Blog Archives

Stair Risers full of Country Charm!

2/24/2017

This is a sample of the stair riser line called COUNTRY CHARM RISERS we are offering. 5" x 29". Click here for the information for names and pricing on the website: www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

Eleven of these beauties are being hooked by a client, I hope she shares a photo when she completes them! I would love to hook them as well but I have my hands full with the nautical ones and only one set of stairs.

Some of you may wonder why I decided to design and hook risers instead of treads. These were my thoughts. There are pros and cons but when I added up the columns the risers came out on top, pardon the pun. Let me deal with the tread side first.

Treads will take a pounding and will have to be secured to the wood base; tacked or superglued; if they slip it could result in an unfortunate accident. Treads will wear and soil over time, not looking as great in a few years. Like carpeted staircases, it can result in tripping. Treads can only be viewed from the top of the staircase and you are upstairs less than down. Even if the only bathroom in your home is upstairs it is still only a few times up and down per day to view your beautiful handiwork. Treads lie flat on a surface are subject to overhead lights bearing down on then. Anyway who has a rug on their floor knows that over time they fade, not only from natural light through the window, but from lights on the ceiling.

The risers have the potential to be forever, well my forever that is, I can’t expect them to be unearthed several hundred years from now, intact and as colourful as the tiles they’ve recently found in an archeological dig.     There is no direct light bearing down on them from overhead so they are protected as long as no window light is shining on them during the daytime. Risers don’t get any wear and tear. They won’t be soiled and if dust settles they can be removed and shaken for a quick refresh. If secured with Velcro along the top and bottom they will not come off or cause tripping.

You and others will see them from the downstairs area of your home. Not all company is privy to the upstairs and would miss viewing your incredible fiber artwork, but looking up the staircase can be a treat to someone seeing them for the first time. They are real show stoppers and conversation starters, I’ve found that out at the shop already with only four completed. When your walls are filled with precious artwork and collectibles, and the floors are covered in all those wonderful handmade rugs, the staircase offers a blank slate to add more fiber art.   I hear more than not from long time rug hookers that rugs are rolled up in trunks and closets because of the lack of space to show them all, they do it because they love the process and feel sad to hide them away. Now you can take on a project that you have a spot for, look at it as one long runner in segments.    If you don’t have a staircase in your own home, maybe someone you love does, hook for them, a gift that will keep giving for many years.

So these were my thoughts and the reasons I settled on risers.

Is anyone out there interested in a Riser of the Month Club? Let’s decorate our staircases together. I’m interested in writing a story about this journey and I would love others to come along with me.

One riser pattern a month is more than reasonable as they are small projects, easily hooked, sewn and installed in the time frame. Depending on how many steps you have, in six to twelve months you will add to the beautiful decor of your home. Pick and choose which risers you want out of all we offer and we will automatically send you one each month, and we are open to other suggestions as well if you wish to personalize your collection. We can either send you a linen pattern $39.95 or a paper one for $12.95. Let us know your requirement and we will custom it to fit. Let’s rise to this project together! I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Although I am concentrating on the Nautical line for the studio staircase, I am willing to hook one of the Country Charm Risers so you can get a sense of how lovely they can be. That beautiful country flavoured checkerboard on each side will work the same as the rope on the Nautical risers, your eye will be pulled up the stairs with a continuous flow of country charm.

There are two blogs today, scroll down.

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Nautical Flair Stair Risers

2/24/2017

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Of things near and in the sea these nautical inspired risers are the hit of my studio and can be yours too! 5" x 29". http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

Is anyone out there interested in a Riser of the Month Club? Let’s decorate our staircases together. I’m interested in writing a story about this journey and I would love others to come along with me.

