I've been sitting here in front of the computer for hours, working on a story that I can't seem to get right.  Something happened last week and quite frankly, it knocked me for a loop.  It's made me look long and hard at the way I do things and it's prompted some changes. 

I did something stupid and hurt someone by sending an email that I never meant them to see.  I'm not the kind of person who can hurt someone without being filled with remorse.  I'm trying to write about it but I don't know from one minute to the next if I should publish it, although I believe it might be cathartic.  
 
Next week, things should be better and I will continue to write Monday to Friday. Sorry to disappoint those of you who check in to read my posts! 

After several cancelations due to weather, we were finally able to hold a hook-in.  It wasn't a large group, but we were lively!  Maybe it was the delicious Zucchini Cake that Nancy made!  It disappeared faster than a rabbit down a hole and really it was sort of same thing....just the rabbit was the cake!  Recipe to follow.

Some of the diehards were out despite more bad weather on its way. We have a rule that if school is cancelled due to a storm, so is the hook-in.  We don't want our friends driving in risky conditions just to hook!  But once the morning was over, the sun was out, the streets were dry  with above zero temperatures.  The nastiness waited until we were all home safe and warm and then it hit us again like we've been bad or something!  Enough already!

I like hearing the icy rain hit the windows and the moan of the howling wind.  As long as I'm tucked safely inside, I just like a backdrop of winter sounds.  Our house has been doing the shimmy shake lately with all these storms.  The other evening a gust blew our very large steel BBQ off the deck and landed on a granite rock wall.  Luckily no dents.  It lay there like a ship  blown aground on a reef. The thing is massively heavy and I struggled to make it upright.  Getting it on the deck is another story.  There has to be a man or two involved in that undertaking.  I risked a hernia just getting it up on its wheels!

So last evening we had some finished show and tell and some new beginnings.  First up we have Kilroy....I mean Sue Cunningham, who just finished hooking and whipping my new design "Just Laid".  Wowsa!  I absolutely love this!  My vision brought to fruition...we're a team she and I!  

Do you remember hearing the old joke...Do you smoke after sex?" and the woman replies "I don't know, I've never looked!"  Well that's what inspired this piece with the play on words.  If the cigarette offends anyone, the design stands without it.  Imagine this beauty in your country kitchen! 
To view the pattern click the link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

Recipe shared by Nancy McCarthy - raved about at the hook-in!

Tea Lime Zucchini Cake with Lime Glaze

2 CUPS GRATED PACKED ZUCCHINI
ZEST OF 1 LARGE LIME
1 ¾ CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
½ TSP SALT
½ TSP BAKING SODA
2 TSP BAKING POWDER
½ TSP NUTMEG
1 CUP SUGAR
1 EGG
½ CUP CANOLA OIL
½ CUP PLAIN OR VANILLA YOGURT

LIME GLAZE

½ CUP ICING SUGAR
1 TSP FRESHLY GRATED LIME ZEST
JUICE OF 1 LIME


PREHEAT OVEN TO 350*

COAT A LOAF PAN WITH NON STICK SPRAY PUT GRATED ZUCCHINI IN A CLEAN TEA TOWEL AND WRING TO REMOVE AS MUCH LIQUID AS POSSIBLE.   

IN A MEDIUM BOWL, STIR TOGETHER ALL DRY INGREDIENTS.

GRATE THE LIME PEEL AND ADD TO THE DRY INGREDIENTS.

BEAT TOGETHER EGG, OIL AND YOGURT.

SQUEEZE LIME AND ADD JUICE TO LIQUID. ADD ZUCCHINI TO DRY INGREDIENTS, STIR AND MAKE A WELL – ADD LIQUID INGREDIENTS.

STIR JUST TO COMBINE, POUR INTO LOAF PAN AND BAKE FOR 55 – 60 MINUTES. COOL 10 MINUTES

BEFORE TURNING OUT ONTO COOLING RACK, WHILE STILL WARM, POKE HOLES IN THE TOP WITH A TOOTHPICK OR SKEWER.  

COMBINE ALL INGREDIENT OF GLAZE, STIR AND MICROWAVE APPROX 40 SECOND UNTIL HOT.  STIR AGAIN AND POUR OVER CAKE AND SPREAD WITH  WITH GLAZING BRUSH.

We are very excited here! 
Three of January's, Pattern of the Month pictures, have already been sent in! 
The deadline is March 30 so there is still plenty of time to join our club and submit your entry for a chance to win a monthly draw of 3 Yards of Dorr Natural.  
Click this link to find out about our  Pattern of the Month Contest!!
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/contests.html

Click on this link to direct you to the New Designs Page for details
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

Just in time for our Nova Scotia Guild Rug School coming in May.  William Morris will be taught by Doris Norman.   These two pillow sized adaptions of the larger Strawberry Thief pattern, is perfect for those who would like the William Morris experience without hooking one of the larger pieces.   Just one would be lovely, but the two on either sides of the sofa would be extraordinary! 

