By Guest Blogger Kristy Wagner
A gift for Mother's Day. I took my first and only rug hooking class in Feb 2013 at Encompassing Designs in Mahone Bay, NS with Christine Little as our Instructor. What a great thing to do on a Sunday afternoon, especially in the winter.
Why Rug Hooking? I like things that are "pretty and useful" and I'd just come off a "dishcloth" knitting marathon and needed a new project. I like to see progress, that was something I thought I'd like about rug hooking. I knew it may be a challenge to complete a rug, they take time to complete, but the fact that I could see it coming together along the way, forgive the pun, that's what "hooked" me. I needed to see what it would look like when it was finished, like a surprise! I also needed to find something I could do at home.
It was a relatively affordable hobby too, about $150 to get everything to start up, then it all depends on your equipment and material - there are ways to keep the cost low. I used a mixture of real wool and yarn wool. The yarn mde it tight like carpet. It's an extremely forgiving hobby, easy to fix mistakes, change colors. If you wanted to take your favorite sweater, pull it apart and hook it into a rug, you could do that.
The day of my class, everyone had their seat cover patterns, I turn up with a giant rug pattern that I designed myself. I figured, just in case this is the only one I ever do, at least I will have designed it. You need a straight edge, pencil, burlap, sharpie and creativity. I looked at images online and I drew out ideas, then put them to burlap.
I got my first one done within two months, just plugging away here and there. Of course I see imperfections, but that's what gives it character. My first rug will be a gift to my mother this Sunday for Mother's Day. I'm really enjoying the hookin'! haha! I've already started on my next one. :)
Thanks again Christine for teaching me how to hook!
Why Rug Hooking? I like things that are "pretty and useful" and I'd just come off a "dishcloth" knitting marathon and needed a new project. I like to see progress, that was something I thought I'd like about rug hooking. I knew it may be a challenge to complete a rug, they take time to complete, but the fact that I could see it coming together along the way, forgive the pun, that's what "hooked" me. I needed to see what it would look like when it was finished, like a surprise! I also needed to find something I could do at home.
It was a relatively affordable hobby too, about $150 to get everything to start up, then it all depends on your equipment and material - there are ways to keep the cost low. I used a mixture of real wool and yarn wool. The yarn mde it tight like carpet. It's an extremely forgiving hobby, easy to fix mistakes, change colors. If you wanted to take your favorite sweater, pull it apart and hook it into a rug, you could do that.
The day of my class, everyone had their seat cover patterns, I turn up with a giant rug pattern that I designed myself. I figured, just in case this is the only one I ever do, at least I will have designed it. You need a straight edge, pencil, burlap, sharpie and creativity. I looked at images online and I drew out ideas, then put them to burlap.
I got my first one done within two months, just plugging away here and there. Of course I see imperfections, but that's what gives it character. My first rug will be a gift to my mother this Sunday for Mother's Day. I'm really enjoying the hookin'! haha! I've already started on my next one. :)
Thanks again Christine for teaching me how to hook!
 The drawing stage, figuring out the design and playing with the details. |  The final cut now transferred to the backing. |
My current project. Having a lot of fun!
It is always so great to hear from a student after they've gone off on their own. Sometimes you wonder if they're still rug hooking or if they finished their project. A lot of the time they come back to get a critique or finishing instructions but for the ones I never hear from again I often wonder what they are up too, if the passion took hold or if they moved on to other things. Kristy was a prime example. Her enthusiasm and big project made her stand out. I saw me in her. I didn't want to mess around with the small stuff either as I never planned to do it again....look at both of us now!
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