Category:

Two new designs!

9/11/2014

Historically, September has always been the shop’s busiest month and this year is no exception. It’s been crazy but a good crazy. We like being busy, we work harder and faster but I sure wish there were a few more hours in the day. I’ve been working every night for a week and although I swore I wouldn’t do that this year I find myself bursting with energy and can’t sit in front of the TV even to hook. My Initially Yours “F” progress has taken a beaten, I have too much stock to make to sit around and pull loops. So I’ve been heading to the shop after dinner and the dogs are exercised to working on things.

This energy boost can be explained. I’ve cut out all traces of corn from my diet. I watched a PBS program that said corn is on pretty much in everything these days and it can cause eczema, acne and all manner of auto immune problems. I’ve been off sugar for some time and my face is resisting going blemish free, so I’ve had to rethink what the cause might be. I’ll try anything once and I have nothing to loose except these red blisters on my forehead and chin.

Not to bore you with too much detail, corn is a preservative and put in everything. They even spray it on potato chips and inside of metal cans before they put in the soup or beans and seal it off.   Whole corn is not easily digested by our systems, and is medium to high on the Glycemic Index which means it is quickly absorbed into the blood as sugar. Not a food to build your diet around, unless of course you want a spare tire where your waist used to be. Yes, it’s delicious smeared with butter and a shake of salt, but I can easily turn my back on it because of my diabetes and now my face.   Really there’s not much left in life to enjoy, all the delicious stuff is bad for us.   I've been eating so much vegetable matter, pureed and in salad form, that my body thinks I'm a resident in a nursing home....everything goes in green and comes out that way....:)

We had our hook-in today and I was moaning about the new bout of insomnia that’s been slapping me around. Teresa pointed out that it’s a full moon. I don’t know why I don’t think of that myself, maybe I wouldn’t fight it so much, get up and do something.   Maybe I drink so much water the moon is pulling me like the tides. Maybe a dehydrated body wouldn’t toss and turn so much. Considering the amount of sleep I’ve had over the past few days it doesn’t amount to enough to satisfy one night, I’m surprised I’m not flaked out right now. It’s half past midnight and I’m sitting here writing and doing a few dishes. I just got in from the shop and thought it was best to relax a bit and not go to bed in fifth gear. I find when I’m at work I get very excited, even a bit hyper and it takes a bit to calm down. It's hard enough to sleep without my mind racing.

This evening was especially fun. I was playing with two new designs. They are pure syrup, whoever hooks them will be in danger of getting cavities. They put whimsical to shame.

The first is an upgrade from the September Pattern of the Month. The School theme of sending our babies out into the big world of education. When I was drawing it up, I thought it was cute and might make a larger pattern with fun borders. I love the two sides that sport rulers with various school related items floating around the entire border.   This rug is perfect for a a teacher to hang in the classroom, or a grandma celebrating a special little person’s first day of school. The opportunity to use colour is this design is limitedless. I can see it in my mind’s eye, it could be fabulous. If only I could hook every pattern I produce because I work them mentally as I draw the lines.

This summer when Michelle went on vacation in her Trilliam Trailer, I took some photos of and knew then I would work it into a design. She had it painted to look like a Ladybug with big bold black spots on a red background. A fun bottom border of flowers and bugs, clouds overhead and three Trilliam Trailer’s pimped out with a Ladybug spots, flowers and bees. Maybe I was tired but the name’s play on words, Trailer Park Bugs, came from the Trailer Park Boys, sometimes I think I’m clever and other times I’m not sure. I’ll see if it is still sticking tomorrow. The little Trilliam trailers will also make three lovely chair pads. I’ll work those up tomorrow.

So that’s what I’ve been up too. Sorry I’ve had to skip a few blogs over the last week or so, but I haven’t been able to arrange those few extra hours in the day. I guess they never got my memo.

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A few new designs!

1/27/2014

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I had a very satisfying day in the shop on Saturday. I spent the time productively, designing new Christmas Stocking patterns and finished up Just Laid that I had been working on. It was a quiet day, the weather was lousy so there were few people on the street. Only one customer dropped in from the city to pick up some dyed wool and after she left I cranked up the stereo and belted out my favourite tunes.   The girls don't work on Saturday and although Shane usually comes in, he didn't show up until middle afternoon so I had the stage...I mean place, all to myself.

I like being in the shop alone. No distractions or questions....and that doesn't mean customers...I love you dropping by, come in anytime....but when it's just me manning the place, my mind can wonder freely and pluck inspiration from the air without having to be grounded by playing boss.

