Socks on the Needles

I have not knit a pair of socks in a couple of years. Now that I am into this knitting frenzy thought it was time to put some on the needles. I found this wonderul yarn called Lucky Penny from my favourite indie yarn dyer  - Tanis Fiber Arts - who lives a hop, skip and a jump from me. It was a perfect match for my summer shoes that I wear (lime green) my new favourite colour. The sock pattern is called Business Casual which can be found on Ravelry. It's a free download!

In today's mail were some wool purchases.  All from Turtlepurl Yarn, an indie dyer from Gatineau, Quebec. The roving came just in time for my spinning class tomorrow with Sis..should be a laugh or two! More on that in the next few days.

Nope I have not given up rug hooking - just taking a break and still buying wool. Waiting for the light bulb to come on and the creative juices to start flowing. Ideas flitting away here and there in my brain but nothing has settled in yet LOL.. have a great evening...

Working on...

Peter took this one...

So we had a huge storm come through. Heavy, beautiful white snow stuck to everything! Then of course, the wind whipped itself up to a frenzy on Saturday. This was the day sis (new hooker) and I had decided to go down to Champlain NY to pick up the Betsy wool waiting for us. Driving on the 15 and then into NY is highway but unfortunately travels through large empty fields of shorn wheat and corn. With wind gusts and snow flurries this equals whiteouts and slow going. But we made it (a few tense moments) and picked up my stash of Betsy Wools. Way worth it! Got lots not shown to overdye and I'll get some bundles on the website. We then treated ourselves to going to Mainely Lobster for a yummy lunch of haddock nuggets, homemade fries (bad girl), stewed tomatoes and a shared piece of coconut cream pie (two bad girls). Nothing fancy but very satisfying for two gals who knuckle drove 50km of white out highways.

Some of my Betsy wool along with some wools I have been auditioning for a project. These are the wools covering all of my dining room table awaiting mass reorganization of the studio upstairs with new shelving units. Right now wool is spread over three rooms.. ahhhhhhhhhh. 

 So what am I working on right now is this scarf below but using the colours above. I am really enjoying these DROP patterns. There are a couple more I want to do. The wool is a good price and it can be found through Nordic Mart in the USA. They do ship to Canada.

Source: garnstudio.com via Joni on Pinterest

I am still working on my Coastal Girls, a pattern from Deanne Fitzpatrick. I changed up the sky and decided to add some paisleys (you can see my markings). Since the paisleys are all different textures of blues, I decided to keep the background surrounding the paisleys simple using two wools (a plaid and a herringbone) this would calm the sky down a bit. I also ripped out some of the hooking from the paisleys and hooked in some wool slub yarn. I used the same ones I sell on my website. 

The final picture is an exercise I did for the Deanne Fitzgerald on-line course I am taking. It was to randomly draw some stars (I chose hearts and stars) on canvas and hook them without much thought. Just hook! I picked these colours and just randomly hooked lines and did not follow the shape of the heart or star. It is a more painterly approach to hooking. I then backed them with glue/ black wool and they will hang in a window or door. 


Oh one more thing - I have to show you the cutest sheep I just bought from Colins Creatures on Etsy. I just love his sheep! Another addition to my sheep collection. I am sure it won't be the last!

Now I am off to do some more fun assignments for the class. Enjoy your Sunday afternoon...thanks for stopping by... Joni

Crochet a Japanese Flower Shawl

Source: paulineetmarie.canalblog.com via Joni on Pinterest

This is a beautiful shawl that I want to crochet. It has been making the blog rounds. The pattern is the Japanese Flower pattern. It's hard to find in English (next to impossible) so I sourced out the book on ETSY and purchased it in Japanese. I did crochet quite a bit when I was younger and the stitches are not complicated so I think by the diagrams I can figure out how to do this one.

Source: etsy.com via Joni on Pinterest

The quandary is finding the wool I want to use. The picture above (from a very talented French designer) used Holst Garn yarn - which has an array of 121 colours.

Source: holstgarn.dk via Joni on Pinterest

Then there is a Debbie Bliss Andes (pricey) but a mix of Mulberry Silk and Baby Alpaca. It is beautifully soft with a slight sheen. ----hmmmm

Source: ca.deramores.com via Joni on Pinterest

Attic 24 blogger used the Debbie Bliss wool to make this shawl.. absolutely gorgeous too. I'll probably end up making both in the long run and give one away as a gift. Great as a pick up activity when watching TV....have a great afternoon.. off to some rug hooking...

Source: attic24.typepad.com via Joni on Pinterest

Never Too Late

It is hard to believe it is a new year - 2010! Where does the time go. I find the older I get the faster it goes and there is less time to do all the things I want to do, read the books I want to read and see the places I want to see. Good wishes to all for a very happy 2010.

There are two times of the year when I feel inspired to take on new projects - the fall and the beginning of a New Year. With the snow falling gently the past few days and the twinkling of little white lights around the house - this is my time with the bustle of the holidays finished. My thoughts turn to what can I create.

Years ago I bought a rug hooking punch needle (Oxford) which I just could not get a handle on and was very discouraged. I could not understand the process of working from the back and the design appearing on the front. Since I have been doing embroidery punchneedle for 4 years, I now have a renewed interest in trying my hand at the rug punching. You use wool yarn instead of wool fabric. Then I thought I do love my hand dyed wool yardage and how instead will solid yarns translate to a rug. I have decided my first project will be a carpet bag. You know one of those big sturdy bags that were popular eons ago. I like making things that are practical. They say punching a rug is faster than hooking one - we'll see. I am all for fast projects. I can produce more and experiment and I decided I can always dye my own wool yarn.

 

This is a great source (Halycon Yarns) for all the yarn your heart might desire for rug hooking. You can also conventionally hook using the wool. I am in the mood to try something new and I never totally give up on something. It might be put aside for days, months or years but I always go back to it.Hmmmm....that might explain my lack of space and full shelves. 

Some of the wonderful yarns from Halcyon and a punch needle for rug punching..


Happy New Year.
G'nite Joni