Rumor Has It....

......... she went nuts and tore part of the house apart.... and.... designed a new rug hooking pattern!

TRUE on both accounts!

You can catch a sneak peek of the new rug design in the above photo.  I know.... nasty mean aren't I! LOL!  

I can't give you all the details until next Friday when we update over on Primitive Handmades Mercantile!  

I beg for your patience until then!

I WILL tell you the rug is all hooked... AND BOUND.... and I LOVE how it turned out!

Now for the tearing part of the house apart....

O My!  I am in trouble!  As sometimes happens when I'm left alone in the house for a day ( hubby was gone on a work related trip) I get ideas that I can't wait to get started on!  There is a closet in our hallway that leads back to the bedrooms and the bath and my office.  Okay there USED to be a closet to be more accurate!  LOL!  In order for my idea to work here I had to take the closet doors off and the frame work had to come off too!  Whew!  A few hours later when Dave arrived home I had it to this point and laid it on him about my big plan and what I wanted to accomplish with this closet.  

Just so you know.... we are still married!  LOL!   

I will fill you in on the details later.

So we are off to the hardware store for a few supplies and to shop for a new shop vac.  

Things are hopping around here!

Stay tuned!

Cathy G

Good Riddance to May!

It was all going along so wonderfully!  The weeding, watering, transplanting of tender perennials to different spots in the gardens. Though I wore ear muffs most of the days to protect my ears and touchy sinuses from cold winds that persisted for most of May..... I  ended up in the Dr.'s office last Friday with a sinus infection again.  The prescribed "horse pills" twice a day seem to be kicking in and I'm feeling a little back to my normal ( although a bit cranky) self.  

Sunday while helping my DH clear out the little A-frame gardening shed in our back yard I accidently dropped a four foot all steel fence post on my foot.  Yowza!  I thought for sure I had broken a couple of toes!  But I could wiggle them slightly so I vowed I wasn't making another trip to the Dr.'s office having just been there the day before.

So with the heating pad on my face and the cold packs on my foot I spent the better part of last weekend on the couch.

When the day warms up in the afternoon I sit here on the deck with my tea. 

The planter box is planted with chocolate mint that I dug from the gardens.  It needs to be contained as it is very aggressive and will over run the gardens.  Keeping it imprisoned in a box near me as I sit gives me great satisfaction!

My resident crow buddy ( old decoy) keeps a watchful eye on it too!

The morning sun casts a heavenly glow as it lights up the ferns behind the fountain. 

I'm using a lot of my perennials in planters around the yard this year instead of spending at the garden center for annuals.   I think I've spent a total of $11.00 dollars on plants this year so far and that included a tomato plant for $5.77.

Chives are about to burst open in an old tire planter Dave's dad made years ago.

Rhubarb has been harvested and we enjoyed a scrumptious German Apple- Rhubarb  Crumb Cake last week. 

I sent half the pan to work with Dave and they requested more!  Does it look like there's enough here for another pan?

( and yes that's a bowling ball) :-D

My bleeding heart ( which was my mother's plant that I transplanted when she sold her place a few years back) is blooming nicely.  I think she wants it back now!  LOL!  

And Max wants to show you the little bit of progress I've made on the Maggie Bonanomi American Floral rug.  Very little hooking has been taking place recently but he keeps after me! 

So "God willing and the creek don't rise".... I will be dyeing wool tomorrow!

June is off to a good start... well sort of!

Cathy G

Heavy Heart for OKlahoma~~~ A few thoughts...

Even though it's very hard to watch and my heart  feels so heavy for the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado I feel it is important for me to see the devastation as well as the heart-warming stories of survivors and the brave first responders, so I watch in small increments.

My prayers are for strength and that the wonderful people of Moore and the state of Oklahoma receive abundant help.

People in our great country are very generous in times of disaster. We know there have been so many lately.... and it's a struggle for all of us to make ends meet.  I like to think that even a small donation when added to many other small donations becomes the huge gift that will help sustain our friends and help them rebuild.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 We also have a few of our Hit & Miss Bundles left.  Not many, so if you are thinking of ordering I thought I'd give a heads up.

Thank-you to all of the readers who have ordered the bundles. They have been shipped so watch your mailboxes in the next day or two!

Thank-you for all your great comments on our new venture!  It means the world to hear your thoughts and receive your enthusiastic response!  It's encouraging to hear such nice comments!  

Prayers and Love!

Cathy G 

Let me tell you a little about our new bundles which we are offering exclusively right here on my Orange Sink blog.