So I whipped up a couple of new stockings. I've wanted to do a Peacock for some time but knew that this design would pose a lot of thought, trial and error with lots of erasing and I was right. Placement of all the feathers was critical so I played with cut out pieces until I had the plan down. A Peacock's tail is actually conducive to the stocking shape, so the splendid plumage cascades down to the tip of the toe. This one will definitely be on my hooking list!

The Snowflakes Stocking have also been on my mind since the real snow starting flying in December. I can see this one hooked so clearly doing the actual work will just be a formality. This one excites me because it will be mostly monochromatic, with icy shades of pale blues and greys with the white.   On the top of this one I plan to hook slub and curly mohair for a cuff of fake fur. I won't be able to get to this one fast enough.....if only I could mind hook, dream about it at night and like the cobbler and the elves, wake in the morning to the finished rug.   The stockings can be viewed on my Seasonal Designs page. http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/seasonal-designs.html

I'm also working on one with tree ornaments. I saw something similar on a napkin over the holidays and thought, wow, that would make a great rug so I started it as well. Ornaments can be magical and provide a chance to play with a full range of beautiful and festive colours. With these three new stocking patterns that pushes the total to 27, only 23 more designs to go to reach the 50 mark! I think I'll create a bunch now while the weather continues to inspire the theme, because it might not be so exciting in the humidity of summer.

I also completed "Just Laid" a pattern that's been on the drawing desk for some time. Barely off the desk and I sold a copy. Sue grabbed it up and is planning on hooking it next. Gotta love that! A new design that will have a picture in a week or so. For those who think the cigarette is tacky don't hook it, but the playful side of me thinks it's darling so I hope Sue keeps it in.   24" x 35 1/2" and can be viewed on my new designs page:
http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/new-designs.html

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Another hot new "Women of Abundance" design!

10/25/2013

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There are two blogs today so scroll down after this one!

Here is the latest in the "Women of Abundance" designs by Sue Cunningham. This cutey is called "Anchors Aweigh!" To see the details click on the link to Sue's webpage: http://www.encompassingdesigns.com/sue-cunningham.html

Anchors Aweigh.....29" x 22"

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Red Rover, Come Over!

10/17/2013

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A choice of four designs for pattern of the week!

Red Rover, Come Over.....23 1/2" x 19"

Susan Leslie hooked my design, "Pearly, Heading For The Gates", which is the current pattern of the week. She hooked it in 2006, the year before she passed away and I was always supposed to design "Red Rover, Come Over" to cover both angel kitties and pups of the heavenly persuasion.  The two patterns were supposed to be a matched set and I regret not getting around to designing it. After she passed I put the idea on the back burner as it was too painful to think about. She had saved some of the same wools so the two pieces could be hung together to compliment one another and I kicked my butt a few times that I didn't make more of an effort to draw the pattern when she asked for it.  I was probably busy at work and always figured there would be time but life doesn't always follow an assumed plan.

We all have pets; furry kids that touch our hearts and help to make our lives whole. Unfortunately they don't live long enough or maybe we live too long.......such a painful imbalance for both parties.   I can't imagine life without my babies and as I write this all four are snuggled around my feet, curled up and sleeping, perfectly happy just to be close to me.  I've never been able to get the man in my life to do that......just sayin how special dogs can be......

So this week I put up Pearly for the pattern of the week and was reminded that I should have a dog angel. Cats generally look similar so my pattern can be adapted to look like your precious kitty with different fur colours and a bit of simple tweaking. Dogs on the other hand are very different kettle of fish with so many breeds to acknowledge.  I suppose Rover could be altered to fit a few but this guy definitely doesn't resemble a poodle or a schnauzer. If anyone would like a specific breed I might be able to accommodate a "ruff" sketch in place of Rover so you can have a forever reminder of man's best friend, immortalized in wool by your own loving hand.   The wide border allows space if you would like to add your pet's name.

Susan used a sparkling wool to outline the kitty so she seems to glow which certainly fits the subject matter. I love how she hooked the sky with various swirls to inject movement on the journey upward. The stars were not exclusively golden and the light mauves and purple mottles add a bit of whimsey.   This mat is in the shop and gets a lot of attention. Every one that sees it relays a story of loss and sadness over the passing of a family pet, what better way to commemorate their memory than with a hand hooked rug.

Grover, Come Over as requested. A Boston Terrier angel.

Lassie, Come Home....23 1/2" x 19. Drawn as a Sheltie but could be a Collie and of course the name is darling.

