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Just horsing around......not!

7/31/2013

7 Comments

 
PictureEnglish Rider called "Lucky"
Well I guess I'll pull another tale from the shop experience archives.  Like  encountering a  first love, you never forget the first time someone pulls the wool over your eyes.  Regrettably it taught me to be weary from the get-go, but being in retail, it would have happened sooner or later, its just this happened before the paint was even dry on the shop walls.  The story behind this  harbinger of grief was attached to my very first design commission. 

I'd just moved the store from the one room in my home to Pleasant Street and word spread quickly there were new hooking digs to check out.  Soon after opening, three ladies converged on my doorstep after their Thursday hook-in. They were all delightful, showing me their projects and chatting me up.  They said they liked my patterns and I mentioned  I planned to make custom designing part of my services.  One of the women commented that her daughter loved horses and she would like to hook a rug to commemorate that.  I asked if she wanted a western or an English rider and she said the latter would be fine.  I was pretty excited to have my very first drawing commission and my love of these magnificent creatures added to the zeal.  I went home that night with nothing but horses on the brain and stayed up until 2:00 a.m. drawing.


Back when I started the business I was fairly new to drawing and it took hours to get the thoughts in my head down on paper.  Today,  I can whip up a drawing quickly, maybe even several in a day.  So it took upwards of seven hours to get to the point where  it was transferred it to the backing.  I stayed up until it was completed because  I wanted to deliver the goods quickly to impress that I was the kind of gal who gets things done.  I thought the pattern was lovely although I’m not the best judge of my own work and the following day, the woman seemed very happy with the results so I was pleased with my first custom design.

She told me her daughter would be overjoyed, paid for the pattern and left.  Well, the phone rang later that day and it was the woman saying she showed the design to her equestrian daughter and although it was lovely, she would prefer a western rider.   So I said, hey, no problem, I’ll design another pattern, you can bring back the first one and we’ll do a swap.  I figured this was perfect, I would have two new designs for the shop making it a win win affair!

So it was another late night and I crawled into bed exhausted at 3:00 a.m., satisfied that I’d created another design she would like.  Sure enough, she dropped by the next day with the first pattern in a bag and traded it for the new one and was very happy, said she liked it even better. The shop was busy that day and I didn’t get around to hanging the first pattern on the rack until just before closing.   

PictureRide em Cowgirl!
When I took it out of the bag I immediately noticed it looked messy, not sporting the crisp lines I had laid down.  They were beyond smudged and at first I thought, crap, the woman got it wet for lack of a better reason, but on closer scrutiny I realized the smudging was green and then it hit like a bolt of lightening. It was painfully obvious that someone had traced over the pattern several times using red dot and a green marker.  What a slop job!  The pattern was a virtual  mess of lines all over the place, not even following my neat drawn ones.   It looked like the person or persons that copied it had a serious  palsy or was a child  lacking coordination.   I could have been neater copying it with my eyes closed!   Ironically, I'd named the pattern "Lucky" but there was nothing lucky about it now. 

I stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape and heart sinking.  I’m telling you I was speechless, and my brain kept going in circles as I couldn’t get past those ugly green lines.  I could have won the lottery and it wouldn't have brightened my mood.  I was pin pricked, deflated and small.  My shoulders sank and my head drooped.  I was hurt beyond words, wounded as if someone had stabbed me I the heart.  

I think what made it so hurtful was the fact that I had custom designed  the piece and went out of my way to please her.   I thought I'd gone above and beyond, losing sleep and pushing the envelope to fill the order, only to be taken advantage of.  

Whenever I’m crushed I phone hubby, cry out my woes and he makes it all better but even he couldn’t pull me out of the funk I was in.   Then I phoned Mary, my wise friend who always knows the best course of action.  What should I do?  How should I do it?  Should I keep quiet and pretend it never happened or go on the principle that I was robbed and should be compensated.   I didn’t know what to do.  My faith had jumped the fence and ridden off into the sunset at a gallop pace.  I just didn't understand.  This was someone’s grandmother; an older woman with support stockings and Avon talc. If you can't trust granny who can you trust?  If this was an example of how I was going to be treated in this business I felt I might as well lock the door now because my skin wasn’t tough enough to weather this kind of storm.   

I even phoned Doris Eaton, our rug hooking mentor in these parts.  Not only is she paramount in setting up our guild but she also helped get our rug school off the ground and more importantly is a gifted rug hooking artist.  She told me of an experience she had with a woman who had taken one of her designs without asking and passed it around to her students.  She looked the other way because she hated to have to deal with it and I was actually leaning to that side as well.  Who wants controversy, who wants to deal with dirty business, where tears and false promises, hurtful words and maybe fisticuffs could result.

So I went home and slept on it, although there wasn’t much sleep.  I tossed and turned and by morning I’d wrestled out my course of action.  I had to deal with it and confront her or I wouldn't have any respect for myself personally or as a business woman.  That morning I went to work planning on making the call first thing but anxiety took over so it was never the right time.  That evening, with my supportive hubby standing by my side I dialed the number and swallowed a lump the size of Texas.  This was not going to be easy. Even though I had done nothing wrong I was apprehensive to confront her; compounded by nausea and diarrhea ravaging my lower extremities. 

After the usual pleasantries, I told the woman what I discovered when opening the bag and that I could tell the design was copied.  I told her it was ruined and couldn't be sold in the shop.  She said she didn’t copy it but I countered with the fact that someone did and it was in her possession so she was responsible.  I told her if she came in the next day and paid for the pattern I would forget that it ever happened and she could continue to come into my shop and nothing further would be said.   She went very quiet, then agreed and we hung up. The deed done, I made a quick dash to the bathroom!

Five minutes later she called me back.  Her voice was stressed and full of apologies.  I learned later she called her friends and the one told her to phone back ASAP and do whatever was necessary so I wouldn't be angry with them or possibly bar them from the shop.   She  said she was sorry, that she didn’t know that copying a pattern was wrong.  I let that slide, ignorance is no defense in this case.  Even if this was true she had to realize  she’d ruined the pattern.  If she couldn’t see the mess it was in, her spectacles weren’t doing their job.


We hung up.  Another few minutes passed and she called again.  This time more apologies and saying she would never do that again.   She sounded as if she had run uphill, was out of breath and kind of panicked, I thought maybe she'd been crying so now I'm feeling bad.   I promised her again if she paid me for the pattern it would be forgotten.   We hung up.

Then she called back the third time even more upset.  Said she had never done  that before.  Now I’m worried she’ll whip herself into a heart attack so I tried to calm her down, telling her everything would be okay.  She seemed to relax a bit and we hung up for the last time that evening.   The very next day, right at opening, her husband dropped by the shop to collect and pay for the pattern.  I can’t say I felt better being compensated, it would take time for the experience to fade, but I was happy I’d done the right thing and that maybe one more person would think twice about copying patterns.   

I don’t believe she ever hooked "Lucky" or any anyone else who had a copy of it.   I’m sure it left a bad taste in her mouth because it still does for me.   Maybe once I see it hooked it will erase the bad connotation associated with it.  Cover those messy marker lines burned into my brain with beautiful coloured wool, to soften the hardness I feel for that design.  The woman did a lovely job on the western rider called "Ride'm Cowgirl!" but unfortunately I don’t have a great picture.

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This is all I have left of a paper photocopy of the hooked rug.
To view these patterns for sizes and pricing click the link: 
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html
7 Comments

Lilies under foot.........

7/30/2013

3 Comments

 
“If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily” - Chinese Proverb
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Gardens are so polite. Each species of flower takes its turn to shine, coming and going passively without stepping on each others toes.  The peonies are  gone for another year and now  its time for the lilies to take center stage.   I have so many different types and each one is breathtakingly beautiful, from the common tiger lily to the huge show stealer, the incredible Star Gazer.  You haven't lived until you've looked into the heart of a lily, deep into the nucleus with all its delicate pistils and stamens and colours painted by Mother Nature.   There is something ethereal about the lily's perfection. Seriously, if you've only admired this flower from the lawn chair look deep into its core and you will be amazed at the beauty before you.  

I have three separate gardens and everywhere I look there are lilies in all ranges of colours and size.  Even the rain can't take away from their grandeur and although  I did notice the presence of a little red bug that has seriously tried to devour a few of the Asiatic lilies.  The leaves have more holes than greenery and the flowers themselves are looking pretty ragged.  The strain of being eaten alive has dwarfed the flower heads so they are smaller than previous years.  Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come, I want my precious lilies to thrive and pleasure my eyes for decades.   

I loved lilies so much I wanted to immortalize them in a hooked rug. I hooked this piece several years back, designed it for a class with Jane Halliwell.  My friends were all taking pictorial instruction and there I was with exaggerated flowers but I kept my ears open to all the tips they were given.  Jane was an excellent teacher, lively and fun and left an impression on us all.  


I used dip dyed wool for the leaves and flower pods and the flowers were six value swatches using the  Blue Willow formula.  The background is Antique Black from back in the day when the colour was more of a vibrant dark green.  Today it seems to be more of a muddied greyish green, dull and lifeless which is rather disappointing.  These days, I've resorted to over dyeing the Antique Black with Brilliant Green dye to give it the punch it used to have.   
  It was a good choice for my background as it made the flowers pop. 

The above rug is hooked in #8 cut as I wanted it to be painless and over quickly.  Flower shading is lovely but not my cup of tea so it was a git-er-done, have the T-shirt and move on experience.  I opted for blue lilies, artistic license as this rug was meant to go in front of the French doors in my blue and white themed dining room.  Man likes to manipulate nature so at some point they'll mess with genetics to create a blue one, and I'll be first in line a the gardening store. 

Unfortunately, I messed up on the whipping.  Not using cording meant the edge rippled like ribbon candy so I was a bit put off and less enamored with the rug so it hung around the shop where dogs called it bed and the sunlight faded the colours. I'm sitting here trying to remember where it might be as I just realized I haven't seen it for some time.  

The orange version below was hooked by Gorman Wilmot and she opted to add a fifth flower head in the center by taking out the large pods.....quite striking. 

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Hooked by Gorman Wilmot
Back to my gardens.....I have/had three variegated hostas that are the size of hippos.  They line the front of the back garden and grow larger every year.   Under the cloak of darkness, the deer sauntered down off the back hill and mowed off the one on the left so all that remains are spindly stocks....looks like a bad haircut with Tasmania devil clippers.  How sad for my view!  

My Hydrangea bush is loving this weather.    She's showing off more this year because of the moist soil.  She's dripping with huge blue globes, except for the top as the deer had those flowers for dessert after the hosta main course. Darn those forest rats, not so fondly dubbed by my hubby, but I have to admit they have fabulous taste! 

And thanks to all this rain, my concord grapevines are dripping with more fruit than the last several years combined.  By fall there will be a sea of bluish, sweet tasting grapes tat I snack on when I take the pups out for their business.  There is something very rewarding about eating off the land.  Previous years that have yielded a bumper crop we made wine but I'm far too busy this year.  Instead, I can see a big stash of grape jelly in my future.   I can't eat it all myself, but I like to make it and share!    I have so much colour and beauty in my life...I feel truly blessed.... 
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These are a few of the lilies from my gardens.  Everywhere I look there is beauty. 
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3 Comments

A bird in the stove is worth two in the bush.....

