Peas In A Pod: Rug Hooking

Rug Hooking

July 02, 2013

Wool Cardinal Rug

Hi Everyone,

Making a quick post as I eat my lunch at my desk today. :-)

When I was sick, one thing I found was that rug hooking was really relaxing and something I could focus on. So, one day, I finished my little wool rug! It turned out pretty well (for a beginner), I think. (Sorry, the afternoon sun was pretty bright the day I took these photos.) I still need to learn more about what direction to hook the wool. I'm not sure I understand the rules (if there are any) about when you make a change of direction. I just kind of went with the flow.

I will show it to you from a few different angles. I think it's kind of interesting to see it from different angles. I need to work on the consistency of the height of my loops. You can see from this photo, I kind of have some low spots. In some areas, I did really well with consistency of loop depth. In other areas....not so much! Haha!

You can see some of the low spots here, too. But all in all, I'm really happy with it. Now, I need to learn to finish it and bind it. I will need another class from Nancy at the Hen House to learn that. (Oh, bummer. Have to make a trip to a wonderful shop!) I'll have to figure out how to do that, now that I'm back in the office full time. She doesn't typically do classes on Saturday, I think,

Last time, I forgot to show you the back, so I thought I would this time. Here is how the bak of the rug looks. I think it's not too bad. Mostly, I did a good job keeping the loops neat and taught. I think there must be a few that are a little loose or something (where it looks bumpy).

I got a little nervous hooking the tan wool. I thought I was going to run out. I had about 1/2 a strand left at the end! Wow! That was close. (And yet, I have enough red wool left to make about two more birds! Strange!)

My kit came with some wool for the back of this (as this is actually supposed to be a wall hanging that fits inside a grapevine wreath---but Sweet Pea is counting on this as a rug for her American Girl dolls--haha--she was thrilled when I finished it and complimented me on how pretty it was--so sweet!). I'll be interested to learn how to attach that.

I feel good having finished this so far. I'm excited for Michigan Fiber Festival in August. Last year, when I was there, there was a woman selling kits for Halloween rugs I just loved. I didn't dare buy one, since I didn't know how to make them yet. I hope she's there this year. But I'm afraid she won't have them any more. I think she was clearancing them. I'll be so bummed if I can't find one. (Nancy, if you are reading this, what is the name of the woman you thought I needed to look for?) I really want to get one. I'm going to be on a mission for that at the festival.

Hope you are having a great day.

Until next time,

Posted at 01:12 PM in Rug Hooking | Permalink | Comments (14)

Tags: cardinal rug, Nancy Conn, The Hen House, wool rug hooking

May 15, 2013

Rug Hooking--Cardinal Rug

Feeling slightly better today. Still not great. I think I have developed allergies in my old age. As one who has never really had problems with allergies before, I'm not dealing with it well. I don't like it. I'm having extra sympathy for those of you who have suffered this all your life. My head feels like it's in a fog (buzzing), sneezing, sore throat, runny nose....

To make matters worse, I went back to the eye doctor today, and she dilated my eyes. Misery. I hate that. And my optometrist expressed concerns that my pupils might be "stuck," because they didn't dilate as much as they should have. I'm watching them carefully to see if they go back to normal. It's been 4 hours, and they still seem to be fairly big.

I keep forgetting to mention that I turned on the word verification again for awhile. Sorry. I had something like 200 spams in one day, and then again the next day. A real pain. So, I turned it on again for a little bit. Sadly, I still had two more spams today! I'll try taking it off again in a bit, okay? Bear with me until then?

Many of you asked me to see the progress on my rug hooking after my first class. Here is how far I got in class. (The long pieces you see will get trimmed off when there is more wool around those edges.) Not bad! You can tell I need to get better at my evenness of loops. But I'm okay with it for a first try!

Yestereday, when I wasn't feeling so well, I did get it out, sat on the back deck, and did some more work on it. It was really very pleasant. You can see my hook in this photo. I love how the wood handle has that knot on it.

After an hour or so, here is what I had added to it.

I left the little wool trimmings on our deck railing for the birds. Thought they might like it. They are probably all done with their nests right now, anyway. Some are gone today, some are still out there.

I got it out last night and worked some more. Here is how far I have gotten. I need to finish the second ring of red. (Maybe you can see that the top part is not finished yet.) Then, it's just filling in the background.

Sweet Pea was watching me do this. I figured she'd say, "Oh! Can I help?" But here is how the conversation went:

Sweet Pea: What's that?!

Mama Pea: A rug I'm making.

SP: How did you learn to do that?

MP: I took a class.

SP: That's really neat. Can I touch it?

MP: Of course!

SP: That feels neat! I think that bird is so beautiful, Mom! I wish I could have it when you're done.

