I love Hook-Ins!
A gathering of wonderful, friendly, creative women coming together for the sole purpose of rug hooking!
I was so involved with enjoying conversation, making new friends and reconnecting with old, that I forgot to take photos. A friend did get a few of my vending table.
The inevitable finally happened.
I could no longer procrastinate.
It did not matter if outside temperatures were near 100', nor how many other items I had on my "to do" list.
It was time to unearth my dye pots and to DYE WOOL!
For now, I mostly use dye recipes that I've created using Pro Chem Dyes. I do like the colors I get with Cushing dyes too. Pro Chem containers, for me, are far easier to open and work with than the other brand's envelopes. I'm just lazy, and tend to be messy.
When I dye a batch of wool, I often dye over many diffferent textures. This gives you a variety of colors that all work together, and it makes your hooked work more interesting.
Whether you are a pro at dyeing wool or a newcomer there are a few things to remember! First, do have fun! What doesn't come out like you wanted now, just might be what you need later!
Secondly, but equally important, is to be safe! You are handing chemicals and boiling water. I suggest wearing a mask while the dyes are in powder form. Once you have the dyes dissolved in the cup of boiling water the mask can come off. When stirring, and moving your simmering wool or pouring out the hot water, be sure to be present and focused so that accidents don't occur! Some folks leave the hot water on the stove to cool down before they handle it. That is a smart idea, but I am often dyeing many batches, so that method doesn't work for me. Remember to have counters covered, and to wipe everything down once you have finished dyeing, you don't want to contaminate your food surfaces! I even use separate sponges for washing my dye pots
This week, despite the heat, I just might be able to "dye me a rainbow" of beautiful wool!
What does one do with all this lovely wool you might ask!? Well, I hope to hook with it, vend at Hook-Ins, and list it on my ETSY, all before the summer ends!
HAPPY HOOKING and DYEING!
It is summer, full on, hot and dry!
This weather gives me a very different feeling than say, March, when it's grey and drizzly. My creative process is drenched with summer sun, heat, and abundant light! The other day I did catch myself complaining about the heat, and so, once again, it is time to turn that negative into a positive, and embrace it through a hooking project.
This piece, called Sun Rose Tile measures approx 8" x 8". It reflects the good things about summer. A morning with a beautiful sunrise in the garden. A lazy afternoon with ice tea, a good book, a friend, or project. An evening sunset as the outside temperature cools and we can finally open all the windows for the night!
I like to hook small projects as a way to test an idea. Separating the flower petals with a different color isn't a new idea but it is new for me to use the background color as the petals separating line. I like the look it gives the piece, sort of an Arts and Crafts Era feel. I definitely will continue to explore this concept in some of my future designs!
I hope you can use this summer heat to spark your creativity too!
You can find many of my patterns and rug hooking related items at my ETSY shop.
Lately, it has been far too hot to be outside in my garden, so I'm inside, thinking about the flower beds I've created in my hooked rugs. There are many ways to use technique, color and texture to make your hooked garden bloom beautifully.
Nature's Dance (above photos) shows how outlining your motifs with similar value neutrals can help the flowers show up against a background, especially a medium value background. By outlining, it allows you to use lighters or darker values for the motifs and still have the motif show up against the background. I like the unity outlining gives to all the motifs, but be sure to change up textures and wools you use to outline so the rug stays interesting.
When I want a primitive flower to be viewed as if from the side, I move the center of the flower more toward one edge of the flower. This can give your rug design a different feel, rather than having all the flowers facing full on center. In Winter's Bouquet, here are examples of sideways and center facing flowers.
When hooking a grouping of flowers, as in Autumn's Smile (below) I like to change the color slightly on some of the blossoms, again, as a way to spark interest. The rosehips are differing shades of yellow.
The spray of tiny blue buds are hooked with a few different shades of blue.
Textures are a good way to draw attention to a motif. Try using an interesting texture in your flowers, whether it's the center, petals, or all of the flower.
Here's to hooking a lovely array of flowers, and the best part is, you don't have to water them!
Please visit my ETSY shop to see more of my rug hooking patterns and designs.
(Note: All photos in this week's post are hooked by Maureen Lowrey)
When I design a rug, sometimes I know the color plan before I have finished with paper and pencil and long before I pick up my hook. Other times, Nature, a painting, fabric or textile has inspired me and I create my palette based on these ideas.
I'm always honored when a rug hooker wants to hook my designs. I love to see how they make the rug their own. Whether they use the color concept that I initially used, or if they go in another direction using colors and values that better suits their home and their own creativity.
My dear friend Maureen Lowery has given me permission to share photos of my rug designs hooked by her. She is a talented rug hooking artist! I'm in awe of her work and I'm sure you will be too! Thank you Maureen!
These patterns are available on my ETSY, or at iloverughooking.com
The rugs in order of appearance:
Rose Wreath
Halo
Meadow Bound
Thy Friend
Rose Wreath close-up
Dove's Song celebrates the beautiful haunting song that the mourning doves make as they call to one another.
This spring as my yellow roses were in bloom, I was mesmerized by the dove's song.
The oval shape inner border gives the rug an old fashion feel.
The flowing, looping vine and open leaves mimic the oval shape and is meant to suggest movement and the musical notes of their lilting song.
This rug measures 17" x 23". This is a lovely, romantic rug to hook.
Dove's Song can be found at my ETSY SHOP.
Dove's Song, (close-up photo above), is just one of the many creative projects in various stages of completion. "Too many irons in the fire," is what my mother might have called it. I'm lucky enough to know many creative, artistic, crafting people, and all of them seem to have this same issue.
Perhaps, this is the natural ebb and flow of artistic minds. You start in on one project, yet a deadline appears for a different project or piece that's nearly done. So you stop working on one piece, and complete the other. Or maybe you are happily working away on your project, and you get a brilliant idea for something else that pulls you off in another direction.
The trick is to make certain that the unfinished pieces do not become a burden, a nagging voice inside your head saying, "You can't start something new, you have 3, 5, 10 (or whatever your limit) pieces to finish first!" If you are stuck on the color or concept of a piece, and that's why you are avoiding it, get some advice from other art friends. Take a break from it for a bit and let your brain "noodle" on it for awhile. Try to have a timeline of when you will revisit it, so it doesn't continue to nag at you and compromise your creativity.
Currently, I have three small hooking projects that are almost finished.
Finally binding, Sweet Pea, the peacock, that was designed and hooked last summer.
Abby Cat, as it is currently called, will become a pillow. I only have some more lettering to hook before I can start to figure out the pillow style.
On Dove's Song, I'm working out the final color changes. To bind I will crochet the edge, either with wool strips or yarn, but I am not at that stage to choose, yet.
I have a rug that I'll start in September that I am beginning to dye the wool for as well as pulling together other colors and textures.
For the past two months I have been designing a large rug that has the theme of "matters of the heart" which is SUPPOSE to be hooked using my already cut wool worm stash. Maybe I'll get it on linen later this month.
Also, I have a couple small rugs designs I want to start this year, and I haven't even mentioned my hooking "bucket" list!
So what about you? I bet you can easily rattle off three to five creative things off the top of your head that you are working on to complete! I mostly just hook! What about other imaginative people who, quilt, knit, stitch, crochet, paint, garden or create is some other way?
I'm curious to know, how many "irons" you have in your "fire"?
