Good for you...now can you put a pic. of one of the rugs you've already done. My dear Aunt used to do that ...always fascinated me.. The rugs are gorgeous..

I would like to see the frame. Is there a picture online?

Moni

Enjoy your new frame!

I'm guilty of buying myself several Christmas presents each year. I do most of my shopping online so to get free shipping (or sometimes just because), I'll order myself something along with the gifts for other people. I am really bad at Amazon... there is always a book that I really want. lol

Congratulations on your rug hooking frame. I used to make hook rugs (before I became addicted to quilting)--it's a lot of fun.

I'm splurging on myself this Christmas--I'm getting a new sewing machine.

Anyone else buying themselves a Christmas present?
Probably, I just don't know yet what it will be, but when I find it, it will hopefully be exactly what I wanted.

Congratulations on receiving the 'perfect' gift for yourself. Often it can be very hard to find.

Sue

Enjoy it!

We are looking for a travel trailer, that will be our gift!

I remember my mom buying a huge rug to hook, it hurt her fingers! She ended up giving it to a charity. :0)

Enjoy!

Moni, the frame maker emailed me a file with pictures and descriptions of his products. Send me an email if you'd like me to forward it to you. I can't figure out how else to share it.

Wanda, my gift to me last year was a sewing machine! It wasn't exactly a big splurge, though.....I got a Brother Project Runway Limited model, refurbished, from Overstock on Black Friday. Sophisticated enough for me.

Gemini, I'm hoping to make a footstool cover this winter. And some "mug rugs" (oversized coasters). If they turn out well I'll be sure to share. :-)

Lydia, I don't think I'm done yet. I'm very interested in getting Topaz, an image manipulation program. Unfortunately, it's never on sale.

Nicole, was your mom doing latch hooking? That's different from what I do. I've never heard of the old-fashioned rug hooking hurting anyone's fingers.

Keep looking, Sue. Lynn, great gift!

I usually buy myself a Christmas gift. This year I am planning to save my money for my travels.

lol.....I don't know enough about it to know there's a difference. lol Yes....she was doing latch hooking...

Linda, same thing. :-)

Nicole, I thought so. My kind of rug hooking recycles old woolen clothing, cut into narrow strips. The background of this coaster I made for my son came from a red plaid shirt (from the Salvation Army).

Good for you.. I am sure you deserve it, too. Enjoy. I think it is important to treat ourselves from time to time.

I told my husband, no gifts this year. My birthday is in November, I'm skipping it, too. But we're getting each other an electric heater that looks like a fireplace. I may not even plug it in.

We need a new car...hubby is retiring and the company car lease is up. That is our Christmas gift. He has saved for it since we bought the last one so it will be paid in full.

Jannie, you will love the heater. Plug it in and give it a try.. You may find out you love it..

Holly, drive that car with pride knowing you saved so long to buy it. Good job!!

what I really want is to rip up the carpet in the living room and dining room and put down this awesome tile I found, looks just like hard wood flooring even has the hand scraped texture, the color is a dark mahogany. I hate carpet, I can not roll very well on it and it wears out my arms trying to push my self around so changing over to all tile is my big wish. Similar to this but darker and much prettier.
{{!gwi}}

while I'm at it I want to put it in my master bathroom too!

I've thought that one should try to learn something ... every day.

Greetings Alisande,

" ...and I've been told by several ... hookers that his quality is unbeatable. I'm looking forward to this!".

When one has some shortcomings in the seeing/hearing department ...

... it sure can make a whale of a difference in one's understanding!

ole joyful

I haven't bought myself a Christmas present last year but last year I did...many, many times. :)

I was feeling damned and sure I was a loser and nobody loved me. I was having a pity party and nobody to invite to come. Mind you, I tried but everybody had holiday plans and nobody wanted to come. I was such a grinch.

I was trying to snap myself out of it. I have kids so I told myself I had to. I sent extended family cards and nothing personal for anybody. I thought about doing the same for my kids but maybe a check or two but one of them was 12 and I thought that was rather wrong.

So, I took myself to the mall to force myself to face the crowds and buy for the kiddies. And while I was there I saw some boots. Now my normal response would be ...don't buy that...someone might buy it for me. Or dont' buy that...hint to someone you'd like it. Don't buy that...spend the money on someone else. But, then I thought if I don't get it, nobody will.

So, I bought my first gift. And then after being released from my make believe bonds I was suddenly immersed in holiday spirit. I bought one gift for my daughter and then one for me (afterall the sales on sweaters are amazing at Christmas) and then one gift for my son and then for me ( I would let him borrow the cd if he let me borrow his.) and so on and so forth.

And what started out as my kids most dreaded Christmas (they all gave me their shortest Christmas lists. They asked for nothing that year) I gave them all more than ever.

Now don't get me wrong. I broke the budget big time. But, I have broke the budget before and been unhappy and not got what I liked or hated the whole thing.

But I loved me that year and that left me open to love life and Christmas more.

I met the love of my life 2 days later :)

Sounds like a wonderful present to me! I bought myself (and Teddy) a beautiful saddle last year that should be my present to myself for a long time!! LOL I'd like to get a new camera, but I'll wait to see if any good sales pop up.

