Long Overdue

So we all have projects that are unfinished. And some have been sitting around longer than others. I recently came across a project that was so close to being completed that I vowed to finish it. And I did.

Five years ago I was making a hooked rug from a drawing that my daughters (then ages 8 and 8) had done. They wanted a welcome sign for our mudroom and thought that if they made a drawing of our family, I could transfer the drawing onto linen, and hook it. Helen immediately set out to draw the figures, and Sophie wrote the word "Welcome" in cursive (her newest skill at the time), drew the sun, and contributed landscape ideas. More about the process here. And I started hooking. Here's a shot of it when I started. There's something adorable about a drawing - made by young kids - brought to life!

I worked hard on the rug, and finished about 90% of it. I had a really hard time hooking the faces, so I set it aside for over a year. Then, two years ago, I realized that I needed to make some progress, so I enlisted the help of Michele, our resident rug hooking expert. She took it home with her and completed the faces and the hair for me, doing an excellent job. 

And so I packed up the rug and brought it here to Finland, thinking that during our time here, I'd definitely finish it. Now we've been here almost 2 years, and of course, I haven't touched it! But we're moving back to Vermont in just a couple of months, and I've been doing some packing. I came across the rug and when I opened it up and realized just how little was left to finish, I gave myself a good scolding. I immediately put down all knitting projects and made a deal with myself that I couldn't knit until I finished this rug. After all, wouldn't a Welcome sign look great in our new entryway in Vermont? I think so.

It only took me a couple of hours to finish the parts of the sky that were remaining. 

And then I had to finish the edges - that took another couple of hours. Luckily, I had grabbed a skein of Manos Rittenhouse (now discontinued) in the perfect color to edge the rug.

The girls are thrilled that it's finished. Of course, Sophie said, "Well, it's perfect except for one thing. The cats aren't in it." 

Don't worry Sophie, they may not be in it. But they're ON it.

BAD Lucy! Put those claws away!

What claws!?

And they've proven that they like my rug hooking projects JUST as much as they like my knitting projects.

And Maisy likes it too.

Luckily they won't be able to do this when it's hanging on my wall! Now, back to the knitting!