LOCAL COLOR ~ ~ ~

These beautiful colors are fresh out of the dye pots! I love the dusky, antique look of some and the vibrancy of the others ~ something for everybody! Saturday, we will be at the Gathered Treasures show at the Fairgrounds ~ come see us!

These colors come from our lake haven ~ we were there this past weekend and immediately headed out to gather beach glass! The brilliant colors on the left are like jewels to me! 

This was our bounty from Saturday ~ mostly, nice soft whites and aquas with a few pieces of color thrown into the mix!

Even though this is sand ~ look at the variety of color and texture here! It looks like the side of a mountain cliff but it's really about a foot tall where the waves have washed it away.  It's really a work of art, all on it's own.

I've been washing wool and dyeing wool and all sorts of things this week.  I even planted a bag of daffodil bulbs that didn't get in the ground last fall. They hibernated in the garage all winter and were starting to sprout so into the ground they went ~ it was 77 deg. here yesterday ~ a perfect day for planting!! 

The weather reports from the mid-west are horrid ~ I know that some of my blog friends were having huge storms and losing tree limbs in the middle of hail storms!  I hope you are all okay!  Talk to you soon ~ back to work for me!!

Alice

PACKING FOR THE SHOW ~ ~ ~

Yes, that's what I'm doing today!! Just thought I'd give you an overview of the many crates ~ there are also five plastic containers full of wool!! I actually packed the crates ready for display ~ so that will eliminate some of the work in setting up ~ after about 28 or 29 years of doing shows, I might be getting the hang of it!!

Sonny just brought these frames in from the shop ~ two walnut and two wormy ash (similar to wormy chestnut)! I love the dark frames ~ they're just such a rich color ~ Sonny's frames and stands are nicely finished and they look like a piece of furniture ~ you don't mind having them sit out even if company is coming!

The proddy tools just arrived yesterday (yay!) and I also have Hartman hooks in three sizes ~ 9 mm, 8mm and 6 mm. I'll also have linen and monk's cloth packaged in one yard pieces ~ something for everybody, I hope! I even have two more dye pots going ~ just in case!!

We'll have some of Sonny's hand-carved spatulas and spoons for sale as well! They're made of applewood and another wood that I swear I can't remember right now! I think he has seven finished pieces ~ that, along with his frames and stands, keeps him busy ~ and of course, his day job which is home building and remodeling!! We don't like him to have too much free time!!!!!

Yesterday, I was walking out to Sonny's shop and this WORM was walking across the driveway! I ran and got the camera and picked him up on a stick so I could get him in a better light ~ and snapped his little picture! If you double click on the picture, you can see all his beautiful colors ~ orange speckled antennae, yellow things and blue things and when I turned him over, he has blue feet!!!!! We think it's a big fat tomato worm and if that's so, he has been overeating for sure!!!! Just wanted to share this colorful guy with you!

So that's it for today ~ I'm going to start carrying up crates and boxes out of the hooking room into the garage so the old guy doesn't have quite so much to do when he gets home!! I need the exercise and he doesn't!! We'll pack the truck and maybe I'll get a little project or two done yet this evening. As always, there were things I was going to make and didn't get done ~ but most of all I need to get a good night's sleep! We'll leave around 6:30 a.m., drive an hour and be set up by 9:30 or so!!! I always act like it's my first time ~ I can get pretty frazzled by the time the customers start to arrive! As I said yesterday, there's nothing like an outdoor show when the weather cooperates ~ now they are saying rain in the early morning ~ I hope they're wrong! I love doing shows and it's a happy day for me when customers come and love what we're doing! So, if you're in our area, stop by and say hi, shop till you drop and enjoy a beautiful day among the herb gardens at the Quailcrest Herb Fair!

SHOW PREP ~ ~ ~

Dyed fleece! That's what's in these little bags! Colorful, isn't it? I tried to put some fleece in every dye pot so there would be an array of colors to offer at the show Saturday! Dyed fleece is great for garden flowers, to enhance a field of grass or maybe even to hook a wild-haired angel!! Quailcrest Herb Fair is north of Wooster, so if you get a chance, come by and see us! Our booth is in the tent up by the house ~ my same spot for over 20 years!!!!

