Cats Demand Equal Time

If you mention dogs, you just have to be fair and do the same for cats! So here's a fun rug I made for myself of one of my past cats, Mimi. Sadly, I had to put her to sleep last spring. She was a great (big), sweet cat, and never caused any mischief. I always said " Oui, oui, Mimi!" when feeding her. The rug's in my kitchen, in front of the sink. A fitting place, considering eating was her favorite past-time. Of course, I have to include a pic of the real Madam Mimi.

Year of the Dog

Happy Chinese New Year!
May you find prosperity, health, luck, and happiness in all you encounter.

This One's for Joelle

Here you go, Joelle - the photo's for you, not the ottoman! (click on the photo for a larger image)

White outside - Colors Inside

Finished this little piece. After I steam it, I'll stretch and attach it to a 3x3 inch piece of plywood. That's it for today - bit of shoveling to do.

Seasons Minis

I thought I'd make some mini mats, 3x3 inch, depicting the seasons. Right now I'm trying out punching narrow wool strips with my Craftsman needle. I sawed an extra notch in it to get a shorter loop. I thought I'd show the backside that you punch from and the front. It's not coming out as abstract as I wanted, but I'll wait and see as it's filled in more. Here's also a winter mini that I did last year using a regular rug hook. I used a bit of roving in it.

Amy Oxford Workshop

Saturday my rug hooking group, the Wooly Bullies, had Amy Oxford come and teach us everything about punch needle rug hooking. She's a fantastic teacher and had many of her beautiful rugs and other pieces to show us as samples. It's amazing how thick rugs are punched with rug wool as compared to traditional rug hooking. She had a beautiful piece she punched using silk yarn. It had a wonderful sheen and was incredibly soft. She said it was extremely difficult to punch. After Amy showed us the technique we tried our hand at punching using rug wool, many different types of yarns and combining them, and wool strips. She also showed us how to punch single yarns and narrow wool strips using a mini punch needle she's developing. I really liked the look of that for small pieces. I'm going to try to punch a stool cover using wool strips. I think it will take me less time than traditional hooking. I'll post some photos of it.

From Krishna to Cats in the Sun

Happy New Year! My kitchen calendar has gone from Krishna and Radha art to cats lounging in the sun while my engagement calendar went from botanical drawings to wanderlust photos. Hmm, perhaps travel to the Mediterranean is in my future.
With the start of the new year I began working on this year's goals and resolutions. Seeing as this year will be the Year of the Dog that's all the more reason to put goals and plans down in writing! One thing that I put down every year is that I'll do at least one "new" thing every month.
I've begun a couple journals. One is a great little project journal that one of my sisters gave me in which I can keep track of all my projects. The other journal I'm starting is my fiber book where I can doodle and work out various ideas for rugs, etc. Up to now I've been rather scattered with this - bits and pieces of paper and wool strewn here and there. Time to try to be a bit more organized!