Pearly, Heading For The Gates..... 23 1/2" x 19" The wool used to outline Pearly had a bit of sparkle to it so the puddycat sort of glows.

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Sock It To Ya!

6/12/2013

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“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

When I think of socks I think of laundry and that leads me down the trail of thought to my dear, departed mother. I never got the chance to say I’m sorry for all those times I caused her hair to turn grey and fall out. I know it must be hard to believe, but I was a trying child. Not in the sense that I was bad or precocious, I suffered from delusions of grandeur, stuck between the real world and a reality I created in my head. I lived in la la land for the first decade of my life; physically present in body but no one was home. There are few surviving real memories from that time and I think it's because I was so busy pretending real life played second fiddle. My mind was always in a far off land with make believe casts of characters that were far more intriguing than the real world I was forced to dwell in. Truly…I should have been born in a storybook, a fairy-tale world where anything was possible. I literally daydreamed most of my childhood away, traveling to far off lands and seeing the wondrous sights of the world, all without ever leaving my room.

Under the constant scrutiny of my mother, I was able to accomplish the things that were necessary to get ahead, like homework, but other than that I was busy solving crimes as an amateur sleuth, slaying dragons to rescue folks from a fiery breath, hanging out in the wooded area behind our house with my fairy companions; no not the fake ones who supposedly bring money for teeth, but the real, ordinary, everyday kind, that dwell in the forests, hiding in tree trunks that most will never see because they foolishly fail to believe.

Yup, my head was in the clouds and maybe the high altitude played a part in the fact that it was difficult to focus on any task at hand especially weekly chores or bedroom cleanliness. Saturday was the day to clean the house, not that it needed cleaning, our mother was a bit of the white tornado sort, eat off any corner of any room, sort of deal. She thought it would build character to be entrusted with a little light cleaning duty and although her motives were admirable it had to eat away at her as she watched my room transform into a nightmare, housing goodness knows what as I dragged in all kind of bugs and filth, things necessary to perpetrate my rich fairy-tale life. Yes, at times there were bugs and worms, little sentinels for my castles, pollywogs from the pond in the back yard swimming around in bowls, substitute sharks for the castle moat. A few toads and frogs for the kiss the prince thing; so I was literally kissing toads long before I actually dated. Crickets refused to be seen and not heard.   Usually mom would just give up and give in, push the mounds aside and run the vacuum around but it seemed easiest to just close the door and forget that part of the house if only to keep the crawly things in.

So every Saturday my chore was to clean the upstairs bathroom. While school was in session I had to get up and keep a normal schedule but once summer holidays hit I didn’t do much and stayed in bed until late afternoon. My curtains were dark and filtered out most of the light so it was easy to just lay there and play pretend. My surreal world was always more exciting so why crawl out of a warm cocoon?

I think my mom finally gave up on me because I overhead her tell dad in a frustrated tone “At least I know where she is…” so she just let me sleep or do whatever it was that I did and when I got hungry enough I’d readily emerge from the room on my own terms so it didn’t wreak havoc on her nerves trying to scream me out of bed.   But on Saturday she'd brave my room and stand over me until I awoke to remind me of the dreaded chores and tempt me with the notice that it was once again allowance time. I did like money, it meant candy, so there was motivation, just not enough to zip through the work and be on my merry way.

No lie, I would go into the bathroom shortly after breakfast and I’d be there until five o’clock with only a break for lunch. I would dilly dally the hours away on a sojourn to another place and time. She always gave me a deadline to work within but time meant nothing to a kid bursting with make believe. I would sit there and pretend away the afternoon, playing with the Avon perfume bottles, looking out the window wondering about the people in the neighbourhood, watch the rain, name the shapes in the clouds drifting by, follow a spider’s expedition across the bathtub, mist the mirror with breath and draw things, do crazy stuff with my hair, pull it back into a bun, pretending to be a sophisticated movie star "dawling", sing with a toothpaste tube microphone, flush the toilet and watch the water spiral down the drain, taking with it the spider. Whatever it took to kill five or six hours I did it in spades.

Occasional I had to leave if someone needed to use the john but I’d be back at my post sitting and daydreaming, ignoring the threatening calls of my mother in an attempt to force some kind of motivation to get the job done.   I didn’t want to be in the bathroom, my bedroom would have been more desirable, but I just never learned to do the work first, get it over with and then enjoy myself. I was too full of fancy and doddled until the very last minutes of the clock ticked toward 5:00 and then I would swing into action and scrub that room lickety split just in time for my mother to abstain from a coronary at the frustration of me. I’ll bet she wondered more than a few times if there was a mix-up at the hospital, or if I had something borderline wrong with me.