This was Tuesday dyeing results ~ tomato soup (named by customer, Molly), robin's egg blue, midnight and pea-green!! Yesterday, I started to pack the crates, divide the as-is wool into a more manageable amount (I tend to pack everything~that's just crazy) and price the remnants (small pieces of odds and ends) which are great for adding to your color stash!

I sent this photo to a customer to give her an idea of how several pieces of wool dyed the same color, but different base colors, will all blend together. When you're planning a background or any color combination, this will give you a bird's eye view of how it all works together. Kim liked what she saw ~ so this is all going in the mail today!! Thank you so much!!!

That's it for today ~ the wool room is calling ~ I'll try to get another post in before Saturday and then I will take pictures at the show for you to see next week. The weather forecast is great ~ low 70's, no rain ~ yippee!!! There's nothing better than outdoor show when all conditions are right!

Have a happy day ~
Alice

WOOL DYING & GARDEN PIX ~ ~ ~

Three days this week, I managed to get some dying time in ~ dying takes me a long time ~ don't know why ~ it seems when I read Gene Shepherd's blog that he gets 10 yards dyed before his breakfast!!! Me, it's an all day process but of course, I'm doing office work, laundry, reading email, etc. Here are the fruits of my fragmented labors!!
If you remember from an earlier post, I was washing fleece for a sheep class. Well, I decided that I should try dying the fleece as well ~ I'm thinking it turned out pretty swell!! The colors are beautiful and can be used for flowers, landscaping, crazy hair colors ~ all kinds of things!! I'm pretty happy with the results!!

On the sidebar to the left, I have posted two shows that I'm doing in September ~ Quailcrest Herb Fair and In the Spirit of Friends. Since those shows are back to back, I decided I better hop on the dying bandwagon and get started so I have some nice things to sell. When we were in England, I purchased dyed fleece from Heather Ritchie and have used it sparingly ~ now, I will have it to offer my customers ~ just something a little different!! I spread out these two pieces of blue so you could see the variation of color that came out during the dying process ~ I love a marbled look and these are two good examples!

Fortunately, we have had some nice rains this week ~ the gardens are looking pretty good! Black-eyed susans are everywhere ~ I'm sure you all know how they spread ~ and the Rose of Sharon bush is in full bloom! There's a bit of white obedient plant showing at the left.

With almost everything I've planted in past years being pretty aggressive ~ this garden is looking pretty wild! The stone paths that Sonny worked so hard to install can almost be seen in all this profusion of plant life ~ he would love an orderly garden but this gardener just can't quite get a handle on that!! So what we have is a cottage garden ~ wild and spontaneous ~ maybe a reflection of it's designer!!!!!

This little bouquet greets guests on the garden gate ~ I hope it says 'welcome' to all who enter! One of Sonny's customers says it reminded her of going to her grandmothers house ~ since she was 40ish and I'm not, I tried to take that as a compliment! On Monday, there will be fresh flowers in the little pottery pocket as I am having a group for lunch and a house tour. Some have been here before but others are new ~ mostly hookers, I think ~ so that will be fun! I have to get groceries yet this morning and then we'll come home Sunday afternoon from the lake so I can start preparing the food ~ and now I have to go down and try to make some sense out of the wool room ~ when I'm in dying mode, there is wool and dyes and stuff everywhere!! You wouldn't even believe it!!!

The rain is going to let up soon so it should be a nice weekend! My son and family live in Seattle and when I talked to him on Wednesday, he said at that precise moment, his car thermometer said 111 degrees!!!! They were really suffering as no one has air conditioning out there since they don't usually need it! He said you couldn't buy a fan or a window AC anywhere ~ they were living in their basement family room and opening the door to the wine cellar to get some cooler air!!!! Today it looks like it will be around 85 there ~ they should be a lot happier with that!

Have a good weekend ~ see you next week!!

WONDERFUL WOOLS ~ ~ ~

Isn't this the most beautiful array of colors? I just got in two shipments of wool ~ it was a couple of weeks ago, really ~ and finally, they're all washed and ready to go!! If you see something that interests you, I'll be happy to package it up and ship it off to wherever you are! I sell the as-is wool for $14 a half yard ~ all ready to hook!

