Drop Spindle spinning and knitting out in the woods during a hike on a beautiful day with my talented sister who came to visit for Christmas.  

Are you ready for 2019?  Have you set some goals?  Either to finish the UFO's, or learn a new art form?  Make a plan and get prepared and go for it!

Only two weeks until the Country Roads Quilt Show in Ocala Florida!  We all need needle cases to store our favorite needles and pins.  I will have these kits available for you at the quilt show.  A perfect size to give wool appliqué a try!  

Stop in my booth and say Hello!

I am excited to be a new vendor at the Country Road Quilt Show in Ocala Florida!  For all the important details check out their website at crqocala.com/quilt-show-2018.

I will be playing in the dye pots over the next several weeks!  Last week I dyed brilliant reds and glorious greens for Christmas projects and some outrageous oranges for pumpkins to get you started on fall.

Be sure to stop in my booth and say HI!

I will have several wool appliqué kits and patterns available also.  

Once in a while you need several values of the same color.  Santa faces anyone!

Registration is open!

Follow the Spring Fiber Fling 2019 tab on the tool bar to register.

One of my all time favorite rug patterns!  I am making some progress and enjoying each flower and leaf.  I guess I need to tackle the roses and strap leaves next.  During the summer I need extra fans to keep cool under this extreme rug!

A surprise adventure is always fun, when he said I am sure there is a spinning wheel in that barn somewhere!  We put on our boots, found our gloves, made sure our flashlights worked, long sleeves and pants for sure.  The barn was loaded, stacked pile on pile of old stuff and things.  And dark.  Then, there it was, a spinning wheel, made into a lamp.  Kind of disappointed not a treasure to take home.  Some parts were missing, and warped wheel.  I left it there for the next person with a treasure map, who needs a lamp.

I also had the pleasure of taking a weaving class from Tammy Poff, Poff Studios to learn the Log Cabin pattern on the rigid heddle loom.  This pattern has a pickup stick element in between the log cabin which adds a degree of difficulty to the weaving.  Now to wait for the cold day in January to wear it, in Florida.

Traveling in April is supposed to be, well, springy like weather, right?  A late spring blizzard made me a day late to the North Central McGown Teachers Workshop in Dubuque Iowa!  We made snow angels one night after the second storm of the week!

I am making progress on a primitive rug from a class at the workshop.  Wide cut, primitive representation taught by Valerie Bergeman.  Excellent class.

March began with the Spring Fiber Fling in Wildwood Florida!  We had a full house of rug hookers, spinners, weavers, knitters, wool appliqués!  And more!   

Are you interested in learning decorative stitches in rug hooking?  I will be teaching this pattern with all decorative stitches at the Florida Tropical Weavers Guild Annual Conference, March 15th to 18th at Lake Yale Conference Center.  Check out all the possibilities at FTWG.org!  Mini classes, vendors, 2.5 day classes, and MORE!

New hand-dyed wool from my dye pots are now listed in the website store under Specialty Dying.  These are one of a kind, 1/2 yard each.  Several different color ways to choose from, ready to be mailed to you!

Two new wool appliqué kits to make your own needle case.  Each kit comes with all  the wool to complete the project.  Finished size is approximately 4" x 4", with six pages inside to organize your needles and pins.

Find these in the Products and Services pages.

To Everyone who placed orders during the hurricane!  Thank you for your patience while we were cleaning up from Hurricane Irma!  We still have several trees to be removed (hoping tomorrow!!). We are extremely thankful that none hit the house.  The studio is reorganized, all neat and tidy for a few days anyway, 

I finished this stained glass design during the hurricane.  I used my trusty Beam N Read Light,  hang it  around your neck light when the power goes out and you can accomplish anything!  This pattern is sold by Honey Bee Hive Rug Hooking, designed by Jane Flynn.  I believe I will frame it.

Spinning when the power is out is easy!  At least during the daylight hours. At night I was able to use a power block and a LED light from the studio. This is Alpaca fiber and I am going to use it as is.  I kind of like the soft color.  I am always told MORE TWIST!  So I did, and added more twist when plying.  It was such a twisty chaotic mess and not photo worthy, not happy at all.  However, the magic happened in the soaking.  Now I am delighted with it.  The fluffy yarn is wonderfully balanced.  Can't wait to get it on the loom!

A little progress on Gainesboro this summer.  As I look at the photo I can see a couple places that need to be fixed.  A swirl that does not swirl enough, some shadows needing more depth.

A camera is a great tool to find the little things requiring a small and easy solution.  Try changing the setting to black and white to see dramatic lights and darks in your own rugs.  You will be able to  visualize any values that are too close and don't show up.

Now, on to the next scroll, and finish that rose in the middle!

Gainesboro will be my summer project - too hot to dye, too hot to be outside.  So with the AC and a fan I will be hooking this large 60 inch round pattern.  I purchased the Pearl McGown pattern drawn on burlap and transferred it to linen. Not an easy task.   Using the "Scrolls are Easy" book by LaVerne Brescia I decided to dye my wool with the formulas in the book.  Dip dye, swatches, painting.  I began hooking this with Sally Ballinger in February this year.  I hope to post weekly updates as the summer goes by.  

Right out of the dye pot and ready to go to Punta Gorda next week to the Searsport Harbor Hookin'.

Stop in my booth and say hello!

These sweet little snippet baskets are made in the USA!  Just the right size to put on your frame and catch all those little snipped ends.  The baskets are 3" x 2.25" and have a magnet in the bottom so it stays in place.  

The hooking is done and ready to be made into a little tote bag.  The pattern is San Miguel, a 12" x 12" spanish tile design available from Honey Bee Hive Co.  Some of the wool is my own hand-dyed, some I purchased from another teacher, and I used Noro Silk Garden yarn also.  The yarn gives the inner border a little more texture and sparks of color.

The back of the bag will be this fabric woven on my rigid heddle loom.  The warp is 8/2 unmercerized cotton.  The weft is my own hand-spun art yarn.  Wool, silk and some other fiber.  I played it with a shiny metallic embroidery thread for more sparkle.  The fabric will shrink a little when I wash it and that will give it more texture, and hopefully be the right size for the bag. 

The hooked piece and woven fabric look pretty together.  

Now for a trip to the local yarn shop for the wonderful handles.

I hope to have this completed in time for the fashion show at the Spring Fiber Fling in March.  Click on the Spring Fiber Fling tab for more information.

A couple cooler mornings here in Florida means I can get the dye pots out and start filling my shelves with colorful hand-dyed wool!  Here are some seasonal colors to start with, ready to go to the Strawberry Rug Hookers event in Tampa next month.

Exciting vendors, educational demos, beautiful rug exhibit,  wonderful location and hooking area.  Did I mention they are providing desserts?! 

The Belleview Florida  library asked me to bring in some of my items for display for the month of September!.  Some of my hand-dyed wool is on the bottom, a few rug hooking pieces are hanging and on the shelves.  I took my gold scarf that I made on my rigid heddle loom.  A knitted felted bowl (finally learned the double pointed needles so pretty happy with that).

If you are in the area stop in and take a look!

We were in Alaska on an EPIC adventure!  Here is one of the bears we saw on our way to Denali.  Kind of a friendly guy, though I think getting out of the bus would be a bad idea!

All orders placed while we were away will be sent out this week.  Thank you for your patience.

Thank you to all who have registered for the Spring Fiber Fling!  It will be here before we know it!

More pictures coming soon, we have so many to sort out.