Rug Hooking Fun at the Guild Christmas Party

 Question:  What do these bird pins, hand dyed wool, fun, laughter, and a bunch of wild and crazy women have in common?
 Answer:  They were all at the Crescent Lane Rug Hookers Christmas Party!
 

 The Secret Game started the party off.  (It is a little game that I invented.)  I made the little Birdie Pins to be worn by our Board Members.  If anyone commented on the Pin they were wearing at the party, it was to be given to them quietly along with the rules of the game.  I put the rules of the game inside a Christmas Card so others wouldn't notice.  It was fun to see the Birds being passed on around the room and the look on the faces of those reading the card.  The ones wearing the Bird Pins at the end of the game got to keep them.  If you want to play this game, here are the rules:

THIS IS A SECRET GAME.

Here are the rules:

1)  You must wear this bird pin until someone

      comments on it.

2)  You must give up the pin to that person as

     discretely as possible along with this card.

3)  You cannot comment on another bird pin

      in order to acquire it.

4)  This is the end of the game for you.

5)  You cannot discuss the game with anyone

      at anytime.

6)  If someone asks you if this is a game,

     you are to answer "No".

7)  The persons with the bird pin at the end

     of the game may keep it as their prize.

8)  Smile and thank the person who passed

      the bird pin to you.

                                                      GOOD LUCK!

 The prize for the next game was a hooked Birdsnest Bag (free pattern by http://primitivespirit.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/free-pattern-birdsnest-bag/).
It is a GREAT game that I found on Pinterest here. This is what the game looks like in progress . . .
 

 

 

 

 

  

It was so much fun and got a ton of laughs.

We also played the White Elephant Game (fighting over 1/8 yard of hand dyed wools) and Christmas with the Right Family (found here) passing around 1/8 yard of hand dyed wools).  Each rug hooker at the party won a total of 1/4 yard of hand dyed wool like the ones shown in the first picture.  We all laughed so hard we cried.  It was a great time.  I'm hoping some of you other guilds or rug hooker friends will try out these games your next party.

Happy Hooking.

Making progress

 Making a little progress on my Farmer in the Dell.  I just have the Farmer and some sky and the grass left to hook.  The figures are so time consuming to hook.

 I 'm happy the the Wife, but I am not happy with the boy's face.  It looks like someone hit him in the nose.  I'm going to re-hook it one more time.  The leash doesn't show up enough so I'm re-hooking it in a brighter color.

I have re-hooked the little stars and I DO like those much better.  

Happy Hooking.

Marblelizing wool

 I bought Karen Kahle's little book on Marbleized Wool and I have been having such fun will all the beautiful colors that can be produced.  You can find Karen's book at ETSY under primitivespirit or here.  It is a tiny book, but worth it's weight in gold!

Just look at the pretty colors all mingled together.  The ones below were marbleized by sandwiching an off white wool between the solid green and solid blue.  See how it marbleized them all.

  I have marbleized wools before, but I really think the book explains the process in detail and I have much better success.  The one below was the first I tried using her process.  Isn't it great?

 

These I did last night. I want to hook Karen's little pocket Birdsnest Bag that she has as a free pattern using these marbleized wools below.  You can find her free pocket pattern on her blog http://primitivespirit.wordpress.com/ or here.

 

Happy Hooking!

Farmer in the Dell update . . .

 I'm working steadily on the "Farmer" rug.  I had to re-hook the little mouse to make him smaller and I added highlights to the tree.  The highlights makes the tree show up against the dark sky. 

 I also added highlights on the little boy.  I'm not happy with his face.  It is so difficult to get the right feel of expression in such a tiny space.

Working on the border and finishing up the wording, then I will hook the Farmer and his Wife.  I'm re-thinking the little stars.  A suggestion was to make them have points like the bigger ones and maybe in the yellow.  I just don't want to clutter up the sky.

Happy Hooking!

Finishing up some things

Now that the Auction is over, I am determined to finish up some projects that have been sitting in my closet for some time.  This is my grandson Wyatt.  I started him in February 2012 in a class with Donna Hrkmann.  I didn't quite catch his happy little face, but it is so hard to hook faces . . . well for me anyway.  I have tweaked him all I care to tweak, so I am DONE!  Just need to put a binding on it and it is going to my daughter.

This project has been in my closet since February 2011.  It is called Farmer in the Dell, my own creation.  It took two years for me to draw the darn thing and I'm still not happy with it.  I am not an artist and I hate to draw.  Things always look better in my head. 

When I started hooking it,  I got stuck in an area and put it down, then in the closet.  I would have to move it out of my way every once in a while to get to other things.  Now I am back to hooking it and my goal is to finish it before the year ends.  I have had to re-hook the mouse already.  It was twice the size and kind of dwarfed the little kitty.  I do like the moon, though.

Happier hooking.

2nd Annual Crescent Lane Auction and Raffle

Hi Everyone!  Our 2nd annual Crescent Lane Auction and Rug Raffle was held on October 27, 2012.  We all had a fabulous time.  Here are some pictures that you may enjoy . . . .

Decorating is always fun.  The theme was OWLS.  I got some great ideas from Pinterest.

 Signing in.

Auction Paddles.

 A Cathy Meyer Owl Pattern.

Owl Garland Pinterest idea.

 A Joyce Connell Painting.

Crocheted Owl pattern from ATERGcrochet on Etsy.

Goodie Bags . . . another Pinterest idea.

Toilet Goblin, Pinterest.

Pinterest pumpkins.

Pinterest "Come in My Pretties" sign, had to have it!  Sign from Gina Steverson freckledesigns@gmail.com

Saw this sign on Pinterest.

 Raffle Rug.  Two Squares were not finished, but as you can see below, a hooker came through to finish it!

 Last minute ticket sales.  Sadly, she did not win.

 Go Beverly!  Hook away!

 Preparing the Silent Auction.

 Hookers, start your bidding!.

 Viewing upcoming Main Auction Items.

Main Auction Items.

Showing off our Hooters!  Bobbie helped to make the Owl Pins and Dana made all the Goodie Bag Owls.  They did NOT expect for me to tell everyone to take a look at their HOOTERS! Some are big, some are little . . .as Hooters go!

FOOD, of course.

 Hungry Bidders.

The Auction.

Jill, our Auctioneer.

 And the Raffle Rug Winner is . . . .

A most joyous Bobbie!  One of the Hooter Girls.

It was just a Fun, Fun Day!!!!