Carol's been busy again!

Here are two wintry mats from Carol - both Deanne Fitzpatrick designs. The snow-covered trees were to be lupins, in Deanne's mind, but Carol asked if it was okay to change them to trees, and Deanne was agreeable. While we are glad to see the back of winter, I was slow in getting these posted, so I hope you'll forgive me the lapse back into snow and Santa.

Deanne's shop/studio is in Amherst, NS, about 3 hours' drive from us in St Andrews, NB. Well worth the journey! Quite a few of the Quoddy Loopers have done at least one of Deanne's patterns and several keep going back for more.

The third of Carol's mats was actually done before the other two. It is from a free pattern out of Rug Hooking Magazine, "Yellow Ware Pitcher Floral Pattern Insert" (designed by Wendy Miller, Jan/Feb 2006). It is hooked mainly with woollen yarn, on burlap. Carol added some nice interest in the background with random bits of colour.  She has whipped these all in the traditional way, with wool yarn.

For most rughookers, doing a lot of solid background is not appealing. Me included - I'd far rather hook squiggles, circles, lines or something besides a solid area. Then there's whipping - my least favourite part, though it does a very good job of eating up time spent in an airport or any sort of waiting room.