Tour of our Wool Studio

Well, I did my homework and learned something new. Enjoy!!

Link

Well, that didn't work...........for the link. I'll keep working on it, I promise, in the meantime you can either copy and past the link in the url box, or go to youtube and type in the search box The Old Tattered Flag tour and it will come up. Uh, technology!!

Social media

I have been fighting the social media for quite some time. My friends have tried to get me into facebook and I still don't like it.................but, my son, who took a media class said, "mom, if your in business you have to join in." So, I had to create a facebook page for my business and then of course, "well, you can't have facebook and not have a twitter." Good god, where does it end. And, I am very bad about keeping up with everything, but, I do think he's right. So, in an effort to "keep up with the Joneses" I have made a little movie tour of our wool studio, and, get this, put it on youtube. If you'd like to take a look at it click the link below to go to youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR2dFYjjbAw
Be sure to watch till the end for one funny picture (had to get Baxter in there). Next in the work are instructional videos on hooking, punching, penny rugs. What am I getting myself into? I'll keep you posted. Until next time...

Zucchini anyone??

I feel like Bubba.......we've made zucchin bread, zucchini soup, zucchini vegetable pasta..........I wish you all lived nearby so we could give you some, but then again, you probably are all in the same boat.

Here's another rug I just finished hooking. A very simple design, but I've found that most of our students like the more simple designs. I used some of the new wools mom got in last week. The background is our tic tac toe plaid wool and it has highlights of tan/orange and blue/gray in it which makes a really neat look. The pattern and kit are available on ebay and will be on the website by the end of the day.

Thanks so much Ginger for your advice about dyeing floss. I'm going to give that a try later today hopefully. I actually can't wait to see the results.

Until next time......

The Witch's Parade

Here's a rug just finished up by Mom. I designed it last year as I was trying to come up with a Halloween parade rug but decided to go with a smaller design. So, this will be a one of a kind rug. Mom had a vision for our Witch and wanted her decked out in purple. Nice choice! I also love the leaves and background, they are so warm.

In a different direction, I was wondering, if any of you are stitchers, your feelings on embroidery floss. I have more than 40 punch needle designs and am not afraid to admit that do not like punching with anything less than 6 strands (the horror) for a couple of reasons. First, I like a larger design. If the design is larger, then you don't lose any of the definition by using 6 strands, plus, I just like a larger design. Second, I like to use a skein of floss while I'm working, hence less threading. Third, I'm cheap. (for you serious punchers I also am almost afraid to mention that sometimes I punch on fabric other than weavers cloth......I know, I know!!) But, in the world of punch needle I have found that there is a trend to use the more expensive "hand dyed" threads. As you know you can purchase a skein of DMC floss for about .35. Hand dyed floss is about 1.80 a skein or more. While the hand dyeds give the design a more textured and primitive look, which I love, I also like the look of regular DMC and for a primitive look, I dab it with coffee. I want to offer my customers what they want, so would love to hear your opinion as a stitcher, if you would be happy to pay up to $50 for a punch kit, with the expensive threads, or if you would prefer to use DMC in a kit or on your own. Give me your thoughts.

Until next time............

Hookin in the Garden....

We had a wonderful day for our "hookin' in the garden" party. It was our way to thank our local students for a very successful first year into our rug hooking venture. Though we have been doing this for many years we consider this year our first official year as we have regular classes and quite an extensive collection of wool.
The weather cooperated and everyone brought a yummy dish to share. We had sooo much food. Thanks to everyone who came and to those who couldn't make it because of prioro committments, we hope to see you at our Christmas open house.
Until next time....

Art in the Park, Henderson Harbor, NY

We set up yesterday at the Art in the Park show in Henderson Harbor. It was a nice, relaxed pace, not a ton of people, but we were able to get a few ladies signed up to join us for rug hooking. It's nice to be able to set up in a beautiful setting, at a nice pace and introduce our art/craft to people. We followed up with dinner at the Olive Garden...an all around great day! (yes, that is Mom in the background)