Make a thing a day 14

Made my Gooseberry Christmas Cards

Angie Lewin has nothing to worry about!

But I love it, the application of line, what it can do, very much like shading.

  

A slice of the Welcome Mat Pattern of the Month

And our dye formula colours for this week

Make Something Everyday 13

Man made some bokeh for you

 I dyed 1/2 lb. of roving with the point method yesterday and and spun this yarn today. It is for someone special. I have not spun since September 10th, it felt good.

Make Something Everyday 12

Another lino cut

Gooseberries

Tired now

'Night

Bed

Sh

Z

Make Something Everyday 11

Today I got in quite a mood way, I don't know whether it was Jeni's tale of purging or because the sun shone but I cleaned out my closet, my bedroom, my spare bedroom and started to compile piles of this and that. I guess you'd say I made order.

I also started to decorate the house, lacking a mantle I used this book shelf, I still have a way to go but it is a start. Oh and of course now I see some streaks on the window!

Tonight it is Wacky Wednesday on the Mat, and I asked what your grandparents wore that you wish you had to wear today.
After spending all day on my feet I think I'll say... support - hose.

Make Something Everyday Ten

Tonight I present sunshine in a pan - WOW It cheered me up all afternoon.

My dear friend Marilyn sent me a little nudge and I love a little nudge!

She suggested I make the colours from a bouquet pictured and then design a rug to suit them. 

I'll be making a stylized Christmas Rose for The Mat's free December rug hooking pattern and have these formulas for the colours to go with it.

I made the colours today with an extra thrown in for background.

As usual my camera barely differentiates between red orange, red violet, red and orange.

 But I see the colours in the magazine page have acted the same.

This is due to my camera sensors not being sensitive enough.

I've learned to scan hot colours in when I'm doing articles for RHM

Here I used the flash washed out the cool colours but you can see the warm, each colour will be separated by a line of hooking beading or a black and white Shibori piece.

Also finally I got a photo of my car:

Maybe you already know but if not green and red are my favourite colours.

 She is a beauty.

 I could have got this one but everybody has one like that.

There was really no contest.

You can see way I was so outstanding on the 403

Make Something Everday Nine

Oh dear good and greasy gravy.
I can't believe this is what I made today.
It seemed like a great good okay idea at the time  it might be an accident waiting to happen.
I will hang it a dark corner of the studio.
Maybe set some moth larvae on it.
I'll order some tomorrow.

You can't do something beautiful every tine can you?
I'm not afraid to strut my ugly stuff are you?

Ironically the message says: An Artist Lives Here presented backwards because of my computer photo option.
 Isn't life a funny thing?
 And our creative life most of all.

Make Something Everyday 8

Little Bootu ( what we call baby shoes here) pictured below has taken a great long while. I've ripped out the bamboo and alpaca so many times I think I'm felting it.
I think I've got it now.
What I should have made is a record of what I did to make it.
A Bamboo Bootu, sounds like a Little Britain sketch.

It rained all day, so no photo of aforementioned car.

Make Something Everyday 7

I made a trip today.
How can I show you that?

I did see this chair in Varney, Ont. twice.

It's a big one, I have always wondered why they choose to make a chair of the Adirondack's though?

I could show you the rubbery poached eggs I overcooked and didn't eat, the strange and creepy feeling of talking about the car you are driving like an elderly relative you are about to stash away for good while driving it.
I immediately insisted we use code - we had a long way to go and wanted only co-operation from moody metal conveyances with ears. Never talk about money in a car!!! They are greedy and will want it and will pull anything to get it.

I did not shop or get books or material or anything creatively fun.
I did single handedly make a tiny little crazy on the 403 as I followed much more experienced driver home and we were in the slow lane and the exit was 4 fast lanes away- blessedly there were not smashes, taps, bumps, grinds, blood or fire. Horns and fists shaken and guts flip flopping but ok otherwise.
My friend Denise says only crazy people drive on these roads. I'm qualified there.
Here I was driving a new car on roads I had no experience or fore knowledge of.