7/29/2013

0 Comments

 
PicturePeek-a-boo, I see you....boy, this place is filthy human....
We had some excitement at the house this morning.  Henri was barking, which for a dog might not sound so unusual, but it is for him.  He has a rather deep bark that comes off like a squawking duck, very distinctive to match his unique personality, but he's usually the silent one of the four. I kept asking "what's the matter boy?" as he worked to get my attention. 

There was a gardener planting next door making a bit of noise, so I assumed, with the doors open, he was hearing him through the screen so I screamed "No!" to quiet him.  But that only got the rest of them excited so now they are all chiming in for a musical chorus of chaos and I'm about to loose my mind because my attempts at silencing the four yappers fell on deaf ears.  That's strange because usually when I bark they stop so I knew something had to be up. 

Henri kept hanging around the wood stove and I checked it out wondering if a squirrel or a mouse was gnawing between the walls again but I couldn't  hear anything.   This happens occasionally and I just love it when the scratching starts up in the middle of the night and I'm awakened from a deep sleep to low growling pups worried we are under attack. The sound seems magnified as if we're being invaded by an army hell bent on breaching the wall even though it's probably only a lone mouse nibbling on the studs. 

Then in between my shouting and "What's the matter Henri?"  there was a brief break of quiet and I heard an ever so soft fluttering coming from inside the wood stove.  And then I saw the culprit.  A little brown bird, either a dove or a starling, peeking out from behind the glass window of the stove.  It looked  at me as if to say, "get me the heck out of here, I took a wrong turn at a fork in the sky and ended up on the wrong side of freedom....what kind of bird cage is this?   

So I rushed the pups upstairs and secured them in the bedroom, grabbed the camera and snapped  a few shots.  He sat very still in a weird pose with his head tilted back as if indignant that I was capturing this embarrassing moment to put on Facebook for all his friends to see. 


I opened the front door and propped back the screen with a stool and slowly opened the stove door to set him free.  It happened so fast I couldn't get the camera shot of him taking flight. At first he flew to the window and clung to the sill but as I shifted the curtain to take a picture he lifted off again, made a circle around the living room, spied the open front door and flew towards the light and freedom.  He went as far as the cable wires and perched facing me. He shook his head as if to say "That turned out well considering I could have been a dog's breakfast!" and then flew off to where birds go.

How exciting for the morning.  To begin by rescuing one of nature's little creatures.  Good boy to Henri for pointing it out as the bird would have been trapped all day until I returned late this evening.  How it got down the chimney I don't know.  Maybe he was napping on the edge and fell in?  I can't imagine it was done on purpose unless he was adventurous, wondering where the long dark brick tunnel may lead, to some pot of seeds under a rainbow?  Anyway, another exciting day in the life of the Little's where Murphy's Law and quirky incidents frequent our humble abode......  

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How do I get myself in these messes....the wife will say I told you so...
0 Comments

A feast of colour....

7/27/2013

2 Comments

 
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Felted zippered bags
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Braided rovings
PictureThree foot long bags of roving
Yesterday was like Christmas at the shop.  Parcel after parcel arrived with goodies.  More plaid wool to stack the shelves, we now have an inventory of more than 60 different patterns and colours. I love plaids and how they hook up, so much texture to bring the rug to life.  The new colours are a soft chartreuse green, a county red, a very nice blue and a soft maroon.

Those little felted notions bags sold like hot cakes so I ordered more and this time found another sheep motif in the larger bags so I got those as well.  These come in the same array of fun colours as the  small round bags do.  So cute and practical to hold your hooks and scissors or use as a make-up bag.  A woman was in the shop yesterday with one that she's had for a year.  She uses it as a wallet and it looked brand new so they wear very well. 

I now have in braided fleece in a slew of colours.  Great for hooking or felting.  Then the piece de resistance is the three foot bags of beautifully dyed roving that look like rainbows.  The colours are delicious!  A soft pastel coloured bag, a bright bag of fun colours and deeper tones for the lover of the antique look.  Perfect for hooking and felting or just fondling!


Unwrapping those boxes and adding more colour to the shop was so exciting.  I stayed late to play and arrange it all and I couldn't wait to get to work this morning to see it all again! 

http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/extra.html   (click the link to view details and pricing)

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Plaids, plaids and more plaids!
2 Comments

Shiver Me Timbers....the pirates are a comin!

7/26/2013

0 Comments

 
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Shiver Me Timbers by Emily Trimm
Arrr matey....shiver me timbers!  Soon the pirates will be weighing anchor and sailing to the waters of Mahone Bay.  We have a festival every year that brings the scallywags out in droves, donning eye patches and parrots and adopting the swashbuckler slang to get in character.  

I personally don't get the need to fall over a dirty, rum soaked, middle aged man living some fantasy of raping  and pillaging, but the tourists seem to like them with their manly swagger and rough talk.   I've had a few laughs seeing women posing with the pirate actors for pictures and there's breathless swooning as if these facsimiles are god's gift.   I prefer my men clean shaven and smelling soap fresh so I don't get it.  I see the appeal of a man in uniform, something clean and smartly cut,  but scruffy, dirty looking costumes and dirt smudged faces aren't my cuppa.  Different strokes for different folks I guess.   I prefer my pirates in a rug and came up with this cute little pirate weather vane a few years ago.  Mary was the first to hook it and the rug is in the shop on display. 

The Pirate Festival & Regatta brings a fair amount of people to town and the chandlery tent on the government wharf usually yields a must have treasure for my shop and maybe a mermaid or some nautical paraphernalia for the house.  That's about all I have time to participate in as the shop is usually busy. 

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Shiver Me Timbers hooked by Mary Doig
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Shiver Me Timbers hooked by Sue Cunningham
http://www.mahonebay.com/festivals-events/pirate-festival-regatta.html

The  Mahone Bay Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to present the 2013 Mahone Bay  Pirate Festival and Regatta on August 2-5.

The  festival continues to build on 23 successful years of the Wooden Boat Festival  and more recently the Pirate Festival and Regatta. It's all about a community's  celebration of our region's historic and sometimes playful relationship with the  sea. Classic boats, pirate exhibits, marauding buccaneers, musicians and  competitive sailing events will entertain and engage the whole family.

Mahone  Bay has been a treasure since 1754. Piratical activity in Atlantic Canada has  been well documented but rarely witnessed.

Join  us in Mahone Bay for exhibits on the history of local piracy. Experience pirate  history for yourself and go on a tour of Oak Island.  Watch out for the  200th anniversary of the Burning of the Young Teazer.

Good  food and music are synonymous with Mahone Bay festivals. Watch musical buskers  performing throughout town. Pick up a commemorative coin. Enjoy a drink, try  some local seafood and take in the beauty of Mahone Bay. There is no doubt you  will bump into someone famous and rub shoulders with a pirate or two.

Classic  and modern yachts, large and small vessels will compete for prizes and trophies.  Less formal competition is planned just for fun; build and then race a boat completely made from recycled cardboard or compete in the famous dory races in  front of the three churches. There are many prizes but expect stiff competition  from marauding pirates. Prizes are awarded daily. Visit our famous summer flea  market, our shops and restaurants and experience the beauty and excitement of  the 2012 Mahone Bay Pirate Festival and Regatta. Parking areas are located  throughout Town. If you come by boat, take advantage of the marina facilities that are available, including hot showers and tender service. Join us, but remember: DRESS LIKE A PIRATE!
0 Comments

What's new at Encompassing Designs......

7/26/2013

1 Comment

 
PictureSari Silk in a number of colours, mottles and solids.
Sari silk, felted purses and bags.  Cleaned out my private stash in the bathroom and have it all labeled to go.  Pleated Pendleton skirts taken apart and the yardage is rolled, priced individually. 

Shane designed several postcards for the traveling hooker and summer trade. 


All these new items, sizes and pricing can be viewed on our website.  Click link: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/extra.html

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Metallic Sari Silk, great sheen!
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Felted bags perfect for scissors and hooks!
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Felted notion bags or change purse!
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Picture perfect postcards!
1 Comment

How to value and price hand hooked rugs.....

7/25/2013

32 Comments

 
For those who sell rugs there seems to be an ongoing debate at calculating a fair price.  Fair in respect to the rug hooker as well as the potential buyer.  One  never wants to give their work away, and time should always be compensated but if we  were paid a reasonable rate or even minimum wage for our labour, rug sales might be non-existent. Proper acknowledgement and compensation for fiber art has been a slow education but we are gaining ground inch by inch. Luckily, people today who want to purchase quality, are not afraid of the price tag that may accompany it. 
 
Customers ask why can they buy a supposedly hand-hooked rug up the street for a fraction of the cost compared to what they see in my shop and I explain that those rugs are made in China using goodness knows what, possibly a machine, whereas, the rugs in my shop and other local venues are selling the traditional, handmade craft as our grandparents would have constructed. Generally the nod of the head ensures that they understand the price difference and one more person is educated to appreciate what goes into this art form.  


When making out the price tag, it is never fair to undervalue your rugs as that sets up an unrealistic expectation in the buying community and makes it more difficult for others to ask for reasonable pricing. If someone sells rugs or their handiwork just to recoup the cost of materials and disregards their time and effort because they have fun doing it, that does little to educate the buying market of the true value of our talents.  
 

Lighthouse Rug Hookers Pricing Guide

Whether you are selling your hooked mats or setting a value for insurance purposes or for a show, it helps to have a realistic set of pricing guidelines. Most shop and gallery owners will ask you to set a price on your own work.  That creates a dilemma.  Do you price to recover your cost?  Do you want some return on your labour and creativity? What is the value in today’s market and is it worth selling a piece?

The Lighthouse Hookers, the South Shore branch of the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia, (RHGNS) had some lively discussions, came up with a chart and tested it on three different hooking styles: a wide cut primitive mat with recycled fabrics, a fine cut pillow with fine shading in purchased dyed wool and a wall hanging with special techniques and a variety of fibers.  The guideline seems to work and the results are available to all Maritime hookers.

We used three existing guidelines as a basis for discussion.  The RHGNS approved a set of guidelines in June, 2002.  These were published in the Rug Hooking magazine and revised at a teacher’s branch workshop in 2005.  We wondered if they would still work today.  The second set was from the Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland and Labrador and the third, designed to price commissions, was published in the Spring 2011 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine. The end result was a slightly modified and updated version of the RHGNS guidelines. Our members felt that it most closely reflected their style of hooking and suited the local market conditions.


Criteria

Amount per square foot


Basic price on burlap, monks cloth and rug warp                                              $80.00
Basic price on linen                                                                                         $90.00
Original design, depending on complexity                                            $12.00 - $20.00
Dyed  new woven wool, custom dyed by hooker                                               $30.00
Dyed new woven wool, purchased                                                                     $6.00
Recycles wool as is                                                                                           $ 6.00
Recycled wool, over-dyed                                                                                 $10.00
Intricate shading, 75% of work                                                                           $15.00
Intricate shading, 50% of work                                                                          $10.00
Fine cut strips (#3 and #4)                                                                                $10.00
Wider cut strips (#5 - #8)                                                                                   $8.00
Sculptured hooking                                                                                          $20.00
Other materials (fibres, roving, metallic threads, embellishments, etc.)             Recover cost
Marketing costs (gallery commissions, promotional flyers, show entry fees )     Recover cost
Quality of work, including finishing                                                                Subjective
Visual appeal                                                                                                 Subjective


  • Basic price includes backing, printed commercial pattern and allowance for time/labour
  • Adapted design category was deleted because of copyright issues
  • Quality of work and visual appeal are the “WOW” factor and must be evaluated by the artist
      Sessions conducted by Heather Gordon and Joan Young, Spring 2011 in Bridgewater, NS
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Formula for finding the square foot of a square or rectangle rug  (example size 22" x 33")
Multiply the width x length  22 x 33 = 726 square inches
Divide 726/144 = 5.0146 square feet
Multiply 5.0146 x (price calculated from criteria ex. $120.00) = $601.75 ($600.00)
                                              
32 Comments

Those three little words that mean so much........

