And the rain, rain, rain came down, down ....DOWN

Goode morning my dear friends.  We've a dark and stormy morning, here in Vermont, with abundant flood warnings and a river that is just about to leave it's banks!!   The rain actually woke me, several times in the night, it was coming down so hard.  Tis the perfect day to settle in with my hooking. Goodness, how I love saying that!!!  I have often heard that rug hooking is addictive and my goodness, it certainly is for me.  I feel as if I've come home.  Contentment has set in & THIS is what I was meant to do (no worries, I will not be abandoning my beloved punch needle) A feeling of peace and relaxation has come over me.  That feeling of reaching out, searching... because I felt like there was something else, something more, I was suppose to be doing....has parted.  THIS IS IT ~ I am HOME :).




I have properly washed my first order of wool (I was quite nervous about this) and my used Bliss cutter arrived and I've cut my own hand dyed wool....

My BLISS Cutter ~purchased from my dear friend Connie of Seven Gables Designs

I've chosen a color palette for my latest project (as I mentioned in my previous post I was struggling with this) and I love it. :)  I ordered a smaller Hartman hook (a 5mm) which makes my hooking SO much easier and smoother...

I LOVE IT!!!!

 AND...my new frame is scheduled to arrive today..woohoo!!!  At which point, the only thing I will have left to order, to make my rug hooking journey complete are my own dyes for dying!!!   I plan to order those in a couple of weeks.  I am still waiting on my linen ...bare with me as setting up a wholesale account with Dorr does take a little time.  I will be listing patterns on the website this week, as time allows.

:~) Life is goode my friends.

I'm off now to tidy the house ….Oliver is concerned his breakfast will be late as I've changed our usual routine to write this blog post.   Typically, at this time, I am finishing up my morning chores and preparing to give him his breakfast and head out for our walk.  :) 

Until next time ~ wishing you JoY, Doreen

~My first...FINISHED...rug hooking project~

Goode day my deare friends.  Tis snowing here in Vermont this morning.  Our Spring weather has been one of ups and downs to be sure!!!  Yesterday, I sat on the front porch hooking, barefoot & wearing just pants and a light sweater, and this morning, bundled up in hat, coat and scarf, I still shivered as Oliver & I took our morning walk!    I do believe I will have to keep the fire going all day & perhaps bake a little something to keep the coziness going :)….I'm feeling something gingerbread related may be in order.

Speaking of gingerbread, I just realized that my first FINISHED hooked project reminds me of gingerbread.  I'm not quire sure why, but it does nonetheless.  :).  I'm quite pleased with myself in having finished my first project....oh I have several in progress, hooking projects but this is my first OFFICIAL FINISH!!  

My loops are 10 different heights and I'm not really pleased with my color choices but I did what I set out to do, which was to feel comfortable with knowing how to hook.  I'm hoping keeping a steady loop height is something that comes with practice...  (YES???  NO???))   

The stool it is sitting on was made by my niece and her husband (Shopgirl Design Studio).  I LOVE IT. It is angled slightly and is perfect, for resting your feet upon, when hooking and/or punching.

NOW..ON TO MY NEXT PROJECT......

COLORS ARE...from bottom left to right...
deep blue grey/black,
 dark orange and black,
dark greenish brown,
light greenish tan
 light orange.

 This is a design I drew almost a year ago, when I was in Belfast, Maine, and first met my dear friend Connie of Seven Gables Designs AND  got started on this rug hooking journey.  As you can see I had previously hooked the turkey and the pumpkin stem.  Yesterday, I took the loops out, as I feel I can do a better job now than I had done originally...well, lets hope anyway.    

NOW...the NEXT thing and, what I seem to be struggling with the most....

CHOOSING COLORS!!

I feel like I am usually quite good at color planning.  As far as my punch needle embroidery designs go, I love them,  but for some reason...I can't seem to settle on what colors I should use when rug hooking!!!  I don't trust myself, especially after having chosen WRONG with my foot stool!!! 

 I MEAN..IT'S AN AUTUMN DESIGN..THIS SHOULDN'T BE THAT DIFFICULT...… 

 Why am I making this so hard??? 

URN....grey/black?