Oh I forgot to tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I got a car! It's pretty, not white!! Sage green with grey interior - used but barely driven, it is a beaut from Hamilton Subaru. If you are in the market ask for Roy!
I'll show you a picture tomorrow, I'll probably try to tell you I made it.
I'll tell you what I made today -  I made it home.
Such a relief I can't tell you.

Make Something Everyday Six

Today we made:
 hooking angels
a giant woolly mess
our minds expand in new directions with embellishing rug loops and hooking quarter sized faces- it hurt  it hurt!
And I made these great recipes:

Ginger Brownies

350˚ F for 20 min.

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margerine.

Place in medium saucepan heat slowly until  smooth, don’t cook or boil, just let sugar melt.

Allow to cool

Add in 1 cup cut up ginger in syrup, ( available at the Bulk Barn )   crystalized ginger is not a good substitute.

Mix in 1 egg and 1 tsp. vanilla

Add 1 cup flour 1 tsp. baking powder, pinch of  salt

Place in ungreased 8x8 pan or mini muffin tins ( bake these for 15 min )

7 Layer Bars - Special Edition

If you don't know about this recipe you can go to this great version over on Little Cook from the Prairie.

I use a short bread crust but I add 1/4 cup of cornmeal.

1 small bag of coconut, larger cut

1 bag of white chocolate chips

1.5 cups of slivered of hand chopped almonds with skin on (not blanched ones)

1.5 cup of dried raspberries and cherries

Then just complete the recipe as called for.

I was going to try to do a tutorial once a week this December, I hope this passes for one.

Make Something Every Day Five

Today Erin came, we played.

We had a good 4 hours and a bit to devote ourselves to our lino cuts, Erin is expert, I'm a hack.

I love being a beginner at something. 

Above my subject, a pomegranate and you can see Erin's too.

Of course Man says mine looks like - a representation along the lines of Judy Chicago's most famous work. I've accepted that everything I make looks like this, really, it's okay.

Could this be about the beholder and not the creator? 

Here is a close up of Erin's cut and her printed work

Here is mine

Yes, I'll be papering the bathroom with these.

What a fun day!

Erin, Erin, do I cut away the black or do I cut away the grey, Erin what do I cut away? 

I'm leaving the black right? right?

I hope she comes back for our date next week though I would understand if she didn't.

I cut away the grey right?

Make Something Everyday - Four

I got sole.

I was as unfocused as this photo today.

Hence my lack of accomplishments.

But a sole, that's something that's better than nothing, yah?

Make Something Every Day Three

Two little hooking angels.

Mary picks one, she is my favourite too.

These are a free pattern on The Welcome Mat

I'm giving a class on them here in my studio at home, live and in person Thursday.

These are Hooking Angels, They have their bags and little woollen hooks, today I learned how to felt wool to wire - cool, that's what I used to make the hooks.

They are carrying real linen backing and wool for their patterns and of course their halos are their hoops! 

I'll continue to tart them up a bit tomorrow and make Aimee her new boots, the ones I made are too small, her feet are 4inches long and the shoe sole I made are only 3" ouch!

There is space in the class for two more if you can come, I'm making white chocolate raspberry squares...

Make Something Every Day 2

I was Knighted today. Or Knotted maybe. I was declared Aimee Vaughn's personal fashion designer.

I decided to start from the top and work down.

Black  was the ordered colour but I only had charcoal.

Here is what I made with an invented pattern.
All thanks to Alicia Kay, she gave me this skill to both follow a pattern and have some ability to invent one.

There is the lacy hat, then sewn to it's brim,  a strand of intermittent circles. Then I have a flower, I know I put it on "backwards" wrong side up but I liked it better that way. The circles have embroidery in them.

It was asked to be for fashion not for warmth. 

I can't wait to see someone other than my glass witch's ball wear it.

These colours might look good on Birdee.

She said "I'm not your Barbie doll"

Hmmph.

Make Something Every Day - One

December is here and it is time for Make Something Every Day all month long as is my December tradition.
Today I made this tea towel with coin sized doilies adorning it that I made also.
Considering the width of strips I like to work with ( #12) I so enjoy making doilies the size of pennies. with thread.
Sick.
I do love my tea towel though.
Irish linen/ cotton linen thread

Linen & Handmade

I bet you washed a few dishes yesterday and I bet it was worth every set of dish pan hands.

