A sneak peek and an FYI

Here is a peek of the rug that just came off my frame.  It is an adaptation of an old rug that I saw years ago at an antique market in the Adirondacks.  It has been a long journey to get it done.  It still needs to be steamed and bound.  Never one to be idle for very long, I have already started on my third adaptation rug, and I am so excited about the colors!  With all the snow we will get tonight, I should make lots of progress.

Just an FYI to all my customers out there:  Pattern prices will be increasing as of January 1, 2013.  It has been 5 years since I last had an increase, and over that period I absorbed the increased prices of the backings and shipping.  Unfortunately now I will have to make adjustments.  The good news is that you have one week left to take advantage of the prices before they go up!

Also, if you were not already aware, Cushing is raising the prices of their acid dye packets from $2.95 to $3.25 on January 1, 2013.  Spruce Ridge Studios carries the full line of Cushing dyes for all your wool dyeing needs!

What Just Came Off My Frame

This is my favorite time of year.  I enjoy all the hustle and bustle of preparing for the holidays.  I love our little family traditions - baking and decorating and fixing Christmas Eve dinner.  We get out my Christmas dishes and every meal we eat seems a little more grand and festive.  But the best part for me is that I actually have time to do some rug hooking for myself.
I have been concentrating lately on hooking some antique adaptations.  I have several on my drawing board so far and this is the first to be completed:

 It sort of reminds me of a Christmas design, probably because of the red and faded green.  It has been steam-pressed and I'm ready to finish with a crochet edge.  I have a lot of antique black strips left over and what a better way to use them up.
This little mat is 24" square and hooked up pretty quick.  The most time consuming part was hooking those 20 little round circles!
I've already got another adaptation on my frame which has proved to be much more of a challenge.....