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 !

GIVEAWAY AND GIFTS

Now I can quit saying "I never win anything"  - Did I ever win a great giveway from Joanie over at Joanie's World .  I was so excited to win Joanie's " I'm sick of winter" giveaway.  The box came last week and was I ever over joyed when I saw the hoard of goodies inside the box.  Take a look at what I won.

Sorry for the blur - I think I was shaking a bit I was so excited and trying to get as close as I could.  Of all the lovely stitching projects Joanie showed on her last blog post - this heart just really caught my eye - I loved it so much - imagine my surprise when this was in the box - cleverly mounted on the copper oil can - I have been coveting one of these oil can creations.  To say I am thrilled to have one of my own is an understatement.  Joanie used beautiful fabric - (duh - why didn't I take a photo of the back) that beautifully matches both the stitching and the copper oil can and also used that neat chenille trim for the edging.  It is so prim but yet so elegant too.  I LOVE IT JOANIE!!!!!!!!

 I guess Joanie also knew what a silk hound I am  - she included 3 beautiful skeins of silk to add to my stash and I'm already pondering that red in a mono sampler.  The note cards above are so pretty.

Last but not least - the little bit of winter included in the box.  These snowmen pieces are painted on slate - they are too cute for words.  Even living in NE FL - I still put out snowmen after christmas for a few months until the easter bunnies start coming out to play.

It was serendipitous that I won that giveway from Joanie since this week is also my birthday.  I got a few gifts from friends that I wanted to show you as well.

A beautiful purl ridge cowl from DF Henri along with one of her coveted paper crafted cards.  The color of the cowl is so lovely and the yarn is a beautiful alpaca wool blend - wish we had one more blast of cold air so I could wear my cowl one time before I have to put it away until next fall.

A stunning scarf kit from DF Karen - it also has a silk scarf inside the box and shows several clever ways of entwining the knitted scarf with the silk scarf to create a very unique accessory.  Love the color of the hand dyed yarn and the fiber is a silk blend - OOH LA LA - so soooft.  in the little bag is tiny skeins of yarn made into earrings and a skein of the fingering weight from the same company.  This wonderful gift came packed in a neat Vera Bradley plastic tote but I forgot to get it out for the photo.

Next up is an awesome bundle of textured wools from DF Susan - I was so shocked when I opened this box - this is enough wool to do an entire hooked rug - I can't wait to dig into this bundle and see what "wooley" treasures abound.  My mind is already working on future rugs this wonderful wool could be used in.

So - that is about all for me today - I have been in a real huge knitting slump - I have bought yarn - ordered yarn and plundered thru stashed yarn and projects and still don't feel any excitement.  I downloaded a shawl pattern today which the designer donated all the proceeds to relief efforts in Japan.  I've seen several finished on Ravelry and the project reviews say it's an easy but fun pattern.  Easy and fun sounds appealing but will I really get busy with it ?????

I did sign up for a needlepoint class at a shop several hours away and have been doing some pre-stitching on that canvas.  I have also been working on the Attic Spanish sampler SAL and Elizabeth Savilles.  I also brought Garden Glade out for some fresh air and finished the upper body on the beautiful girl.  I am very drawn to GG and can see myself working on her more but I have to be careful and not abandon Elizabeth or fall behind on my monthly assignments for the Spanish.  Heaven help me - Jean at the Attic announced a summer SAL of a pretty cool looking sampler - resistance is futile!

I certainly hope spring has sprung and your bunnies are hopping.  Easter will be here before you know it.

Thanks for coming by and reading my blog and celebrating life's little joys with me.

SEBRING PART TWO

The landscaping and gardens at the Inn on the Lakes in Sebring FL are gorgeous - they have a full time gardener plus they also grow herbs and tomatoes and a few things for their restaurant.  I showed a lot more photos last year of the gardens - this year I only took a couple.

Here is a touristy shot of my DM in front of the hotel.  We were on our way to Lake Placid to visit an artisan co-op - I had been there before several times but my mom had never been.  Since we had such a beautiful day we thought we'd take the short 20 minute drive.  Lake Placid is supposedly the Caladium capital of the US.  They are also known for having these beautiful huge realistic murals painted on all the building sprinkled around the little town.  So I took mom on a little tour and also took a few shots - some of them were too dark but I think there was at least 20 or 30 huge murals painted by different artists.

This one was of particular interest to me.  My matenal ancestors came from south central GA and my great grandfather owned thousands of acres of pine trees and were into the turpentine business in the early 1900's. this mural was so huge I had to take it in two shots.  Wish you could see the gorgeous detail in this mural.

These are some shots of the rugs being worked on in my class.  These are only a few as there were 14 students in this class and these ladies were sitting in my immediate vacinity.  The first one is morning glories done in a 3 cut by a McGown certified teacher.  It was gorgeous!

This is a mandarin duck - it was awesome seeing this blank canvas come alive and to this point in 4 days.  I thought the color plan was exquisite and I think she plans to change the backround to a mt fugi type landscape - she had some museum quality note cards she was using for inspiration.

This one is called the Naples sampler - the colors are so "florida" and it was fun to watch this one too. Also hooked by another "teacher"

 This cute rug was designed by the woman who was hooking the next rug.  She has a design business (DIGO) and had some lovely canvases for sale in the camp store.  This kitty is in a larger cut but I'm not sure what.  Aren't the textures in the stripes wonderful !

this was probably one of my favorite rugs in the whole class - Do you remember the children's story Little Black Sambo - gosh I am probably giving away my age as it is probably no longer politically correct to call the name of that book as I remember it but anyway - that is the subject of this rug and I think she did an absolutely wonderful job with the color plan and hooking - it was in progress when she came - NO - she did not hook that much in 4 days LOL.

 Gorgeous bright tropical colors are what our teacher seems to love and her students flock to get her brightly colors wool.  This rug was tropcial flowers with this big lizard in the middle.  I think that is our dear teachers foot - good thing she had her pedi LOL

 This is my mom's bunny rug - toooo cute I think - isn't that daddy bunny just darling in his cool clothes.  I love how the  roof came out and the brilliant blue backround with the night sky up above is very appealing in this rug.  I know my mom will enjoy hooking it.

Here is the albatross that I don't even want to claim as my rug.  I HATE this rug - I have ripped out and reworked - re color planned and redone more on this rug than all the rugs I have hooked for the past 12 years - For some reason this rug just doesn't do it for me - I have thrown in the towel and finally given up the ghost - I am DONE DONE DONE with this rug - not a penny more or another minute am I going to waste on this rug.  I feel bad for the designer who is a good friend of mine - she designed the rug for me and I feel bad for the two teachers and another dear friend who is also a teacher who have tried to make me happy with this rug.  It just aint' happenin'  - I had a number of people in my class who loved the rug and could not believe I didn't like it.  If there are any rug hookers out there  - it is for sale - if you are interested let me know.

That is a wrap on Sebring March 2011 - Hope you all have a lovely weekend doing what you love to do.