Today is the Day.

 Finally, after waiting and waiting, I am going to pick up my hook and start a new rug. I don't consider myself an artist, but I imagine how it might be, the ache that comes from not being able to draw, or write or make something creative. My mind has to be in a good place to be able to create. All of those months of getting the house ready and decluttering, I knew my mind was not in that place to do that. Oh, off topic but I wanted to throw in here the book I read that gave me the vision and guts to really clean out my house. 

Its called" The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning" by Margareta Magnusson. Its not sad or maudlin or anything, its a good how to book. It really helped me to get through the years of clutter. 

Okay back to rug hooking. I have always wanted to hook Cape Ann by Edyth O'Neill. I made a promise to myself that after I was moved what ever that looked like, I was going to hook that rug for my new house. 

I ordered as you can see from Woolly Fox. I ordered my wool from Dorr Wool.

I can dye my own wool as I have mentioned but I can never get good reds or good black and my greens don't come out the green I wanted. I spent Tuesday washing and drying my wool. It was a lovely day. Ron got a clothesline rope that I had saved from something else I was going to make and we tied it around the pillars that hold up the roof in the back yard and I hung my wool out to dry. Then Wednesday, I put my Cape Ann on my frame and spent the day staring at it. I did some of my counted cross stitch projects while I just sat and looked at that giant rug. 

I started Spooky Countdown by Primitive Hare. The second picture is Ann Womack 1838 by Shakespeare's Peddler. The third picture is the flower I am going to start today. 

(Oh, by the way, learning this new blogger isn't easy so if you notice weird things, its because I am still trying to figure this out.)

I will be finally getting to my goal today. I will be doing that which I love, cutting wool, planning colors, and finally picking up my hook and pulling loops. I think it will be like riding a bike, and it will all come back to my hand memory. There is nothing like starting a new rug and pulling loops as the colors begin to bring life to the linen. I have waited a year and I am so excited that the waiting is over. 

Last night the wind was blowing in the palm trees that surround our house. I was sitting in back. Ron was watering his little Bonsai trees. I sat and watched the palm fronds as the wind blew them west. I thought as I sat there I do like the sound of the wind in the palm trees. It sounds like the ocean and they are never still. Change is never easy, 2020 has been nothing but change every single day. As I look for things to be thankful for, I realize, even though I may not like some of those things the media seems to scream about day in and day out. The good always outweighs the bad. Most people are nice. We are all in the same boat. I have found in the midst of all of this change, if I can hang onto one tiny bit of normal, life just seems wonderful. So if I have learned anything at all from all of this, kindness, love and compassion will always win. Always. 

Have a wonderful day. I wish you blessings upon blessings today. With a hook in my hand, I am going into this new day. 

~Kim~

"Our deepest fear is not that we are weak. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world ... As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

( Attributed to Nelson Mandela, but in reality it was a quote by Marianne Williamson in her book,

"A Return to Love.") I remembered it as from Nelson Mandela, but I thought it was interesting to note where it originally came from.

"The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory says, "The above quote does not appear in any of his three inauguration speeches." They have cataloged three thousand of his speeches. Whatever its still a good quote for this time.