We've color planned these bundles to include a little bit of textures, solids, hand-dyed and straight off the new bolts of wool here in the studio. The wool is all washed and ready for hooking or applique.  Each bundle is carefully hand picked with dark to light values represented.  There is approximately one-half yard of wool in each bundle.  There are 16 strips that measure 3 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches ( some may vary slightly due to the shrinkage after dyeing). 

We have a limited number of each bundle in these exact colors.  We plan to offer future bundles in different colors but when these bundles are gone.... well.... they're gone.

Our price for each bundle is ....  $32.00 plus $5.00 Shipping & Handling.

We want to make it easy to purchase so you can use the Buy Now button at the bottom of this post which takes you to PayPal.

If you want to order more than one bundle please email me Here 
   and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. I will need your zip code and how many bundles you are ordering.

You can email if you have further questions also.

Here's a close-up of the wool in each bundle.

 

The Bundles are ready to ship immediately upon payment.  Jill and I want to Thank-you for your continued support and following along with my blog!  We are thinking of ways to expand our business so our online friends can take advantage of what we offer our local customers here in the studio!

So check back soon!  We have good things in the making!!

Cathy G

To Purchase

One 16 piece "Hit & Miss Wool Blog Bundle

$32.00 plus $5.00 S&H in USA

(for friends in Canada and other countries please email me to purchase... thank-you!)

Hit & Miss Bliss! Wool Bundles for Sale!

(Here is a Hit & Miss oval mat I hooked using hand-torn wide strips)

Happy Saturday!  It's a dreary rainy one here in Rice Lake but I'll tell you I am lovin' it!  We needed this rain sooooo badly!  I've been digging in the gardens the last few days and the dirt is powder dry!

My perennials are struggling to grow... but you should see them today.... laughing and carrying on so in the rain out in the gardens!  I think they've grown at least 3 inches today alone!!

But my blog post today is really about something new we have going on here in the Studio!

Around here we have always been a bit partial to the Hit and Miss style of hooking!

Oh yeah... they call it "hit and miss"  and it very well can be just that, but in most cases there is a little bit of planning that has to happen to achieve the right effect.  It mostly involves the light and dark values of the wool.   And the colors also have to somewhat go together.  I admit it can  be sort of a mystery sometimes as to what to use in a good Hit and Miss.

Study for a moment the photos of some of our rugs Jill and I have hooked using the Hit and Miss technique.

It makes a lovely border on a rug!

It can be incorporated into the design of a rug as in this circle and star design.

It looks great in geometric rugs!

And I used it when I hooked my spiral rug a while ago for the entire rug!

Those of us who have been hooking for a long time usually accumulate a good number of wool strips we like to call "worms" left over from our projects.  They can be used nicely for a Hit & Miss.

But if I can be bold and confess a little secret here.... I've been in the situation many times when hooking a Hit & Miss and found myself cutting into a larger piece of wool to get just the right color  to make the hit & miss more pleasing to the eye.

Tell me I'm not the only one!  (smile)

Jill and I have brain-stormed something we as long time hookers and color planners of rugs feel you may be interested in...

Something that new rug hookers may find useful and for those who want to add a little variety to their stashes.

And the wool appliquer's will love this too we think!

Introducing our new Hit & Miss Wool Blog Bundles.....

Let me tell you a little about our new bundles which we are offering exclusively right here on my Orange Sink blog.

We've color planned these bundles to include a little bit of textures, solids, hand-dyed and straight off the new bolts of wool here in the studio. The wool is all washed and ready for hooking or applique.  Each bundle is carefully hand picked with dark to light values represented.  There is approximately one-half yard of wool in each bundle.  There are 16 strips that measure 3 1/2 by 16 1/2 inches ( some may vary slightly due to the shrinkage after dyeing). 

We have a limited number of each bundle in these exact colors.  We plan to offer future bundles in different colors but when these bundles are gone.... well.... they're gone.

Our price for each bundle is ....  $32.00 plus $5.00 Shipping & Handling. 
Wool Bundles have sold out!  Thank-you!

We want to make it easy to purchase so you can use the Buy Now button at the bottom of this post which takes you to PayPal.

If you want to order more than one bundle please email me Here 
   and I will send you an invoice through Paypal. I will need your zip code and how many bundles you are ordering.

You can email if you have further questions also.

Here's a close-up of the wool in each bundle.

 

The Bundles are ready to ship immediately upon payment.  Jill and I want to Thank-you for your continued support and following along with my blog!  We are thinking of ways to expand our business so our online friends can take advantage of what we offer our local customers here in the studio!

So check back soon!  We have good things in the making!!

Cathy G

Ripe and Ready on Primitive Handmades Mercantile!

The goods are ripe and ready for the picking on Primitive Handmades Mercantile for our May update!

Hurry on over for some early pickins!

Cathy G