One riser pattern a month is more than reasonable as they are small projects, easily hooked, sewn and installed in the time frame. Depending on how many steps you have, in six to twelve months you will add to the beautiful decor of your home. Pick and choose which risers you want out of all we offer and we will automatically send you one each month, and we are open to other suggestions as well if you wish to personalize your collection. We can either send you a linen pattern $39.95 or a paper one for $12.95. Let us know your requirement and we will custom it to fit. Let’s rise to this project together! I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Although I am concentrating on the Nautical line for the studio staircase, I am willing to hook one of the Country Charm Risers so you can get a sense of how lovely they can be. That beautiful country flavoured checkerboard on each side will work the same as the rope on the Nautical risers, your eye will be pulled up the stairs with a continuous flow of country charm.

There are two blogs today, scroll down

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Free Shipping Promo!!!

2/23/2017

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We've got the blues....and the yellows!

2/21/2017

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This morning I woke with itchy fingers. I broke out with a mild case of eczema from all the dyeing I’ve been doing....guess I need to buy rubber gloves. I was tired as a worn out zipper as well, what’s up with that? I used to be able to stay up all night long dancing, and now a couple of hours of wool dyeing and I need medical attention and a nap? I’m usually sitting in a chair all evening either vegetating in front of Netflix or hooking, so it was the closest thing to a real workout this ole frame has seen in a while. But I must say, looking at all those colours gives me goose bumps on my goose bumps and I’d do it all again in the next day or two.

Someone slap me...on the back that is. I’m pretty proud of myself. I came up with a new spot colour during my play. Suede Shoes, can you guess what colour it is? Be the first to use it and give us a review!

Why does fun have to come with a price? Was the eczema and tiredness not enough, I had to go for the trifecta with aches and pains? All the walking back and forth the bathroom to spin dry the wool, stirring pots and lifting them to the sink stressed my right knee. I thought omg I’m 58, why do I feel like I’m under thirty in my head and 70 in my shell?   How many times have I walked this same path and did it with pep and now I’m favouring a gimpy leg? Trying to have a leg up stocking the shelves also literally meant having a leg up, elevating it so it didn’t lock in a straight position.   Ah well, the gain is worth the pain and if looking on the bright side, my complaints today are minimal compared to what they shall be twenty years from now so I rejoice. That’s my attempt at a glass half full. That’s as good as it gets for me.

Ten bucks says I’ll still be here 20 years from now writing my every thought and sharing how I connected the dots of my liver spots and drew a map of Canada. How many of you will be following me then or will you be saying, for goodness sake woman, stop beating words out of the poor keyboard and go bake a batch of cookies for that dear hubby of yours.

Anyway, things are looking good for the new shelves, but there’s still room for improvement. We need more to fill those gaps. A colour per segment is my goal....guess I better get out the yard sized pans so it goes quicker. The oven that holds them had some sort of electrical explosion a while ago so I called a repair guy to take a look tomorrow.   I was one oven down last night so I could have produced more spots. One stove has two racks, holds two pans, and needs two timers. I had a rhythm; a pan was ready to go in when a pan came out. The only thing I had to keep straight was which timer matched which pan as they revolved from top to bottom. I hate to brag but I can scrunch that ½ yard of wool PDQ so I could have used a second oven and juggled four pans. They fact that we only have three 1/2 yd pans might have put a crimp in the plan, but if I could have used that yard sized one, it would have been fabulous. The yard pans were custom made for us by a welder out of stainless steel.   Twice the outputI A as the 1/2 yard pans for only a few minutes extra to scrunch up the larger piece of wool. Saves on power as well as it bakes a yard for the same time as a ½ yard piece.

Riser Patterns

Some of the riser patterns are going on the website now. We started adding a few with many more to come. There is the Country line and the Nautical line. Click this link to view. More to be added tomorrow.
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

'The new blue spot called "Suede Shoes" is the one at the bottom of the above rack.

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I've donned the dyeing apron.....