It would appears that Shane is a natural at making jewellery.  All I have to do is show him the basic technique and he is figuring out a way to do it easier and faster.  This is a pair of earrings he made for his girlfriend for Christmas.  She found a picture in a magazine and he loosely followed the design and came up with a similar concept with improvements. 

He used freshwater pearls and sterling silver.  He bent metal to make that the backbone and then added the pearls along the out edge by stringing wire through each pearl and then wrapping it around and around to secure.  The findings he used to make the dangling pearls on the bottom have a fancy ball tip, not open loops as the original had.  This way is more classy.  His creation is more polished, more what an artisan would create.   Ashley has a beautiful long neck and prefers longer  earrings and I can’t wait to see how lovely these will look on her.  What could be better than a boyfriend who makes jewellery?

Awwww…the smell of pound cake baking in the oven!  It transports me back to my mother’s kitchen.  Fabulous things came out that room.  She had the knack of making everything taste better.  I dug out her pound cake recipe, so happy that I have it;  I should make multiple copies, maybe put one in the safety deposit box to ensure I never lose it.   I don’t know if this recipe is special or if my mother made it that way, but it’s the best pound cake I've ever tasted.  Really, one hundred women could have baked this same cake and my mother’s would have stood above the rest. I tell no lie!  Knowing this, I worry I won’t do it justice myself.  I haven’t baked this recipe for so long I’m not sure how it will turn out. 

I’ve been around, sampled lots of baked goods, but nothing ever compares to the signature goods that my mom made into lasting memories.  Case and point, her apple crisp.  I was about twelve, and a server at one of the United Church fund raiser dinners.  Maybe because I was a skinny rake, someone had foolishly mistaken me for a person who could do the job without sneaking the wares, so I was in charge of portioning out the homemade apple crisps on dessert plates.  Why they asked me I’ll never know, I knew as soon as they gave me the job I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation, I’d be like a kid in a candy store with unlimited spending!  

I sampled a spoonful from every pan but not one of them tempted seconds.  I was spoiled by my mother’s crisp, with the best apple taste and crumble in the county, possibly even the world!   I was amazed at this revelation and proud of her. Out of 25 or so pans of crisp, some were soggy, some bland, some with nutmeg, others with cinnamon (my preference), some were under cooked and tough, some overcooked and mushy, some had rolled oats, and others had raisins.  Mother’s apples were done to perfection, slices were soft but still whole and the crumble on top was still crunchy with the perfect sweetness.   If there was a ribbon to be had I would have pinned it on her! 

My mother’s pie pastry always looked picture perfect as if prepared for a magazine. She could have given Martha a lesson or two on rolling out pastry and dimpling the edges.  She used her fingers to pinch every inch or so and then pressed a fork in between them.  I looked on the internet for a picture of what her pies looked like and not one photo showed this technique for the crust. She never over pulled the pasty so the shrinkage was at a minimum so the crust kept its round shape.  The taste was phenomenal too..…fluffy, flaky and crunchy.  I always ate the crust first and filling second, not able to hold myself back to eat it as a unit.  So many times over the years I see crusts left on the plates at restaurants and diner parties, and rightly so, they were either too tough or soggy.   I mentioned the other day about the “Quickies” we used to eat.  Well the word was Quiche, and her combo of crust and filling put it over the top on the ymmm scale!  Apparently, the secret to keeping the bottom pastry crunchy is to line the crust with shredded cheese before pouring on the egg mixture.  Yes, my mom had culinary skills, which I luckily inherited.  It wasn’t from studying the master, because I was too busy being a kid to notice much, somehow I lucked out through genes. 

So back to the cake.  Ask anyone close to me, I’m been itching of late for my mother’s pound cake and old fashioned icing.  I’ve been lamenting about it and fighting the urge to throw one together.   I have blood sugar issues, this kind of treat isn’t conducive to my diet.  But damn, all of my senses are inflamed with its memory.  I can visualize it; smell it; and my mouth waters as I remember the dense, lemon and almond flavoured cake. 

