With an upcoming workshop to teach in just two weeks, I should be dyeing wool, writing out lesson plans, getting organized. And, truth be told I am doing all that, but in between the cracks, I am designing and hooking this sweet whale rug! As I hook, I can think more clearly about what needs to be done. It is a win-win situation because I get a new rug design, and I get more focused on the other things I need to do. I have got a lot of lists on my clipboard.
With Windrose Whale, I am still making decisions about color and design. Up until yesterday, the second small scalloped border had been sidelined. I am so excited I decided to rework that idea and add it back in. It brings the whale colors out into the border without being overbearing. The subtle scalloped shape reminds me of waves on the beach, very fitting for a whale rug I think!
I am not sure if I will leave the stems of the arching branch in this soft value, or if I will change it and make it more bold. That is a decision that will wait until I am almost done. Sometime I like a motif to fade into the background. There is no rhyme or reason to that decision, really, it is just what seem to flow best with the main motif and overall balance and feel of the rug.
The whale was so fun to hook using non-directional, or messy hooking technique. I used my marbleized wool, hand-dyed and as-is wool. The way the colors blend makes me think he is coved with algae and barnacles. I love his happy, self-assured personality!
The name of the rug, Windrose Whale has a double meaning. The little magenta pink flowers, or roses represent wild-like roses that cover cottages on Nantucket, but also look very much like a Nootka Rose that grows in meadows and near coastlines here on the west coast.
I like the idea that whales migrate around the world, and always find their way home. Hence, the compass markings of N,S, E, and W. I had forgotten that the face of a compass is called a compass rose. I did not know of the other names for a compass, Windrose, or Rose of the Winds! I found either of those names a lovely, fitting description for this piece.
There are still a few openings for my workshop May 5th and 6th at Shelley Lencioni's of I Love Rug Hooking in Auburn, CA. She has included a super deal where you can stay overnight in her home for far less than a hotel. Check it out and come hook with us! I have beautiful marbleized and hand-dyed wool, and so many ideas I want to share with you! It will be a wonderful, cozy, magical rug hooking weekend!
Windrose Whale will be available for class participants upon request (whether I have finished it or not) as well as all other rug designs at my ETSY shop.