2/20/2017

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We had custom-made wool shelves delivered and installed on Sunday. Another amazing shop addition by Steven Scott. It’s magic. I tell him what I want and he comes up with a clever design and makes it appear.   I love custom fit instead of working with what is available.   The old shelves were made the second year I was in business and although they served us well they weren’t as practical as they could have been. With experience comes the smarts to do things right. The old shelves pivoted on an angle so the wool would fall down if it wasn’t tightly packed and then looked sloppy. Now everything can be seen at a glance with no burdensome shelves to lift up to see the rows of wool underneath. No big support feet to stick out and trip over as you walk by and we now gain over a foot and a half of extra space behind the table. All good!

The only surprise is that these shelves will hold a lot more wool so it looked a bit bare after I shifted our inventory. So I got to work in the dye pots and pans to create stock and plan to go in Monday and do more of same. Tomorrow is a holiday and I'm supposed to stay home with my little family, but they don't care where I am as long as we are a pack so they will come to work with me. I’ve missed so much time with Honey being sick and then blizzards, I hardly know what day it is anyway, a holiday is just another day.

I like dyeing; it’s more play than work and I like the instant gratification that working with a bit of coloured powder, wool and water can give. I worked on Yellows, a bit of orange and some pink. tomorrow I’ll tackle the blues and perhaps reds, or take whatever direction I fancy. All the wool I dyed is hanging on drying racks, which is beautiful to see, and tomorrow I’ll rip it into quarter yard and half yard pieces and add the labels. I love this part, feeling the softness....is there anything better than working with wool???

Anyway, come in and see our great new shelves and the eye candy they hold. The unit was cleverly constructed in four separate pieces fitting together to look as one continuous unit from wall to wall. There’s nothing plain about this Jane, and a straight box with shelves won’t do.   I always like a bit of flair so they have great style, interesting feet and a molding along the top.

So I am off to bed and can’t wait to go back to the shop to process the wool and stack it on the shelves. With Shane in charge of the dye kitchen I don’t get to play wool dyer often and I miss that. I’m more of a picker now, taking wool off the shelves instead of putting it there. Helping people colour plan, selecting wool to construct kits or grab what I need for my own rug hooking. As we got busier and Shane became the Dye Guy, I let that part of the business go, but it felt good to be back in the apron again, if only for a couple of hours. I hope I can sleep tonight as I am a bit wired from an exciting evening in the dye kitchen.   I'll take some pictures tomorrow when we have the shelves filled.

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Riser #5 and #6

2/16/2017

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I’ve been working on #5 stair riser. It is the most interesting as far as an art piece goes, and oh the colours I’m playing with for the waves. Fun! There’s a yummy combo of blues, turquoises and sea greens alternating and strutting their stuff like real waves on the ocean. I’m happy the way it’s turning out and it blends beautifully with the other four risers.

The big constant, the outside borders tie them all together and will carry the eye up the staircase to infinity, or at least to the top landing. The other constant is the colour red, you can have nautical without out it. Unfortunately, in this one, there is less red with only the buoy marker but I’ll try to shade it so it pops and steals the show even with all the fabulous ocean action going on around it.

I was always a bit disappointed that I couldn’t show they entire buoy, that the top was chopped at the neck as if it committed some crime. I only have five inches of height to work with, I tried several sizes for proportion and this is the one that worked so the top had to be sacrificed. I kept obsessing about it and wondered if I could come up with a way to have it all, so I put my thinking cap on and came up with a solution. This riser will be one of two to complete a full scene. The bottom half will show the stormy sea and the top half will show the wind whipping the waves in to a frenzy. The red buoy can now show complete and be split between the two. The God of Wind will be blowing with all his might, causing the waves to heave and the buoy to tilt. As with the scrolling waves, the wind will also show movement across the sky and the palette will be a blend of medium to light wools to create the effect. The sky has to have enough pigment to frame and show contrast with the God of Wind who will be regaled in whites, greys and possibly flesh tones. I’ll see how this combo works and make changes if need be. I’m sure I’ll be hooking and pulling a bit out until he fills that quadrant with his majesty.