Early this week, I spent several hours working on setting up a website ~ what a job!! I still don't have it ready to go ~ they make it sound so easy and it probably is for somebody more computer savvy than I ~ but it was a challenge!! I would type what I thought sounded good ~ then add a picture ~ the pictures were all so BIG (I don't know how to make them smaller) ~ then I would delete the picture and the writing would disappear!! I'm telling you, it was a little nightmare!!

The neutrals at the right are great for dying ~ on Wanda Kerr's blog, she says she does not pre-wash the wool that she dyes, so I'm going to give that a try ~ kind of makes sense, don't you think? The wool on the left ~ great backgrounds! The wools that came in are just so nice and lots of variety ~ love the striped ones ~ you can do a lot with the various colors in a stripe!

Regarding the website building ~ I'm not giving up! There is a certain satisfaction in mastering something that is so obscure to this mind! But if I can set up this blog, I surely can do a website! I have put it off far too long, but I know that I really need one ~ to enlarge my scope! I know there are lots of hookers out there who would love Sonny's frames and all the wool choices ~ hand-dyed and as-is ~ so stay tuned ~ a website in is our future!!!

Miss Melody and her Leicester sheep ~ finally, the two are together!! I was so happy to create this for her and she is such an appreciative audience!! Melody is such a great gal ~ she is one of Santa's elves that helps our local builders group at Christmas with the families we adopt. As school librarian, she knows who needs help ~ we give her the cash and she shops and wraps and delivers Christmas to kids and families who need a hand up! And then she writes us beautiful thank you notes for giving her the opportunity to share. Melody is a very special person in this topsy turvy world we live in!! And double click her picture to check out those rhinestone spectacles ~ they are a riot!!

The weather has been great this week ~ I've walked every day ~ a 2.7 mile trek according to the mileage thing on my car ~ do I hear applause??!! It's so sad when I need a pat on the back for getting this old self out of the house everyday but that's the way it is!! Walking, yes ~ hooking, no ~ one focus at a time I guess!

Well, I'm off ~ a great day awaits!! Hope you're going to have a great day, too!
Alice

MY STUDIO ~ ~ ~

Last week, the hooking room/studio really got organized ~ I had to take pictures right there and then, because it won't take me long to get it all ajumble (if that's a word)! This six-sided table is built around a post that was in the middle of the room ~ this post was a source of aggravation to me for a long time before it came to me to work with it and not against it! It's a perfect table to hook around or for our grandpeople to color or make crafts or whatever.

This nice long built-in work table houses the sewing machine, serger and embellisher ~ each has it''s own little area and believe me, I know that this whole hooking room is just such a blessing to have!


All of these cubbies hold my personal wool stash and the hand-dyed wool that I sell. I haven't 'dyed' since my last show so I need to find some time to add to my stock. There is plenty of wool there just waiting to be over-dyed ~ but it probably won't happen this week!


I love the wizardly paper border ~ it kind of ties in the fact that children use this room and a childlike person who has her own wizard hat also resides here! This is a sizable space and there's easily room for a dozen or more hookers to work their magic! If you live close by and would like to bring your group here, email me and we'll make a plan!

I'm off to do some shopping for our local homeless shelter ~ when I spoke with the director this morning, she said they need silverware badly, among other things! They have two forks! 70 people all eating with spoons!! Our homebuilders group always donates to the shelter so I'm getting what they need now ~ it seems silly to wait for Christmas. Stories like this that make us so grateful for all that we have in our lives!

In several things I have read this past week, there was a recurring theme of "Be the Change You Want to See" ~ I'm trying! Have a good day, friends!
Alice

THE SHOW'S OVER ~ ~ ~

The show, "From Our Hands" has come and gone ~ and I survived!!! It was a really good show ~ lots of shoppers and absolutely wonderful folk artists! These are a few shots of my booth ~ I barely got these taken before the doors opened and wish I had the time to take pix of the some of the other booths. We stayed in Columbus Friday night ~ had some wonderful food and a nice pomegranate martini! ~ and had a 6 a.m wake-up call on Saturday. Everyone had to set up Saturday morning so it was quite hectic for one and all to be ready by 10 a.m.

