Working the background of this rug also includes lots of little Objects that Appear in the Background - like pennies and little leaves and flowers. There were plenty of those this week! Now I see that one of those purple flower petals fell off of the flower right above the 5-pointed star! How could that happen??? (Attempt at Humor.)
A very big step was taken this week. I finally found the Perfect Turquoise! I am using seven colors to create the background in this rug. One of them one was to be "blue", but in my mind it was never a true blue. My first attempt was a light blue herringbone - it was too pale in the mix with all the other colors. The second attempt was a teal blue. It was close to what I had in mind, but I still had Fear of Commitment! My third attempt was a very dark greeny-blue, but when hooked in, it was too similar in value to my beloved purple/plum background - it was actually hard to tell them apart. Then, at Wednesday morning hooking with Anita White - Success At Last!. As if she had read my mind, she had just dyed a beautiful big stack of stunning turquoise wools!!! Many of them were strong textures, so she agreed to dye more of that color over an oatmeal wool with a very light texture. Ta-dah!!! Here it is! There are a few strips hooked in right above the kitty in this photo. I absolutely love it - and can't wait to show you how it adds a wonderfully bright touch to the overall palette. (Wait, can a "palette" have 57 colors???) I don't actually know how many colors are in this rug, but I could count all my little zip lock bags and find out!
Last week I mentioned my sore hands. Several readers sent in advice - Thank You!!! I have taken all of your advice! I bought a Hartman hook from Anita - so now I have three very different hooks to use. Another reader recommended The Hook Book by Alice Beatty (found it on Amazon for $3.00!). There is a great chapter describing the actual hooking motion. (By the way, the book is now called Basic Rug Hooking, by Alice Beatty and Mary Sargent). I am really trying to concentrate on making a few little changes to what I do in hopes of helping my hands! All this concentration has really slowed me down - but like with most movements, I think I will get faster with time and practice.
Have a great week everyone!
Your new turquoise wool looks like a perfect fit with the other colors in your background! Whenever I enlarge the picture of your rug to look at the details closely, I'm always amazed again to see the size of the finished rug that's printed on the linen - that is going to be ONE BIG RUG Amy! Have you used mostly a #8 cut on this? Or have you had to go smaller for some of the details? Just curious.
ReplyDelete*****good for you in trying to correct the technique. you will get used to it and each day
ReplyDeletewill bring comfort and remarkable speed that you weren't able to do before. when you palm the hook, insert at a 45 degree angle and bring the wool to the surface and roll the hook
with your fingers...you can repeat a mantra to help. usually my students prefer, "down, up, turn." you can use down, up, roll if that helps. good luck and remember to give it a good try...you will be pleased with the results. keep us informed of your progress!
*****p.s...when you roll the hook towards the previous loop, do not let it leave your palm in this movement. in other words once you bring the wool to the surface of the backing,
ReplyDeleteroll you hook with your fingers the way you would rub herbs or seasonings into food. it's really a very fast and smooth process...start slowly and once you feel better about the hook in this new mode...you will move faster and faster.