Friday, July 29, 2022

Dog Days of Summer



 
One of the things I can keep up on with weather apps on my phone, is what kinds of weather my friends and family are having. Today, its raining is Tucson, with thundershowers this morning. My son in North Carolina, chance of thundershowers this afternoon. As my husband says, we just get shade. We are on day 19 of over 100 degrees. When we start getting at this point in summer, I get happy we are going to start breaking records, and I am so thankful for air conditioning, because I can hook and hook to my hearts content. I finished Magdalena's Goat and got her steamed. It might be awhile before I get her bound though. You know due to the over 100 degree days. 


My goal for this rug was to use only worms from my stash. I thought in my mind that I would make a dent in those bags of worms I had from past projects. I was trying to think like Magdalena might have thought and used up what I had. Nope, I didn't even make a dent. I did dig though bags to find colors like the reds when I would run short but I think they reproduce on their own. I feel like I have even more worms than I did before. I would say that this rug tested me in every area of my hooking ability. I would look at pictures online and stare at the pictures, but try as I might, my own style comes through. Which really is that a thing? I don't know but I never could reproduce what I saw. So about from the neck up on the goat, I just hooked for me. I wanted to get to other rugs for fall. Which I already have a jillion of anyway, but I still like the fall color palate. 

I dyed wool on Wednesday. I think dyeing wool is like unwrapping presents. Every time I pull something out of the dye pot, its a surprise. I was dyeing colors for this rug. 


This is what I am working on now. Halloween Gothic by Therese Shick. I just loved the colors. It says on her Etsy page she is going to be at Sauder in August at Booth #H16. I would love to see her booth if I ever get there. Which I would love to go someday. Here are the colors I dyed.


I just enjoy overdying colors that I have that might have been for another project and taking out and having something brand new. I even went though all of my wool and folded it and straightened everything out. I have love everything about rug hooking. Hooking, designing and dyeing. I love binding too. There is just something so calming to my soul to have a rug to hook. 

I noticed this last week that Cammie Bruce reopened her Etsy shop. Baskets of Wool Studio. I was so happy. I have missed her. I ordered some rugs as soon as I saw her notice. 



That Polka Dot Pumpkin has been on my Pinterest for a long time. I loved it when she first showed it on her blog. I decided it was time I bought it. I bought Love my Black Dog, sort of in remembrance of Sasha. I was going to do it a long time ago, and now I finally have it, but we will see if I can. I just keep hoping this hole in my heart goes away at some point. All those voices in my head that tell me to just buck up and move on and quit being a baby, really are there. When I catch myself, looking for her. 


The house we stayed in in Tucson, had all of this Southwest art in it. I loved this painting and I don't know why I like it but you know not really what I have in my house. But I loved this. I would love to do a rug of it at some point. I just loved the colors and everything in it. It makes me think of those pictures  I would do as a kid where I would tear different kinds of paper to make mountains and glue pictures on it. Did you ever do that in school? I think it would be nice to do a rug like that. Another thing I liked was on I 10 there is this bridge and I love this sun.  

I just think it is so cool. I took pictures of that whole wall as we were driving by at 70 miles a hour. It just makes me happy to see it. 



Well its almost August. I have all of these lovely rug patterns to hook and so many nice things to think about and adjust. Thank you for stopping by. I really thought about doing a Twaddle post, but when I sat down, it ended up being about rug hooking. 
I hope your weekend is lovely, thank you so much for stopping by.

~Kim~


“The mullein had finished blooming, and stood up out of the pastures like dusty candelabra. The flowers of Queen Anne's lace had curled up into birds' nests, and the bee balm was covered with little crown-shaped pods. In another month -- no, two, maybe -- would come the season of the skeletons, when all that was left of the weeds was their brittle architecture. But the time was not yet. The air was warm and bright, the grass was green, and the leaves, and the lazy monarch butterflies were everywhere.”
― Elizabeth Enright 


 

7 comments:

Rugs and Pugs said...

I love everything about this post.
Your Magdalena Goat came out great and you made it yours! You are so right. The worms multiply while we sleep!
LOL! I am going to be at Sauder and didn't know about Theresa Shick vending. I really ought to look at the vendor list. I love Halloween Gothic, too. It may have to come home with me.
Cammie has so many fun patterns. I know many are happy she has reopened her etsy shop.
The hole in your heart will be there forever, but it will get smaller over time. I know Sasha took a big piece of it when she went to the Rainbow Bridge. It is so hard.
Since this was not a twaddle post, I hope to see one soon.
xoxo

Kerin said...

Your rug turned out just wonderful! I think you have an eye for colors and designs in rugs and they always are beautiful!
I love that pumpkin rug that you're going to do...so fun!
I do have a bad case of Fall Fever right now...I guess it's not so uncommon, as the heat has really cranked up!

I know how much you miss ol' Sashie bum. She was a sweetie!!
I'm so glad that you got to have her in your life!
I think she and ol Rowdy boy are in doggy heaven having a great old time and reminiscing about how Rowdy pooped on her yard..lol!

{{hugs}}
~K.

Saundra said...

This blog was jam packed with lots of goodies and you could have milked about 5 blogs with all you had to say.
Great work and color choices on Magdalena's Goat. We each do make a rug our own and it comes thru naturally. Try tho I may to use up my worms don't see where I've ever made a dent in them.
I love Halloween Gothic and looking forward to watching you work on it. If you recall I loved that rug in the home where you stayed on vacation, and can understand why you love that framed art work.

Julia said...

A lovely post. Bravo on the finished Magdalena goat rug. You did a fantastic job on it. I too noticed how the worms multiply when the lights go out. lol...

I think we all have our own individual styles when it comes to rug hooking. I'm not very creative and stick to realism most of the time but one thing I know, I love children's art. I wonder why I don't hook them.

You have a lot of beautiful projects for the fall. I love the gothic Halloween one.

I can't imagine temperatures over 100 degrees for days on end. I'm glad you have AC. We finally got a good rain during the night and today I was vacuuming the trunk of my SUV when it started to pour again and then the sun came up right away.

Take care and have fun working on your next project.
Hugs,
Julia

NMK said...

Love your Magdalena's Goat !!! Looks Beautiful !!! Halloween Gothic looks really fun to hook & Cammie's patterns are just so darn cute ! I want too many patterns and find it hard to choose !!! You will have fun hooking all those great patterns , can't wait to see how you hook those too !!!

TheCrankyCrow said...

I LOVE your Magdalena Goat! It does reflect you and that is what makes it beautiful. I know all about trying to replicate something I love and it turns out to be "me". Like Welcome Cats. In my case, I don't think it doesn't make me happy LOL. Only in cross stitch can I control that. I also love your new patterns... Halloween Gothic and Polka Dot Pumpkin have both been on my radar for a while...but I have an unstated "max" of WIPs and things in que. One of those WIPs is Theresa Schik's "Simple Santa." When will I learn that it is so much more difficult to pick something back up once set aside than to just stick with it? There was a time I was a monogamous hooker (wow...talk about an oxymoron LOL) and things were simpler...but I strayed. Like Lauren said, there are no bandaids that will heal that Sasha hole....and we all know that some "pets" create a bond that can't be explained in terms of this world. I do pray that, in the days to come, you will find more comfort in memories of her than pain. Hugs...and more hugs. ~Robin~

Pom Pom said...

Hi Kim! What a nice post! Your goat is awesome! Wow! You did it! I love the gothic one. So cute.
I like the SW painting, too. You could make a rug for Kessie's fam.
Hook! Hook! Hook! I am trying to finish socks this weekend. How did I end up with so many to finish?
Love love xo
Oh! I see why you love to dye wool!