A Quiet Day At The Patch

Saturday 25th of May was a quiet one at my home in The Patch (Victoria, Australia). Anne, Katherine and myself (Robyne) were joined briefly by my friend Nicole, who had a little go at hooking. I want to convert her of course, but two dogs, four young boys and a full time job keep her busy enough and she said she despairs of any poor rug that lays on their floors just now. I do assure her that children grow (and, shhh, eventually leave home).

I hope the rest of our team were too busy to get along, rather than didn't realise we had a get together. Sooorrryy!! I forgot to send out a reminder....

Katherine working on her Magpie Rug (below). 

Getting there with the Footy Rug. I find if I leave it in the lounge room, I go to it more often, rather than away from the tele in the sewing room. Boring!

Nicole and I are each making 'Calla', a lovely patterned shawl. I dyed some Bendigo Woollen Mills alpaca in two shades of this lovely teal. Mine (the darker) is finished (I started way ahead of Nicole, who is the far better and more dedicated knitter).
We're going to swap our leftover yarn at the end to make complimentary cuffs.

Jennifer Walton, who joined in in spirit from the Atherton Tablelands in FNQ, has finished her first combined proggy/hooky rug! Excepting for the binding (which will no doubt be done by now).
Such finesse! Jen said she spent an aeon preparing the flowers beforehand. So proud! 

Calla. The colour is much darker than this really. It was useful yesterday, out and about in the freezing cold.

Jennie Walton's New Obsession

My dear friend Jennie Walton came to stay a while back, and I showed her my rugs and how to make them. I gave her a copy of Miriam Miller's fabulous book 'Proggy & Hooky Rugs' which is a clear and excellent cover-all of instruction.
Armed, Jennie went home and started! This, her first rug, has a hooked background surrounding prodded flowers.
Jen has always taken a new craft on like a crazy person, mastering techniques in her stride, without the timidity.  Growing up surrounded by the artistry of her father Brian Evans, she has a great eye for detail.

UPDATE: Made using scraps of silk, suede, felt, cotton, velvet, cotton/wool yarn, light blue satin dress, T shirt, and a piece of polyester! The backing is an old hessian curtain bought from the market (heaps left too). In other words, Every kind of  material is here!
Incorporating hooked, shorn-hooky and proddy work.

THE NEXT GET TOGETHER IS AT MY PLACE (ROBYNE'S) IN THE PATCH ON THE 25TH OF MAY. Phone 0410876096 or email r.m.square@bigpond or call any of us or comment here for instructions on how to get here. 10am onward.

Grandson's Wagga & Next Meeting Date:

Rug day at Anne's in Warrandyte was the usual relaxed, lovely day among friends (minus Chris, sigh). We need to take more photo's as everyone was quite productive!

You know when you dye a heap of blanket, only to find it too dark for your hooky rug, or too green/blue...? Well, over time I had quite a bit of green I wasn't using in any current rugs. I dyed another deeper green piece and made this Wagga (follow the link for others) for my eldest grandson's 19th birthday.
The red tartan comes from a kilt I wore on constant rotation when he was a baby (and I was a young'en').
I have pieced together a back from various fabrics I have had in my collection, including some of my Dad's jeans and my Mum's tablecloth (unfinished from when she was 14 years old). These being my grandsons dear departed and ever adoring great-grandparents.

THE NEXT GET TOGETHER IS AT MY PLACE (ROBYNE'S) IN THE PATCH ON THE 25TH OF MAY. Phone 0410876096 or email r.m.square@bigpond or call any of us or comment here for instructions on how to get here. 10am onward.

Please come and join us! It's heaps of fun. Once you start you'll never stop, I assure you.