Of course the sky will have similar tones of the water but several shades lighter and graduate darker closer to the top. I extended the buoy with an extra section as some are taller and this one needed a bit more prominence to allow more use of my precious, nautical red. If I can work some red into The God of Wind I will. Perhaps his puffed cheeks could have a bit of colour, after all, creating a raging storm ought to take a bit of breath and energy and put a little colour in ones face!

I’m making it all up as I go along. There are 25 rough sketches of ideas that I keep adding too but I am a woman with that special prerogative so who knows. I hope to offer a good selection to sell but I only need to hook 15 of them for the studio. I’m not sure I’ll do more scenes that need two, but who knows where this riser story will end. It’s all in my head and my hands.

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Fourth riser completed!

2/14/2017

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Written Monday during the blizzard:
We are embroiled in one of the harshest winter storms I’ve seen. Storm really doesn’t convey the magnitude of wind delivering the snow; blizzard is more accurate. It’s been snowing since last evening with no immediate plans to cease, some say it will continue into the night and early morning Tuesday. It is amazing to see the power of Mother Nature at work. She is one butch, muscle bound, gal pitching weather at us from the mound.   Wind gusts of 60 km pluck my pups from the back deck and send them into banks of snow.   It stripped me of my hat and pushed me against the door. I felt manhandled, roughed up a bit. The wind is beating against the house until it shakes the very foundation. The radio has flicked on and off with a few power fluctuations and I grow tired of getting up to reset it so we sit in silence now, except for the hiss of the burning logs and the battering on the outside of the walls.

The wind is powerful. The driveway has been swept clear, gravel is showing but two feet to the left there is a four to five foot drift, arced like ocean surf. I can’t open the regular back door; it’s barricaded with snow that carries to the top of the stairs. I’m hoping the wind direction will change and sweep it away to make a deposit in a less restrictive spot. This happens sometimes so I’m not going to attempt to shovel and risk injury just yet, things might change.

The pups and I are basically hostages, held against our will. I had a craving for chocolate a few minutes ago and had a small melt down. Even if I could get out of here all the stores are closed. I texted hubby and asked if there was any hidden in his office but he took it all out west with him. There are chocolate chips and I could whip up a batch of cookies but then I’d be tempted to eat them all so I’m trying to bury the craving with the thrill of hooking. Keeping my hands busy so my mind forgets how wonderful warm cookies melting in my mouth could be. I’m not usually a chocolate hound, but the stress of this weather is getting to me.

I’m lucky in that we have a fabulous wood stove to keep us warm. It’s a Waterford made in Ireland, with a fire box big enough to heat the entire house but its ravenous and needs constant feeding in this wind. The chimney whistles and howls, as the wind comes down the flue and the flames flicker in a rapid dance burning up the wood as fast as I can load it in.   Last evening I brought in enough wood to last for a few days. It was wet from being under the previous storms snow but I lined it up like wood sentinels in front of the stove so it’s dry. I have a really dry reserve in the kitchen wood box but I’m guarding that as emergency stash in case I am held here for days because there will be no digging out the pile of wood in the yard without a tractor or at least manual labour, man being the operative word. I don’t have the strength or endurance to shovel that heavy load.

I heard earlier on the radio that 10,000 homes are without power in the province. I hope everyone is safe and has access to a wood stove for heat. Crews can’t get out to service outages as the weather is too brutal.   Stay safe everyone.

I’ve been hooking as much as possible. What else is there to do on a storm day but hook, watch movies, stuff the face and watch the arse spread. I can do four things at once. I finished the buoy riser and then started the tessellated fish one. Next is a stylized wave with a red signal buoy. A chance to use multiple hues of blue, sea greens and turquoises surrounding a bright red buoy. If I am stuck at home again tomorrow I’ll begin hooking the waves.