Anyway, that was the young, lackadaisical me. My desire to clean or lack of also carried into the weekly maintenance of the bedroom. In my secret haven there were hundreds of distractions to procrastinate or daydream on. My poor mother hollering for me to pick up clothes that she’d washed and ironed that I’d worn for less than five minutes and then discarded as if lifting an arm for a hanger was a threat to my person. I threw everything on the floor, sometimes the clothes were ankle deep. A rake would have come in handy but I never thought of it back then. That was something my current hubby said when he saw me in action after we moved in together.  Old habits die hard and I’ve never been able to pick up after myself. Maybe I was meant for a real castle where servants do that sort of thing. Maybe I was born without the gene to pick up after myself, that bend over and grab a handful of laundry kind of action…I’ll betcha there really is such a thing!

So to get to my point of this story.....when the clothes came off they were thrown on the pile and somehow socks would always go missing. My mother was always frustrated trying to make up a pair until she gave up and bought all the same colour so I would be assured a matched set right down to the last surviving two.

Socks are a very interesting phenomena in that they travel, maybe in the dark of night they succumb to sibling rivalry by their twin and run away from home. Maybe sock gnomes invade while we sleep or night critters crawl out of the cracks and drag the tasty treats away. Who knows where the socks go but we can’t always blame the innocent dryer!

So my bedroom is always a mess. Right at this moment I would be ashamed to show you the room. Socks and other things are everywhere. It isn’t a room I spent time in. With a bathroom downstairs I hardly go upstairs until nighttime to sleep, so out of sight out of mind. I am better though, get into a fit every now and then and gather it all up and throw it in the laundry room; a closed door on that puppy solves all the problems. I love the feel of a tidy bedroom and for one or two nights I’m a queen......but it never lasts. So I don’t fight it any more. I am what I am whatever that may be. I heard on TV that messy chaos is genius…and I’m inclined to agree.

So when I was drawing out this sweet little rug I was thinking about my mom and how I must have dangled on her last nerve. I wish she could be here so I could hug her and thank her for being kind to what had to be a thorn in her backside.

Sock It To Ya! 22" x 36"

So today's design is a collage of socks. Kids usually leave them all over the floor anyway so why not hook a rug to fit as a backdrop to their mess. This pattern is part of the series I am working on for the Fashionista theme of previously designed shoes and purses. Next will be hats.

Lots of funky socks to add all those bright and wonderful colours. Stripes and zig zags with animal prints and dots, this happy little pattern will be a conversation piece or make for a lovely gift for someone special. I called it "Sock It To Ya". Hope you enjoy! Remember guess a number from 1-50 and leave on the comments here on the blog and this new "hot of the press design" can be yours!

No one guessed my number yesterday' which was #1....Ern was the closest with #2. So we have a winner for Bottoms Up! Please email me your mailing address. Congrats!

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New Design - Get Hooked!

3/4/2013

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Hot of the press new pattern. "Get Hooked!"
22" x 36"

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Cabbagetown

2/26/2013

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Honey is a little Cabbage Rose!

Sue received a commission to design and hook a rug called Cabbagetown. A few Saturdays ago she visited the shop to work at the spacious pattern desk and kept me company for the afternoon. Honey loves Sue and is helping to keep the pattern from shifting while she works. Poodles are so smart!

Cabbagetown is a neighbourhood located on the east side of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It comprises "the largest continuous area of preserved Victorian housing in all of North America", according to the Cabbagetown Preservation Association.

Cabbagetown's name derives from the Irish immigrants who moved to the neighbourhood beginning in the late 1840s, said to have been so poor that they grew cabbage in their front yards.

Only the decorative tops of the buildings are drawn. The border is a compilation of cabbages roses, wrought iron swirls and cobbles. The wording 'Ville des choux' runs along the bottom border sandwiched by cobbles.

Sue darkening the lines after transferring the design with red dot. Honey approves but would rather be picked up and cuddled. A lot of straight lines on this pattern..all straight on the grain.

Design "Cabbagetown" is 16" x 66"

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Chelsea - A pattern by any other name would be just as sweet!

2/19/2013

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Chelsea working on a pattern.

Chelsea been been  helping us build stock in the shop.  She is Shane’s best friend’s partner and is a delight to have around. She picked up drawing patterns like a second nature and is quick as well as accurate. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to draw patterns but you need a steady hand and spatial concept and she is gifted with both.

