A Spark Ignites!

Life brings pleasant surprises every once in awhile.  They are especially welcome this time of year when the days are a little bleak, cold and sometimes frustrating.  The frustrating part of that includes the daily chores  which are  tackled with a kind of  forced gumption  or completely ignored like the "broccoli breath" that I noticed wafting from the throat-like drain of the real orange sink in my kitchen yesterday. The usual treatment of vinegar mixed with baking soda and poured down the fowl smelling pipe has  been neglected recently due to more pressing issues like taxes, pattern preparations, hours on the computer (working and Pinterest),  mother duties, wool fondling and sleeping.

So the pleasant surprise?  Yes indeed.  An email from Kelley Belfast of With Hook and Needle blog inviting me to join their group of talented ladies on Ebay called An American Primitive Gathering. You can find their  offerings on Ebay by clicking this link or typing in USAPRIM  in the search box on Ebay. There are some awesome punch needle pieces on there right now!

One of the things this group does is work together on a chosen pattern to keep each other inspired and motivated to keep hooking through dry spells. 

Dry spells, as in need new ideas, encouragement or possibly a new challenge to light the spark of creativity.  

The pattern Kelley brought forth is inspired by a neat antique rug that has inspired many rug hookers already to hook a version of it.

Some in the group are needle punching the design and some are hooking.

I chose to hook a smaller mat measuring 10 by 21 inches.

The photo above is the pattern I made by altering a photo of the rug in photoshop. By using the "find edges" tool and removing the color it leaves you with an outline of the main elements in the rug.

So here is my humble start.  I chose some plaid wools and lighter value textures to begin with. Of course there has been a little reverse hooking and I'm sure more as I progress. I have come to actually enjoy ripping out a line or two of something that isn't working.  I don't enjoy reverse hooking whole sections however and try to avoid that by really analyzing the way things look before I get too far along with one color.  

Our group would like to invite you to follow along with us by creating your own version either punching or hooking. You are welcome to drag or download the pattern of the photo above if you like.

I hear dogs whining for supper in the background..... or is that the sink burping again!

Cathy G