A New Halloween Rug

 I'm getting ready for a show in November and am getting some new fall patterns ready for it so haven't had time to hook any Halloween rugs. But this guy was calling me and I had to bring him to life. Here is a sneak peak of the little fella....

And here is how this little man started: 

A doodle. I love it when I'm doodling and something wonderful emerges. Hopefully, I'll have him done this weekend and offer a pattern and a kit. 

Sari Ribbon ~ have you used it?

I love Sari Ribbon and like to incorporate it into rugs every once in a while. The sheen and texture of Sari ribbon just adds a little flair  to a rug. For instance, in the pattern below, Sari ribbon was perfect to introduce to the witch's dress. Ann tied a bow and left the ends lie loosely on the dress. Clever!

Denise actually hooked the collar of the dress with Sari Ribbon and like Ann, let the ends lie on top of the dress adding additional texture to the rug.

Check out how this hooker used Sari ribbon in the border to creature interest and texture.

Here is a Closeup of the border. I love how the Sari  ribbon actually stands a little higher than the wool and really frames the rug nicely. Even though the Sari ribbon and wool are the same color, you can definitely tell that  the border is different and interesting.

Sari ribbon and yarn were worked together to create this adorable, colorful flower basket. See what I mean about Sari Ribbon?  It is just stands out.

Look how it is used here to create a ruffle in a dress. Love this!

Or here where it is used for the collar.

Sari Ribbon is perfect for this colorful rooster.

I purchase my Sari Ribbon from Kris Miller of Spruce Ridge Studio. Check out her awesome colors. 

 From Top to bottom. Sand, fuchsia, salmon, ruby, evergreen, olive, fig.

Top to bottom:  periwinkle, purple, smoke, spruce, teal, topaz, sapphire. She sells Sari Ribbon by the Hank, $7.50 and 1/2 Hank for $3.75 and as you can see, she has some wonderful colors to choose from. You can contact her at Spruce Ridge Studios

Another rabbit

I just finished this little guy and love how sweet it is.

My obsession with turquoise worked its way into a rug. The tiny hits of it just speak to me.  I will definitely be using bits of it here and there in rugs to come. Do you have a color that you always like to hook into rug?

And as always had to add a little purple (eye) to rug. 

It is available as a pattern 10 x 13 ~ $23 and kit for $45 plus shipping. 

Here is a sneak peak of a rug that is on my frame. I'm in love with this pattern, Fawn, SpringBean, and can't wait to finish it.

See the turquoise?  Thanks for stopping by, Maria 

Meet Mister Britches

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Little Betty Lou needed a partner so Mister Britches was created. To court her properly, Mister Britches is dressed in his Sunday best and picked a single blue tulip for her. Will she fall for his charm and debonair attire?

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Mister Bridges is 11 x17 and sells for $25 plus $3.00 for shipping.  I can do a small number of kits for Mister Britches (almost  out of the wool for his britches) for $60.00 -$70.00 (cut wool) plus shipping. Have a great weekend. Maria 

"The Gatherer"

Yes, this is another one of the rugs that I started last year and now have moved into the finished pile. Can you give a WooHoo! 

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The closeup picture below gives you an idea of how many different colors of wool I use in my antique dark backgrounds. I have a big clear plastic bag full of dark worms and I just grab and hook. Not a lot of thought put into mixing the colors for the background except to always include lit bits of purple.  I just love adding purple to the background for that little spark of color.

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This sweet little gather (do chicks gather, Lol?) is 7 x 10 and is available for $15 for the pattern plus $3.00 shipping. I can also make a small amount of kits for $25 plus shipping.  Thanks for stopping by, Maria 

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This is why you don't design a rug

When it is on your frame!

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Do you all see how uneven my side lamb  tongues are? Oh, it is maddening, no seriously, I have hooked those side tongues over and over again to get them even to no avail. I finally broke down and found a level to see just how bad it is. Repeat Maria "Never, never, never, try to design a border while the rug is being hooked and on your frame"!  Lol! I am just to impatient to take the rug off the frame and do it properly. 

              

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So can you see how bad it is? Let me give you a little visual.

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The peach tongues are pretty whopper jawed! Pretty bad.

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Yep, that is from the top of the bottom blue tongue to the top of the matching blue tongue.  Oh it gets better!  Look again at the rug. Here is a reminder....

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Did you catch it? I have 8 tongues on the left side and only 7 on the right side. Seriously Maria?  

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I am about ready to throw the proverbial towel in on this rug but I am determined to not let get it the best of me. So, I will continue to work on it (yes, with my level in hand) and complete this little devil of a rug! 

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This rug was fondly going to be called Kingwood tulip due to memories of going to Kingwood Gardens in Mansfield frequently as a kid but now I think I'll name it Terrible Tulip! Lol.   Stay tuned for the finished rug.....

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And just so you know, this wasn't just a one time occurrence. Take a look at this rug. 

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Yep, did it again designing on the fly! See how even those circles are? Just lovely! One is round and one is square. Actually, this doesn't bother me nearly as much as the Terrible Tulip design. I prefer to think of this as charmingly naive!  (Don't worry to those of you purchasing this pattern, the circles will be even!)

More Hooking

I have been holding true to my resolution to complete many of my unfinished projects. This pattern fell into that category having started it in 2013. It feels good to have yet another one. 

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"Never Tell a Lie" is completed just in time for Presidents' Day! It is available for sale for $25  (10 x 15) and the kit for $45.

Thanks for stopping by, Maria 

Hooking, hooking, hooking and more hooking

I've been on a hooking roll lately finishing 4 rugs in the last two weeks. I talk about finishing rugs all the time but have actually been proactive this time and it feels good to complete these four. 

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The first rug, Tyler Eagle, was designed from an antique Texas flag and it has become one of the most favorite rugs I have ever hooked. The simplicity of the colors, red, white and blue, combined with the eagle and star motifs, create a stunning rug.            

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The next rug I completed is what I have dubbed a mini-Magdalena. I say Mini-Magdalena because it is 1/2 the size of the original. Even though this rug was much smaller than the original, it was still pretty easy to hook replicating the original. I'm a huge fan of Magdalena Briner rugs and love this rug.

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My Mini- Magdalena and this next rug were hooked in part to attempt to put a dent in my worms (which didn't come close to doing) combined motifs from two antique rugs for this rug. That little dog makes me smile. I was tempted to hook stars in the each of the circles but opted to kept the rug simple. 

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Finally, this last rug is also patterned after an antique rug. I added to the pattern by adding the triangle border which I hooked on the fly with no rhyme of reason. With the rug on my frame, I drew the triangles and hooked until I had to move the rug and drew some more triangles. To say that these triangles are perfectly symmetrical is an understatement. They are wonky and I am embracing their wonkiness!  

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For those of you interested , the Tyler Eagle pattern is $60, the mini-Magdalena is $28 and the dog and circles pattern is $30. 

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As you may have noticed, I haven't been real good about updating my blog; however, I do post pretty regularly to my Facebook page. You view it by clicking on my Facebook badge located on the top right of this page. Thanks for stopping by, Maria

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