The Woes of a Rugmaker

The Ned and Jake Kits

have 'finally'

made it to the post.

I now expect a bit of

trouble with a kit

not enough wool dyed

sore hands and so on..

It is the life of a rugmaker

I say to myself

I really surprised myself

with Ned and Jake

One of those times when

you wonder..

did I really do this?

Yes, apparently I did.

When I started packing the kits

JAKE WAS MISSING!

32 of Ned and no Jake!

Oh my goodness!

What to do?  I thought just

draw more templates on the 

freezer paper and iron to

Ned with Jakes name.

Yes that should work!

It does not..

And so.. new wool was dyed

I never 'exactly' match shades

on different dye batches so

16  new 'sets' of Ned and Jake 

were cut before I could ship

the orders.

I still was ahead of shipping except..

at the same time as I discovered 

I would need to dye more wool

we had a very nasty cold front move

in and the water pipes froze in the

old house.

I am very keen on doing my

rugmaking in the olden ways

but I do draw the line at 

melting snow to dye wool!

And so.. between the frozen pipes

plus coming down with a nasty

infection again and on antibiotics..

Ned and Jake shipped last week.

Most were shipped on Wednesday and

orders after the holidays were shipped

on Friday.

   

After the Ned and Jake woes

I decided to clean and clear the 

sewing room to start

the New Year

Baskets were overflowing of

extra dyed wool from the kits and

miss tint shades that I could not 

use in the kits.

Lucas is now cutting into pennies

Bless My Son!

I also dyed a few batches of string 

to sell along with the pennies.

I have had so many emails and messages

asking when will I have a new 'penny' kit

similar to the Averys and the

Candle Mats.

I thought this was a good compromise

as I really want to do the pen wiper

and more applique rugs.

And so.. with these pennies and string

you can follow along with the videos

to create your own designs.

Hit and Miss Penny Rugs are very easy

and speak to the true history of rugmaking.

Using Up and Making Do

Below are some examples of

Hit and Miss Designs in

my previous rugs.

These are the types and looks

in rugs which could be created

with the cut penny package, now listed.

The Hit and Miss Pattern is

created by using as many 

'single ' shades of wool

in one design.

The more colours in the rug 

the better the look.

Several shades the same can be

used in the rug but not close together.

The bags of pennies have many, many

colours and shades of colours but...

with my woolens just as when I 

design a kit.. because of my dye

process all colours, all shades

go together and work.

No Fail Rugmaking!

I have used two strand embroidery floss

and plaid pennies with this rug.

Although I have not used plaids in the kits

Some neutrals will be included in the

Penny Packages now Listed

This little mat uses a larger top penny

but the layout and shades could be

made from the pennies in this package.

The center is knotted with red yarn.

Three french knots from the dyed string 

could also be used in the center penny.

The videos from the Avery Rugs shows

how to stitch the open border penny

on cotton base.. the woolen base

open penny border is shown in

the Candle Mats Videos. 

Everyone seems to like the triangle layout.

This one is stitched with a feather stitch

instead of a blanket stitch

Just as the stitching with Ned and Jake

Another Hit and Miss layout with

the feather stitching.

The video will be posted while

working on Ned and Jake

how to do the small bindings

on penny rugs.

The photos of the last two feather stitched

rugs are shown brighter than they

actually were..since they are

sold I have no other photos.

This rug is almost finished..

notice the needle and thread

I've included because it is a 

great front on photo for use

as a placement chart to 

layout this design.

This is a Hit and Miss on a 

dark wool base with

a crochet edge in

 wool yarn.

This is a very tiny candle mat

using only the smaller circles

and a french knot center.

And finally..

this is the sample mat from the 

Candle Mats Kit

Size appr: 8 inches

The 500 Count Bag of Pennies

would make 13 of these

little Hit and Miss Mats!

Or use for a larger rug and

follow the layouts in the above photos.

I have the bowl sitting on my

step stool as a reference

to the size and amount

of pennies and threads.

VERY IMPORTANT

THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY

24 BAGS OF PENNIES

ONCE THEY ARE SOLD

I WILL NOT BE OFFERING

MORE CUT PENNIES UNTIL

THE BASKETS ARE AGAIN FULL

PROBABLY AUGUST OR

SEPTEMBER

Still a few more Ned and Jakes and

1899 Basket along with

Pennies and String Thread

Click HERE

to go to my Etsy Listings.

Click HERE

to watch my You Tube

Step by Step 

Video Tutorials

As always I am here

to answer any questions..

sometimes a bit late but 

I always answer.. and so

is the life of a 

Rugmaker and Nannie!

Whew!

Long post today

Time to put another log on the fire

Burrrrr.. it is cold in NS today

Thank you Everyone!

Stay Warm and

Happy Stitching

cee