RHM ~ ~ ~ and RUG RAVE ~ ~ ~

Rug Hooking Magazine just arrived and Gene Shepherd's article about his 'blog hook-in' is in there. Great article with great rugs! Just wanted to share my version of that rug ~ Connie Litfin's Coxcomb Basket ~ she is the original designer of the Noel pattern that was in RHM last holiday season and this was one of her 'tweaked' versions. I really love the combination of paisleys and sparkly wool set in the antique black background. I eliminated the squiggly line around the basket as it looked kind of Victorian to me ~ I have some of Connie's patterns to sell, if anyone would like to hook them ~ one of the Star Basket and two of the CoxComb Basket ~ let me know!

Two weeks from today is Heather Ritchie's Rug Rave that I'll be having here in my home studio ~ so far we have eight hookers attending!!! It will 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., I will furnish soup and beverages, everyone bring a dish to share ~ bring your hooking or you can order Heather's Rug Aid rug that I show in my October 1st post (ordering info is written there), and we'll be making a group donation to Rug Aid. Your donation will be confidential ~ bring cash ~ we'll put it in an envelope and it will be in the name of our group "Alice's Friends". Hope to see you November 21st!

Shortly, I'm leaving for a little road trip with my friends, Heidi and Danese, up to Marblehead to this wonderful yarn shop's Open House ~ they have the most unusual fibers to add to rug hooking and of coure, knitting (I hope I can stave off getting hooked on that ~ I would love to learn to knit socks!) ~ I've got a little collection of odd this and thats and I'm sure I'll find more today!

I've been hooking up a storm since I returned home Wednesday evening from our trip to the Woolley Fox ~ I'll be posting about that and show you my rug later today ~ I hope later today! It's a beautiful day in Ohio ~ yippee!!! Have a fun day!
Alice

RUG RAVE ~ ~ ~

That's the name Heather Ritchie has given her special event that is happening November 21st!! You can check it out here and for those of you close enough to attend, I'm going to host a Rug Rave event here at my home studio!! Over three years ago, all of us in this photo (Jule Marie, myself, Heather, Heidi and Peggy) went to England to hook with Heather ~ this photo was taken at Sauder Village in August. Heather gave a presentation to all in attendance at the rug retreat, on the work she does in Gambia with the blind and told us she wants people all over the world hooking on November 21 for her Rug Rave ~ and it's her birthday! I told her that I would love to host an event for her and that we would have a birthday party for her, even if she can't be here!!

Heather Ritchie is a wonderfully generous and kind person and there are those in our area who would like to support her helping these people to learn a craft and help themselves. So on that day, I invite you to come hook for the day ~ we'll begin at 10 a.m. and end around 4 in the afternoon ~ bring a covered dish to share (we have to eat!) ~ I'll furnish beverages and tableware and a nice winter soup ~ and we'll make a group donation to help Heather further her work with those learning to help themselves! You can bring whatever project you're working on or Heather's Rug Aid pattern can be ordered through Rug Art Supply who has kindly offered to distribute the pattern here in this country, and donate half the proceeds to Heather's fund. I would like you to email your reservation to me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com so I know how many to expect ~ we'll have fun hooking together and honoring our friend, Heather!! Here's hoping we have a full house!

Heather's rug was on display in the rug show at Sauder Village ~ she hooked it from a photo taken of her and I believe it was her Christmas card last year! The proddy rug in the group photo is also one of hers and they were both just exceptional. Heather's rugs have a story behind them ~ all part of her daily life and things that mean something to her. We just enjoyed our time with her so much and I'm happy to help her cause ~ I hope you will be, too!

This has been a busy couple of weeks! After two weekends of shows, there was so much office work waiting and I actually have made headway on clearing my desks ~ I think I may be getting a handle on this sea of paper that I wallow in every day!!

And there was another great grandchild born the end of September ~ Braxton Michael ~ our family is growing by leaps and bounds!!

We had a fun Saturday at Kelley's Island with all our lake friends ~ the weather was cold and rainy when we started out but later in the day, we were able to put our bumbershoots away!!!! Our island friends, Janet and Tom, met us at the ferry with golf carts and chauffeured us from pub to pub and to their lakefront home! We had great fun and lots of laughs and some great German food at the Oktoberfest at one of the local establishments!! It was good to get back in the swing of things ~ we've missed hanging out with our friends!! Summer went by so fast ~ here we are talking about Halloween and Thanksgiving plans ~ time flies when you're having fun!!!

I hope you're all having some Fall fun ~ tomorrow I need to get some outside decorating done. I have the pumpkins and picked up a couple of mum plants this weekend but definitely need more ~ and a stop at the the 'funky pumpkin' patch is in order ~ these people grow the most unique pumpkins ~ hope they saved some for us!!

Ta ta for now and take care ~
Alice

PRODDY SHEEP AND OTHER THINGS ~ ~ ~

This is the sheep rug that was our project when a group went to England two years ago. Cilla Cameron taught us the proddy portion and Heather Ritchie taught the stone wall background ~ what a challenge that was!! Heather's sample rug was a purple sheep and I latched onto one of the purple wool packets that was offered!! Then we chose 4 or 5 pieces of wool that Heather custom dyed for the stone walls. Kris Miller and I took close-up pix of Heather's stone wall hooking and it definitely helped when I was hooking this back home without her input! Heather had dyed Wensleydale fleece for sale and several packages of that came home with me ~ some purple went in the sheep body and I improvised on the pattern a bit and used the green for grass under the little sheep feet. I also made an attempt at a proddy flower at the end of the grass!! Those rock walls were the hardest thing to hook in such a fashion that it looked like stones ~ Heather lived her lifetime surrounded by all that texture and it was second nature for her but for most of us, it was a struggle! On my England Memory Rug, I prodded a smallish purple sheep into the top right of the rug to commemorate our reason for being in England in the first place.

There is an online rug hooking forum that I frequent and there are several rug hooking challenges that have been set up recently. The one that I joined is Unfinished Objects and you can check it out at http://www.uforughookers.blogspot.com/. So many rug hookers have pieces they've started and get put aside so this is a way to tackle that UFO and be held accountable through the team blog they've set up. It will be fun and productive, for sure! Mine is a rug of my grandchilren's hands that I started two years ago ~ the picture and story about it are on that blog site.

Several weeks ago, I posted about my sister, Joyce, having an embolism and heart attack. I'm happy to report that she is doing well ~ she even went out last week and did her Meals on Wheels route ~ hello !!!! She said her doctor said to do what she felt up to doing and she did!! We're a tough bunch and I know she doesn't want to let this get the best of her ~ I give her a lot of credit for that. She started hooking about the same time I did but hasn't pursued it as much ~ she mentioned that her hooking is shreddy and she doesn't hook fast, etc. I sent her the Hartman Hook this week and am waiting to hear if it's helped! I sell them now, because it made all the difference for me in regard to the ease of hooking with wide cuts! I hope she likes it and it gets her hooking again!

Another weekend is here ~ a new month has started! Does time fly for all of you like it does here? Holy crow ~ it's hard to keep up sometimes!! Take care and have a good weekend!

Alice