MP: Your wish is my command. It's yours when I'm done.

SP. Really?! Do you think you could cut off all that extra round the circle when you're done?

MP: Yes, when I'm all done, I'll cut that off, flip it to the back, and sew it down. I'll have to take another class to learn how to do that.

SP: Cool. (Pause) Do you think they have any smaller kits for kids so I can try?

MP: I thought you'd want to try. The lady who taught me said she can help us get some more of this linen fabric so you can try.

SP: Yay! I can't wait.

I may get her a small piece to practice on. I remember doing latch hooking when I was younger. I might consider starting her on that. But this is pretty easy. I think she could do it. I might even let her try on the extra background outside the circle to see how it goes.

Gene Shepherd is a renowned rug hooker, I've learned. I was reading his blog the other day, and I saw him talking about children attending "hook ins" with the adult women. So, it's not inconceivable that she'd be able to do this and enjoy it. We'll see!

Hope your day is going well!

Until next time,

Posted at 03:19 PM in Rug Hooking, Works in Progress | Permalink | Comments (7)

Tags: cardinal, rug hooking

May 10, 2013

"Hooking" at The Hen House

I had an absolutely wonderful time yesterday learning to hook wool rugs at The Hen House. Today, I'd like to tell you about my lesson and show you around the store more. Last time I as there, I missed half the shop, because I never even walked back to the classroom! Shame on me!

Nancy began our lesson by having a discussion about frames and how to attach our linen to the frame. She has the most beautiful wooden frame. Oh, is it gorgeous! She's a woman after my own heart. She loves good, high quality, beautiful tools!

I am all set up and ready to hook!

Nancy showed us how to pull the strips of wool up from under the linen. We learned how to start and stop and how high to make the loops. We learned about cutting wool strips and all the different widths you can use. We had a discussion about wools and high vs. low quality wools. It was a ton of fun.

Especially fun for me was that I got to meet Sue of Simply Pieceful Quilting. She came to the lesson, too! I've been reading Sue's blog for a few years now, and we've had a lot of email communication. It was so nice to meet her in person! I had a gret time with her, and it's always more fun to learn together!

Here is the cute classroom space we were working in. Our stuff is all over the table. I loved all the different antique chairs that were at the tables, and there was so much to look at in the classroom!

From my seat, I got to look at all the basket-making supplies. How fun!

And next to those (on the right) were vintage, hand crank sewing machines (Nancy sells them), along with some fun quilts.

To the left of the basket-making supplies were all these finished baskets. I love baskets. They are containers after all, and you know I have a fetish for containers!

If I looked to the right from where I was sitting in class, I could see the sale wall. Lots of goodies in there!

Closer to me on my right was this vintage stove, where the "Hot Sales" were. How cute is that? I love attention to detail like this.

On the back wall, to the right of the vintage sewing machines is this rug that Nancy hooked. Isn't it fantastic? I love it. This is one reason I wanted to learn to rug hook. I want to make one of the primitive pumpkin men rugs for Halloween. (There is another vintage sewing machine below this rug. I meant to get it in the photo, but blew it when taking the photo.) You can see the light from the back door coming in on the right-hand side of this photo. It was such a beautiful day, we got to have the door open. It was so nice!

On the way out the back door, there are some more fun Halloween quilts.

I especially liked this one. I complimented Nancy on it, and she told me it was a quilt she had designed for one of the local shop hops. I love it. I meant to get this pattern and forgot. I need to remember this next time I go there!

Going back out to the front of the store, I found this cabinet full of thread. I had completely missed this last time I was there! What an excellent assortment. And Nancy carries Aurifil thread, which you know I love.

And this might be a TMI, but even the bathroom is adorable! Everything in it is so in keeping with the shop.

Here's the view while you're doing your business. LOL.

Nancy showed us her progress on her hexie table topper. I think it is just wonderful! I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

I also saw this little wall hanging on the way out. Nancy designed it, with monthly little quilts you can make and change out, using the little clothespins. So cute!

I forgot to take a photo of my rug to show you my progress. I guess I'll do that in a future post. But I had a wonderful time. I learned a lot. Nancy is an excellent teacher. I appreciate it so much that she was willing to arrange this class to meet MY schedule! When I finish my rug, I'll go back for another lesson on how to bind and finish the rug. That will also be fun. I hope Sue can come then, too!

And Elise, who also works in the store, is just the sweetest, most wonderful thing. I really enjoy seeing her in the shop when I come in. What a combo these two women are!

I have to say, I'm feeling pretty bad it takes me over an hour to get to this shop. I really love it. It's probably a good thing. If it were closer, I'd be in there all too often! ;-) Nancy does have an online retail business, too. So, if you see something you want to peruse, you can see her website here.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. It's a rainy one here.

And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!

Until next time,