown the budget. But I love getting things that are unique and not on every rack in every store.

Kudos to so many talented Canadian designers and artists for inspiring me to come home and create something.  We all need to get out there and support one another.

So today, I am off to the grocery store to replenish yet again. I think I will also go look for an on-line youtube video for rain dancing. I just checked and found this. Will try later. What did we ever do before Google?????

The Weekend Was Perfect

Except for the fact that our children couldn't be here, this past long weekend was amazing. The weather was absolutely stunning - no humidity, beautiful sun with lots of cooling breezes and the sound of laughter around the bay.

I decided to spend as much time outside as I could - treat it like a special weekend, not just three more days in our wonderful spot. And it worked!!

I was out on the SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) every morning for at least half an hour, greeting the day and taking advantage of the stillness before the wind rose. It's amazing how much tougher it is to paddle against the wind. Your body acts as a windbreaker, but the distance per paddle stroke definitely goes down and you have to work much harder to stay upright when the water is choppy.

It's incredible how many places have the boards now - a couple of years ago, we had a hard time finding any. I guess it is catching on and every marine supply place seems to be jumping on board - no pun intended.

Here's a very funny picture that I found online, since I didn't have one of my own to share.

That is a very brave kitty!

I kayaked and swam a few times, and the water temperature was around 23 degrees Celsius, so not too bad. Gone are the days of small kids who want to spend nearly the whole time in the water. Luckily, we have little ones next door and it's such fun to listen to them play. Between the swimming, the boat rides and the frogs, the squeals of delight were virtually non stop all weekend.

They invited us to their fireworks on Sunday night and in addition to the oohs and aaahs of their display, we experienced some kind of phenomenon which none of us could explain. A bright red dot appeared next to the full moon - we saw it arrive - and then it simply disappeared!! Someone else said they saw it too - so it wasn't just us. And it apparently made a second appearance later. Hmmmmmmm.

It was actually cool enough bring my knitting down to the lower deck and knit in the shade. I think by the time I finish my currrent sweater, it will have triple the "yarn miles" on it. Not only did I change my mind about the first pattern once I was well into it, I also decided to change my needle size in the second pattern, since my gauge was a bit off. So I have "frogged" a good 15" of progress in the past few weeks. Sure hope I like this latest one. It is called "turmeric" and I found it on Ravelry. Now the hunt for the perfect button!!

I topped off the weekend with a good book, which I devoured yesterday. It is called Half Broke Horses and it is written by Jeanette Walls who wrote The Glass Castle. If you haven't read both of these, run to the bookstore or put them on your Kindle. They are fantastic.

The only thing I didn't do much of over the weekend was hook. But I am really finished the SUP mat, and will probably get back to it in the early mornings this week.

Just a little bit more greenery at the top

So back to my normal days here in the land people escape to in the summer. I guess it's appropriate that we should take days off to, to remind ourselves why people love it so much.

Goodbye June

Is it just me, or are the months going by faster? Seems like yesterday it was the first of June and we were so happy to have summer here. Yikes.

Anyway, today's post is a bunch of bits and bites from June.

First of all, the Dead Fish Hat window display is up at The Purple Sock.  Lynn, the owner, was kind enough to send me the pictures, which look awesome. The hats are all so different!!

What a great display. Even the little mannequin children are wearing the hats.

Love the net and the other props - great job Lynn!

Next up, a rug that was hooked by my good friend Debbie. It did take a bit of time, but she is one busy lady, so I'm impressed that she got it done. She is an art therapist and seems to be into a lot of wonderful,  interesting things lately.

Here is her rug, which she designed a while ago for her daughter Erin who loves whales. You can definitely see the talent behind this rug. All I did was show her the mechanics of pulling loops. She did everything else herself. An amazing first rug if you ask me!!!

And to end the month on a high, I spent a few days in Peterborough this week. A visit and sleepover with the ma-in-law on Monday and then off to my friend Jane's for rug hooking fun and a Wing Night at a restaurant in Young's Point.

Jane lives in the Peterborough area and she and two friends have made the leap into becoming hooking suppliers, mostly because they couldn't easily find supplies in their "hood" and decided  to "go for it" themselves. They are doing some incredible dyeing and have an interesting business model. They will bring their wares to hooking groups within a 100-km radius. I think of them as "Wool on Wheels" and envision little red wagons full of wonderful fiber arriving at hooking get-togethers all over their neck of the woods.

I got to catch up on their progress on Tuesday afternoon and then joined 19 friends for wings and beer that evening. Such fun!! Then Wednesday, the regular hooking group got together and we spent a delightful few hours hooking, laughing and enjoying each other's company.

Here are a few pictures from the get together. I love the candid shots at a hooking get together. There is a palpable energy level and everyone is having so much fun working on such diverse things.

Other Jane is working on a mini mat based on a Japanese wood cut. Completely hooked with silk.

Hostess Jane has started a new Deanne Fitzpatrick pattern. Great red for that house.!