PUMPKIN.....orange...white...green???????

PUMPKIN STEM...… greenish tan??

TURKEY....UGH.....  red neck...brown/black body...  ?

BACKGROUND....????????  black?... OATMEAL????

I was original thinking a dark green background (because I LOVE green) but I dont' think that is going to work...….  Though now that I am starring at this photo....How lovely would the dark grey look next to that green!!!

UGH....I JUST DON'T KNOW...…

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By the way...this is the first design that I've created specifically for rug hooking!!  I usually design for punch needle FIRST and offer the template for rug hooking :~).

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Okay..i'm off to finish tidying the house then it's a shower and pattern printing for me.  Hopefully, as I walk past all these colors, laid out on the dining room table, the proper color palette will come to me. 

Until next time ~ wishing you JoY, Doreen

The Struggle......IS OVER

Goode day my lovely friends.  I hope this message finds you well and seeing some lovely signs of Spring in the place you call home.  Though we are waking to a fresh inch of snow on the ground, Spring is gracefully making herself known.  The Robins have returned & are hopping around the yard, dodging the snow & singing despite it.  My woodchuck friend has come out of hibernation and, just yesterday, I saw her on the edge of the lawn munching on tender roots.  When I stepped out, onto the deck, she scurried to her home, which is under a large boulder in our stone wall, just to the right of the apple tree.  I left her a fresh Pink Lady Apple for a treat :).  I will confess, I just love her and leave her treats from Spring till early Winter, when she retires to hibernation. Last year she had two babies and it seems as though they have made their home on the other end of the stone wall!!!

Anyway, enough about my tenderness toward the wild creatures that call this place home...I popped in today to chat about Rug Hooking and my STRUGGLE which has finally come to an end :)

FOR THE LONGEST time.....I could not manage to feel comfortable with myself AS a rug hooker.  I have TRIED to hook, for a couple of years now, and never could seem to make it "click".   Then, last year in Belfast Maine, when I was invited to speak & vend at the 207 Creative event, I met my kindred spirit...Connie Fletcher of Seven Gables Designs.  Connie and I just clicked!!!  I will share with you that when I decided to accept their invitation to Maine, something I struggled with because the possibility of speaking in front of 100 people IS NOT my idea of a good time,  I told my sister-in-law Stephanie, "As scary as I find this, I know I have to go because The Universe is telling me... these are my people"  AND...you know what, they were/are!!!  We all had such a great time in Belfast, dinners out, sightseeing, hooking and chatting.  It was like Connie, Roberta, Steph and I had been friends for years!!!  Since that trip Connie and I have grown even closer and share a wonderful friendship. 

 Two weeks ago, Stephanie and I headed out, insanely as it turns out,  as it was in the middle of a pretty bad Spring snow storm.  Silly us, we actually thought we would drive out of it!!! NO SUCH LUCK as, the further we went, the worse it got!

 Have you ever driven in the white mountains of New Hampshire during a snow storm??? I don't recommend it! Poor Connie drove alone, from Maine, in that storm and wasn't able to drive over 35 mph the entire trip!!!  But alas..we all made it and found ourselves at Roberta's beautiful snowy log cabin by 5:30 where we promptly unloaded the cars and got into our comfy pj's and enjoyed a very YUMMY Chicken stew & crusty bread!!!

Oh what a wonderfully perfect weekend we all had....goode food, goode friends, LOT OF LAUGHS and all the ins & outs of rug hooking!!!  

We dyed wool, we transferred patterns, we HOOKED!!

AND ….I came away from it finally feeling like a REAL RUG HOOKER.  I am FINALLY comfortable with it!  THOUGH I still throw questions out to Connie every couple of days....it's the little things and I feel like I can move on from here and...DO WELL :).   Oh the gift of goode friends!!!   I can't wait for August, when we get together again for another weekend of Hooking Merriment :).

NOW....I am moving toward having all my patterns, on linen, and available ON MY WEBSITE just as soon as I possibly can.  

Be patient with me ~ If there's a pattern you would like before I have it listed on the website, just shoot me an email; Doreen@vermontharvestfolkart.com :)

Until next time ~ Wishing you JoY, Doreen