Kathy Wright is the show promoter and does a really nice job of gathering unique folk artists to display and sell their wares. I got to meet fellow blogger, Pam Gracia from "Soft in the Head" (www.softinthehead.blogspot.com) ~ I thought her creations were wonderful on her blog ~ they are stupendous in person! Tammy Speicer of Humble Crow was across from us and she and her sister had a great little booth of their stuffed animals and antiques! Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studios (a link to Kris's blog is at the left) also had a booth as well as the Buckeye Rug Hooking group who demonstrated and displayed their wonderful rugs.
As you can see, I incorporate some folk art in my booth as well ~ just odds and ends of primitive things from other artists ~ our rug hooking frames and stands ~ and a few finished hooked pieces.
Thank goodness for Sonny's help ~ I couldn't have loaded, set-up, and manned that booth all day alone. I really needed his help and although, it's not his favorite thing to do, he was a trooper. I even witnessed him selling Hartman hooks and talking about the proddy tools, while I was talking with someone else!!!!! You have no idea what a red-letter day that was!!!!!!!!!

I love to do a good show and aside from selling, one of the benefits is the contacts you make with other rug hookers. I met gals that are blog readers and gals that I email back and forth with ~ people that share the love of rug hooking and the creativity it brings to our lives! It was great day and on the way home, we met our friends Vivian and Lou, for dinner ~ they do the show, too. Lou makes great little primitive shelves and boxes and dry sinks, etc. ~ probably Vivian and I were the only ones who were 'bone tired' or would admit it ~ but it was great way to finish up our day!

So ~ as to not let any grass grow under my feet ~ I am getting ready to leave for Ligonier, Pa. to go hook at Barbara Carroll's for three days ~ I'm meeting a friend by the roadside again (I do a lot of that) at 11:30 this morning and five of us are off to hook and eat for three days!!!!!! What could be better??!! I'll post about that next week when I return! Until, then have a good week!
Alice

A FLAG AND MR. KITTY ~ ~ ~

Last night about 10 p.m., I finally made it down to the hooking room ~ I had been down there during the day trying to put some order to it ~ but now I need to hook. I drew this flag on the monk's cloth, picked out some wool and got these three stripes hooked in by 11:30. I'm going to do it in neutrals much like one I've seen in Polly Minich's last book ~ this is a small one and will give me a chance to see how a neutral works for me!

While I was hooking, Mr. Kitty made himself a nice nest in the wool~he looks a little droopy because I woke him up to take his picture! I have wool piled everywhere ~ this is my work table which should be where I draw patterns ~ but since I haven't put away the wool left from Mr. Catfish, and various other projects, it makes a nice soft place for my boy! Actually, I'm going to use some of this wool in a project I have planned ~ so why put it away?! It's right there waiting for me!

Short post today ~ I've got a billing to get ready and outside work galore ~ so I need to get off my blog and off of something else and get to work!! It is a beautiful sunshiney day here in Ohio! Ta ta for now!
Alice

Good Morning ~ I'm sitting at the computer having my morning coffee out of my "I LOVE RUG HOOKING" mug that RHM was selling at the Sauder Village show. It was so cute, with it's heart shaped handle, that who could resist it?



At a hook-in, a couple of month's ago, someone said they needed Rebecca Erb's "wild mushroom" wool. Last night, while working on getting my pit of a hooking room straightened up ~ I found that I have two yards of it (the one on the left) and two yards of something I don't know the name of ~ but it's a good companion to 'wild mushroom'. If anyone is interested, email me at gfraizer@neo.rr.com! I have a show coming up November 1 and it seems that I need to get some organization to that room so I can create some new small hooked pieces to sell! And I need to get back to the dye pot ~ so much to do and so little time!


This fishing boat was just off our balcony Sunday morning ~ fishermen checking their nets ~ I'm not sure what they catch in those nets, but I thought it looked like a bit of New England. Sonny went fishing that morning (not on that boat!) with our neighbors and brought home a 'fine kettle of fish' ~ well, enough for a nice meal last night!! Sonny is the fish fryer and likes to dip it in milk and then cornmeal ~ seems we had no milk (we don't drink it) so he used my hazelnut creamer!! It was good but kind of weird!

Saturday, on our Kelley's Island trip, we found these ruins of on old island winery ~ there was a for sale sign at the end of the drive that caught my eye and through the trees, we could see the remainder of what we thought was the old Kelley's Island Winery. Our friends, who have a home on Kelley's, said there were several wineries on the island in years past and they weren't sure which one this was ~ but we got off our cart (which our friends so kindly left at the Ferry for us to drive around that day!) and walked back into the area ~ kind of an interesting old place ~ it would be kind of fun to restore if you had a pile of money! There were remnants of all four walls ~ a great place for a secret garden!