Speaking of dishes I love tea towels and when I travel I often find lovely ones. On my last trip

I found the most beautiful irish linen towelling in Asheville NC at Waechters and I also found some beautiful co-ordinates of Japanese cotton linen blend to decorate them with. You can buy online from them, the buttons there are amazing!!!

You saw I made a lovely pair of tea towels for Pam and when Erin's birthday rolled around I made this pair for her. 

When I gave them to her I said I didn't feel their whole story was told and could I continue the story or did she think they said enough?

She gave me the go ahead!

  I felt they wanted randomly sized and placed dots that would fray at the edges as the cloths were used and washed.

 Now I feel good when I look at them

And I hope Erin does too.

Turkey Feathers Formula

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday doing what you love.

I was looking at one of my favourite things this morning, turkey feathers.

They are just so beautifully coloured

Here is a wandering formula that mimics them

For a more golden rendition start this recipe off with 1/32 Orange and proceed as directed

No stirring right?

Jean’s Shimmer

2/32 tsp. bottle green ( do not add acid right away)

1/32 tsp. blue

1/32 tsp. red - add acid now

2/32 tsp. yellow

1/32 tsp. blue

Use any dye company's dyes you have or mix them

These are simple colours except bottle green and it is a blue green like this: 

Use a dye you have that is close to it.

If you have never tried hooking with wandering wool you should try it soon, so subtle and lovely, mimics the interplay of colours like we see in great watercolours.

Proud as Punch/ Just Scandinavian

Karen started hooking just a few weeks ago.

Look what she made! Well done Karen.

I found this amazing website called Just Scandinavian

I loved the fabric there and there is plenty of other wonderful goodness to see and be inspired by. 

I thought you might like it.

Below is Teheran

The Power of the Sort

We all have the ability to sort, think about laundry day.

We pull out the lights, darks and the medium pile left.

Here is two years worth of formula samples from my dyeing columns in The Welcome Mat and in Rug Hooking, sorted once according to colour. I only regret I had not taken a photo and shown you the pile before, it looked like an incredibly useless jumble of crazy wool.

 This sorting created order but still it was not easy to find what I was looking for.

In the next two photos I sorted them according to value in their colour families.

Suddenly I had a powerful colour tool to apply to hooking. I could easily see the lights, mediums, darks, dulls and the brights and could work my shading magic.

They are not all value order perfect but are close enough.

 I have also noticed I have a decided preference towards dyeing greens, we all have these tendencies, I bet if you look at your wool you will see much more of one colour than another. In the case of green such a wonderful colour and it's the colour of renewal, who doesn't like that in the middle of November?

Kicking November in the You Know What

Colour can really let November know you mean business, here is a recipe for you to try with translations to the three major dye companies we hookers use.

 Beautiful wool to hook or create, this is A Star is Born from RHM J/F 2012

Over 1/4 yd natural wool, spot dye method use any bright dyes from any company.

 Poured in spots

 2/32 tsp. Turquoise

1/32 tsp Red Violet / American Beauty/ Magenta

Mash

Poured in lines

2/32 Yellow

My English Garden from Rittermere Hurst Feild. This was one of my first 5 rugs as I was hooking several at a time. I learned to dye for this rug.

Jeanne Feild's ShadingFlowers book is the best book on this subject to date.

Spring Lupins with miniature prodding this is a free pattern and lessons on how to hook it that is just a small part of the wonderful options you have to choose from as a part of a subscription to The Welcome Mat

 The fabric I get to play with today from Marcy Tilton and EmmaOneSock.

 My Sprit Moose who directs all currents of creativity in the studio, also a free pattern from you know where and part of a group study we so enjoyed, you should see all the variations! Amazing creativity.

I hope you feel inspired to go forth and create something colourful at your house! 

Hand crafting? There is no life like it.

Wild Horses

It's ornament time!!!

Patricia organized an ornament swap for us on The Mat.

So much fun to see all the different contributions.

Here is the one I made.