I’m not a fondant follower.  I prefer the old fashioned icing, the outer bit dries to a crunch while the underside remains tender and smooth. I remember watching my mother's spatula gliding back and forth, smoothing out the surface as she covered the cake.  She had a rubber device that slid down over a regular table knife tip to make up the handle. My eyes followed its every movement hoping that she would let me lick it clean when finished.  She was always concerned about too much sweet and she was right, but a tummy ache was always worth it.  Now all I want is a small wedge, a wedding size sliver to rekindle memories and satisfy this craving.  I want to be that child in my mother's kitchen licking the beaters or the spatula and then delivering that slice of heaven to my mouth. 

Another fun memory.....I used a toothpick to test the cake center, remembering that mom used to pull a piece of straw out of the whisk broom, clean it off and use that as a tester for doneness. 

Monday (Feb 10th) was my father’s birthday and Saturday (Feb 8th) was my mother’s. They were born the same year with my mother ahead by one full day and I remember the teasing about her dating a younger man.  Maybe this time of year is causing the melancholy need for a connection with the past.   This cake will jettison me back to memories of many happy desserts and various birthday cakes.  Mother would decorate each cake with a theme or coloured roses and leaves, place candles in little holders and wrap coins, nickels, dimes and quarters in waxed paper and push them in various places around the edge.  Scoring money in a wedge was an extra perk, that would be traded in for a bag of penny candy.  Those days were simpler times when a few coins could bring heady elation.    

I'm not good with temptation in my line of sight.   I made two smaller cakes and will have to ice them and share with others to spare me from going on a binge and eating them in one sitting.  Like potato chips, one slice will be too many and a thousand not enough.  I'll cut a few pieces,  wrap and freeze them for when I need a bridge to my past, to memories of my dear mom, to get in touch with the child within and savour the best homemade cake ever baked.  Or more realistically just pig out for the sake of pigging out!     

I’ll frost the cakes with mom's old fashioned recipe. I’ll ice them tomorrow evening, nothing fancy, just slap a coat on and then feast!  The cakes are now on a cooling rack.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep as the smell has wafted throughout the house.  My senses are almost tingling with anticipation, my belly is growling.   I must resist temptation until the cakes are decorated tomorrow evening.  I want the full experience, the frosting and the cake combined, that sweet almond flavoured icing and the lemony cake.  Be still my heart…tomorrow is going to be a very, very long day! 

(Excuse the sloppy frosting job.  It was done quick and dirty.... I wasn't going for the gold, just a taste!)

P.S.

I was lying in bed last night thinking about my mom and a veil lifted. Something entered my head that never occurred to me.  I think maybe, possibly....I got my artistic talents from my mother!  It was always thought that they streamed down from my father's side, but now thinking back, considering all the times my mother took up various crafts like knitting, sewing, Liquid Embroidery, Embroidery, cake decorating etc, and the pride she took in it all, I mirror her more.   I think because I was left handed, same as my father, and had his sense of humour I was considered a little mini me of his, but now I'm not so sure.  This is a total 180 revelation!  No one ever gave my mom credit for, or acknowledged her many talents!  So sad!  I now feel an even bigger sense of pride and closeness to my mother;  we were obviously cut from the same cloth!  If only she could have lived longer she would have been hrilled to discover rug hooking and most assuredly would hang with me in the shop, sharing the passion....... 

Denver’s Ginger Bread Man

When I first saw this pattern by Christine Little, I knew my grandson Denver would LOVE IT!  I got to work on this stocking for him in January 2014 and finished it the same month.  It is mostly #4 and #5 cut 100% Dorr wool hand dyed by me.

Denver spends a lot of time with Grammy and Grampy so he sees Grammy working on rugs all the time. Denver had been asking me to make him a Christmas stocking ever since he saw the Christmas stocking I made last year for myself which was also a Christine Little pattern.

Denver’s favourite colours are pink and purple so I knew those colours would need to be incorporated into his stocking.  Denver is usually with us each weekend and he saw the progress I was making and loved it.  I was struggling with the trees and how I was going to do them so I got out a bunch of green wool and had Denver help me pick out colours.  He says to me ‘Grammy, I think the trees need to be purple!’  "You know" I said "Denver, you are right" the trees will look fabulous purple.  The back of the stocking I used a big piece of recycled purple, 100% wool I had laying around and I lined his stocking.  Denver loves it and it was so much fun to do.  I love Christine’s patterns and wish I could hook on them every day. 
To view other Christmas Stocking Patterns click the link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/seasonal-designs.html

What can I say; I’ve wanted to do a William Morris for some time now.  Several ladies in our hooking group have done William Morris patterns and I’ve always admired them.  I’ve been learning to hand dye wool and last Christmas I decided to gift to myself a couple of Christine’s patterns; one was the William Morris, Strawberry Thief.  I began this rug May of 2013.  I wanted to dye all of my own wool for this project as I’ve been slowly learning how to dye wool using Lucy Richard’s, Wooly Mason Jar Method of dyeing.  I had a plan now I needed to execute.  I had borrowed some William Morris books from a few of the ladies from rug hooking.  I had a few versions of the Strawberry Thief that other ladies had hooked to give me inspiration and to figure out how I wanted mine to look.  I researched online and felt I was ready!  Figuring out the colours I wanted to do was the hardest for me, decisions decisions.

