I’ve been screen printing and painting special order totes. I do like the colour combinations! These totes will have zipper closure, a double pocket on the front and a zipper pocket inside.
positives
Molly Peacock has a poem, The Happy Diary, which she “started one day, when I was undone”. In the poem, she lists the simple things that make her happy. I have long practised this as well. It is so easy to get bogged down and miss the beauty. So here is today’s list.
1. I biked to the local market today and was delighted to see it was bustling. Why would you buy imported produce when you can get super fresh vegetables in December from local growers? And forget the Chinese garlic–this was grown in Hastings County!
I also buy my coffee on the market; it comes from an all female co-op in Mexico. Today, however, I bought Kenyan in honour of what I’ll tell next. Btw, this coffee is roasted in Stirling ON.
2. I am going to Kenya at the end of January to do aid work. The local branch of the CFUW has been selling Christmas cards to raise money for the renovation of the school in Metangwe, the small town I will be working in. I am delighted to say that we are very close to our target amount. This Canadian donation will help build 6 new classrooms so that more children will be able to attend school, and, as importantly have a hot meal each day. Thank you to all who contributed.
3 & 4. Last week at the sale, one of my rug-hooking friends brought this amazing bird for my studio. We all loved it so much it has stayed in the kitchen! Thank you Liz. Beside the new bird is a banana cake, baked to take to friends tonight.
5. Notice a theme here? My friend, Linda, gave me an early birthday present–one of her amazing photographs on a card, a hand-made broach from a St. Lawrence Market vendor, depicting two friends, and–BIRD ON A WIRE socks!!
beautiful new ramallah bag
In November, my sister visited a journalist friend who is working in the Middle East. She had the opportunity to travel with him and see the area.
She brought this wonderful bag home for me, purchased in Ramallah from the journalist’s fixer/translator. The colours, the shape and the design are inspiring!
hooking heart
This amazing map is hooked! It hangs in the Visitors’ Centre in Gros Morne Park, Nfld. We visited this magical place a couple of years ago. Every vista was a potential hooked rug. Makes me want to get back to my hooking frame.
Now that our shows are over–thank you so much to everyone who came both in Kingston and Belleville! They were a great success. But now that they are over, I want to get back to hooking. Fireworks awaits. I have three border sides left and promise myself it will be done by spring.
bag tags
some new bags for tomorrow
The top bag is another version of the Keller Bag–this one is great black upholstery leather with reinforced bottom panel, adjustable shoulder strap and exterior and interior pockets. The next is a red Luna Bag; like the turquoise one here, it has a double pocket on the front, adjustable shoulder strap and interior pockets. The final one is the Slouch, in this version in fuschia flocked leather. It has a front zipper pocket and an interior one and a narrow adjustable shoulder strap. I’m doing little drawings for the tags, so just getting them all straight. These bags will be available tomorrow at the show as well as much more. Hope to see you.
new work
It’s been a bit mad here, trying to get everything ready for a couple of small shows. But sometimes your best work comes out of that pressure hothouse, that manic activity. Ideas flow and magically come to fruition.
Below is the Orange Keller Bag. I’ve made versions of this bag before, but somehow the leather, the stitching and the proportions all work beautifully on this one. Carissa has been after me to ‘sign’ my work–so I decided to apply a leather bird to the front. This version will not be the final one–it is actually a template for my dyeing–but I like the idea. It’s subtle but identifying. The leather was two remnant pieces I have had for some time, durable and great to the hand. It measures 12″ x 14″ x 4″.
A few changes in the interior too.
Below are two new canvas totes, Bird with Attitude and Bird in a Hurry. I made myself a prototype of this bag some time ago and I have found it an excellent size for toting all my gear or filling with market produce. They each feature leather handles, outside pockets and an interior zipper pocket.
Things have not been so busy that I haven’t had time for the important things–Margaret Atwood last night in Picton, delightfully incisive in support of important County projects, both natural and cultural, and today the One-of-a-Kind show.
more inspiration
These books are by my bed and I am soaking in their inspiration. I remember Vera from the sixties, and wish I had kept the scarves I so loved then for their bright graphics. Orla Kiely is a new discovery. The watercoours of her work are lovely. I plan to do a small watercolour on the tag of each bag for my show this weekend. I am going full steam to get everything done but want to make time for this. Fingers crossed.
At bottom is a shot of colour from the studio.
warm woollies
Yesterday we had our family sale in Kingston–thank you to all you attended. Next week it is here in Belleville. So I’ve been making mittens and experimenting with fingerless gloves. With the latter, it is all about length and I think my small ‘focus group’ — thank you Miranda — has convinced me that shorter is better. I’ll be making more this week. They are cozy, mostly made of cashmere, leave fingers free, and add a welcome shot of colour on these drab November days. Colour always helps and a few hearts sprinkled on mittens can’t hurt either!
urban inspiration and a new hooking book
I was in Toronto yesterday for supplies. As I walked along King Street, I was taken with Bruce Mau’s sign–the juxtaposition of the classical window frame with its ordered proportions (what a great rug border!) and the wild rainbow of curving colour. Mau’s 1998 Incomplete Manifesto for Growth is provocative reading–and something I return to over and over again.
The graffiti art off Queen Street is amazing–and I half expected Rick Mercer to appear mid-rant. Lots of design inspiration for hooking on these streets. And speaking of design, a wonderful new book arrived in the post today. Wendie had alerted me in a comment she made yesterday, but this was my first peek at Susan Feller’s new book.
And I was pleased to see three of my own rugs! Here is mine along with a stunning piece by Ingrid Hieronimus,
and two more. Susan’s book is full of wonderful design lessons–it is a ‘must-have’ for all rug hookers. It is available from Stackpole Books and soon on Amazon.