I have enough wool to work on the waves. Anticipating being storm stayed, I dragged home several baskets full of colour to pick from. I’ve finally found one drawback to owning a rug hooking studio....I have no stash at home. And at times when I can’t get there for supplies, it’s a big imposition. Sometimes I run out of a wool at midnight, there’s no hopping in the car at that hour. Then there are days like this when I couldn’t get there even if I wanted too so I have to be prepared or work is delayed.    That’s the only downside as the pro column is filled with all the good reasons for being a shop keeper. I’m sure a lot of you really feel sorry for me, having all that delicious wool at my disposal, saying to Shane, “I need this colour and it magically appears out of his dye pot,” Yup, nothing much to complain about there so I’ll have to stick to ranting about the darn weather.

So that completes four risers. Eleven more to go. I won’t be blitzing them until completion. I plan to work them in-between other things but I would like to see them all hooked and hung by fall. Not an unrealistic goal as they hook up quickly.   So back at it. Chat soon. Stay safe and warm everyone.

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Winter has arrived....

2/10/2017

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That was quite the storm last night. The icy snow pelted the window like BB’s fired from a gun and the wind shook the house to its foundation, to the point of lift off; I would imagine witches in red shoes were apprehensive......

The house creaked and groaned, keeping the pups in a constant state of concern. Their little heads lifting with every percussion. Honey has never liked the wind. As a tiny pup she was on the back deck heading to the door after a pee when a gust picked her up and blew her into the walkway. She’s been nervous of its roar ever since. Like elephants they have great memories so a howling wind is always a beast ready to pounce.

There wasn’t as much snow as predicted which I am thankful for but what came down was heavy and frozen in place by the plunging temperatures. Last evening before the storm hit I brought in extra firewood and lined the living room floor with an extra two to three day supply. The wind had already started; ripping at my jacket and stole the hat from my head several times. The snow was still too deep from the last storm so I couldn’t use the wheelbarrow so I carried armloads back and forth, beating a path with my boots until it got dark and my heart pounded out of my chest from the exertion. At my age, I always worry I might have a heart attack out there in the cold, I’d lay there for days before they’d find the human Popsicle I’d become.

More snow is coming Monday. It seems winter has finally arrived with its bag of tricks. Most temperatures have been above 0 so I haven’t been complaining but now they are dipping as if punishment for not heading to Florida. My winter life is all about keeping the house warm or I have to resort to turning on the baseboard heaters and that’s just huge chunks out of the bank account. We’ve already purchased the firewood so it’s like paying twice for heat if I don’t use it.
I look out the living room window and I shudder at the icy grey harbour and more blowing snow. I can feel the cold on the other side of the glass, feel it leaking through the cracks and crannies of an old house, through the insulation and vapour barrier, like icy talons of the walking dead. I am so happy to be inside with a blazing fire in the stove and a fresh brewed coffee to warm my insides. Winters can be tough in Canada, but in Mahone Bay we are lucky that the power doesn’t go out for prolonged periods. I hear horror stories on the radio of people without power in small communities for days, even weeks. If we have an outage it’s serviced quickly because we are independent of Nova Scotia Power. I’m lucky that I have a wood stove that heats the entire house and has a cook top for heating food. Light a few candles and we’re good to go.   I also have one of those headlamps so I can hook or read in the darkness. Best purchase ever! I also use it to go to the woodpile in the dark, blazing a trail of light so I don’t trip over my own feet or run into a bear. I live next to the woods, so you never know when that could happen......

It’s brutally bitter today and getting worse this evening. The pups don’t want to play in the snow and within minutes the little guy, Jake, sits and lifts one paw, and gives me the most pitiful look of "save me mom!" I have to run out and rescue him. They have a higher body temperature but their coat is only hair. Imagine when we go out without a hat and how our heads take the full brunt of the temperatures. My guys have coats but their heads, legs and feet are exposed. They feel the bite, do their business quickly and rush to the door. Henri, although bigger and with more natural insulation, drops to his side and lays there for me to rescue him. My babies wouldn’t last long in these conditions. I think of all the little creatures in the forest, it’s amazing they don’t perish, but then again they haven’t been spoiled by lying on warm beds in front of a fire.