The birds were the most challenging for me, as I didn’t want them to ‘pop out’ at the viewer.  I wanted the birds to blend in and be a pleasant surprise to see.  I tried many different colours and mediums and decided to go with some silk type of fabric very stringy and was silver/grey in colour, a light and a darker shade of each.  I thought this would simulate feathers nicely.  The silky type of fabric was about 1” in width if I were to ‘uncurl’ it and very difficult to work with but once I had some hooked, I knew right away, it wasn’t right.  I was very disappointed as I was so sure that would make the wings look  lovely.  I tried some various other colours and mediums and nothing looked right so back to my silky fabric I went and got the bright idea, ‘what if’ I were cut the fabric in half?  I ended up cutting the fabric into fourths by hand, ask me how much of a pain that was! Lol

I used recycled black for the background and the border I tried various methods for that as well before settling on the light/dark green in the center and black on the outer edge.  It is funny how we know what looks right and what does not.  I always say ‘if it talks to me’ I’m good  to go. Always trust your gut, it knows!

I mainly used #4 cut in the rug and #5 for the background.  I enjoyed this rug and I am very proud of how it turned out and can’t believe I DID THAT!  Might be once in a life time kind of thing as it was a lot of work and I finished the rug January 2014.  Hope you all enjoy!

To view other William Morris designs click the link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/william-morris.html

A rug hooker friend told me you like to see picture of your designs finished. I just hooked SEE TURTLES TANGO,  a Susan Leslie design.  The Turtles were so fun to do, its a happy rug! I hooked it with #6 and #4  cuts.  Vivily Powers dyed the back ground wool special for this rug, and one of the Greens is a new color she made special for me, Galapagos Green, since I had just come back from those islands, and wanted to honor that trip with this happy rug!

I wanted to share with you that I was awarded at second place at the Florida State Fair for my for "See Turtles Tango"....such a wonderful design!  Susan Leslie lives on thru her designs!
Regards,  Betsy Boltik

Mary said it was fun raiding my shop of wool during our special on plaids! 
I think the smile says it all! 

Remember this?  You helped me try and figure out how to make the feet look dusty.  This was from a photo taken in Uganda and I gave it to a friend who had joined with us to reach out to people in this tiny rural community. Webale nnyo nnyo means thank you very much in Lungandan.  The website for what we are doing there is www.ugandaventure.com

Hi Christine, I promised you pictures, sorry it’s taken me so long! This was the first one I did for our cottage. I wanted to do some of the birds we see regularly pass by. I liked the image of flying Canada geese and thought a square geometric background would be a nice contrast and fun to hook, using up extra blue wool. I find by Googling my subject and then checking out the images I find plenty of subjects to choose and draw.

Next I drew a blue heron. I wanted the background to be colourful because the heron is such a tall goofy grey bird! I added the frame with the fish to draw the colours out and maybe because I was feeling silly.
The cormorant was another goofy black bird that needed some back up! I ran out of the background wool so decided to add colourful balloons. This is my favourite rug of all. I feel like it says “welcome to the party!”.

Thanks for all the help and advice you’ve given me over the years. Your store is always a treat to visit… so many beautiful rugs and supplies. Hope to see you soon, Mary

My son married a beautiful girl form Dublin.   When we went to the wedding we visited Trinity College where the Book of Kells was on display, the ancient biblical manuscript with fantastic, colourful images drawn and painted around the year 800.  So for Christmas I made this rug, using some of the images from the book.  It was challenging! Celtic designs are crazy!  I had to colour the design at first to make sense of it.  Again thanks so much for your help with colour choices and design thoughts.  I Think the newly weds liked their rug. 

Unless you've read previous blogs you probably wouldn't be able to guess which stocking is the original among the altered copies.  Undeniably, each colour palette is a reasonable choice for the design and depending on personal taste, anyone of these could be a precious heirloom.  I've altered the original colours in Photoshop, but I believe any picture printing software comes with this function called Hue & Saturation.  At times I like to play lay around a bit because it's nice to offer an alternate colour scheme without doing the actual hooking.  Different versions help to provide a visual of what the finished piece can be. 

