 Today was crazy busy and the hours melted away faster than ice-cream in summer. Geared with good intentions, I planned to write a blog about Linda Ruth and her monster Oriental but when I looked on the computer for the digital picture I’d taken of four women standing on chairs, holding up the beast, with only their eye’s peeking over the edge of this gigantic, room sized rug, I came up empty handed.How disappointing to have lost that picture, probably in one of my computer crashes without a backup! I have others in the various stages of development, but this was the Pièce de résistance, the one showing the rug’s massive size, using our bodies as a frame of reference left nothing to the imagination. Two hours wasted tearing the shop apart looking for a printed copy I know I have but that eluded me as well. It was a lose, lose situation and more than a bit on the frustrating side. After work I came home and searched our personal computer database on the chance it might have been downloaded there along with the hundreds of photos we take of the hairy kids. All hope of finding the picture was gone and I sat stewing when a photo flashed across on the screen. It was a picture of the second rug I had hooked fourteen years ago. There is was, boasting all those brilliant colours just as I remembered. So I’m veering off course to feature a story from my meagre beginnings as a rug hooker. Maybe this was one of those ah-hah moments, that were supposed to happen. If I hadn’t been looking for something else, I wouldn’t have come across this picture. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go into the shop and lay my hand on that lost photo instantly…funny how things happen sometimes….as if they were meant to be. In the meantime my memories of this rug have been pulled out of the archives. After finishing my first rug, I was itchy to get started on the next, and it was an easy decision. I wanted to hook something for my in-laws who were very dear to me, showing my appreciation for all they had done for us. I wanted something personal, to highlight their lives, not your customary floral or geometric. Jim, my father-in-law, hung his hat at Air Canada for his entire working career as a pilot and before that, served in the Airforce. Considering his flying career afforded my hubby’s parents the lifestyle they enjoyed, I felt it was important to make that the focal point of the rug and put all else around it. Jim took his training at the RCAF in Claresholm and I found this beautiful crest on the internet. Done predominantly in primary colours the rug is bold and eye catching. Starting at top left to right. - Wynn’s & Jim’s wedding day July 5, 1946 - Wynn loves lobster - Wynn took art lessons in her sixties and painted several watercolours and oils. She said the teacher told her that she had promise - The three black silhouettes are their sons, oldest to youngest: Terry, Gregg and Dale - Jim and Wynn both played Bridge with friends, until one by one all the men were gone and now the women carry on - The big L - Jim’s last name is Little, born in Vancouver - The big A - Wynn’s maiden name was Acurch, of New Brunswick - Jim worked for Air Canada 32 years flying the big boys, the 747 planes - Wynn is an avid knitter, keeping us well stocked with afghans and slippers - Jim, always athletic, loved his golf - Wynn went to the pool three times a week and still does at 94 - Jim was an avid sport fisherman The roundels in the four corners of the crest border are from the Liberator airplane he flew during wartime. Fourteen years ago I hadn’t even begun to comprehend dyeing so all of the wool for the rug was recycled and used as is. In only a couple of months of pulling my first loop, I had accumulated a rather impressive stash to draw from. No grass grew under my feet as I stalked the bins at Frenchy’s grabbing all that wool with my hot little fingers. I went several times a week, getting to know when they put out the new stuff and was prepared to bump little old ladies with my purse to score a precious plaid or coveted white wool before they did. The piles grew to the point I had to hire someone to build custom shelving for my upstairs hobby room and in no time they were bursting with every colour of the rainbow and all those in-between. I’m not sure what was more thrilling, hooking or hunting for wool. Seeing it stacked on those shelves, the beautiful kaleidoscopic of colour waiting for a rug to call it home. At night, I would go in there and turn on the light just to look at it. I hauled many a garbage bag out of Frenchy’s, packed with fabric gold. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning washing, drying and tearing up those wool garments, sometime wrestling with pesky interfacings, hems and seams. It seems like forever ago, when Frenchys’ would snip a wool garment for craft use. If you brought a perfectly wearable item to the counter and said you planned on using it for rug hooking, they cut or tore it and charged you half price. Later when they realized how many hookers were out there and the money they were losing, they stopped it. Now for a $1.00 you can pick from a few crumbs of wool they discard but the wonderful days of excess are over. We are now forced to pay full price for a garment and they rub their hands together like scrooge counting coins. But, I got in there at the beginning and harvested enough bounty to hook for years! Ah-h-h, stash….moderation my eye, one can never have enough of a good thing! The rug hooked up in about two weeks, and my in-laws were tickled pink to receive it. They wouldn’t put it on the floor and it’s proudly displayed on the back of a sofa. Hooking this rug was a feel good experience and today, I was happy to be reminded of making it. Sadly, Jim is no longer with us but he will never be forgotten. My signature CL is cut off the bottom of the picture above so you can't see that I used the yarn in the knitting needles to create my initials. I thought I was being clever there! I really liked hooking the lobster and managed to squeeze in some shading. Actually it was my first attempt at shading. This rug was a lot of fun to hook! I also tried to hook each background in a different pattern for added interest. |
I remember the letters being real finicky to work on but I managed to squeeze in enough detail to make it readable. I worked in mostly #4 and some #5.
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