Friday, April 22, 2011

IT'S BUNNY TIME

Well it's been bunny time for a while around my house.  I love bunnies, I have bunnies out all around my house for Spring -  it's amazing how much bunny stuff I have collected over the years. 

I have been around and around the mulberry bush with my Hare Easter rug.  When I started putting in the backround - I was losing the contrast between the lighter bunnies and the too light backround shade - urgghhhh - so I had to get into my stash and I found a lovely medium blue - praying I have enough to finish the backround - once I started getting the backround put back in - I hated how Mommy bunny's dress looked so RIP - I pulled out her dress and rehooked in a  lovely cranberry checked wool - looks great now - then the flower stems were fading into the backround - RIP - those came out and I rehooked in a perky spring green that my mom was using on her bunny rug.  I used a lovely spot dyed wool for the border and plan to put a few more rows of border in - it reminds me of easter eggs.  I'm not hooking the carrot border as I orginally intended - I  have another much bigger bunny rug that does have a carrot border - so that will be quite enough hooking of carrots and bunnies.

Here is my progress to date and I'm sure after Easter I will be less motivated to work on it and will move on to another bunny rug that is my oldest rug WIP and simply must be finished this year.  I think it looks far better than it did and I am quite pleased with the changes I made.  It was worth the ripping and re-doing.
 Next bunny related photo is a canvas class I am taking at a not so LNS tomorrow.  For any NP fans out there - this is a Ruth Schmuff design called Bunny Tree - look closely and you can see the bunnies all over the tree.  She has it finished as a flat stand up and that is what I intend to do with mine - however once again - I'm afraid once April is over the fascination with my bunnies will fade.  I have not done a needlepoint class in years so I am excited about actually attending a real class.
 This lovely finish belongs to my DM - she finished this Vierlande sampler in January.  It is framed in a weathered dark red painted frame.  It looks great with the piece which appeared in a SANQ issue in 2010 and is repro'd by DF Lorraine Mootz.  It is a sampler from her personal collection.  It was an Azalea Sampeler Guild SAL for 2010 but I think only my mom and DF Henri have finished it.  I started it but it will probably never be finished since I can enjoy my moms.
Next is a very cool bracelet that I designed and DF Sharon put together for me.  Sharon is in our rug guild but she does awesome beadwork and we have been collaborating on this bracelet for a while.  She picks up interesting stones that she thinks I will like - LOTS of stones - I could have probably made up 25 bracelets considering all the stash we played with.  It's big and gaudy and I LOVE IT !!!!!! 

What no stitching WIP's - NOPE - I am dreadfully behind on my April assignment on the Spanish Mystery SAL - The April band is very time consuming and after doing 4 of those leaf thingys - I realized that the silk color that was recommended was fading completely into the linen color - urghhh - so I found the original silk color the designer recommended and it looks a million times better and I'm glad I stopped and started over but GEES LOUISE - it seems like all I've done since January is pull stuff out and redo it.  We won't even talk about how my knitting is going.  Let's just say I've been in a huge knitting slump - I almost always knit a few rows on something at night before I go to bed and after I have done some stitching.  I have been trying to focus on that bunny tree class piece this month but even before that - I have drifted out of touch with my knitting.  WHY?   who knows why that happens - I am trying to recapture my knitting mojo by participating in MADMAY on the Madeline Tosh board on ravelry (a great on line knitting community) - the event includes lots of KAL's and several things chosen are on my list of things to do and I have some lovely MT yarns stashed up just waiting to be brought out into the light of day.

So - that's about all that's new in my neck of the woods.  It's awfully hot here in NE FL and dry too - I'm the only one in the office today - everyone else took off for Good Friday and I'll be leaving soon myself.  Wishing you all pretty colored eggs and lots of chocolate bunnies !
Happy Easter !

17 comments:

Margaret said...

Love your bunny rug! Love your future needlepoint project too! Congrats to your mother on that gorgeous Vierlande finish too. And the bracelet -- just lovely! Hope you have a happy Easter!

Sassafras and Winterberry said...

Wow! You have so many nice pieces going on! Busy lady! I love your mom's sampler. The bunny dress is fab! The bracelet looks very special. Isn't great how we can dip into many creative endeavors?
Have a wonderful Easter weekend!
Courtney

Beehive Needleworks said...

Whooosh...you have indeed been a whirlwind with all of your projects! And, as always, they are so very lovely.

Wishing you and yours a beautiful Easter weekend!

Most warmly...Judy

Deb said...

I love your bunny rug and the changes that you made to it. And the needlepoint project too. I love needlepoint, but don't do much of it. Looking at bunny pieces made me have a head slap moment and I remember a bunny William Morris that I started years ago. I guess I should probably pull that out one of these days.

Your mother's sampler is gorgeous, and I can see why you hesitate working on yours since you can look at your mothers. And love the bracelet too!!

Hope you have a happy Easter!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Love your Hare rug. Your Mom's Vierlande sampler is lovely too.
Happy Easter.

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Have fun-fun-fun for me at Ruth's in your class. You will have a ton of fun with all those bunny rabbits.

krayolakris said...

Love the bunnies!! Be careful, you know how they can multiply! Glad you've worked your way out of the frog pond! The rug looks great!

Joanie said...

Love all your Bunnies! I am a bunny fan too and they "ahem" multiply yearly. Your Mom's sampler is gorgeous! And that bracelet, well, let's just say that if you lived closer, I'd be wearing it!! LOL!! Have a blessed Easter, Mel....

TeresaB said...

Love all the changes you made to the bunny rung, looks fab! And that needlepoint piece looks like fun, I hope I get to see it in person soon! hope you and your family have a great Easter weekend.

Cari said...

Mel...I would not call this a 'knitting slump'. Girl you don't have enough hours in the day to knit!! I am lovin' your bunny rug and bunny stitching. Everything you do is so amazing. You are one talented gal. Have a great Easter weekend and find some needlework time! Hugs

Isabelle said...

I like very much your Bunny rug :-)
Melody, I wish you a lovely Easter week-end :-)
Hugs,
Isabelle

Rugs and Pugs said...

Geez, Mel~
You always have so many WIPs. I don't know how you keep everything straight. Of course, I LOVE your bunny rug. Your mom's sampler is beautiful, too.
Hope you and yours had the best Easter ever!
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Karoline said...

Your bunny projects look lovely.

Congratulations to your Mother on finishing her sampler, it's gorgeous

mdgtjulie said...

Wow, you have so much in progress. I have a lot too, but I only work on one thing at a time. I guess you could call it my focus piece, lol. You bunny rug looks good. I like the cranberry you used. It's very pretty. Grats to your mom too, and I hope you had a very happy Easter. Like the bunny tree too!!

Siobhán said...

I just love that bunny rug!! All of your projects are wonderful, and your mom's finish--FANTASTIC!!

Loraine said...

What wonderful things you are working on! I especially love the bunny rug. Too fun
Hope you had a good Easter.

Susan said...

Love the bunny rug! Your changes were definitely worth your extra effort.

I've been MIA in blogland and am way behind on reading/commenting. Just too going on at work right now. I hear you about the knitting slump, though. That's where I am with my quilting projects--just can't get motivated to do any of them.


How was the needlepoint class? Let us see pictures, please!