Helen, Wendy and Gwyn multitasking - having lunch, sharing design ideas, talking and laughing                             surrounded by wool and friends. It's the best!

Hostess Jane in front of an amazing piece of art by the group's friend Marilyn.

Helen showing off a little swatch dyeing - gorgeous colour!

A little fiber - this is actually yarn, not roving

Gwyn's amazing project -every colour in the rainbow. Can't wait to see this rug finished.

We were joined by a 91-year young mother-in-law of one of the women. She kept saying that she wished she had a notebook so she could capture all the things we talked about in the time we were there. As usual, we solved all the problems of the world!!

I can't believe it is Canada Day long weekend tomorrow and then July! Wow.

Three Passions - One Day.

It's not often that a day includes three of your major passions. But today was just that kind of day.

Passion 1: Rug Hooking
Start with a rug hooking meeting in Barrie (about an hour and a half from where I now live). The meeting took place in the Starbucks at the Chapters in Barrie, since I couldn't really think of another place that was easy to find and happy to have you loiter for however long the meeting took.

We waded through what needed to be covered, I heard all the great stuff about the Green Mountain Rug Hooking School in Vermont last week - now on my calendar for 2013 - and we caught up on other stuff. Yes, it would have been better if we had actually hooked, but I'm ok with that.

While standing in line to get my drink, a very dear friend showed up - so random because she never goes there and neither do I - but we have been trying to connect for months. I think it is a sign that the Starbucks is our "place",  so now we just have to figure out a time.

Passion  2: Sewing
I left the meeting and headed to the Fabricland in Barrie to try to find fabric for a bunch of patterns I have in my stash. I had success with the following ones:

This tunic is totally cool and I got a graphic navy and cream fabric.

I got a black and a white batik to do this skirt. Not sure about how to embellish in the front yet. Later.                                You gotta love the pockets!

No luck with jersey, but three striped chambray combos for this wonderful little french dress.

I really don't need any more sewing projects, but lately, I have been buying Vogue patterns when they are on sale for $3.99 or $4.99, which is a far cry from $30. I get email alerts and there is always something.....

I am proud to say that all the fabric for these, plus a separating zipper for the tunic and taxes came to the grand total of (drum roll please)  $67.29. Let's face it, none of these could be had for that, let alone all three.

Passion 3: Knitting
I stopped in at the Purple Sock in Coldwater, expecting to see the Dead Fish Hat display, but poor Lynn has been crazy busy and hasn't had a second to put it up yet. Soon - and when she posts about it, I will go and take pics.

But, never one to let an opportunity pass me by, I took a look at her pottery yarn bowls and am now the proud owner of this one:

If you are new to the land of pottery yarn bowls (which I am too), you put in your ball, feed it through the slot, and no more chasing your ball around the room, deck, wherever. I am seriously considering an introduction to pottery class in the fall, so I can see about making some of these as gifts for my fellow knitters. (Someone should seriously shoot me before I add another potential passion to the list.)

So, a very good day all around, even with the driving. And now even more projects to add to the list. I now have enough rainy day projects to last for a very long time. But I can move around among the 3 passions and have something wonderful to do in all of them. Yippee.

What's SUP?

Hope all the dads in your lives had happy Fathers' Days. Our Dad had separate celebrations with his offspring, since our son had to work the weekend. He came on Thursday and left Friday. Our daughter and her beau arrived Friday night and left yesterday afternoon.

Since the weather was beautiful part of the time for both of them, they "racked and stacked" all their favourite water activities into the short time they had. It was quite funny to watch actually - sort of went like:
1. jump in lake for quick swim
2. climb on stand up paddle board and go for a quick jaunt
3. hop into kayak and go around the island - in Matt's case, go to seagull rock and take pictures to email to friends who aren't here to see for themselves
4. jump in lake again to cool off from frenzied activity
5. drink beer, eat a big meal, have a wonderful sleep in the quiet room (sans sirens)

Repeat the next day.

They gave their Dad wonderful gifts that suited their personalities. He was very pleased.

Speaking of the SUP (Stand Up Paddle Board), I was out twice on Saturday as well. Luckily, it is like riding a bike - you don't forget, so my fears of a chilly dip in the lake were for naught. Unlike my offspring, I wait till the lake is warmer before doing things "in" it. Right now,  I do things "on" it.

But, now that my required hooking projects are done, I have finally got around to starting my series of "fun things to do in summer at the lake" mats. (It is pretty much the list above.) And the SUP is the first one. I got a few hours of hooking in most mornings last week and it is coming along nicely.

I started with this picture of my daughter on the board.

Then I uploaded the picture to Be Funky and creates this impressionist sketch, to drop out some of the smaller details. Go check it out - you can create a lot of effects with pictures - make cards, do all kinds of fun things.

And with this nice, simple sketch, I started hooking. First I hooked Laura and now I am working on the water. (I think her head is a little large, so I may go back and adjust that after I get more background around it - I love how things are so much easier to see when you put them on your computer.)