7/24/2013

6 Comments

 
“The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook.”  
                                                                                                                          ― 
Julia Child
The other day, while digging out the doughnut recipe I came across another tried and true favourite that reminded me of this story. 

A decade or so back I launched a self imposed diet to try and rid myself of that lingering baby fat from giving birth to a twelve pounder, affectionately known as Shane.  I'd packed on a lot of weight during the pregnancy and like unwanted relatives it wouldn't go away.  I hadn't been overly concerned about those extra pounds, but after running into an old acquaintance who exclaimed excitedly with all sincerity, "Oh my Christine, when did you have your baby?" followed by my reply, "Twenty years ago!", I thought maybe I should work a bit harder to improve my maternity style outer image.  Some people have a natural propensity to put their mouth in gear before their brain brake is engaged and although she didn't have a mean bone in her body, the truth hung in the air like a bad stench....I must have looked like I had a recent encounter with a stork.


So, full of gusto I entered into the world of dieting, blazing a trail with carrot sticks and butterless bread, no sauces, sensible and boring meals with lots of water.  I made my husband promise, PROMISE, PROMISE not to give in to any demands of eating out or treats of any kind.  I even made him raise his hand to swear he would be the gatekeeper of the fridge and unfortunately he took the job seriously.   Funny how all the foods that taste the best, feel so good in your mouth, wrap you in comfort and fill your senses with unadulterated joy are all bad for you.  And equally funny, the first three letters of the word diet are die........coincidence? I think not!   
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So after the first  week of  deprivation, I was desperately building a craving that grew like a tenacious weed, drawing all its strength from the root of the fattening fish and chips.  Why I settled on this particular food I don't know, it wasn't like it was a regular part of my diet because we rarely ate deep fried food, but maybe I was weakening in the grey cell department, misfiring from a lack of sugar.  All I know, I became obsessed with deep fried, English battered fish and its side kick, the golden French fry that I longed to smother under a blanket of ketchup. 

I suppose I was relentless and more than a bit annoying because the look on hubby's face said I was bugging him more than a swarm of black flies. To his testimony, no matter how much I whined or begged he remained a rock, holding strong to the sworn oath I'd stupidly deputized him with, and used my own words against me, that his diligence was for my own good.  I tried playing cute and using womanly wiles, but he saw the manipulation for what it was.  A good lesson learned for future attempts at anything I might want to get myself out of, to keep the mouth shut and not drag him into the regime because he played by the rules.

So I'll admit, the nagging was relentless for several weeks but he remained vigilant and I failed to put a dent in his  stubborn veneer.  But, that only made the craving worse, by now I was dreaming about it and entertaining thoughts of going behind his back for a sneaky take-out to cram into my face on the way home from work.  Funny how when you're denied something that forbidden fruit becomes a search for a holy grail, commandeering every thought in your life.  

So after a month of torture for us both, the big weigh-in yielded  the goal of a ten pound loss. Nothing to sneeze at and worthy of a reward and what I had in mind will be of no surprise, securing a date with hubby for Friday evening for the coveted deep fried haddock and fries.    So that night in bed, feeling happy with my success and with visions of fried fish swimming around in my head, I sought a bit of affirmation that hubby was proud of me for staying this difficult course. I rolled over and said to the dear boy, "Now would be a good time to say those three little words that mean so much,"  this being my way of prompting an "I love you"  considering he's a man and needs to be told when to do such things.  He looked at me and without missing a beat he replied in an exasperated tone,  "Fish and Chips?" 

I sent a condensed version of this story to Reader's Digest and received a phone call and $200.00 for my effort.  It was published under "Life's Like That" and I took the money and treated hubby to a meal out... you guessed it....fish and chips!

I worked at a take-out restaurant as a young girl;  starting there at thirteen and worked my way up to night shift cook at fourteen.  They made the best  English batter from scratch, unlike what they have today, a powder that comes in a large pail that you add water to.  The secret to a well made piece of deep fried fish is to pat the moisture away with paper towel before dipping it in the batter.  This insures that the coating won't fly off when it hits the hot fat and will have a smooth surface and be puffed and plump. 

Restaurants constantly disappoint when the fish arrives at the table with the batter barely covering the surface, or is too thin and hard, or is so thick it's like cake under the surface and you can hardly find the haddock.  The flavour just isn't there with this premixed, laboratory designed base so I'm sharing this scratch recipe for those of you who like homemade and would like to take a trip back to the time when a piece of deep fried fish made love to your watering mouth, not turned you off and left you cold.   

English Batter

1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Milk
1 Egg
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Powder

Mix all ingredients together at one time.   Hand beat until smooth.

Wash and pat fish dry with paper towel.  Pick over for bones.  Dip in batter and slowly put in hot fat, leaving on the fork until it floats and then release it.  If you dump it in the fat too quickly, some of the batter will blow off and the fish will also sink and stick to the bottom of the pan.  


Fry until golden brown on one side and then turn.   Do this only once as flipping it back and forth will overcook and make the batter hard.  This recipe is perfect for scallops or clams as well.   Enjoy!
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6 Comments

How to paint colour on wool clothing.....

7/23/2013

5 Comments

 
By Guest Blogger Charlene Scott
Breathe new life into a favorite garment with a bit of painted on colour! 
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Last Fall, I bought this sweater at Frenchys. It was 100% felted wool with a stamped pattern on  the topside and  plain on the back.   Grey is not my best colour but I wore it almost every day until it got too warm this summer.   I had it on while I attended  rug school and it garnered many compliments and comments because as we all know, hookers love wool. 

At rug school I took the dye course and one of our projects was painting on wool.  Prior to that I had promised myself that I would just dye the sweater another colour but the painting on wool peeked my interest.   So finally, the other day, I decided I'd give it a go and see how it would turn out.

Shane was busy dyeing wool on the stoves and we shared the dye kitchen.  I used three formula colours, Lime, Pink Orchid, and Royal Blue, all from Christine's dye books as well as straight yellow, used very little water  so the colours would be darker and added the vinegar directly to the dye before applying.  The sweater was dripping wet, lying flat on a garbage bag on the dye kitchen counter while I applied the colour with a foam brush. I had a rubber  glove on as I was also pressing in and smoothing the dye with my fingers. 


When finished I placed the sweater carefully in a casserole pan, added a bit of water so it wouldn't scorch to the bottom, covered the pan with foil and put it in the oven at 225* for half an hour.   I checked it then, rearranged it in the pan to make sure it all  heated through and left it for another 1/2 hour to make sure all was set.   After one hour I rinsed it in very warm water adding cold slowly till I could squeeze the water out and no dye ran out.   I finished up with a gentle spin of my washer to  get the rest of the water out.  To dry, I placed it on a towel, blocked it, set it outside on the deck in the shade and it dried quickly.  I am pleased with the results.  The sweater shrunk slightly, however I am thinking if I get it slightly damp  I may be able to stretch it a tiny bit.  Either way I will still wear it, just maybe not buttoned up.....
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5 Comments

How to dye with onion skins.....

7/22/2013

1 Comment

 
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Pam Haughn mentioned onion skin dyeing in her guest blog the other day so that prompted this post. Start saving all those yellow onions skins and ask the grocery store and friends to hoard them up as well.  It takes a lot of skins to dye using the casserole method as the skins need to pretty much cover the wool for a good golden, mottled coverage. 




Stove top method:

Use natural or lighter coloured wools as darker colours may bleed and affect the outcome although this can be quite striking.  
 
Wash or presoak the wool per the usual.

In a two quart pot add dry onion skins, 6 cups hot water and simmer, stirring for 15 minutes – strain.  Make a second extraction using 3 cups of water, simmer again for 15 minutes, strain and add to first extraction.  Discard skins.  (This method is less messy as the  skins do not come in contact with the wool.)

In a dye pot enough water to cover the amount of wool you wish to dye, add 2 Tsp. salt and bring to a boil.  Add ½ cup dye solution.  Immerse wet wools and simmer for 15 minutes adding more dye as needed to obtain colour desired, do not let the wool reach a boil.  If the wool is bunch it will come out mottled or abrashed.  If you want solid colour stir.  (Boiling breaks down the fibers of the wool causing it to become sticky.)  After the dye is absorbed, add 1/3 cup vinegar and simmer 15 minutes longer.  Rinse well in tepid water.   Results will be a golden, caramel coloured wool, like an antique parchment.   

 
Casserole oven method:  

This method produces a lovely mottled effect.   Spread some of the dye onion skins in the bottom of the casserole pan.  Using presoaked, lay the first piece over the bottom layer of skins.  Sprinkle each piece of wool with dry onion skins and salt.  Continue to layer in this fashion.  Depending on the many layers add enough water and 1/3 cup of vinegar to keep the wool wet.  Cover tightly with foil and bake in the oven at 250* for 30 minutes.   

Note:  Although pretty, red onion skins do not dye red, they will be a slightly darker golden than their yellow cousins. It was a surprised to discover as I was specifically collecting red ones for that cranberry look. 

I would have done some dyeing for this blog but I don't have any onion skins and it takes quite a collection to produce a decent colour. 

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Pam Haughn used the onion skin method of dyeing for the background of this lovely little primitive floral.
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Rug hooking travelers in the area....what to do and see!

7/20/2013

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South Shore Rug Hooking Groups

Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia monthly guild meetings:  Last Thursday of each month except July, August and December from 10 am to 2pm. Morning coffee break provided. Bring your own lunch.  Church hall at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 25 Phoenix St., Bridgewater.  Contact Heather Gordon, 902-640-2369, hagordon@eastlink.ca

Hebbville at the Hebbville Fire Hall, Thursdays from 10 – 2.  Tea and coffee provided.  Bring your own lunch.  September to June.   Contact  Jean Wentzell, 902-354-3550.

Trinity – the Rose Bay/Riverport group, every Tuesday (September to April)  1 - 4 pm at Trinity United Church , Rose Bay  Contact Carol Harvey-Clark  902-624-9312  or chclark@tallships.ca

Spruce Top at Spruce Top Rug Hooking Studio, 255 Main Street, Mahone Bay.  Sundays 1 – 4 pm   Contact Carol Harvey Clark,  902-624-9312  or chclark@tallships.ca

Main Street Hookers at Encompassing Designs Rug Hooking Studio, 498 Main Street, Mahone Bay, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays year round from 7 - 9 pm   Contact Christine Little  902-624-0370 or clittle@encompassingdesigns.com  Visitors and travelers welcome.

Liverpool on Mondays from 10 – 2 at the Superstore meeting room, Liverpool.  Bring your own lunch.  Contact Rose Decker  902-354-5597   pdecker@ns.sympatico.ca

Shelburne on Tuesdays from 10-2 at the yacht club on the waterfront. Bring your own lunch.  Contact Gail Daniels   902-656-2574  gailannedaniels@hotmail.com  Continues through the summer.

In addition to these larger groups, there are several smaller groups that meet at the member’s homes.  We will try to provide information for newcomers when possible.