I haven’t been to work in days but tomorrow will be the end of Honey’s little recovery at home. After three days of medication, hydration and rest, she is breathing much deeper so I’ll take her to work with me tomorrow. She likes going to work and waits for me at the door now. She takes her job seriously, greeting the customers and friends that come into the shop. Sometimes she barks but it is excitement and she runs up to people with her tail wagging so furiously that her back end sashays to the point of falling over. She loves people, especially men and has never met a dog that she didn’t get along with, no matter how mean they might be. She has skills that girl.

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Another day in the life of Honey.....

2/9/2017

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Honey and I have had a rough couple of days. She’s going downhill with a normal velocity but when she becomes anxious it speeds up the decent. So...she won’t be getting groomed anymore. Tuesday she went in for her appointment and the anxiety of the wash and blow dry set her back. She started breathing hard and fast while there and it escalated throughout the evening and night so by the next morning she had a difficult time breathing. We rushed to the vets. She was coughing and then hacking a most horrible noise. She calmed a bit in the car but her lungs had filled up with fluid from all the heavy panting so we are back to square one, once again. I let her sleep all day yesterday and by midnight last night her breath was as good as it gets at this stage in her disease. She was peeing less so that means little or no fluid in the lungs. The pills dehydrate her so I have to make sure she drinks a lot of water, which normally she does but I help her ingest even more with a syringe. The pills dry out her nose badly and that’s only what I can see, I don’t want her kidneys and other organs struggling because shes now on a high dose of diuretic for a week. It's a tough learning curve but now I see a direct correlation between her being stressed and trips to the vet so I'll be able to practice prevention in future.

I saw a new vet yesterday as the regular one was off and she was very frank. She told me to be prepared because Honey could die any moment with a heart attack. It’s amazing how much that little organ can take as sometimes it sounds like it will break the ribs and jump out of her chest. She said I could leave her there for the day on oxygen but when it comes down to that it’s time to make a decision. Whatever I can do for her at home I’ll consider as long as it isn’t stressful on her, but she’s not spending her last days in a hospital. She shakes like a leaf at the vets so how is that helpful when she’s supposed to remain calm? No, I will administer to her all I can until whatever is will be. If I wasn’t so sad I’d smile, sweet Honey has always had a big heart, and now it’s growing to match the figurative in a literal sense.

I’m trying to hold it together and not be sad but tears leak here and there as if my ducts have opened new holes. I hope that she can hold on until hubby comes home as I don’t want to be alone with final decisions or however the end plays out. I’ll need hugs and plenty of them. Today she looks and acts perfectly normal until she jumps on her ball or runs to grab the vacuum cleaner cord. Then she coughs like there’s a fur ball choking her.

I take her everywhere I go now, and never leave her for more than a quick trip to the grocery store. Shane says I should stay home and not bring her to the shop as she sometimes barks when people come in and rushes to meet them but that isn’t stressful for her. She’s happy and her tail is waving wildly and besides I can’t stay home forever. If she keels over because she’s excited someone is coming in to schmooze her, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing to go happy. Not good for the customer but hey, I’ll try to smooth it over with some free wool and do my darnedest to convince them they were fortunate to be part of her beautiful passing from this life.

My hubby tells me over and over that she’s had great life and I know this to be true, but I can’t seem to dwell on the positive when all I can feel coming is the heart wrenching loss of her being gone. Time with her will never be enough, I'll always be greedy for a minute more, a day, a week..... She is my first poodle, my big girl, I couldn’t love her more if I’d given birth to her, so I’ve been slipping down a dark hole of late. I’m trying to keep it together, trying to think happy thoughts, hooking as therapy to keep my mind in check, but maybe I’m a glass half empty kind of gal cause I continue to linger in a state of sorrow and she hasn't even left me yet.

