A variation of the Log Cabin pattern. Clever!
The acorn hasn’t fallen far from the family tree. Sue Cunningham’s sister, Bev Brownlow, has proven to be another natural, taking to hooking like fish to water. She’s already completed her second piece in record time and as you can see, a lovely rug for the floor. Hmmmm....two sister’s with a wool addiction…that ought to be interesting. Sue’s very generous but she might have to padlock her stash or risk being picked cleaner than a roast chicken at a picnic. Tee hee!
They both hook very similar in style. Extremely neat and quick. I was impressed with the quality of Bev's first piece when Sue brought her into the shop for a few tips on technique. Just a few neat tricks and Bev was flying! I personally hook for speed and with a few corrections you can maximize your loop count per minute. Holding your hook a certain way can be the difference between hooking like a tortoise or a hare. If at any time you'd like to up your game, drop by the shop and I’ll show you the way I pull a loop and you can give it whirl.
It always amazes me how different people react to rug hooking. Some take it in stride; working on a project in their spare time, picking away happily until it's finished. Others are possessed, going at it with a fevered pitch; hooking as if their life depends on it. When they aren’t hooking; those times when they're forced to lay down their project to sleep, eat and function with family and friends, it’s never too far away from their thoughts. If you aren't hooking, you're thinking or talking about it!
The discovery of rug hooking actually changes lives, like waking a dormant passion; the feeling similar to falling hopelessly in love. I can see in the eyes of my students which ones are making a strong connection and which ones think it’s fun and something to do while watching TV. The difference between the two will be the extra room that needs to be built on to accommodate the stash that will grow like spraying compressed foam from a can.
Rug hooking is like no other craft. With other fiber arts, most don’t make up their own knitting patterns, design for and dye the yarn or floss for cross stitch or needle point projects, design and dye cottons for quilting. They work with what is available and usually follow instructions to a prepared kit or specification. But with rug hooking, you can work from scratch, draw your own pattern, dye your own wool and get down and dirty with the bones of the craft. Creating a rug is like conceiving a child and watching it grow. The end result, the rug, is like giving birth and we couldn't be more proud! Conceived, grown and delivered; hopefully in less than nine months.
Why we connect so with rug hooking is a bit of a mystery. I’m in the business and have witnessed a lot of passion, saw a lot of glints in the eyes of the hooked, but sometimes I ponder, what is the driving force behind it all. Hey, even though I am one of the hard core smitten, I still can't help but wonder the ‘why’ at times. Not that I look a gift horse in the mouth; it’s here and I’m so very grateful for Mary’s persistence in leading this sold mule to water and standing there until I took a drink. Sometimes I wonder what in heck I'd be doing if that window had never opened.
Maybe we are genetically predisposed to rug hooking through our ancestors. Their DNA is coursing through our bodies, why can't their passion for the craft be waiting there to be awakened. We are carbon based creatures so maybe we’re just carbon copies of those who came before us, recycling their inner most desire to create. We just pick up where they leave off and only think we're being original. There has to be some reason we fall hard and fast.....as if we’ve walked off a cliff to a soft, wool landing.
They both hook very similar in style. Extremely neat and quick. I was impressed with the quality of Bev's first piece when Sue brought her into the shop for a few tips on technique. Just a few neat tricks and Bev was flying! I personally hook for speed and with a few corrections you can maximize your loop count per minute. Holding your hook a certain way can be the difference between hooking like a tortoise or a hare. If at any time you'd like to up your game, drop by the shop and I’ll show you the way I pull a loop and you can give it whirl.
It always amazes me how different people react to rug hooking. Some take it in stride; working on a project in their spare time, picking away happily until it's finished. Others are possessed, going at it with a fevered pitch; hooking as if their life depends on it. When they aren’t hooking; those times when they're forced to lay down their project to sleep, eat and function with family and friends, it’s never too far away from their thoughts. If you aren't hooking, you're thinking or talking about it!
The discovery of rug hooking actually changes lives, like waking a dormant passion; the feeling similar to falling hopelessly in love. I can see in the eyes of my students which ones are making a strong connection and which ones think it’s fun and something to do while watching TV. The difference between the two will be the extra room that needs to be built on to accommodate the stash that will grow like spraying compressed foam from a can.
Rug hooking is like no other craft. With other fiber arts, most don’t make up their own knitting patterns, design for and dye the yarn or floss for cross stitch or needle point projects, design and dye cottons for quilting. They work with what is available and usually follow instructions to a prepared kit or specification. But with rug hooking, you can work from scratch, draw your own pattern, dye your own wool and get down and dirty with the bones of the craft. Creating a rug is like conceiving a child and watching it grow. The end result, the rug, is like giving birth and we couldn't be more proud! Conceived, grown and delivered; hopefully in less than nine months.
Why we connect so with rug hooking is a bit of a mystery. I’m in the business and have witnessed a lot of passion, saw a lot of glints in the eyes of the hooked, but sometimes I ponder, what is the driving force behind it all. Hey, even though I am one of the hard core smitten, I still can't help but wonder the ‘why’ at times. Not that I look a gift horse in the mouth; it’s here and I’m so very grateful for Mary’s persistence in leading this sold mule to water and standing there until I took a drink. Sometimes I wonder what in heck I'd be doing if that window had never opened.
Maybe we are genetically predisposed to rug hooking through our ancestors. Their DNA is coursing through our bodies, why can't their passion for the craft be waiting there to be awakened. We are carbon based creatures so maybe we’re just carbon copies of those who came before us, recycling their inner most desire to create. We just pick up where they leave off and only think we're being original. There has to be some reason we fall hard and fast.....as if we’ve walked off a cliff to a soft, wool landing.
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