Lion and Lamb Update

I thought I'd give an update on the progress I've made on my Lion and Lamb rug. If I wait until it's finished I might not post for a very long time. I am using mainly a size 4 cut.

Just because the mane is done, doesn't mean it's set in stone. Sometimes when I get more done I can see what needs changed better. I think I'll do the arm and paw next. Baby steps, one element at a time.

I have really enjoyed doing this rug. There is always so much to learn. It makes me wish I had studied art.

Lion Face

The lion has a face! I'm sure I will have to change something as I go along. So far, as I hook another element of the face it shows something I thought was good needs re-hooked.

I re-hooked the pink in the nose 5 times, and the white under the eyes twice. Out of everything, the ears were the most challenging. I think part of the problem with the ears was that I couldn't see the whole face while I was hooking them. This is a big head. In fact, it seems life size. 

I do think I like the face now, so I will move on to the mane. I would have never been able to do this without Judy Carter's book, Hooking Animals. It is so well written and I took her advise and only worried about one little section at a time. See the whole pattern in a post below.

Irish Chain Rug Finished

I absolutely love Polly Minick's rug designs. I used her book Everyday Folk Art: Hooked Rugs and Quilts to Make for my Game Board rug and I used it for this Irish Chain.

For this rug I used all the wools I did in the Game Board rug but added in tans. It made the rug seem more neutral. I have had so many compliments on this rug. It took me less than two months to complete. I believe it is because it is a geometric which seems to take less thinking than other rugs I have hooked.

This photo was taken at the library we hook at once a month and I hadn't finished the binding on it but it has long been finished and is presently on my floor.

Lion and Lamb Hooked Rug

Judy Carter's hooked animal rugs have long been a favorite of mine. When I heard she was writing a book on hooking animals I couldn't wait until I had the book in my hands. Her book Hooking Animals, How to Bring Animals to Life in Wool Rugs surpassed my wildest dreams. She shows, in depth, how to hook every aspect of an animal.

Many of the rugs in Judy's book are patterns drawn by Leonard Feenan. He takes rug hooking patterns to a whole different dimension.

While reading Judy's book, my husband and I were both drawn to Lenny's Lion and Lamb rug. I contacted Lenny to draw the pattern for me. It is on his websites rug pattern library. After I had made all the arrangements with Lenny to draw my pattern I saw a kit for a different lion on Judy's website. I contacted Judy to see if I could just get the kit for the lions head.  Being the sweetheart she is, she offered to kit up the lion from my pattern for me. You can't imagine what it meant to me for her to offer such a great service. Lenny mailed the pattern to Judy so that she knew how much wool I would need.

This is my pattern drawn by Leonard (Lenny) Feenan, and beside it is the wool picked by Judy Carter to hook the Lion. I knew I had the wool for the rest of the rug but I felt like I would have to spend a fortune collecting all the wools for the Lion. Judy's pricing for color planning was very reasonable.

I'm very nervous about hooking this masterpiece. My daughter-in-law told me that's when I do my best work. Time will tell!

Three Rugs Finished

Summer has been so busy, as it is for most people. Between getting to have two of my grandchildren during the day and my husband breaking his foot I have still found time to get a lot of hooking done.

I had ordered a kit for Fall Creek from Molly Colegrove. It was so much fun to hook and I really learned a lot from this little rug. I finished it off by adding it to a frame.

 The game board rug is from a Minick and Simpson book, Everyday Folk Art. It was so much fun to hook and it went REALLY fast. The rug is upside down, but you get the point. I hooked it so quickly that I decided to do the Irish Chain rug from the same book, in the same colors, after all, the wool is already out so I may as well make it easy.

The background on my crock rug is really more of a sage green. This is a design from Encompassing Designs. This one hooked up so quickly too. The jug bottom on the far right was wool I dyed with pennies.

So this is what I did this summer,

My New Rug Frame

My new frame is here!! My new frame is here!!

Out of the 5 of us who hook together, 4 had the amazing rug hooking frame from The Needleworks Shop.  The first time I saw the frame was the first time all of us got together to hook at the Library in Cody, WY.  Patty, Carol, and I had all hooked together before. Carol and Patty both used hoops to hold their rugs while they were hooking and I had a floor frame. We were all unloading our things and taking them into the Library when Barb and Craig came rolling in with the most amazing frames I had ever seen. I was instantly green with envy. Oh, but I got even greener when I saw the way the frame easily turns the rug while you are working on it. My frame turned a little but it wasn't easy and it didn't turn very much.

Patty was next to get a Needleworks frame and give up the hoop, then Carol. I was so excited for them but thought my little frame would serve me fine. Eventually, it wasn't serving me well and started to slip, and my frame would drop while I was hooking. It only took a couple of times of not staying up for me to decide I needed a new frame. The good news was that I didn't have to research which one was the best. I already knew.

The large hexagon shaped frame spins as easily as a lazy Susan. The height is adjustable, the angle is adjustable, and it folds flat for travel . Jan from The Needleworks Shop  also makes the most amazing bonnets for the frame. It was an easy decision to get the bonnet to cover my frame during transportation or storing.

They also make a lap frame but I don't like hooking on a lap frame. No lap and short legs don't work well with a lap frame.

I am so grateful for our group and rug school. We all learn so much from each other, even if it's what frame to buy, what hook we like best, or what rug design we want to hook next.

Completed Poppies Rug

I couldn't believe how much I have ignored my blog when I checked it out. Since my last entries I have knitted several pair of socks, mittens, scarves and hats. Lately I have gone back to hooking my rugs.
The Poppies pattern I got from Sharon Smith is finished and on the wall next to my Sunflowers and Sheep rug. I am so happy with how it turned out.

I used some of the same wool as the flowers in the Sunflower rug so they would look good next to each other. This rug worked up so quickly. I think I just wanted it on my bedroom wall so much that I didn't do anything but hook. 

Be sure you check out the blog for the rug hooking group Wild West Rug Hookers to see what rugs my friends are working on. 

Hats for Everyone

A couple of months before Christmas I took a knitting class at Grand Loop here in Cody, WY. Our first project was learning to make a hat and cowl. While knitting a hat I jokingly told my husband that I was going to make everyone in the family a hat for Christmas. We both laughed at the thought and my husband said that maybe by next year I could have them finished. Keep in mind that I would have to make at least 15 hats.

Little did I know that I would complete the task of making 18 hats, 4 headbands, 5 cowls, and a pair of slippers. No excessive compulsive behavior here! As always, I don't get pictures so I had to get these from one of my daughters.

Lori is VERY sensitive to texture so I made sure her hat was very soft and machine washable. She loves her dolls so much that I made them each a hat too. 

 For Danny I used Noro for his slouchy hat. I think he sleeps in it.

 Ryan's hat is alpaca and SO soft and Vince has an earflap hat out of chunky wool. He also has an alpaca hat and a wool stripe hat.

Kenzie loved her hat out of chunky wool. What you can't see is the pompom off of the tail hanging down in the back. Vince's has a tail but a tassel instead of a pompom. I had originally made the infinity scarf for Jenny, but remembered she had a bad allergy to plastics and since this was a super soft acrylic I gave it to Kenzie instead.

These were all the pictures I got of my knitting adventure but you get the idea. I'm thinking next year might be socks. Who knows!