Beauty and colour is in the eye of the beholder" is not just a cliche, and there could never be enough samples to satisfy the masses, but even these few suggestions showcase  how beautiful different palettes can be for this particular design. It's fun to play with the varying colours and intensity, finding pleasing combinations without getting out the box of crayons or markers. Unfortunately all the colours are altered together with this program, changing them individually takes a higher degree of skill that I don't have, but I hope to take a few classes for the basics in Photoshop in the future.  I would like to be able to hook a pattern using the computer by cutting and pasting existing parts of hooked rugs and forming them into the shape needed on the pattern.  It would be nice to have a coloured picture on all the new designs or patterns not hooked without having to do the work. 
Whenever possible we attach a colour photo of the finished rug, although most rug hookers don't follow the originals picture.  They like to use it as a guide, substitute the colours they don't like for those they do. It just makes the process easier. 

So most will know that the  one on the top left with the lime, royal blue and turquoise is my original but I must say the red one is rather fetching.....so much so I might have used these colours to hook the original if I'd thought of it.     I very much like the gold one below as well.   Variety being the spice of life,  maybe I'll print off some of these pictures to attach to the patterns to offer alternate colours choices. 

I’d like to think I’m reasonably intelligent, although at times it’s questionable.  I’m not exempt from ditzy moments, although as I age they happen less.  But when it does occur, I don’t mind having a laugh my own expense, after all I am human and not afraid to admit it. 

For those of you south of our border, KY probably has a clear meaning.  And considering I send a lot of parcels that way, it should be for me as well. Maybe it’s because last week was tainted by a rather annoying stint of insomnia that haunted  every night. Actually, that's a plausible scapegoat…….yah, that's it!  Sleep deprivation made me do it!   

A customer emailed to say that she would like a pillow designed, and a kit made to say “I Love KY”.   Well, my brain must have been in the middle of an outer body experience because it was obviously MIA.   In disbelief, I read the email the second time and still a dense fog messed with the words.   I read it a third time and then figured it was a joke. I get spam all the time, solicitations and comments, so I chalked it up to just another bit of junk mail.  Really…..why would anyone in their right mind want a pillow that bragged they love KY jelly, a sexual lubricant?  

So before I could talk myself out of it, I forwarded the email to my friend with my comment about jelly and the absurdity of it all.  I'd been asked to draw some pretty weird things in the past, like design a pattern with a bouquet of penises, which of course I refused to do, so this request wasn't totally out of the left field.  But...and there's always that but...maybe if I'd read the email just one more time or let it go until the following day, perhaps I’d have found the clarity to prevent hitting SEND. 

Apparently my friend cracked up and then showed her hubby and he followed suit.  An email queried back, "What the hell was wrong with me?"  "KY is for Kentucky you twit!"  The egg on my face needed a spatula to remove but after the shock of my stupidity passed, I had to laugh....almost peed myself actually.  The email was from a woman who loves her State of Kentucky!....not someone sexually charged that's having a love affair with a lubricant.   I blame the ads on TV for planting the sound of those two  consonants together….K…Y… for steering my foggy brain off the road and into the gutter.    Sigh……double sigh..….triple sigh……I’ll bet Freud would have something interesting to say about this!?  

So how about making me feel better by sharing some of your ditz moments with me?   The one that elicits the biggest chuckle will receive a prezzie.  It doesn’t have to be your own zinger, maybe a family member or friend did something that made you roll on the floor laughing.  I’m offering Glitz for Ditz….a pair of handmade freshwater pearl earrings, made by yours truly, and because of your head in the cloud moment, I’ll also send you ¼ yard of our newest, hot off the stove, dyed sky.  A scrumptious wool with grey/blue highlights, first abrashed to perfection and then over dyed for colour continuity.    I’m sure this wool will become a top seller, not just for sky but backgrounds, water and so much more!  Be the very first to hook with this gorgeous wool!  Send me a short quip by clicking the comment button at the top or bottom of this blog page, (not on Facebook).  Here is a small example from my own archive of embarrassing moments. 

Many years ago I worked with a guy in the accounting department and we often went downtown for lunch together.   He’d purchased a pair of slacks the day before; his wife didn’t like them so he planned to return them to the store.  Wanting to go out to eat, I hollered from my desk to his office, “Steve, are you taking your pants down over lunch?” 

February's pattern is now available for the Pattern of the Month Club & Contest.  Of course you can still purchase January's design anytime if you decide to join later!   February's design is a mixture of symbols. 

February is Black History Month, a must mention, so the linking arms form from the top of a heart and end with the clasping of hands.

The hands can also represent Friendship is celebrated within the month as well.

Of course most of us think of February as the month of love, Valentine's Day.  The heart comes complete with a keyhole to be unlocked to welcome love in.  Thence the key.