DH would tell you that everyday is Christmas for me. I buy me whatever I want. We just got back from three days in the Outer Banks. We stopped at the Bird Store...all things hand carved, and I bought a wooden bird in flight to hang in a tree out back. DH tried to talk me into the smaller one ($40.00 cheaper) but my rationale is that he wouldn't think twice about spending that money on dinner and dinner is over in an hour. This I'll have for the rest of my life. Go for it and enjoy!

Me too I ordered a beautiful tuffted bedspread from soft surroundings,Its taupe colored buttons just beautiful ,will look good on my king size sleigh bed. almost 400 dollars I had to think awhile but Iwent for it.Cant get it till March.

Your the first person that I know of that hooks rugs. They look so,,,,rustic! (can't think of a better word) Not many people can claim they made their own rugs. I bet you will be happy you have that frame this winter.

I did buy myself a Christmas present this year. And birthday and anniversary. A Canon DSLR camera. It makes my old camera seem prehistoric.
I only have two lenses so far. I'd like a macro (or is it micro?) lens some day. Mom has been asking me for Christmas ideas, that might be a good idea but I'm afraid to see how much they cost. It's so darn fun taking good pictures for a change. Can you tell I'm tickled?

Great story Leann!!!!

Lately I've been lusting after a new backpacking stove. My old one still works fine. It's just the new models are so much lighter and more efficient. The one I have now I bought new in 1976 for 17 dollars and it has traveled far and wide with me. It seems foolish to quit using something just because there is something better available.

Ron

Good for you, Toni. It's a macro, BTW. And not likely to be cheap. You might enjoy hanging out on one of the DPreview Canon DSLR forums to get an idea of the best lenses for your camera. I did the same thing on the DPReview Olympus DSLR forum. I made note of the lenses that were used in some of the best pictures, and also lurked in lots of lens discussions. I had to pass on those that were out of my price range, but ended up with several that I'm happy with.

Bulldinkie, that sounds beautiful!

Murraysmom, I remember saddles......yes, a major purchase. :-)

Leann, I'll bet your change in mood opened you up to meeting (and recognizing) the love of your life. What a happy ending!

Joyfulguy, are you sure you're a minister?? LOL

Ravencajun, I'm familiar with those great tiles. I almost bought them (or a similar brand) for my laundry alcove, but eventually opted for rolled vinyl "wood" flooring. I never dreamed vinyl flooring could look like wood! I really love it, and if I ever redo my kitchen floor, that's the way I'm going. The contractor was impressed with the thickness and quality.

Here it is going down. Looks weird, huh? (We redid the walls in white beadboard.)

And here it is next to my 1860 real wood floor.

Holly, that's a great gift! And Jannie, do plug in that heater. I'm sure you won't have to be persuaded when winter comes. If you don't watch out, Ron will borrow it for his next camping trip. :-)

Toni, I agree--hooking does look rustic. It's a very old and often primitive art. Some people hook with very fine strips, doing a lot of intricate shading, and some use wide strips and a coarse hook. I'm somewhere in the middle. No shading, though.

It's a good thing I enjoy anticipation, because I just received an email saying my frame will be shipped January 17. This is what happens when a product is made to order. I had told him I was giving it to myself for Christmas, and he said, "By special arrangement the Twelve Days of Christmas are being extended this year." I like his sense of humor!

Many, many years ago I read an article about how stressful the holidays are for so many folks -- worry about getting the right gifts for people, worry about the money it takes to buy everything, etc., etc. The author gave a piece of advice, which was to buy yourself something that you really want, each holiday season. It makes you feel better and eases the stress.

Fine advice, if you ask me.

Leann, what a great story! Best wishes to both of you. Now we want to learn more about this great turn of events.

I hooked rugs already I use to buy all materials from this place all they did was hook rugs.I have a problem working with wool.
If everything ever gets back to normal with my kidneys I want to weave on my big floor loom again,I miss it.

Thanks nana.

I think your right alisande. It was much easier finding someone to love me after I loved myself. Sounds corny I know. But, I really was just trying to please everybody but me before. But once I knew what made ME happy, I realized he did :)

How much of those "turn of events" do you want to know? I married him 13 days ago. I was going to get married in June but I didn't want to wait anymore.

I love that quote in When Harry Met Sally 'when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." It trips me out that the popcorn commercial is quoting that movie.
:)

Raven, what kind of tile is it? Looks very nice.

alisande
I was thinking about you when I opened my new issue Nov/Dec of the Backwoodsman on page 70 is a nice article How to make rag rugs at low cost
it shows how to make them on a burlap frame and how to cut the strips of cloth I didn't check but maybe it is on their webpage.

Leann, Congratulations!!!!!
We have a newlywed at the Table!
Many happy years to you both!

Alisande, I always remember Nan hooking rugs. She would always cut clothing and jeans into strips and hook them. The hook had a wooden handle.
She was an avid quilter, the frame was set up in the living room and ladies would come over and they'd have a "bee".
She'd serve lunch and they had a great visit, all the while getting the quilt made.

Nan must have had a rug-hooking frame too, but I don't remember it.

Hi alisande,

Sometimes it is adviseable to accept a recommendation from a hooker.

Hope you enjoy your Christmas present ... at least, you should be satisfied with it, having chosen it carefully ... thoughtfully ... after due deliberation.

ole joyful

Thanks for the tip, Minnie. I checked their website, but they're not sharing anything from the current issue. I noticed they have features archived from past issues, though, so if I remember to check back in a couple of months I might be able to read it then.