RETREAT UPDATE

This past weekend was a 3 day rug hooking retreat at the Olde Green Cupboard - a great local quilt and prim shop. A lot the gals that work there and the owner is becoming enthralled with hooking - yes it's easy to get hooked on hooking - We started Friday afternoon and ended Sunday afternoon and it was practically non-stop hooking, eating, laughing, hooking, eating - you get my drift.

I was undecided on my previous post whether I would concentrate on one WIP or work on several - I was a good girl and got right down to work on my Merrie Halloween. I knew friend Jill was working on her Pumpkin Thyme which is the boyfriend of Merrie so it was fun to be at approximately the same spot on both pieces. The same teacher color planned both canvases so while they are both colorful they are different.

Sorry about the duplication of photos but I could not figure out how to get rid of the extra one I did not need - URGHHH

I was running out of the "moldy green" used on her skirt so that was somewhat nerve racking to deal with but I made it with just a few skimpy strands to spare. Here is two photos of my progress. I got a good start on the backround but I'm in the unfortunate predicament of having 4 rugs - 2 of them are large - one is huge and one is a runner that all need backrounds done. URGGHHH - To get this much backround done - I must hook at home - must hook at home - must hook at home - No reason I can't hook some every day at home - I have a wonderful new chair in my wool room - need to show you a photo of my new chair - actually not new but from a consignment shop where I also got my stitching chair in my sun room. Next time I'll try to show you a photo of the chair in my hooking corner.

I think my next focus rug to finish will be my pomgrante runner - It is a do-able finish for this year and I'm not sure Merrie Halloween is - I don't think I could finish her for Halloween - if I hooked exclusively and did not stitch and knit I might could do it. We'll see - I try not to get caught up in a race to the finish line - I like to do things in my own sweet time - I figured out a long time ago - I could not compete with people who crank out projects in a week or a month so I'm real pleased with my retreat progress on Merrie.

Not much to report on with my stitching progress. I actually have done a bit but not enough to show a photo. My knitting progress is even more pitiful - just a few rows here and there of some mindless knitting. All the fall knitting mags will be coming out soon and that will get me going I'm sure.

Oh - one exciting thing - August 5th is the start for the Sail Away SAL - Loraine and Terri have set up a special blog just for this darling SB design. I'm excited and ready to go on that one - I'll have to see how they plan to run the SAL - I'll just have to fit into rotation - I can't work exclusively on anything - so much to stitch - so little time. Cheers!