There were other interesting sites that day and I hadn't taken the camera (I don't take a purse on such trips so no where to carry it) so there were some nice photos that I missed. At the ruins, Sonny suggested I use my phone ~ duh! ~ wish we would have thought of it at the Glacial Grooves and the beach that was all big flat rocks! My friend took some photos so if she sends them my way, I'll post them.

If anyone watched Extreme Makeover on Sunday night, my step-son, Chris, was a part of the drilling team that drilled the geothermal wells. We watched carefully, but he wasn't on camera unless it was from behind! They went down to southern Ohio on a Saturday and worked all night into Sunday and returned home later that day. He said it was a good experience ~ that family was so deserving!

Today, I'm off to the lake ~ I left my wool cutter and favorite hook up there this weekend and can't produce anything without them!! Someone I know really well says "what you don't have in your head, you must have in your feet"! So, I'm rousting my son, Tad, out of bed and we're heading north ~ we'll go to our favorite place for a nice breakfast ~ they serve late! Oh, we had our flu shots yesterday ~ have you had yours? Have a good day!
Alice

PREPARING FOR A SHOW~ ~ ~

Yesterday's dyeing!! Lots of rusts, antique red, golds and greens!! I think because of Fall approaching, the rusts and reds really appeal to me!! Enough already!! I was going to put on a couple more dye pots this morning, but I think I'm done now!! It's rainy and gloomy out (we need the rain and I'm so glad it's today and hopefully, NOT TOMORROW!!) that I just decided that I'll concentrate on getting all my stuff together ~ tables, crates, bags, plastic drop cloths (insurance against the rain!) and fold more of the as-is wool!! I sure hope lots of shoppers come by 'cause this girl is ready!!!

I started this piece last Sunday and have worked on it a bit each day, finally finishing it late last night!! It's a combination of proddy and hooking with lots of texture in the grassy area achieved with wool and a heavy dyed yarn and a bit of a fine velvet ribbon. I used some antique paisley in the stem and the moon, as I did in one of the purses ~ I'm really making an effort to use different fabrics and techniques in an attempt to expand my hooking. It's very easy to do what we know and I'm trying to challenge myself to be more creative! We'll see how it goes!!

Back to the hooking room!!
Alice

MORE DYEING ~ ~ ~

This is kind of an interesting piece that was in the dye pot last week! A gal that I met at a fabulous yarn shop outside Marblehead, told me that she dyes with all kinds of natural things and one of them was rhubarb leaves!! There were still a few stalks of rhubarb remaining in the garden, so I boiled up 4 large leaves, strained out the mush that was left and put a piece of white wool in it and voila !! This nice soft yellow emerged ~ next year, I'll definitely try it again ~ using more leaves and more wool!! Interesting, don't you think?

These are from last Thursday's dying and the colors are really beautiful! Yesterday, I got four batches done and also spent the day, cutting and wrapping many yards of as-is wool. I cut it in 1/2 yard pieces and then fold, roll and tie it in a bundle. There is really a lot of work involved in getting ready for a show and I get so energized just trying to get it all together!

I have done shows for over 27 years ~ in the years our kids were in college, I did between 15 and 20 shows a year! My husband is so happy that, now, I only do two!! I used to be a doll maker ~ cloth dolls, using vintage fabric, lace, buttons, etc. to fashion their clothes. They were primitive back before primitive got all the attention it gets now. I've made baskets, bears out of old quilts, shirts out of bluejeans with quilt yokes ~ if it sold, I made it!! But now, the rug hooking and the wool dyeing are the real love of my creative life ~ as I've said before, I wish I could hook all day, every day!!

The show I'm doing Saturday is at Quailcrest Herb Farm, north of Wooster ~ if any readers are in this area of Ohio, it's a wonderful folk art show held in their herb gardens. There is nothing better than an outside show when all conditions are right!! And I hope they're right this Saturday ~ it's supposed to be mid 70's ~ which will be heavenly ~ and a chance of rain ~ which won't be so heavenly!!! We're hoping for the best!! At any rate, I'll have lots of nice, soft wool and some hooked pieces, my husband's frames, Hartman hooks, prodders, and a few odd things to offer ~ my booth is in the tent by the house ~ stop by and see us and say hi!!! Off to the dye pots!

