The #6 red loops are higher, the way I used to hook. The yellow #4 and green #8 are hooked lower and of equal height.
I know what it's like to run out of a certain colour as you close in on the end of a rug. I've done a bit of dumpster diving in search of a few tails that might stretch out a loop or two or recover those scrawny edge pieces I sometimes biff if they're too fuzzy. I remember the panic that I wouldn’t be able to find more of a precious recycled plaid or match a colour after the fact, just to complete a few square inches or maybe less of an unfinished area. Thankfully, with experience comes wisdom, so that doesn’t happen anymore and I’ll tell you why.
Back in the day when I started rug hooking, all of my rugs were over hooked with wool. I don't mean hooking every hole, I learned to skip from day one; my problem was loop height. The loops were high enough that I could have produced two rugs for the price of one. Yes the rugs were plush and rich feeling but had nothing to do with the quality or the longevity of the rug.
One rule of thumb was to pull the loop as high as the strip is wide and I had been following that philosophy religiously until the day I needed to put a bit of detail in one area using a #4 cut while the rest of the rug was hooked in #6. Working in smaller cuts meant lower loops and wider cuts would be higher so it only stands to reason that the surface of your rug would be uneven. So I proved the theory was flawed, and rules being made to be broken, I threw it out the window and came up with my own guideline which seemed to make more sense and saved a lot of money.
So I started pulling the different cuts all the same low height, which allowed the mixing of all sizes, especially when using leftover strips from other projects. I make the joke, “whoever madeup that rule sold wool for a living”. To me, pulling the #8 strip ¼” high is a waste, going through your stash at record speed, and quite frankly, pulling loops higher than necessary does nothing to enhance your work. Sure it’s plush under the feet but that will soon be walked flat so what's the point? Higher loops flop over along the edge whereas if you hook with a lower height they don’t. So where is the benefit? There is none…other than paying someone more money for wool you don't really need forthat project (not that need ever has anything to do with it). Lowering the loop height makes sure the wool goes as far as possible.
The rule of thumb should be that you pull the loop high enough to cover the backing and at a comfortable level to remove your hook. You’ve all done modifications to cover the fact that you ran out of a certain colour; getting creative to reach the finish line. Putting in extra clouds when running out of sky wools; adding a building extension or bushes when grass falls short; filling in background wool where a leaf or flower should have been. The other trick is to tear out bits here and there to fill the empty spot and then replace those stripped areas with the closest match you can beg, borrow or steal and pretend it was intentional. Yup…we’ve all been there and have the T-Shirt to prove it!
This slight alteration in loop height could save you much $$$ over the years and the agro of having too much area remaining at the end of the wool. Nowadays I hook more on the low side then what’s perceived as normal but I think my hooking looks fine. As in most things there’s no right or wrong, it’s finding the right balance that works for you.
One other point I would like to add. When you hook lower your work looks like it was worked in a finer cut. Hooking low with a #7 looks more like #5 or #6. When you pull your loops higher you can see every loop, whereas hooking them lower, the biggest part of the loop, the top, snugs together more so the individual loop doesn't show. If you like the look of finer cuts but prefer the speed of the more primitive ones, this is the way to get the best of both worlds.
Back in the day when I started rug hooking, all of my rugs were over hooked with wool. I don't mean hooking every hole, I learned to skip from day one; my problem was loop height. The loops were high enough that I could have produced two rugs for the price of one. Yes the rugs were plush and rich feeling but had nothing to do with the quality or the longevity of the rug.
One rule of thumb was to pull the loop as high as the strip is wide and I had been following that philosophy religiously until the day I needed to put a bit of detail in one area using a #4 cut while the rest of the rug was hooked in #6. Working in smaller cuts meant lower loops and wider cuts would be higher so it only stands to reason that the surface of your rug would be uneven. So I proved the theory was flawed, and rules being made to be broken, I threw it out the window and came up with my own guideline which seemed to make more sense and saved a lot of money.
So I started pulling the different cuts all the same low height, which allowed the mixing of all sizes, especially when using leftover strips from other projects. I make the joke, “whoever madeup that rule sold wool for a living”. To me, pulling the #8 strip ¼” high is a waste, going through your stash at record speed, and quite frankly, pulling loops higher than necessary does nothing to enhance your work. Sure it’s plush under the feet but that will soon be walked flat so what's the point? Higher loops flop over along the edge whereas if you hook with a lower height they don’t. So where is the benefit? There is none…other than paying someone more money for wool you don't really need forthat project (not that need ever has anything to do with it). Lowering the loop height makes sure the wool goes as far as possible.
The rule of thumb should be that you pull the loop high enough to cover the backing and at a comfortable level to remove your hook. You’ve all done modifications to cover the fact that you ran out of a certain colour; getting creative to reach the finish line. Putting in extra clouds when running out of sky wools; adding a building extension or bushes when grass falls short; filling in background wool where a leaf or flower should have been. The other trick is to tear out bits here and there to fill the empty spot and then replace those stripped areas with the closest match you can beg, borrow or steal and pretend it was intentional. Yup…we’ve all been there and have the T-Shirt to prove it!
This slight alteration in loop height could save you much $$$ over the years and the agro of having too much area remaining at the end of the wool. Nowadays I hook more on the low side then what’s perceived as normal but I think my hooking looks fine. As in most things there’s no right or wrong, it’s finding the right balance that works for you.
One other point I would like to add. When you hook lower your work looks like it was worked in a finer cut. Hooking low with a #7 looks more like #5 or #6. When you pull your loops higher you can see every loop, whereas hooking them lower, the biggest part of the loop, the top, snugs together more so the individual loop doesn't show. If you like the look of finer cuts but prefer the speed of the more primitive ones, this is the way to get the best of both worlds.
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