Summer Hook-ins for 2013 River House on Thursdays July 11 and 25, August 8 and 22.  10 am to 2 pm. Join the Hebbville group in Petite Riviere this summer.  Come and hook by the river.   Contact Jane Steele at 693-3111 or riverhousejane@eastlink.ca

Bell Island on Mondays   July 5 until end of August, except for August 5.  10am to 2 pm at the LaHave Islands Community Centre next to the LaHave Islands Marine Museum.  Earl Smith’s famous blueberry scones and cinnamon buns, tea and coffee are available by donation.  Travel across beautiful Crescent Beach and enjoy a day on the islands.

Summer Shows for 2013 From Mat To Masterpiece  –  Lighthouse Rug Hookers - July 2 - 28th at the DesBrisay Museum

From the Beginning  – A Retrospective by Doris Eaton -  opens July 6 at River House 

Out of the Box  – Innovative pieces by The Square Zebras – opens September 7 at River House


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"My English Garden" by Doris Wentzell
from Mat to Masterpiece

Welcome from the South Shore Lighthouse Rug Hookers.


We are delighted to support the DesBrisay Museum’s summer theme of Women At Work.  Traditional rug hooking has been an important part of women’s lives in this area since the mid-1800’s.  At first, hooked mats were used to provide comfort on drafty wood floors and to add a touch a colour to the home.   As women’s lives and roles changed, rug hooking evolved from a household chore to a form of artistic expression.  The display areas in this show reflect different periods and styles to show how changes in women’s lives are reflected in changes in rug hooking. 


There is a tendency to regard heritage pieces simply as drab old mats. We challenge that perception.  Considering the circumstances under which they were made, each and every one is, in its own right, a masterpiece.  Each mat reflects the artistic spirit of the maker.

Although it is no longer a necessary activity, rug hooking is not a thing of the past.  There is an active and vibrant rug hooking community on the South Shore preserving traditional styles and experimenting with innovative fibre techniques.   Please feel free to drop in and visit one of our summer hook-ins and shows.


Keeping Traditions Alive

As you enter the show, you will see how traditions are being kept alive.  These pieces are hooked with original patterns and designs, using traditional hooking styles and materials, yet they have a very modern look - a contemporary colour palette, a new dye technique, or an unusual treatment of a traditional design.


Traditional Hooking

On the fireplace wall, you will see wonderful heritage mats, early hooking tools, original Garrett Bluenose patterns, yarn hooking and new mats hooked in traditional Nova Scotia styles.

20th Century Revival


In the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s , a period of greater affluence and increased leisure time, there was renewed interest in rug hooking with emphasis on new dyed wool, shading and swatches, formal  Rittermere, Moshimer and Pearl McGown patterns, all hooked in fine cuts (mainly #3) and fine shading.  This was the period of the first guilds, early rug schools and development of teacher training and certification. A selection of these beautiful classic rugs extends down the center of the display.  

Contemporary Hooking


Multi-fibre pieces, wall hangings, modern folk art styles, a proliferation of original designs - the sky is the limit for artistic expression.  We now enjoy story mats, hooked portraits, abstract designs and multidimensional creations.  Many are unique and innovative.  Others reflect innovative application of traditional influences, which takes us back to Keeping the Traditions Alive and back to the entrance of the show. 


Thank you for visiting from Mat to Masterpiece

DesBrisay Museum
130 Jubilee Road, Bridgewater, B4V 2A7
Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 - 5 and Sunday, 1 - 5
902-543-4033


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My Grandmother's sewing machine

7/19/2013

10 Comments

 
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I just arrived home from working late and I'm filled with nostalgia. Sentiment runs deep every time I zig zag a pattern as thoughts drift to my grandmother for the simple reason that I'm using her sewing machine.

When I sew, like magic, I'm led down memory lane as if it's a portal to the past. If one can have an affection for an inanimate object than I do, and I fondly run my fingers over her initials scratched into the base and imagine her using some sharp device to mark her ownership.  It’s an older singer, a heavy duty model that continues to work like the well-greased, solid built machines of the past.  I take good care of her, with yearly maintenance and a gentle touch, so she runs as smoothly as the day she left the factory.  

She sits on top of an old treadle singer machine, her ancestor of the past.  I bought it at an auction at the United Church several years back.  I like antiques for the shop, modern just doesn’t cut the look I am trying to ferment so I outbid the less serious as if it was a cure for a disease and brought this piece of church history to the shop.  There's a beautiful working machine under the cover but I'm not a purist that needs to suffer for her work and even if I was, it doesn't have a zig zag function.  


I have history with the United Church.  I was baptized there, went to Sunday School and my father was the custodian for many years so I hung out there after hours so it was nice to have a piece of that part of my past.   I'm a sentimental old fool that likes to be surrounded by memories, maybe so I don't forget as I have more senior moments than not.  

Once I lugged the heavy beast to the shop I knew it would be a perfect working table for my granny’s machine to sit on.  We sew around the edges of our patterns to prevent fraying and this machine whips around like a horse on a track, with a smooth and regular gait.  The machine has served me well since I opened shop and I hope it lasts as long as I do.  

I have a great deal of satisfaction knowing that my grandmother owned and used this machine and I think of her often, with her red lipstick and Avon scents.  She was always a lady, in her dresses and aprons, made up and hair coiffed.  She was a fantastic baker, kneading bread and making her doughnuts that I remember fondly.   I used to crawl on my belly to avoid rattling the beaded curtain that guarded the pantry, and once in, quietly remove the pan lid to help myself to the objects of my desire.  Nana's house always smelled like freshly made doughnuts and grandpa’s pipe, two scents that always take me to places of my youth. 
 
These doughnuts are not like any I’ve ever tasted and unfortunately with my diabetes they are now a big no no, but if I’m lucky enough to see death coming with a day or two advance notice, I’m going to deep-fry a batch and eat them until I head into the light.   I can almost smell them as I write this, the memory is so ingrained in my head. 


The recipe is different from most you will find.  The secret ingredient is vinegar. They make the outer crust crunchy and the inside cake tender and soft.   Because of these succulent mouth-watering memories, I could never eat a Tim Horton’s doughnut because they are so far removed from a real homemade version the disappointment was painful. Over the years I’ve sampled doughnuts in various stores, always hunting for that remembered taste, but they all fell short. I’ve made a batch or two or maybe twelve, but they are deadly; one is too many and a thousand's not enough.   They probably contributed to my diabetes, all that white flour and sugar.  I won't say it as worth it, but I will say, those were the the days!
  
I’ve often thought of opening a coffee shop with my nana’s doughnut recipe so I can educate the world on what a real doughnut should taste like.  Not some premixed, add water sort of deal that has all kinds of things in it that one doesn't care to know. Life is too short to realize all my dreams so the masses will remain cheated of the experience, but in retrospect, it probably worked out for the best as I’d be 300 pounds from quality control sampling.   

When my grandmother passed away I assumed her recipe died with her.  I never thought to ask about it until after my mother died and then it hit me.  Dad didn't know and although I looked through my mother's recipe cards I found nothing.  I was pretty broken up that it was lost forever.  One day several years later I was going through a cookbook of my mother’s and there it was on a piece of paper, now in my hot little hands.  The first thing I did was make several photocopies of it and stored them in different places in the house. I’m no fool, I was a Brownie with the motto "Be Prepared" burned into my brain.....I know shit happens and then it’s all gone except for the tears.

With the coveted recipe safe and secure,  I went to the store for fresh nutmeg,  came home and whipped up a batch immediately.  In my youth I worked as a short order cook at a take-out restaurant and I'm no stranger to deep frying and not afraid to have open pot hot oil on the stove.  The first batch had barely cooled before I'd eaten every single doughnut and hole, some plain and some sugared.  It was as if my grandmother was in the room with me, except now I was wearing the apron. The flavours and smell melted away the years and I was a child once again, hanging around the kitchen waiting for the doughnuts to land on a cooling rack.  

It was like a drug that I couldn’t get enough of, each one tasted better than the one before.   Needless to say I felt sick but that was a minor detail.  My house smelled like a doughnut factory for two days.  It was absolute heaven!   With eat bite, I was transported back to Springhill summers and visits at my grandmother's home.  Truly, it was nostalga mixed with nausea but I held it all in for memories sake. We all need to do crazy things every now and then although I couldn't get away with that today. They'd find me in a coma or dead, with greasy crumbs on my chin and a smile the undertaker couldn't wipe away.  Death by doughnuts?....not the worst way to go!
 
I’m going to share this secret recipe, maybe someone will make them and bring one by.  I could manage one without hurting my blood sugar levels and if I jump up and down for a few minutes that ought to fix the problem.  Maybe I could eat it while on the treadmill at the gym?  I don’t know if I could only eat the one and walk away but I’d love the chance to try. I just don't think I have the courage to make them myself and not eat more than I should.  I sure wish the picture could be scratch and sniff!  


Nana’s Cake Doughnuts

 1 Cup white sugar
 2 TBSP shortening
 2 Eggs
 1 TBSP vinegar
 1 Cup milk
 3 Cups Flour 
 4 Tsp Baking Powder
 1 Tsp salt
 ¼ Tsp Nutmeg
 
Mix all together and make the dough and roll out on a board with a bit of flour to keep from sticking.  Just like a pie pastry, don’t overwork as the doughnuts will be harder...not that it detracts from the taste!  Cut out with a doughnut cutter.  Save those holes as they fry up for bits!  Excellent plain or sugared.   Deep fry in shortening.


I also have my grandmother's antique doughnut cutter, that still works like a charm!  


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Well that was absolute torture looking at pictures of doughnuts on the internet to find ones that look similar to my nana's. These are close but hers were a bit darker. Now I have a big ole craving going on. Sigh....why diabetes??????
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One I bought at a store and Nana's antique on the right. Note the holes to release the pressure as you cut out the dough. This will ensure the doughnuts will rise and plump up in the hot fat.
10 Comments

Shopping flea markets with a lucky horseshoe....

7/18/2013

1 Comment

 
By Guest Blogger Pam Haughn
PictureMolly Made Coastal Scene
I recently ran into a bit of luck at a couple yard sales. Normally that isn't the case so I count on my sisters to scout out wool, kits and patterns for  me.  One sister has brought me some small coasters to hook on linen and  a bigger Bluenose pattern of a house and yard. She pays princely prices such as $3.00 for kits and $2.00 for patterns. I was always amazed that  she could find these...but then I had a bit of luck too so the lucky horseshoe is genetic.

At one yard sale, I purchased a gripper 360* lap frame for a fraction of its new cost,  complete with a flannel gripper cover that I had made for Encompassing Designs. At another yard sale I lucked into a bag of hooking kits, pattern, hook and hoop.  One pattern is a Molly Made coastal scene with houses and clotheslines pictured here. Having recently finished the Happy Fishermen, I had a lot of the seaside wool needed to complete the pattern.  Most of it was done in scrap wool and a great way to use those “wool worms” we accumulate. Also in that bag was a stars  chair pad kit and a small kit with a house and trees. Great small  projects to do while waiting for the next “big”one to come along.
 
I recently finished the “Antique Posy” rug which is a Deanne Fitzpatrick design. Several years ago, my husband Peter and I were traveling to New Brunswick for our  daughter's graduation from St. Thomas. I had Deanne's shop on my "to go list" on our way there. We looked at a number of patterns and wool and Peter bought the Antique Posy pattern as a Christmas  gift. I hadn't gotten around to hooking it until this year. I am really a “paint by numbers” kind of hooker, and really like a finished picture so I know where to start, but there wasn't a picture with  this one. Peter suggested the blue “vase” which is perfect because I was going golden basket, which I wasn't really fond of so I  really liked the idea of the blue. I found a plaid shirt that worked perfectly.