Alice

YESTERDAY'S DYEING ~ ~ ~

This variety of solids and textures is really a deeper purple that this shows! It's a rainy gloomy day here in Ohio (rain is good)~ I would rather take the pix outside ~ I imagine the fluorescent lighting changes the coloration a bit.

This is a lovely shade that one of my customer's just named 'Tomato Soup' ~ I love that!! Also a combination of solids and textures and actually, this customer asked me to set it aside for her! I was matching a swatch she sent of something she bought from me last year ~ it scares me that I actually got it to match!!!!

Antique black is what I was going for here and I think it will work! It's a blue/black and should work in well with other darks! My hand-dyed quarters sell for $9.50 each and I realize as-is wool is all the rage right now ~ but there's nothing like the rich color and variation that you get with dyed wool!! I like to offer both and hopefully, it will be well received!!


I dyed 5 1/2 yards of wool yesterday, in between preparing a quote for my 'boss' , doing the laundry and a visit from my friend,Melody (who, by the way, has been traveling a lot this summer, which allowed her to complete her goal of VISITING ALL 50 STATES!!!) Congratulations, Miss Melody!!

Today, I've got three kettles going with reds, golds, and greens ~ maybe another pot of something in the antique black line. Last night I got a small start on a proddy pumpkin mat and I still have the purses on the work table!! When faced with a show, I can get so creative and dream up all kinds of stuff to do ~ but alas, I run out of time!! It's a quirk that I have ~ I couldn't get revved up for this a month ago ~ is it called procrastination??!! I pretty much have that mastered!! So, I'll go like mad till next Saturday and see what comes out of it!!! My husband wants to leave for the lake tonite, so I need to gather things to work on while I'm there and I'm expecting a shipment of wool today and that will need processed!! Holy cow ~ I'm makin' myself nervous!!!

Gotta go stir the pots!!
Alice

ODDS AND ENDS ~ ~ ~

This is an Oakleaf hydrangea plant off our brick walkway ~ my friend sent a couple pieces of this home with us a few years ago and it has grown to be nice large plant! The other one is by the drive and it's a monster!! The sculpture behind it is made of rebar and pieces from some kind of farm equipment and some tin hearts ~ I loved this piece when I saw it at the antique show in Springfield, Ohio several years ago ~ nice and rustic against the cedar siding. The green leaf to the left of the picture is horseradish!!! Sonny grinds that up and puts it in jars for gifts and for himself ~ I don't eat horseradish only in ketchup for shrimp cocktail ~ then it's good!

The wine order from the wine party came in on Monday ~ three cases of it!! Everyone but one couple, had their wine shipped here because I'm home all the time ~ it has to be signed for or UPS won't leave it. So ~ I got to sort the orders out ~ make sure everyone got what they were supposed to ~ and then deliver it!! A case is going to our lake friends this weekend and the others go to my son and their friends!! Sonny and I had a little sample of what he ordered that night ~ pinot noir ~ not for me!! One of the bottles that I ordered was an Asti ~ that suits me very well!!

And my wool order arrived Tuesday!! So the washer and dryer have been working overtime and it's all ready to go!! I sell wool out of my home studio and I have a show coming in September ~ so there are some interesting new wools available! Another one will be arriving the end of the month ~ I'm ready for whatever the universe is sending my way!!!!!!!!

This week, I've made yet another commitment to exercise ~ I'm gonna get this body in shape, I swear!! Yesterday, I was on the AbLounger - Sport model (whatever that means) and was so into it that I slid off it and landed on my head and then had to do a sideways summersalt to dislodge myself!!! I hit my head on a small bolt that was on the metal support underneath the thing and felt like there was a hole in my head (along with the others!) ~ I considered writing a note for my husband that in case he found me dead, that is the reason why!! As the day wore on ~ I recovered but it would have been a great Candid Camera shot!!!!!!!!!

Office work awaits ~ I keep thinking I'm going to get fired from this good job ~ but it seems he hangs onto me for some weird reason!!! One might be that no one else could come into this office and make sense of it! Have a good day!!

Alice