On My Needles

My two little helpers - always have to see what is going on.. they are best buds.

First off Happy July 4th to all my US friends :) How appropos I am watching Independence Day with Will Smith right now. Ok I love this movie!


Today was very hot and muggy. We ended up with torrential rain and a thunderstorm but now it is humid again. The front of my house is a mass of puddles as we are getting the stone walls and stairs redone. So everything is torn up and now muddy. 

   

I don't have much energy these days except to grab my two needles and knit a few easy projects (meaning scarves, hats and fingerless gloves). Thinking of Christmas presents here. I vowed this year to make many of the gifts. Will also throw in some small chair pad size rugs. Everyone's got chairs and small tables :). I hate heat - it puts me in a bad mood and zaps my energy. I am an autumn person and love the cooler temps.

So getting ahead of myself I used my new ball winder with my swifter (oh what a joy that was - loved it) and wound up some balls of hand dyed wools.

This is what is on my needles right now. A beautiful soft green wool yarn by Tanis Fiber Arts. It is an exclusive club yarn but she has loads of other gorgeous ones. 

I am knitting a very simple scarf pattern with a really nice pattern in it. It will be long with a six inch fringe. A nice and light scarf to wind about my neck. Since this is one of my fave colours - this is a keeper. Tomorrow I will post what's on my frame and what is next in line to be hooked. G'Nite all.....Joni

Vintage Rugs

Bath Time c. Sharon Smith

Sharon Smith, one of my favourite designers has just done three patterns that to me evoke a feeling of the 30-40's. I love the style and the colours and hope to hook them all at some point. I think they make a great addition to a child's room or even to your own collection of rugs. At one time in my life, I collected children's books so can appreciate these rugs even more. I think they would be a lot of fun to hook! I especially love The Sea and plan on hooking it while on holidays in PEI surrounded by ocean and sandy shores. I'll have to make that red sand though :).

The Sea c. Sharon Smith

The Readers c. Sharon Smith

They are all available on my website. Fully Wooly Primitives.
Happy Hooking! Joni

Buzzzzzz......

Honey Bee - copyright Notforgotten Farm - please respect the designer. 

This is the new rug I will be working on. It's a simple primitive pattern by Lori of Notforgotten Farm. I will be hooking the background in my new favourite colour - Robin's Egg Blue. The wings will be a hand dye and the body a wonderful antique gold from Heaven's to Betsey. I will also be hooking a round border on this one to make it a little bigger than it's 11 inch size.


Once I am happy with the colours I will be offering a kit to do this pattern. You can find the original paper pattern on my website right now, but you will have to transfer the design to linen yourself. My kit will include the original paper pattern, the pattern transferred on linen and the wool cut to #8. It's a great pattern for a beginner or a really quick project for an experienced hooker. There will be a limited quantity available - depending upon how many of Lori's original patterns I have on hand.
My finished mat will go on my antique rocking chair. 


My husband just got a new camera and I have been playing with it. Haven't posted any new pics of the little guy, Liam, now 4-1/2 months and a going concern!  Here are a couple.....

and this is where we sit most afternoons...a lovely cool spot in the garden. Just waiting for the clematis to start blooming.

Have a great day! Joni

Maine Jaunts

Nubble Lighthouse

I am back from holidays in Maine and had a super time. I was able to feed on fresh fish every day and the weather was gorgeous. Did more sightseeing this year and managed to take some lovely pictures of lighthouses only to have my app on my phone go bust and lose most of the pics. :( so upsetting! 


We made our way to Camp Wool in Kennebunkport. What a glorious place. So much wool - so many patterns - too much to see that I went back twice! I was only allowed to take a picture of the front of the store so can't show you any of the goodies inside.

Camp Wool - Kennebunkport

 I did buy a wonderful prim pattern there with pomegranates and birds that I want to hook in oranges and blues. It's by Edith O'Neill but this wonderful version was hooked by Pat Freasier....

copyright design - Edith O'Neill - Woolley Fox


Also made our way to Cushing Dyes.. where of course we picked up a few bits of wool and dyes :) On the same trip we dropped in for the best donuts in Maine at Congdon Donuts. Their Boston Cremes are to die for. Bought enough to pig out for a couple of days!


After going to the same place in Maine for years we finally discovered the best fresh fish place down the road in Pine Point, Maine - Bayley's Lobster Pound.

There is even a little eating area that juts out into the water. Unfortunately this was the one and only cloudy day that we had - but it must be a pretty spot when it is sunny and clear. Right across the street is a park with a beach. Great place to eat your lobster roll for an impromptu picnic.

 Can't believe we did not find this place before this year and it is only about a 10 minute drive to it. Needless to say we were there every night after we discovered it. The first night I made fresh local haddock in coating of Japanese bread crumbs. So deeelicious!

After all the eating, I did manage to have the energy to finish my Coastal Girls rug which I will post this week once I bind it and make it more presentable. I am glad I got it done and love the way the sky came together. 