This is a really good lesson on how the colour of water is merely what is reflected in it. Laura was in front of a veritable forest across the bay - hence all the green in the water, from nearly black to nearly white. Even her shadow on the board takes on a green cast.

I love all the movement in the water and the reflections in front, which I have just started are really interesting in how realistic they are. The upper part of the mat will go more quickly because it is just a series of vague green shapes, so that is why I tackled the bottom part first.

I think this ended up a bit larger than I intended (it's 20" high by 11 wide), I guess because of the height of it. But I hope to make the rest of the series a bit smaller.  I do love the little 8 x 10 size sketches, since they go so quickly.

Anyway, I am very happy to be hooking something just for me, and will continue that trend for a while. As I always say "Hook What You Love and You Will Love What You Hook." (I am in the process of designing a pattern of that saying, which I will also add to my hook-for-me list.

Frivolity and the Fish Hat

So, the Dead Fish Hat has definitely been the hit of the week! Everyone loves it and I had lots of fun taking pictures of people wearing it. As suspected, my son wants his own, so I may have to knit a few more, which will be a joy.

My daughter with my son peeking from behind.

Rick, looking suspiciously like St. Nick.

The only shot of my son where he isn't clowning around.

See what I mean, but I guess this is the hat for it!!

A young cottage neighbour...

and her dad.

On a different note, another neighbour, who is an emerging sculptor, installed this in one of the ponds over the weekend. I have always been a fan of knit bombing, so I guess it stands to reason that I really liked this. Apparently, he placed it there at 3 a.m. It is right beside the road, so there's no missing it, yet somehow it seems totally in place where he put it.

White balls on metal rods, like some intergalactic flower.

And last but not least, in case you think I have totally stopped hooking, I realized that I forgot to share a picture of the Snug as a Bug in a Rug rug. Here it is.

The Bug theme display at the Annual this year was the largest in my memory (which is holey at best), but the variety was incredible. There were beautiful recreations of bug beauty, as you can see from the fragment of the rug on the left.  Mine was about as buggy as I could go, since I am not a real fan of very many bugs. But there was even a VW bug, which I thought was pretty clever. The winning entry was for three dimensional bugs, standing proudly at the foot of the display. Sorry I didn't take a picture - as I said, bugs aren't my favourite subject. Jenn has a few snaps on her blog.

And, in closing, I am back on the frame, starting a summer series of things we do here on Salmon Lake in the summer. I should have something to share by next week.

Hilarious Off and On

Well, I finished the Dead Fish Hat last night and took some pics. Here are two views - one semi overhead and one more overhead.

And here is one "on my head". Trust me, it took a few tries to get something I was willing to share.

Now this is a hat that would always make you smile - while making and while wearing (if you are brave enough). And others as well. I heartily recommend making one or ten. There is a woman on Ravelry who was making 52 for a charitable cause. Here's a link to the pattern. 

You will have a lot of chuckles looking at the 4638 hats that are there. 

Swift and Not-so-Swift

How did I spend my rainy weekend? Well, doing lots of relaxing things, mostly knitting related.

On Saturday morning, I decided to wind the wool that I bought from Stix and Stones of North Bay at the OHCG Annual. It will be made into this tank - from the summer issue of Knitscene magazine.

As I was winding the beautiful Tanis Fibert Arts hand dyed merino, with the skein around my neck feeding into the winder, my eyes fell on a white box on a shelf across the studio. The Swift that I had bought in Vermont in November - DUH!!!!

Later on in the weekend, I opened the Swift and set it up on my table to wind a few skeins that have been waiting. Man, there's a reason it is called a Swift. I think I did these five balls in less time than the first one for the pattern shown.

If you don't know what a Swift is, it is a holder for skeins of yarn (shown on the left) that helps to wind skeins into balls using a ball winder - shown on the right. There are a number of different types, including an umbrella variety that clamps onto a table. This one is an ingenious Amish design that is easily assembled when you need to use it, and stows away when you don't.

As you can see, there are a number of adjustment options to accommodate different sized skeins. This one is a fully collapsible model - you will see the name and product number in a picture nearer the bottom of this post.
 
Here are the two balls that I will be making into the tank top. If you look at the one on the left, you can see it is considerably larger than the one on the right. The one on the right was wound with the Swift and I'm sure the constant tension as it wound is much better for the yarn.

So here are the goods on the Swift. It is ChiaoGoo and the Item # is 1098. I think the price point is between $40 and $50 which is far more reasonable than the umbrella type. Best of all, the wooden pieces on the right of this picture below fit into the nice tidy box on the left. It's incredible.

I have been knitting since I was 9 years old. I have absolutely no idea why it took me 50 years to get a Swift (and then another 6 months to remember that I had LOL). I guess I'm just not so swift myself - after all, I only got my ball winder about 5 years ago.

There was some actual knitting this weekend too - a Dead Fish Hat, which I will finish tonight and share with you this week.