Family history has a profound impact on our lives. It is from my father’s work as a corporate attorney for the Isaly Company that I learned to love polar bears. During the 1930s and ’40s the Pittsburgh-based Isaly company undertook expansion. My father, John Paul Jones, helped families open their own franchises in towns across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and Indiana. And Dad submitted the patent application for the Isaly Dairy Klondike Bar—yes, that iconic bar, a childhood favorite, in many flavors that you still enjoy today. He loved visiting farms and a favorite family story is that he once drove home with a pony in the back of a convertible.
Main image caption: Cool Bear, 23″ x 32″. Punched with Karakul wool on monk’s cloth. Designed by Courtney Mayo and punched by Kathy Donovan, Bluemont, Virginia, 2017.
The Design
Recently, I was searching for birthday cards for my son’s 30th birthday. My attention was drawn to a polar bear card, which I purchased and put beside my computer. One day I was inspired to turn this stylized polar bear into a rug. It was whimsical and charming—a perfect design for a rug. I contacted the Great Arrow card company and received written permission from the artist, Courtney Mayo, to reproduce the art work into a punched yarn rug.
When I asked Courtney what inspired her to design the card, she replied, “I was inspired to create the Cool Bear
design for my dad. It was drawn on a birthday card I gave him. And I love animals in sunglasses—there’s nothing
more ‘chill’ than a polar bear enjoying an ice cream wearing sunglasses!” What a coincidence that both of our dads inspired us!
I asked Courtney about the stylized design. She said the design was made to work with the screen print process, “which necessitates a limited color palette. The white polar bear is meant to stand out against the cool, dark background, and the ice cream adds a pop of color. I intended for it to be a really fun and playful design.”
Turning a Design Into a Rug
Courtney’s contemporary screen print design is ideal for punch needle. With rug yarn, you can punch nonstop until you run out of yarn. It is easy, fast, and fun. The punching rhythm is relaxing and can be stress relieving. No counting or tracking of a knitting pattern design, no stopping to cut strips. It took me only eight hours to punch this rug. If using traditional rug hooking with wool fabric, it would take appreciably longer.
Materials
Karakul sheep, also known as “fat-tailed” sheep, grow long, coarse fleece, which is excellent for carpet wool. Two years ago, I began making Persian rug yarn to meet the standard for the Oxford Punch Needle created by Amy Oxford. Why not use this yarn for my polar bear?
My natural white yarn was perfect for the bear itself. I used the #10 regular Oxford punch needle to punch him. I dyed the blue background and green accent color. I took the liberty of shaping the ice cream cone into Isaly’s iconic rocket design, which was called the “Skyscraper.” They designed the scoop to convey a tall rocket ship. The store owners survived the Depression years, selling these cones for five cents each. Today the ice cream scoopers are considered valuable antiques. In truth, I so wish I had one!