The flowers were hooked in some leftover dyed wool from my Jacobean runner and the Eggplant edge was part of that rug too.  The background was my challenge. I have been saving up onion skins so I decided to try that. I searched for the right method, couldn't find directions I wanted and ended up boiling a lot of the skins in a pot and  straining  the darkened water off and using that “dye” to abrash some natural wool. Of course after I dyed the wool, Shelley Withers  found the directions for me, stacking wool and onion skins on top of each other with lots of water and heating. (I am going to try that next time). I like the overall look of the project, and it was a small  enough project that it hooked up quickly. I can't wait to start on the next project...and maybe scout out another yard sale or  two, just  to see what hooking treasures can be found....

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Antique Posy
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Small House & Trees kit
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Rug hooking colour planning made simple.....

7/17/2013

4 Comments

 
I believe most things have more than one use.  Colour planning a room is no different than coloured planning a rug.  The moment I saw this book I knew it would make a  great guide for those who struggle with colour or are looking for something different...this book could be the answer.  I've ordered in a few copies for the shop.   

The way in which each of us views colour is unique.  Our vision is tremendously complex and sensitive.  Many external factors, such as lighting, adjacent colour and surface texture influence how we see colour.  In the book they stick to some simple colour principles which can help you to successfully mix colour.   Master these  and you will be able to mix colours with confidence. 
Picture$19.95 Soft Cover
 256 pages of full color throughout, 50 palettes.

It's hard to imagine a more comprehensive look at color scheme possibilities.
--Los Angeles Times


What a cool idea for the color challenged among us... 200 combinations fit for a king and queen and their royal family.
--Booklist


When it comes to decorating, the endless color choices available are enough to overwhelm the most determined home decorator. The Color Scheme Bible solves that problem and this lay-flat paperback edition is sure to be a popular choice.

With 200 color scheme ideas to choose from, The Color Scheme Bible is an easy-to-use and inspiring reference to using color in the home. It describes how colors interact and the effects they have on a room. It explains how to choose colors that complement each other for a subdued effect, and which colors and combinations energize.


And for those of you who experiment and dye wool to sell, this  book is also a great source for names to suit each new colour. 
 
Features include:

How color creates ambiance and atmosphere
  • Colour Theory
  • Colour palette directory
  • Using a colour scrapbook
  • How to make a mood board*
  • Colour and emotions
  • Colour and mood
  • 200 distinctive color schemes inspired by nature, art, travel, and even a favorite possession
  • 50 recommended palettes
  • A "How to Use This Book" guide

*Mood boards are an inspirational collection of items to help in choosing specific colours, patterns and combinations.  Paint chips, wool snippets, wallpaper, magazine coloured photos, upholstery fabric etc.   The items are a representation of your research and taste.

Below are but a few of the samples of the 200 colour schemes in the book.  

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4 Comments

Is it funny or just mean?

7/16/2013

0 Comments

 
AIN'T IT FUNNY that some folks you can't miss,
An' some folks you jus' miss a pile?
An' the folks that you can't miss you see lots,
An' the other folks, once in awhile.
                                              Signed C.J.B
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I found this sweet little framed piece of poetry in my great uncle's house.  It appears to be quite old and the artwork looks to be hand done as well as the printing  on a parchment paper.  Sort of like the rug I posted a while back about I Hate Your Guts and the greedy in-laws eating all the food, it appears folks back then liked to say what was on their mind.   

Modern days quotes on signs  such as the common, "The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs" and "Relatives by appointment, FRIENDS WELCOME", or "Stupid Is Forever" are a few I see hanging around and by the tone of a lot of insulting greeting cards on the market, maybe things haven't changed.     Life is too short to spend it with the disingenuous or with those who don't have your back for any reason but to stick a knife in.  Maybe along life's journey you reach the end of your tether and need to  commit it to writing, post signs like badges as reminders of others unkindness.   Maybe words are the only way to get even, have a say.   Personally I'm not about to design and hook a bunch of disgruntled rugs, I have no grudges to bear or need to hold anyone accountable, but I do respect the guts it takes to tell it like it is.  

Most insult cards are meant to be humourous but the receiver might wonder in what spirit it was delivered.  It seems easier to tell someone they're old and wrinkled than to say something sentimental or lovey dovey.  I don't much appreciate the really mean spirited cards  no matter how funny they might be, I wouldn't have the guts to send them, worried I would insult or maim. How far can you go before it's over the line.  Sticks and stones can break your bones but they will heal; words on the other hand can hurt forever
.  Comedians carve a living out of insults, watch one of those celebrity roasts on TV and you'll see and hear things that will make you cringe.  I don't think I could sit in the hot seat and be pummeled with a hurricane of insulting debris but the audience sure loves it.  

I think saying rugs are interesting.  They not only have great artwork but come with an explanation, something to provoke thought.  I've been collecting interesting quotes and sayings for sometime and hope to design a line of patterns.  Some are funny and make me smile while others are lessons to live by; maybe one or two will be mildly insulting, although nothing too wounding. 

Comedy always works best when it is mean spirited..... John Cleese
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Tina's Roses, a lovely bouquet.....

7/15/2013

5 Comments

 
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Opening up the shop Saturday morning was total chaos. For me of course, not anyone else, and hopefully they couldn't see how rattled I felt behind the smile.  I got there 5 minutes late to see someone at the door trying to get in.  I had the pups with me and had to scramble to get them upstairs.  In my frantic tone they were confused so ran in all directions, it might have been funny if I wasn't so annoyed.  I unlocked the door not wanting to keep the woman waiting and hoped to  corral the pups and pull myself together.  Then the phone rings and I guess by now I was panicked trying to get the dogs upstairs that were all barking at the fun we were having while more people poured in the door.  Now there are eight people in the shop and the lights weren't even on yet.  I'm sweating bullets now and thank goodness my deodorant held up or it could have been a rough day.

I was trying to talk on the phone to a customer from California while hustling Honey, the last of the stragglers upstairs. The youngest was still barking and I was shushing, begging with my eyes to please be quiet! Normally I can quiet them with a snap of my fingers but a pack leader is no good with ruffled feathers, they sense it and take advantage.   I pride myself as being in control of my four furry kids and it irks me when they don't listen, usually at the most inopportune times! 

People stood in front of the cashier counter laughing and talking loudly so I couldn't hear what the gal was saying on the phone.  I must have apologized and asked her to repeat her address a dozen times, each time adding to my angst.  The dogs were still barking in the background...oh joy!  I couldn't have written a play and orchestrated it any better.  A chaotic comedic angst; I felt like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory. If only I was the type of personality that could laugh that kind of moment off, but not me, old uptight ass.  Finally the order was taken and I hung up....poor woman on the other end of the line...what must she think?  Encompassing Designs is a three ring circus!   As soon as the phone was in the cradle the darn thing rang again and then again and then again.  The dogs finally settled in, probably thinking mom was loosing her mind.  By the time all the orders were taken and I'd addressed the in-store customers I was wiped for the day. For the first time in my life I  thought a drink might be nice, something strong to steady my nerves.  I don't ever think that way but for the first time I needed something stronger than Decaf coffee. 

Shane was late although technically he wasn't.  He works most Saturdays but it's unofficial.  He saunters in whenever he's ready.  He never looked so good as he sauntered in the back door.  Only then did I begin to relax.  I was wound like a spring and once it's coiled tight I don't unwind none to swift. 

So once the blitz was over and it slowed to a constant trickle I took a deep breath and let it all go. The wooshhhh of it almost took out the window.  I would have been absolutely fine if not for the noisy pups.  I've handled buss tours without a blink but I really hate for people to hear my dogs barking and I'm sure it bothers me more than them but I was raised to be conscientious about other people so I worry.  When it's warm I hate to leave them home in an unconditioned house panting  so I bring them to work so they can enjoy the cool air.  Of course being late set me off a bit, annoyed with myself even before I got there.  So the dogs and being late put me in a right state. 

Despite the crazy beginnings, what a lovely busy day it was, I don't think there was ever a time when there weren't people mulling about.  A lot of people from Ontario, I think every second car on the street has the telltale blue and white license plate...and lots of Americans as well.  The town was electric all day with yard sales and sight seeing and we had a constant stream until we closed. 

The highlight of the day was a visit from a hooking angel.  She walked in the store with a drawstring bag tucked under her arm and  I knew there was about to be a show and tell and a show it was!  Th woman had completed Tina's Roses and it was beautiful! She'd sent a picture of the Poppy Spray below a month or so back and told me she would soon have the roses finished and I knew they were going to be spectacular and she didn't disappoint!  

Margaret Tupper, who has only been hooking for four years, definitely has the talent for floral rugs.  She hooks in a #4  cut so is able to give the detail needed to make the flowers come to life.  She is also an avid dyer, producing all the wool for her projects   I asked if she would be putting this piece on the floor and she said it would probably end up rolled and stored away.  She said she'll wait until there is an event or special occasion and give the rugs to members of her family. Never one to miss an opportunity, I put forth the suggestion that I am up for adoption but alas she already had children who would always come first... 

Margaret is a busy rug hooker who gets around, participating in three groups.  Her regular group called the Rug Rats from Nicholsville, the Fundy Group in Kingston and Rags to Riches in Berwick.  Because these two patterns were never hooked before she qualified for two 50% off coupons for future patterns and she chose to combine them for the pattern "Lotus" and I can't wait to see what she will do to make it shine.


The Tina's Roses design came from an old towel.  I'm dating myself but remember back in the day when powdered laundry detergents offered a bath towel, a hand towel or a facecloth in the box?  I can't remember which one, ABC or Tide but this towel had survived 40 - 55 years.  A friend had it stored in their basement and it was virtually new.   The pretty roses and scroll work caught my eye.  Now you're probably saying shame on you Christine, with copyright lectures and all.  I weighed my lust for the design against the chance that after all these years anyone would care and I went for it.  So glad I did as this pattern is an old fashioned, traditional beauty!

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Tina's Roses
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Poppy Spray
Both patterns can be viewed on the site:  http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html
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Anne's rug

7/13/2013

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By Guest Blogger Anne Holmes
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I designed this traditional looking rug for a client to fit a specific location. Called Donna's Primitive, she wanted a mix of floral and geometric so I did a brick style center and a garland of flowers and berries around the perimeter.   I've had a few updates on the pattern but I think a health problem has slowed down the completion.   I hope Donna is feeling better and back to hooking soon.    In the meantime Anne Holmes, one of our Main Street Hookers took a shining to the pattern and decided to do it as well.    In Anne's words:

I used the Ecru from Christine's shop for the bricks and a light taupe plaid for the background of the floral garland.  The rug is hooked in 
#6 cut and the colours were the ecru, Amethyst and Shamrock from Christine's dye books which I died myself. 

The pattern was given to me by my stepson and his wife for a Christmas present.  I chose these colours to correspond with the duvet, pillows and wall colour in my daughter's bedroom.    The mat that was on the floor of her bedroom was made when I first started hooking in 1992.  The pattern was drawn on burlap for me by Muriel Peveril and it had a teddy bear with five blocks in front of the bear and I put ANGELA in the blocks. My daughter is now 31 and  I think the mat has had its day and we needed a more grown up version to take its place for when she comes home. 

Anne Holmes

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Donna's version of the pattern. Beautiful creamy tones with hits of gold, green and red.