Yesterday was a total write off as far as work is concerned as my girl needed to snuggle close so we warmed the sofa together. I talked to her and massaged her and she relaxes under my touch. I’ve been taking lots of photos as there will never be enough to capture her true essence. I’m not depressed but not far from its doorstep. I’m looking pretty ratty with unwashed hair and no will to rectify it. I have a rare headache, uncommon for me, that water doesn’t seem to ease. I need to perk up, shake this off and try to be thankful she is still here, count blessings with the days she’s able to be on the top side of the garden. After all, her heart may be stronger than it seems. Maybe this glitch is just that, perhaps we’ll be together for many more months. Unfortunately, the big secret of life is the time of our death. If I could look into a crystal ball I would, it’s not knowing that does me in, the fear of losing her, never seeing her pretty little face again, look into her beautiful eyes. Feeling the comfort of her warm little body in my arms. My babies have the best life possible but they give me far more than I give them, I would be lost without them. I’ve been perching on pins and needles with every cough, every wheeze, counting breaths, listening to her heart with my stethoscope for changes, waking 10 times a night to check to see if she is still with me....it's like watching a grenade after the pin is pulled......

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Riser Rug Run

2/6/2017

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I’m having fun designing and hooking a few nautical flavoured stair case risers. I’ll be in and out of this project until all of them are covered in fanciful, ocean inspired fiber art of all things on or in the sea. This was never meant to be a project that starts and finishes in one wave. I’ll be tacking in other directions from time to time as the winds of life rarely allows a straight sail, but that makes it more exciting and less of a chore to finish on some unrealistic deadline. The voyage may take longer, but I’ll reach port in due time.

So I’m working on #3 of the Riser Rug Run, keeping it on course with more seafaring motifs. Each rug will have its share of red, the glue that will fuse them all together. Future projects will include a lobster, muscles and starfish with red coral, oars, fish, anchors and other maritime favourites. The possibilities are endless and I have 25 rough sketches that I add too when a thought ripples the still waters of my brain, I’ve even gotten out of bed in the middle of night to chart a fresh course. I may not hook them all, I only have so many risers, but we will offer lots of choices for those who wish to adorn their own staircase with a bit of nautical flair.

The photo does not do these small rugs justice. Saturday I sat in a chair at the shop and gazed at the two I’ve finished. The richness of the colours, that luxurious red of the compass played with the tail of the mermaid in perfect harmony. I couldn’t take my eyes of them, they add so much beauty to the studio. I'm afraid I'll break my neck going up the stairs as my eyes drift downward when I should be focusing up and ahead.

The mermaid, long and graceful, swims in a graduated ocean, deep blues at the bottom rising to light, sun kissed blues, teals and turquoises at the top. Her hair flows like liquid gold. I shaded her tail with six values of Heart Red, lightest at her hips and darkest at the small span before the fanning tail. The rope is hooked with six value Straw; a simple process with a huge impact.

There are constants to these designs. The rope edge will cascade up and down the staircase binding them together as one continuous mural. The red line for port on the left, and green on the right is also an added bit of continuity and of course the outer edge will all be hooked using that delicious plaid I used for the background and border of my boat compass rose rug. I fear I may not have enough but I used it for the backing of one of my Christmas stockings so I know where to find another quarter yard if needed. After that I'll be pouching the last row of my compass rose outer border. If only I could secure a couple hundred yards of that wool, I’d stow it away just for me. Not only did it wash, cut and hook beautifully, but it’s my favourite colour, blue! I’d use it in everything, my constant go to wool. I’d covet it all to myself, only to be pried out of my cold dead hands.

I’m having fun. Working with this kind of rich colour palette is exciting. My favourite combinations are the primaries, for some reason they resonate with me more than others. I’m drawn to them like a shark to blood, which coincidentally happens to be red.

6 Comments

New found connections.......

2/1/2017

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Imagine sitting on a parent’s lap, looking at photos of when they were young, seeing them as children. Parents are so big and grownup, it’s difficult to believe they were once little people. I would imagine it would be fun to pick and point to the parts that favour us, the eyes, nose, chin and cheek bones, pulling features from both sides to form the image that stares back in our own mirror.

