Wonky Wabbit

Hmmm...  haven't posted since last August!  Somewhere between then and now this rabbit rug was finally completed!  Also between then and now we went to Ireland and Paris, then to Mexico for our son's wedding.  Then we moved my Mom to our town.  Actually, it feels kind of good to have the time again to do a blog post...

Wonky Wabbit has a long history.  Here is a concise version:  My husband's cousin decided she wanted to learn rug hooking.  She found a teacher, chose a pattern (this pattern), chose wool (not this wool), received some instruction and got started.  I have noticed that new rug hooking students either "click" or don't.  I certainly understand that.  I have tried different creative things over the years that didn't click with me or were simply beyond my capabilities.  After hooking a small part of the rug, she rolled it all up and stored it away.  It was just not for her.

Some number of years after that, I convinced her to send the rug to me to let me take a look.  Some number of years after that, she did.  I thought the pattern was pretty cute, so I decided to finish it.   (All it says on the pattern is "Stephanie").  Initially I made an effort to use her wool, but there were issues.  First, I was unhappy with the wool she sent.  (I admit that I am happily and completely and totally spoiled by the beautifully prepared wool I buy from my rug hooking teacher Anita White.)  Cousin's wool was very loose, possibly not felted, and already cut into strips.  When I tried to hook with it, the strip would often just disintegrate in my hand.  So, new wool needed!  (Oh darn!)  Cousin had chosen more primitive colors (all greens for the ground, light blue for the sky, black and white for the rabbit).  For this simple pattern, I thought it would be fun to make the ground a patchwork of bright colors, keep the black and white scheme for the rabbit, and make a more dramatic sky in keeping with the bright patchwork ground.

So I did.

I think it turned out pretty cute!  At one point I tried adding a black and white checked border around the rug.  For some reason, I could not get it to look right, so I used a black and white textured wool to bind the rug.

Now the wonky part:  The foundation material is monks cloth.  I have made rugs on monks cloth before, although I much prefer linen.  As you can see, for the patchwork sections on the ground, I mixed up the direction of the hooking.  Even though I was very careful to get the outer row of hooking in there very straight, the edges of this rug are not straight, especially over on the right.  I have worked and worked with blocking, steaming, even a bit of swearing.  I am blaming it on the stretchiness of the monks cloth, some level of abuse caused by unhooking/rehooking, and the radical change of direction in the patchwork sections.

But I like it and it makes me smile every time I look at it - wonkiness and all!