So What's One More Finished Object ...

... this Fee-Fi(ber)-F.O. Friday, right? Well, only that it's a fantastic rug. And it's in the latest Interweave Crochet Home 2015 special edition. And that I'm so excited at how great it looks.

Photo (c) Interweave Crochet.
Used with kind permission.

My inspiration for this design came from my love of small, fast, cars. If you take a look at this Pinterest board of mine, you'll see a whole lotta great cars. I love their bold, sleek, curved lines (very closely related to my love of all things cats). Then, add some Bruges lace in a hyped-up proportion, and you have the design elements of this rug. Once I saw the Bruges lace possibilities in my head, the rest came fairly easily (along with some back-and-forth sketches to Interweave's editor, Marcy Smith - hat tipped to you, Marcy). I blogged about the red roving here back in April (and in fact, notice the colors of the two yarns in that post - definitely a trend). I took a few photos of the completed sample rug on my deck. The deck boards are slightly uneven in places, but I note how nice and symmetrical and flat the rug is laying. I think mailing and then having it kept folded for some time prior to the photo shoot must have done a number on it (as well as a few other samples in the edition). 

That small point aside, I cannot believe how beautifully every piece photographed. Irrespective of whether or not it's one's particular aesthetic, the home chosen for the shoot (belonging to someone on Interweave's creative staff) was the perfect backdrop for these designs. The rug, since it used the Bernat roving doubled, is actually rather soft and squoishy underfoot.

This is, actually, my third published rug design in little less than a year. Clearly, I have a thing for rugs.

Now don't forget to head on over to Andrea's place at Wisdom Begins in Wonder and see what's under everybody else's fibery feet.

More Notes From the World of Pinterest

Pinterest is definitely a very intriguing place: you just never know what will strike people. I only follow a few boards, and have only a few followers, so these numbers came as a complete surprise to me:
 
1. Scandinavian Interior - originally pinned from Sea of Girasole blog

I love the circular metal fireplace thingy at the back of the room, as well as the clean lines and palette. I thought I was the only one, but apparently not - more than 150 people have repinned it from my board alone. Who knows how many others have pinned it from elsewhere. Scandinavian-inspired interiors are hugely popular.
 
2. Egg Poachers - originally pinned from this retail website

Now I love poached eggs, and it seems so do a few other people. These egg poachers have been repinned over 45 times from my Pinterest food board. I do note that a reviewer pretty much trashed it on the retailer's site, but I think they have potential. Here's why ...
 
3. My Food Pin Remake: Sausage Potato Mushroom Gratin
 
I made this recipe over the weekend (Sunday brunch), and I must say it was rather tasty. I made a few ingredient changes, which I'll cover at the end of the post, and then I added two poached eggs on top. I poach my eggs freeform and while I do a pretty decent job, I think those egg poachers and I are destined to become friends. Here's what the recipe looked like on the plate:

And here are the ingredients I used:
 
8 oz. bulk mild italian sausage
5 oz. organic cremini mushrooms
1 1/2 lbs organic red potatoes, washed, unpeeled, diced
1 large red onion
kosher salt to taste
pepper
generous sprinkling of cumin
1/2 c. chicken stock
about 2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
3 heaping fistfuls of monterey jack + cheddar cheese (it was the cheese I had on hand, no swiss as the original recipe calls for)

I found I didn't need all the other spices the original recipe called for - the italian sausage was quite flavorful all on its own. The big addition was the maple syrup, and it's worth it. It adds just the right sweet note to make this dish good-morning-sweet-salty good.