I love paisley, have always appreciated these timeless classics that hold the observer captive;  mesmirized by all the intricate curves and tiny motifs, seeing something new with every glance. I had started this design last year and dug it out to complete and I decided to name it after Chelsea so we have something to immortalize the contribution she's made to the shop.  We'd love to keep her but she's only borrowed from her managerial position at the local market that closes for the winter.  Spring will mark her leaving and it will be a sad farewell.

In the meantime she is helping to stock the racks back to full capacity and at the pace she works that should be accomplished sooner than later. We are working like a tightly knit team, even Shane is darkening the patterns. I'm pumping out new designs and hope to polish off a hundred in the next month or so.  I'll post them as they come off the designer table.

'Chelsea' somehow fits this pattern like custom tailoring. Something in the name looks and feels like paisley, or maybe it's just me?. This design is 32" x 44", a perfect size to compliment any room's decor.

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The calm after the storm...

2/12/2013

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Today was back to work. It started early with a 6:30 alarm call that I tuned out till 7:00. Today was grooming day and I have to be in Gold River between 8:00 – 8:30 to drop off my four hair kids. Usually I’m not conscious until 8:00 so it was a rough start and a race against time to get out the door. Not a bad accomplishment with four dogs that need to make snow yellow, be fed and then follow up with a dump. Plus a shower for me and some semblance of a breakfast. I made it to the groomers at 8:29. Impressive actually as I’m usually late. It’s kind of expected now so I shocked him.

My mother always said I would be late for my own funeral, a play on words and an insult in one swift blow. Well I say ‘so what’. I’ll admit I beat to a different drum and I mean no disrespect to the people I keep waiting, it’s just that my clock’s a bit off. And besides, you aren’t late until you
get there right?

I’ve always been this way and I don’t expect any great change any time soon, the old dog new tricks thing is science as far as I'm concerned. I just cruise along at my own speed. I could pay someone for professional advice, find out why I do it, but I’d be late for the appointment and then I’d have to pay for my tardiness. It might have something to do with being denied birth when my mother was forced to ride the agonizing waves of labour when they tied her legs together and her hands to the bedside rail because there wasn't a doctor to deliver me. That was the first time I was late, and it snowballed from there. Why couldn't that experience have scarred me for life? Made me what I am today? What better excuse to fall back on when I get the evil eye as I breeze in late, "Hey, man, it's not my fault; I was blue at birth!" And another thing, I hope I’m late for my own funeral, it might mean I’m not quite dead!

I’m the polar opposite of those people who show up way too early for appointments. In the past, after waiting hours for a doctor I learned that showing up early just compiles the wait time.   If the appointment is at 10:00, show up at five to or maybe a minute before; perfectly acceptable and will cut down on the time you have to warm a seat. My time is important too and I’m not willing to spend one minute more than necessary waiting on someone else's schedule.

It’s not like my life is brain surgery where a minute can mean the difference between life and death.    And, it’s not like waiting rooms are one of the top 10 places to hang, they are filled with outdated magazines and dead skin cells of all those who came before me. I’m not about to strike up conversations with waiting strangers, people who I’ll probably never see again so I just keep my head down, twiddle my thumbs and count the minutes.

Anyway, after dropping off the hounds, I arrived at the shop unfashionably early and put in eight hours of glorious work. Number one on the agenda was a cup of coffee, the first in three days and it tasted marvelous! Then juiced with caffeine I sprang into action and accomplished many items on the list, especially one that I had been putting off for some time. A client wanted a 26”x 26” portrait of the Mona Lisa and it turned out even better than I anticipated and I’m sure she’ll be pleased. She loved Mary Doig’s Mona Christmas Stocking but said she wanted to hook the piece and display it all year round so she opted to make a pillow and I offered to design it for her.   I started from scratch because I needed a lot more detail of the background and Mona’s body.   I love designing, it's one of the aspects of my shop that gives me the most satisfaction.

Today was what one would call perfect,. Work was crazy fun and at the end of the day, I was rewarded with four pups all washed, clipped and blown into bouffant cotton swabs.   There's no more precious sight than my four babies in their formal wear.

And I forgot to mention how wonderful the weather was!  After this past weekend's fiasco, it was almost surreal. A divine +5, the cherry on the day! It doesn’t get much better than that!

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Two new designs!

A few new designs!

Another hot new "Women of Abundance" design!

Red Rover, Come Over!

Sock It To Ya!

New Design - Get Hooked!

Cabbagetown

Chelsea - A pattern by any other name would be just as sweet!

The calm after the storm...

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