Well, I’ve never been able to do that. There is no photographic connection to my past on my mother’s side. When she was young her father built a large house. He was working in the mines bringing home good money and he built Beatrice, his wife and my grandmother, the home of her dreams. Memories are vague as I was very young hearing the stories but for some reason I remember the house being grand enough to support a back staircase and I believe she told me they would run up one staircase and down the next and get hollered at for the doing by her no nonsense father.

Then sadness. A neighbour was burning brush or something to that effect and a spark landed on the shake roof, ignited and the house went up in flames. In the ash lay my grandparent’s wedding pictures and pictures of their children. There were never any photos to see, at least not any that my mother had in her possession. For me the albums only started when she moved to Mahone Bay, met and dated my father and then married. Any photos from her youth taken after the fire stayed behind in Springhill.

After the house was leveled by the fire the family moved in with my grandfather’s mother, Sarah Olsen, I think that was her name, we called her Gran Olsen. It was a much smaller house with space at a premium for a large family. As a child Gran Olsen looked ancient, exacerbated by a broken nose from her youth, that left the bone crushed and skin wrinkled and dimpled. Any kind of anomaly can concern a child and for me it was frightening because she was also aloof and unfriendly that painted unease. On the rare times she left her room, I hugged my mother’s leg and peeked out from behind her skirt at this strange looking woman. She never seemed to like me or children for that matter, never spoke to me or cared to know us. I think I remember mom saying she was crotchety, that she gave her mother a difficult time for the intrusion on her life. But in return, grandma looked after her until she died.

We children were nuisances in her house, something to be seen if absolutely necessary but never heard. We were told to be quiet, hushed and tiptoed on egg shells as not to disturb her. A couple of times her door was ajar in the morning and I peeked into the forbidden space with apprehension as if it was a gateway to evil and then scurried down the stairs as if the devil were on my tail. My imagination was fine-tuned as a child, a well-practiced pastime in which my toe was no stranger to dipping in dark pools. Remember my story about an obsession with death starting at age five? I was an anomaly in itself. My nanna’s love and warmth made up for any angst the strange, old woman caused me. Springhill was the best place in the world as a kid. All my cousins were there and both sets of grandparents. Best part of my childhood was visiting that old mining town, a two week exciting holiday that dulled, in comparison, the rest of my existence.
I was chatting with a cousin Marjorie on FB the other day. My Aunt Bea recently passed away, the remaining twin of my mother’s older sisters. We started talking about the past and realized we were both confused at the sequence of which our mother’s siblings were born. She thought my mom was the oldest but I thought Ralph and then the twins were older. We came to the conclusion that my mom was a year younger than the twins but we weren’t sure where Ralph fit in.
That’s when a photo of three Olsen girls popped up in the message box. My mom was easy to spot because the young girl in the photo looked exactly like me. It shocked me in the most pleasurable startle. I have a photo somewhere in almost the exact pose and the faces could be interchangeable.   I’ve been raised hearing I favoured my father but now I’m not so sure. I think my flat head, skinny legs, thin hair and wit results from dad’s input; but my facial looks definitely link to my mom.   Something in me is very pleased and proud to have found this visual connection to my mother who passed away over 25 years ago. As I get older I reflect more about my parents and think how wonderful it would be to talk with them for just one day, even an hour, heck I’d kill for five minutes alone with my mom and dad! Ask all the questions I need and want answers too, tell them I love them; let them see their girl is doing fine.

So I give big thanks to my cousin Marjorie for sharing this wonderful picture!   The two gals on the pony are the twins. I was so enthralled with looking at my mother I forgot to ask her to put names on the twins. The girls weren’t identical but I wouldn’t want to venture a guess which one is Beverly and which one is Beatrice Marie (Bea), but if hard pressed I’d say the girl in the rear is Bea but that's a 50/50 chance of being wrong/right.

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