"Donna's Primitive" pattern:  http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html
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Mistakes, I've made a slew.....

7/12/2013

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"Mistakes, I've made a slew,
so it's time to make a mention...
There will be more, much more than this,
cause I do it my way.  
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For me, writing is bittersweet.  I love playing with words but my editing skills suck! I can't seem to put out a perfect blog, when I read it back I only see what was in my head, not all the mistakes my fingers make.  Some misspellings are caught with spell check, others sneak through but it's the ones that I screw up on consistently that annoy me. Why can't I see them?    I can read the story  over and over and not see the error of my ways as my brain skips over the misspelled words like a flat rock on a still lake.  If I don't force myself to slow down and concentrate on each individual word I goof. 

Some people think the wheel and sliced bread are revolutionary but I think Spell Check is right up there with the greatest of life's tools.  Without it, my warts would show as I can't spell for beans.  I couldn't fight my way out of a wet bag of words unless they were all two or three letters.    

Sometimes printing the story will help, seeing it in another format other than the computer screen; mistakes will jump off the page as if catapulted from a loaded gun.  But there are some words that spell check accepts as real words and this blog doesn't come with a bad grammar detector so I screw up "it's" versus "its" a lot.  I completely know the difference but my darn fingers are typing so quickly that one or the other shoots out randomly and it's a fifty/fifty chance of being right.   I am more than familiar with the word "lose" but my fingers type "loose" every bloody time.  It's like a programed, ingrained blunder that I can't seem to overcome. 
My subconscious plays tricks on me,  setting me up for embarrassment when it should have my back. 

I can read a blog ten times and finally give it the okay but once published, I read it again and go oh crap.  It's an interesting phenomena, not being able to see my own mistakes, because if asked to check other people's work, I can spot a blooper a mile away.   For me, self editing is like self medicating, not recommended.   

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I know I goof, I have my friends on alert to point them out...I go ooops and fix the most blatant of screw-ups but it's too late, everyone saw them and I feel like I've been caught in my undies.  But then I think why?   It's not like I'm a professional writer that needs to polish every word, phrase or sentence.  Blogs are for fun right? Chasing perfectionism is a race I'll never win so I need to be content to walk instead of run.   I'm not so anal that I loose sleep over it...crap...see I did it again...I'm nothing if not consistent!   

The fact that I feel compelled to confess this flaw  means it bothers me more than I care to admit but now that it's out in the open I can go on butchering words and be covered under the umbrella of admission.  So I'm sending a huge apology for all the mistakes I've made in the past, the ones I will undoubtedly do today and all those looming ahead in my future. I guess I just need to accept the things I cannot change............I'll continue to enjoy playing around with words, but have to accept that I just can't spell them!
 

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The World's Smallest Rug......

7/11/2013

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By guest blogger Charlene Scott
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I am calling this little Persian beauty the World's Smallest Rug as it is pretty cute and tiny compared to anything else I've done.  Too big to be a coaster and too small to walk on, perhaps this little gem is perfect for a doll house or a table topper.  I won this rug at the silent auction at the Nova Scotia Guild Rug School this past May.   I bid $15 and later saw the back of the tag and found it had been originally purchased for $10. There are no dates with it so I have no idea what its age might be.  I bid on a whim and got it.  

Written on the pattern was #211-"KIRMAN"- Jacqueline Hansen, Scarborough, Maine CR-25  It is stamped on verel which I have never hooked on so  it was interesting to have the experience but I'm not inclined to use it again.   Also because it was stamped it did not run neatly along the grain.  This meant when I did the outer edge, I had to keep jumping  rows to keep the line straight.  


I hooked it with #3 cut wool all compliments of my stash. I outlined the yellow flower centers with a single strand pulled from a length of dark blue wool yarn, sort of like separating the strands from embroidery thread.   Although cute as a button on its own, I  felt it needed a little something to frame it and Christine sells factory made decorative rug fringe that  fit the bill.  The tassels were too long for the size of this rug and needed to be trimmed so I taped it to the edge of a table and then cut the tassels to uniform length.  

I felt the fringe  showed  too much white for the proportion of the rug so to break it up I threaded one ply of the wool I used for the whipped edge and a piece of the wool I used to outline the yellow flower centers through the cotton fringe band using my whipping needle.   I then put binding tape on the back and finished it off per the usual.    I really enjoyed hooking this little beauty and I'm thinking I might like to do something like this again.  I would like to try it with a different backing as the verel or divider cloth as it is sometimes called, was not to my liking.
   Without the fringe the rug is 12 1/2" x 10 1/2" and with the fringe 17 x 10 1/2".

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When I colour plan, I am most comfortable if I can have a black and white  photocopy of the pattern so that I can colour it with inks and coloured  pencils.  I took a photo of the pattern, and with a simple Photoshop App on my  iPad I was able to turn it into a black and white picture to print off and play with colour until I was happy with the results.   I then used the  coloured print as a guide.  (However as I was using wool from my stash the colours are not identical.)
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Charlene pulling a few loops at the shop during Saturday's hook-in. It is nice that the rug fit the floor frame so she could see the entire piece as she worked.
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Charlene's coloured picture of how the colours would be used.
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Basically Charlene used the length of the fringe with an overlap of an inch and hand sewed it to the rug.  Then when she applied the rug binding it covered all of the exposed verel edges and the overlay of the fringe on each side. 
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We sell premade Cotton Rug Fringe in four different colours and styles.  Back in the day when our entire group was working on Oriental projects I was given a lesson in crocheting but try as I might, I was all thumbs.  So I thought maybe there were a few more folks like me who would appreciate edging already done so I promptly ordered some.   Charlene choose the second from the top and although the finished rug picture at the top appears to have a cream coloured fringe, that is my lack of photographing savvy.  Charlene cut considerable length off the fringe to meet the proportions of the rug.  Taping it along the table edge was a clever way to insure a clean cut.  
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Small Caucasian sampler....

7/10/2013

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Jean Wentzell has been hooking my designs since I opened shop.  I've done quite a few custom patterns for her, gifts for various family members which she always does justice. Her hooking is precise with well executed colour plans and seeing what she creates is always a pleasure.

Oriental carpets are those made in western and Central Asia, North Africa, and the Caucasus region of Europe. Made from materials particular to individual tribal provinces, the rugs of the Caucasus normally display bold geometric designs in primary colours.

A few years ago I created this little Caucasian sampler thinking it would make a lovely pillow top but it sat around without any interest until Jean decided she wanted to experience hooking a Caucasian design and its smaller size made it fit the bill.  

Although this design appears simple with a repeat pattern it's not fun to produce.  There is a lot of counting holes and straight lines, items that can't be produced easily with red dot medium so suffice to say this puppy is laborious to make and we won't be producing it again.  A design this small that takes hours to make is a lose your shirt kind of deal. So I was delighted Jean did a lovely job and I got to see it hooked but it's now retired to the archives of patterns past. We have to deal with the present and plan for the future and patterns that cost more to produce than the price tag they carry is a thing of the past. 

We will also be moth balling some of the very detailed William Morris designs.  Some of those intricately detailed patterns take two to three days to produce.  If you calculate for a normal eight hour day times two or three it usually exceeds the price on the pattern, so throw in overtime and now you're in the red.  In the past we've done these very intricate designs because I found it challenging to adapt them to rug hooking and I liked offering a the wow factor to our customers. It's not even the lack of profit that prompts this change...it takes so much time away from all the other tasks that need doing we fall behind.  Working on a design for three days straight, putting it on with the red dot and then darkening it is laborious and quite frankly a pin in the eye. Nothing about it is appealing! Markers stain the skin and fill your lungs with chemicals; there's no relief from bending over for hours and cramps in the hand are but a few of the deterrents.   

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If I'm the one who pulls the short straw and gets to do the pattern, my time means nothing because I don't get paid and hourly rate, but those days are unproductive.  My time is better served in other avenues of the business.   I need to be designing rugs that appeal to the masses, not these room sized monsters only a handful of brave souls are willing to tackle. 

Other companies stamp their patterns for easy production but the designs come out crooked and off the grain no matter how careful they are lined up.  Anyone who hooks knows how wonky backings are, there's no perfect symmetry to it.  I certainly can promise that stamping patterns will never be an option in our shop, we will continue to plug away with the old fashioned marker and red dot program s long as I am at the helm. 

In the first couple years in business I bought patterns from other sources and they were a constant disappointment.  Even though they promised the designs were straight on the grain at the time of the order they never were and I had to send them back as my customers were savvy and wouldn't buy them.  That didn't put me on anyone's favourite list with the pattern houses and I got tired of dealing with it all. 


When I first opened my doors, another shop owner I knew pretended to take me under her wing and sold me a bunch of patterns that were supposedly good sellers. In those days I was greener than broccoli and didn't know about straight on the grain and by the time I figured it all out, I was stuck with all those poorly stamped patterns that she couldn't get rid of in her own store.  She saw me coming and did a dirty on me and I wonder if she still laughs at how naïve I was.  She also unloaded three rolls of pink rug binding on me, told me that women love the colour. Pink?...Female hookers?......It seemed plausible and what did I know so I thanked her for the scoop. Thirteen years in business and I still have that damn pink binding....count it every year in inventory and every time I look at it I remember how she pulled the wool over my eyes.  She must have laughed all the way to the bank over that easy money, buying that along with all the other crap gathering dust in her shop that I paid good money for just to sit in mine and continue being unsellable.  She wasn't the sweetest jelly bean in the bag, used to call her customers vultures...that should have been a warning light but the excitement of starting a rug hooking shop kept the blinders on.  The patterns she unloaded on me never sold and I ended up recycling them by drawing my designs on the back to hook things for the shop.  A very expensive live and learn lesson.  

That was why I decided to only sell my own designs and those of a few friends.  I have control over the manufacturing and can deliver the quality we are known for.  Every straight line, no matter how small is straight on the grain!    


So the large patterns we have in the shop for William Morris will be the last of our inventory. Once sold they will be retired.   Hammersmith, although lovely is a two day proposition.  The new adapted Hammersmith runner was even more work, twice as long although slightly thinner and a three day event.  Then there is the RedCar runner recently adapted for a customer.  There is one each of linen patterns of Hammersmith, Hammersmith Runner and the RedCar Runner and once gone that will be the last of their kind....the end of an era. 

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How to hang hooked rugs.....

7/9/2013

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One of the most frequently asked questions is "How do I hang my rugs?".  There are many different ways to proceed but the easiest way is to slap up a carpet tack strip that will hold the rug securely but still be easy to take off to shake out the dust or for a quick show and tell.  Every rug in the shop is hung with the strips.  They come with a  series of upturned short nails on the front side that grab the rug and hold it in place and longer nails on the backside that go into the wall. 

These strips are made for pulling a carpet to the outer edge of the room to hold it from shifting. The sharp little nails are quite deadly if not handled carefully but despite the odd ouch, I haven't found an easier way and easy for me means no needle and thread. 


If you have old plaster walls the nails will probably not grip and  will loosen quickly so take out the mounting nails by pounding them through and replace them with long screws that will reach the lathes behind the plaster and hold tight, you might even have to use wall anchors.   Modern sheet rock walls are not a problem and should hold firmly with the nails, just make sure you find a strip that isn't warped so it sits flat on the wall. 