And just a few more pictures of the southern Maine coast that I was able to save...

A view from our place overlooking the water while hooking...

Some pictures of the southern coast of Maine....

Now 3 months to wait before we are off to PEI for a holiday in the cottage by the sea :) Hope to get lots of hooking done then!
Have a great evening.. Joni 

Quiet Moments for Dyeing

It's a busy household with a new puppy.. when he's awake, it's a constant check to see what he is up to. Amazing how quickly they can get into mischief. I must say he does take puppy naps so during that time I get things done. This weekend I did some dyeing of colours I felt were lacking in my stash...
They are done on 5-6 different textures and all in the same bath. I like to vary it up a bit when I dye. Rarely do I dye yards of natural wool unless it is for the Island Cottage Needlearts end of the business. I like bits and pieces of variety.

I am going to be using the Robins Egg Blue for my background on this Honey Bee rug hooking pattern. I think I may offer it as a kit also on my website. The paper pattern is available there as are all these wools.

Sharon just e-mailed me with a new rug she designed. I love bunnies. This one is called Bunny Umbrella. Her rugs are so whimsical! This one will be available the end of May along with her other 3 new ones. She is so productive! Wish I could have just a quarter of her output...

Happy Hooking...

Two Loves

Sis and I made a jaunt to Champlain, NY to pick up a bolt of wool to overdye and some other as is wools from Rebecca (Wool Studios). Going to be spending the weekend dyeing up some beautiful colours. Liam also got a new organic dog bed - wish I had a bed like that to curl up in! Love Border Mail Services. So easy considering the company I ordered the bed from would not ship into Canada. I've used the service 3 times now and I save loads of $$$ shipping to NY rather than into Canada.

Some coral, a lovely green blue which I would not have chosen a couple of years ago, a plaid to tie them together and some green that I was lacking in my stash. Funny how your tastes change. I used to quilt for 20 years but left it when I discovered rug hooking. I could see the progression of my tastes in that medium where when I first started I loved the Hoffman florals and the batiks. I usually passed by the reproduction fabrics. Towards the end of my quilting I had completely flipped and was collecting all the reproduction fabrics - a good thing too as they fit in nicely with my passion for primitives, rug hooking and needlework smalls. 

A nice bolt of wool from Rebecca that I think will overdye beautifully. I love to have texture in my dyeing, because I am always scouring the shelves and throwing in at least 1/4 yard of 5-6 different wools besides a plain one. Off to the dye pots. Have a great weekend....

Meet Liam

This is Liam, our new sheltie fur baby. We brought him home on Friday. He is 3 months old and a bundle of fur. He has been really good on the outdoor training - has had an accident or two -Mommy was not paying attention to his frantic running in circles LOL... He follows me everywhere and sleeps through the night. He has been experiencing all kinds of new things, especially the meeting of two other four paws in the house - the elders of the cat world. They are tolerant of him and he, I am sure, would love to play with them - by all the tail wagging going on. A few sniffs and that's all they are willing to concede.


He loves his toys and is quite a playful fellow. It is so funny - puppies play with such exuberance and then the next minute they fall down and are out for the count. Right now he is sleeping under my feet as I work on the computer. It brings a smile to my face to have another pup in the house :) Have a great day... 

Pattern Sharing is Stealing - Do Not Copy!

Please buy your patterns from an authorized dealer or the designer. Do not buy from websites that share patterns. This is copyright infringement and is illegal. Beware of certain sellers on eBay and Etsy that copy the original patterns and sell them to you as new. The seller has no legal right to do this.


Designers work hard to produce a pattern - it is their livelihood. Please respect that! Please pass this on to your friends. This kind of outright thievery must be stopped if we want designers to continue to make available their patterns and have legitimate retail stores keep their doors open.


If you would like to read up more on this - please go see Lori of Notforgotten Farm's website. (She provided the badge that you see above) or to Kris Miller at Spruce Ridge Studios.


Thanks everyone and hopefully we can make this go away!
You are welcome to copy the badge and post it on your blog or website. .....Joni

Bounty of Fiber

Today I thought I would show you some of the fibers I am using in my rugs...I decided to explore  some other materials that are available to us as rug hookers. Today we have so much choice! I want to jump outside the box that I have been so comfortable in. I want challenges and I want to create beauty in a different way. So in my rugs you will find some art yarn, sari silk, fleece and roving besides the hand dyed fabrics. As a fiber artist I love everything about wool and natural fibers. I love the way it takes the dye. I love the combination of silk and wool that lends itself to such softness. I love the brilliance of silk. I love the naturalness of fleece. I love the silkiness of roving. I LOVE WOOL!!!

curly lock yarn

British hand dyed fleece

Karen Kahle marbelized fabric

roving

roving

llama, sheep and silk roving

sheep and silk roving 

sari silk from India