SEBRING AHHHHH

Well friends - the Sebring rug hooking camp has come and gone.  Last weekend my mom and I spent 4 lovely days of blissful hooking with old friends and new friends in a marvelous class with Polly Minick of Minick and Simpson fame.

I just can't say what a wonderful relaxing camp it was this year.  I've been to Sebring in March for the past 7 or 8 years but this year was probably the absolute best.  Not sure why - it just was.

I have SOOOO many great photos to share with you of the rug exhibit, the beautiful lake front gardens and of our class projects I have to break this down into at least 2 posts and maybe 3.

Before we get started with the fun stuff - I have a finish to show you - Elinor is a wonderful Shibui scarf - I participated in a First Quarter Challenge to create something with yarn which has a silk content in it.  This challenge was sponsored by The Loopy Ewe - a super shop located in Colorado which has wonderful customer service, a great owner and a not to be believed selection of beautiful yarns.  While there is no substitute for visiting a real brick and mortar shop - being able to just order up anything you want really is a benefit especially for those who don't have a LYS.  Elinor is knit with one strand of Shibui Silk Cloud - a laceweight kid mohair/silk blend and a strand of 100% baby alpaca.  The color is seaweed and it is oh so touchable.  Polly fell in love with Elinor so some time in the future - she will be getting her own Elinor in the blackest Abyss colorway.

 A little closer shot of the cable rib pattern but a tad too much light on the subject

 Here is Polly showing a beautiful WIP that I believe she said will be featured in her upcoming book. Below her is all her class WIP's - these are after 4 days of work.  Some people got an amazing amount of hooking done.  Several of us were burning the midnight oils and what fun we had - laughing and sharing stories.

 here is classmate Sandy's rug - Sandy is a Canadian but spends a few months in nearby Lake Placid.  her scrappy border was so cool.

Next is my mom's (Jane) WIP - sorry it got turned on it's side before I saved the photo urghhh - anyway I was quite proud of this since I did the colorplan myself using some of Polly's wool and lots of wool from my little red cupboard.  Mom got a lot done and the colors were warm and wonderful.  My mom is a lovely hooker - she spends a lot of time getting her loops just perfect - Way to go Mom!

Next up is my WIP - it features the same turned up Uncle Sam hat as my mom's rug - this rug is pictured on the cover of Polly's book Americana Collection.  My color plan will be similar to hers with the muted grays on the hat. I did the colorplan on this one also but of course I had some input from Polly.  Wish I had gotten more done but I did finish the hat yeah!  The backround is 3 lovely dark navy textures.  I started putting a little in around the hat and first flower.

Next is Barbara's whale - WHAT a cool canvas this is.  Just by looking at the canvas on day 1 - I thought EGADS - what a boring thing to hook !  NOT - Barbara really made Moby Dick come alive and look at the tremendous amount of progress she made.

Next is DF Susan's blue and white cat canvas.  Talk about amazing amounts of progress - OMGosh!  Susan just cranked on this canvas.  The cats are awesome - too bad I did not get a closer shot so you could see all the colors and textures in this rug.

Polly is so very generous - she did a drawing for this lovely little star runner that she hooked and classmate Marg from Canada won it - lucky gal and a second prize of an antique pickle barrel was won by Nancy.

Speaking of generosity - I have to say that Polly donates a lot or maybe ALL of her profit to Semper Fi - it you don't know what Semper Fi is or how it benefits our military please do look it up.  How humbling it was to hear everything Polly does to benefit others.  She is definitely a class act not to mention a super talented artisan.  Her work has been featured in many magazines such as Southern Living, Coastal Living, Country Home and the many books she and her quilting sister Laurie Simpson co-author.  If you ever get the chance to do a workshop with this dynamic duo I suggest you RUN don't walk to get in a class with them.

You can see my mom in the foreground on the left and Polly giving a lecture.  Some of our other classmates are on the far side of the room.

Here is Nancy's purple chickens !  Aren't they amazing - can't wait to see this rugs lambs tongue border in place.  Next year in the exhibit right Nance!

Lou's sailing ship is also from the new American Summer book - oh maybe I forgot to say Barbara's whale is also from that book.  Yep - I had to bring that beautiful book home with me.  It is full of wonderful photos - so inspiring.  This America canvas is huge - but so dramatic with the sailing ship and red and white border.

Somehow I messed up on Marg's rug - she was doing a beautiful prim red flower and it was looking so nice.  My apologies Marg - photos with the IPhone are just not perfect.

So - that is a wrap on Sebring 2012 - the class portion - next post will feature the rugs in the exhibit and maybe the beautiful lakefront gardens.

Until then - I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and are enjoying wonderful Spring weather.