If your rug is larger and therefor more heavy, you will need to attach two tack strips to support the weight and keep it flat to the wall. 
One along the top and the middle should be all you need to do the job.  Position the rug on the strips so that it goes into the back hooked area, not the whipping or the rug binding.  The nails will poke holes in the rug binding, not so attractive and will grip and hold the back of the hooked area much better.  This is the easiest way I've found and when we had our 2012 gallery show I purchased a large box of these strips so if you need one drop in and see me for a freebie. 

There are of course other ways to hang a rug and if you like to sew, get out a needle, thread and buy extra rug binding at your favourite rug hooking store and follow one of the methods below. 


Rod Method #1 - Make loops with a coordinating colour of rug binding (probably what was used on the back to finish the rug) and sew them along the top of the rug attaching them to the back just below the area where you whipped and directly on the rug binding used to finish off the rug. Sew through the finishing binding to grab parts of the back of the rug for stability.   The height of the these rod loops will be personal preference.   Then buy an attractive curtain rod, slip through the loops and hang.  Place the rod loops every two or three inches so there isn't any drag on the rug causing it to hang unevenly.   The rod loops will show at the top of the rug from the front and add to the overall appeal of the display.    Hang the rod on the brackets that came with the set. 

Rod Method #2
- Then of course there is the sheath or pocket way to hang a rug.  Sew an extra length of rug binding along the top directly over the rug binding sewn on to cover the edge of your backing.  Hand stitch  across the top and bottom of the binding, leaving  both ends open so you can slide a small dowel or curtain rod through the pocket.  Hang the rod on the brackets that come with the set. 

Dowel & Cording Method - Do the same as in Rod Method #2 and slip a dowel or rod through the sheath and tie a decorative cording on either end and hang with a fancy knob.  You can tie tassels on either end for a classy look. 

Note:  Consider the rug's weight.  You might have to reinforce the center with extra rug binding by sewing several strips along its  length from the top to bottom every three or four inches.  

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Note Round rugs:  Of course round rugs need to be handled a bit differently when hanging them with carpet tack strips.   You will need to use two or more more strips, the widest in the middle and shorter pieces tapered in size toward the top of the rug to ensure there won't be any flopping. For any size or shape, a bit of tape will help hold any parts of the rug that don't fit right to the wall.   
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The Pink Skyline Peony Poppy

7/8/2013

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I didn't plant them but they dot my gardens every year.  They came with the property and at first I hacked them back like a bad weed until one or two snuck through, reached a full bloom and showed me the beauty  I'd been missing.  Like free spirited gypsies, the seeds blow all over the garden so they pop up in different spots each year. They're short bloomers, usually just a day or two, put on a spectacular display and then are gone.  In all my green thumb days, I've not seen this beauty anywhere and was finally able to identify them on the internet.  Now I weed around them and appreciate the special gift that nature  bestows on my garden.   

When we first moved to this property they had overrun most of the area and I wondered if they were opium poppies.  So I looked that up and the drug poppies have greyish green leaves and stems which suits this one to a tee.  I have a lot of poppies in my gardens, orange, red and pink varieties but they all have the characteristically green stems and leaves. 

The previous owner was strange, known to do weird things so my imagination worked overtime.  There were rumours he did a lot of slaughtering of sheep and hung them in the kitchen to drain.  One of my friends who hung out with one of his sons reportedly saw it.  The basement yielded a big deep freeze that was stuffed to capacity with pigeon and crow.  If you had a problem you called this guy and he took care of it....like a hit man for unwanted birds.   He supposedly had a problem with water waste and only allowed a thimble full for a bath.  Rumours?  Who knows but he sure did strange things to the house.  The family drove around in an old hearse, so maybe eccentric would apply although that part I found quite intriguing and the old car came to rest in our back orchard, rusting more into the ground with each passing year.  If any old car buffs would like to restore it, come and tow it away! 

I do know one thing for certain, he had a unsanitary bathroom detail.  There was a toilet under the back stair case that didn't have a door or even a curtain hung for privacy, I looked, not a nail hole that would have supported a privacy curtain.  So this guy sat on the john right in the kitchen with not a door or sheet to hide behind.  You don't see that often.  The house was in pretty bad shape when we bought it...dark and ominous but I could see the merit in a bit of renovation, well actually a lot of time and money to drag this sow's ears into a bejeweled purse.  

It is amazing how we lucked out on this property. One day as I was driving by, I looked up a the sad state of affairs and a little voice spoke to me, "You should buy that house."  I'd never given the place a second glance.  It was a literal mess and looked ominously like a money pit.  The property had been on the market for three years without a nibble and no wonder.   So the voice had spoken, the idea was born and I phoned hubby who was working in Africa and asked "Want to buy a house on the water?" and his sailing passion answered "Go for it!   

No wonder it had been passed over, the owner removed every bit of tradition out of the structure and replaced it with modern or ugly.  Every six over six paned window was removed and replaced with modern apartment sliders, smaller windows to let in less light as he tried to morph the place into a dark, dank, dungeon.  He covered the walls and ceilings in dark paneling that looked like a salvage from an old church or school. During the daytime you needed a light to make your way around.  Two of the bedrooms were clad in outdoor shingles, each one nailed in place with five spikes.  Overkill and a pain to remove.  A far cry from the open concept bright and cheery abode we've transformed it into.  Funny thing though, some of his children popped by to see what we've done to the place and said we ruined it.  The didn't say we ruined their memories which is understandable...no...they said we ruined the house.  I know we all love our homes but golly gee. Here's two pictures of the before and after...you be the judge!

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This was the dark and dingy dining room. I promise it smelled as bad as it looks. Musty and dank. You'd think vampires lived here...and were afraid of the light. The electric bulb overhead had to be on just to see your hand in front of your face!
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And this is our renovation. Bright and cheery and smells as good as it looks!
We put our heart and soul into this place, lots of sweat, a few tears and a bit of blood.  There isn't on old board remaining except for the living room floor, not original to the house as the previous guy put this down  at one point.  We entertained lifting it to expose the original floor boards but where he didn't want to waste a drop of water, nails were used with wild abandon so the softwood floor underneath the hardwood resembled Swiss cheese, holier than the Pope.  

Every window and moulding trim in the house is new, made to look like it might have been original.  We went the extra mile to keep it as traditional as possible and this home is definitely our castle minus a moat.   Out of the blue, a house guest once told me  "Your home might be beautiful, but if you ever get cancer it won't be a damn thing".  I think there was a compliment in there somewhere, but it couldn't be further from the truth.   When I'm not feeling well my home  is where I want to be, surrounded by the things I love.  I have a  friend  going through a rough time right now and she feels the same about her home and I asked her if her house provided comfort in these uncertain times.  She told me she couldn't wait to get home from the hospital and yes, this is the only place she wants to be, her home is the chicken soup for her soul. 

I love everything in our home.  It may be stuff,  but it's our stuff, in our own little patch of the earth.  Every piece has as story.  A junkyard find, a flea market score,  an antique rejuvenated.  Everything in my house is another persons cast off or trash, sometimes literally as it was picked up from the side of the road.  People throw out tradition as if it was contagious, but I breathe new life into these pieces with terrific chintz fabric and a spit polish.  I was a stripper long before I became a hooker, furniture stripper that is, so I've refinished most pieces and what I can't do I farm to people who can.  

Some of my best finds have incredible stories, like the silver chest  found for $10.00 that someone had splattered paint over.  I gave it a facelift and later saw the same chest in an antique store for $289.00.  Or the silver fruit bowl scored for a mere $12.00 that's sterling and worth hundreds. Wing back chairs, sturdy and ready for a second chance, cast out with the trash and now look like a million bucks after a bit of care.  Yup, there's absolutely nothing new in our house and I'm darn proud of it.  Someone was throwing out a sofa that I rescued and after having it reworked was appraised at $1500 and that was twelve years ago.  The furniture of yesteryear receiving makeovers, creating the comforting, easy style that I love.
 
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I thought I'd add a picture of the open concept toilet spot. Nice and airy I suppose. You can see the water feed and the hole where the throne sat. We removed that as soon as we had keys to the place. Didn't want to think about what went on here.
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Photographing wool with a light box.

7/6/2013

4 Comments

 
I am in a foul mood this morning.  Not much sleep because the heat permeated clean through to my bones and there wasn't an ounce of comfort in any toss or turn or shift from the warm side of the bed to the untouched cool.  Nothing helped...maybe a boulder over the head would have afforded some relief, at least I would have been oblivious to the humid assault.  I had the air conditioner going in the bedroom, one of those four figure portable ones not worth the powder to blow it up.  It might cool a room 6' x 6' but after that good luck.  New fangled crap!  Rule to self...buy nothing new, energy saving means less guts....stick to old, tried and true!   So I'll be placing a call to order a heat pump for our house today, it works like magic in the shop, then all I'll have to do is worry about those few minutes of getting to the car in between work and home. If this is a sample of the weather of the future, I need to address it now or move farther north. No sleep makes me a crotchety ole thing, can ya tell?  My poor pups....wetting them down all evening, listening to them pant....not music to my ears!   Weather goes from the sublime to the ridiculous so quickly there's little time to adapt. 

And my apologies for all those who tried to get on my website last evening or through the night. The other reason I couldn't sleep.  I was worried sick it got sucked into a black hole of the internet.  Earlier last evening I signed on to copy a link for the blog I was writing and the site wouldn't load.  Nothing but a white page, no dear John letter or explanation as to why!  I checked every hour until 5:30 this morning to find much the same and then finally fell asleep.  So after an emergency email last evening to my web person she woke to a big HELP! this morning and the maintenance people did whatever to get it back online.   No one said this but I think they did the maintenance and then forgot to put load it back up.  My site didn't need an 8 hour plus operation, nothing should take that long and besides, Friday evening for maintenance? One of the busiest nights of the week?  Not a happy camper today.  Someone please come in today and give me a hug!  Where's that sweet Armenia when you need her?   If anyone wants to come by and hook its icy cool in the shop!  Help me stay awake! 
PictureLight box construction.
This is my son Shane.  So far he's mostly a name associated with dyeing our wool  but his position in our company is the sum of many parts  and  he will be working his way to front and center as his knowledge grows about all the aspects of the business.   We might be a little Mom & Pop shop but there are many aspects to running it that keeps us busy.  As I hand over more responsibility  I think we will compliment one another very nicely, working well together and still playing to our individual strengths.  

Shane is computer savvy,  does a mint job on our patterns, and is pretty much  solely responsible for producing our latest dye book,
Dye Me To The Moon.  He's now in training to handle sales and his sponge like intelligence is absorbing the business through watching and listening to me chat with customers.   He's handsome and handy, a combo that makes a mother proud and someday he'll be holding the reigns, freeing mom  to concentrate on the marketing, custom jobs and full time designing.  

He mentioned the other day he might like to hook his family crest and I almost fainted.  He thinks it would be beneficial to have that experience under his belt and I agree.  Maybe this winter when things slow down we can get him set up and pulling a few loops.   His ancestors are Scottish and I think tartans and crests would make for fabulous hooked rugs.   Manipulating wool to create a tartan pattern is a challenge I've wanted to try for some time so maybe we can work together to combine his crest with a tartan background.  Once a small section of the tartan is planned it would be an easy repeat and go quickly.  I can see it in my mind and I know it would be stunning.  I think it would be a wonderful first project and an heirloom to pass down someday.

Any job he takes on is done to the best of his ability and if perfection existed he would be a constant visitor. He refuses to rush a job, cut corners or compromise on quality so we're a perfect set of bookends.   He's been playing around with the camera taking pictures for the website and at times, has been frustrated by the colour quality.   So many factors effect photographs and our need to portray the best colour possible on our website was a quest that led him to the internet for answers.  He discovered something called a light box, downloaded the instructions and built this from various materials.   We have a half decent camera but neither one of use knew anything more than point and shoot, so after studying the manual and asking Google questions he's managed to come up with almost bang on likenesses of our dyed wool for the website.    

I thought I would start posting a few pictures of Shane so there won't be any shock to see him behind the various counters in the shop.   He and I are running the place together  and I'm having a lot of fun watching his confidence grow with more knowledge of the business.  In time he's going to be a jack of all trades and master of them all.   He's a big guy at 6' 3", he's charming and personable so expect to see him in an apron stirring a pot or at the drawing table working on a pattern.   

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All sides are clothed in a white cotton with a lamp on top with a special white light bulb.
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The camera poised just outside the box for the perfect picture.
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I think the yellow needs to be toned down to a antique gold to better fit with the tartan background.
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A beautiful rich tartan, the perfect backdrop for the crest design.
4 Comments

Rug hooking crossed wires....

7/5/2013

3 Comments

 
PictureEasy to cross wires in this kind of jungle!
Something happened earlier this week that warrants a little mention.   I don't know how many shop owners read my blog but this may have already happened to you.    It's a virtual pattern jungle out there for customers and so easy to get wires crossed when placing an order. 

A woman emailed me to say "I am disappointed in the two pillow patterns that I received.  One has only a 3” border and the other only has 2 ¾” which makes it difficult without sewing something on the edges.  Is this your standard? 

I didn't recognize the woman's name but that's okay, a lot of orders go out and I can't remember them all.   But I started going through the computer emails and website to locate it and finding nothing, went through all the paper copies  all the way back to January, thinking it was probably a phone order.      Nothing surfaced so I went through them the second time to double check.  By now I'd wasted ten minutes stewing about it to Shane as to how this could happen and in all wasted 1/2 hour looking for the order.  Even if Shane had done the pattern, I always sew the zig-zag and would have picked up on a  chintzy border.  I'm the last stop on the line for quality control.   I was feeling kind of icky thinking we'd screwed up causing someone to have an issue with my patterns!  Ouchy!   

So in an attempt to straighten it all out, I emailed and asked for the names of the patterns to jog my memory.  I did say that it is our policy to allow 4 inches of excess on the patterns, sometimes it is slightly shorter but generally it is 4.   I think the industry standard is anything over 3" but that's an assumption as I have nothing to back it up...just what I've seen elsewhere.  All I could think was oh shit....someone out there wasn't happy and probably telling all their friends.  It's a small world this rug hooking community and negative feedback hurts.  I needed to diffuse this somehow before it got on Facebook or the National Enquirer.   

So she emailed back the name of the two patterns.  With a sigh of relief I realized they weren't mine so she'd ordered them from someone else.  I explained that we don't have any designs by those names so they had to  come from another shop.  I guess she didn't believe it because she emailed back and said she would send pictures and did, two of them with rulers showing the short edge around the pattern.   Of course I didn't recognize the patterns, just like I hadn't been familiar with their names,  but interestingly I could clearly read the company name along the edge of the patterns, proof of where they originated from.  I won't broadcast that because it has no bearing on the story and now that the problem was solved, all I had to do was point out this fact and she'd realize her mistake.  

Well, that  didn't work.  She still didn't believe me, because I received another email stating she thought I was affiliated with Encompassing Designs.  Well yes, I am affiliated with Encompassing Designs, but those patterns had another  company name written across the edge which I know nothing about.  I emailed back to say I don't sell ___________ patterns, Encompassing Designs has nothing to do with that company.   So I haven't heard anything further so I don't know where we stand...if she finally believed me and realized the error or if she thinks I'm an ass and my patterns are mediocre.   

This isn't a new phenomena as it has happened before, more times than you would think.  People who comb the internet become inundated with so much choice that they get confused about where they saw what.  It's understandable, there are so many places to visit and all that eye candy must be overwhelming and unless you are keeping strict notes or placing the sites in favourites you can easily get messed up. 

I've had people call to order patterns and call by the name of other shops owners.  I've been Deanne  once or twice and Carol several times.   I've even had people walk in the door and say "Hi Carol, so nice to meet you!"  When I say my name is Christine they look confused so I enlighten them and send them up the street. 

Sometimes a customer will ask for a pattern I don't sell and then argue that I do.  To prove I'm mistaken they describe it in detail and no matter how much I insist I don't have anything of the sort they still don't believe me.  Some will phone and say they were in my shop and saw a particular pattern  on a rack but didn't buy it at the time and want it now.  I say sorry, you must have been in another shop but they say no and probably hang up thinking up a loon.  

Now I do have a lot of inventory and there was these two times recently when customers ordered patterns that I actually had to go to the website to see what they looked like cause I'd forgotten it but that happened because I was working late nights and was seriously sleep deprived and a good time to haul out and play the senior moment card. I thought it was funny and had a good laugh at my  own foil and I hope the people on the other end of the line laughed with me, not at me, but then again, maybe cuckoo was on the tip of their tongue.  

So all I'm saying is that if this has happened to me it's happened to others.
  It's okay to make the  blunder, but when it's discovered don't keep insisting that the shop keeper is wrong cause most of us know our inventory more intimately than our mates.....just have a laugh and figure out who you should have been calling in the first place........

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New Distelfink Kaleidoscope design showing 4" border.
To view pattern on the website click this link:  http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html
3 Comments

A bird in the hand.......

7/4/2013

1 Comment

 
PictureAppears darker than actually is. Hummingbird Tea Cosy.

Well glory be, a sunny day!  Almost forgot what it felt like to see the sun in the sky.  And yes, it's far too warm and muggy but I won't complain or speak ill of its first appearance in what seems like weeks.  I'll escape to the shop with its air conditioned comfort and I won't leave until late this evening.  One way to beat the heat and not lose my mind.  I'm a wilter, I swell and feel ill in the humidity, not a pretty sight but enough said about the weather and my bloating body!

This morning I took the dogs outside for their pee and found a dead robin on the back deck. That probably accounted for one of the many thuds we hear that get blamed on the house sighing as it heaves and shifts on its granite foundation, one of the many nightly reverberations that I find comforting.  The dogs sometimes yap when they hear something outside but I don't investigate as it's usually a deer feasting on my gardens.  It probably happened early morning and maybe the poor thing purposely flew into the kitchen window overwhelmed with depression from all the miserable weather we've had.  I'm sure by now, the worms have drowned in their underground tunnels, maybe there's nothing left to eat!  

There is so much bird life around us but it's rare to see one dead.  Birds lead such secretive lives and only show us how magnificent they are when flying by or sitting in a tree serenading us with beautiful songs.  I'll bet most of us have only seen the odd dead bird as many times as fingers on one hand.   Considering the millions of birds  flying in and out of our yards it's amazing we aren't stepping over little bird carcasses every time we go outside.  No, I'm not being morbid, I'm just curious how that part of their life cycle  remains so hidden.  I ponder such things with my curious mind. 
 
I found a birds nest while gardening last week tucked under a weed choked area all snug and cosy. The dogs and I saunter by that spot everyday and never suspected there was new life teaming only a few feet away.  Broken pieces of shell indicated that baby birds had hatched so they must have been very quiet as not to attract attention with baby bird peeping.  Bird nests are another hidden secret rarely seen by humans.  Of all the birds around you don't often find any nests, in my lifetime I've probably only seen less than a dozen.   I'm either not that observant or the birds are masters of dwelling disguise. 

It's isn't rare for a bird to hit our house but they're usually just stunned temporarily, rest for a bit, shake their head and fly away.   One day last year I was writing at the dining room table when there was a loud bang behind me.  I ran outside and found a bird on the lawn in front of the window.  At first I feared it had broken it's neck but it seemed intact as I picked it up.  No flopping parts or feathers ruffled, a good indication it might survive.  It resembled our common wood peckers with the red head and comb but the colouring was different when I looked it up in the North American Audubon book.  Maybe a new species!


I had a long time to study it, maybe twenty minutes or so and I marveled at its beauty. Something so small and frail in appearance, colored as if an artist had used a brush, but sturdy in its architecture to fly into the wind.  Magnificent really.   I sat very still with the bird cupped in my hands and I talked to it with positive affirmations, that he would fly away and join his family in the trees.  At times his head cocked back and forth as if he was listening and I  could feel his little heart beating.

Time stood still as I drank in the wonderment of the moment. My dogs were behind the screen door whimpering to join me outside,  anxious to know why I was just sitting there ignoring them.   And then, all of a sudden in one quick motion the little guy stood and  sprang from my hands taking to the air as if nothing had happened and landed on a branch of the birch tree in front of me.   He turned and look back for a few seconds and then flew away, never to be seen again.  It was a strange experience and in my foolish mind I thought I'd made a connection and maybe he'd return so I sat for a moment waiting.  Silly romantic girl....a throw back to my pretend years for sure.  We humans project our feelings all the time; it isn't necessarily what's going on and after touching something that wonderful I guess I didn't want to let go. 

We have a lot of birds around our property and I 'm serenaded daily by chickadees and yellow finches.  I love the primary colours of our feathered friends, the cardinals, bluejays, canaries and finches, always painting the landscape, like nature's jewellery.  


The cooing of doves is a daily melody.  I believe they mate for life and among the several pairs that seem to like our driveway, pecking away at seeds that blow in from the surrounding trees, there is one lone dove who sits on the peek of our roof and coos a mournful sounding cry, as if calling to its lost mate.   The call is heart breaking, reminding me of past losses.   

We have a lot of crows as well.  They like the row of pines behind our garage and caw to me when I'm in the yard. Scientists have discovered that crows can recognize faces so I wonder what they think about the both of mine.  The morning face, red and patchy and fading lips, and the evening face, powdered and creamy with red lipstick.  There is a mowed back field next door and I often laugh when I see them congregate each morning with the seagulls and sometimes a pheasant or two, like some of the old guys in town who meet for coffee every morning to hash the news.   I can hear the occasional squawk as they converse in the language of bird.  

And my favorite, the hummingbirds.  I fear all this rain will be a deterrent this year without the budding of their favorite red flowers.   They flock to the Red Monarda and fight over territory, humming around your head while you pull weeds, fanning you with the flutter of tiny wings.  I've always loved the hummingbird and have designed and hooked a few pieces.   First as a chair paid when I  opened shop many moons ago.  I don't have the rug anymore as a lovely lady talked me out of it.  Apparently her sick mother had little time remaining and loved hummingbirds.  It was such a sad story I let it go.  I balanced the joy it would bring with my ability to hook another and let it go to an appreciative home.  Never one to hook the same thing twice I changed up the shape and made a tea cosy.   


Then Armenia wanted the same birds in a rectangle rug so I added a third, balanced it with a  few branches and some apple blossoms and she had a rug to hook while sitting at her cottage window looking out at actual hummingbirds in her garden.  Now that's art imitating life or is it the other way around....?

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My first shot at shading way back in the first months in business. I loved this little design and was sad to see the chair pad leave my hands although I was pleased it would brighten someone's day during a time most needed.
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Same hummingbirds just a different orientation and new name. "Hummingbird Tree'o" hooked by Armenia Corkum. She used values of Heart Red for the throat, Lemon Yellow for the breast and Mossy Green for the head. The wings were don't with Pewter. The sky is Copenhagen Abrash and the branches were done in Rocks II.
1 Comment
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