Rug Hooking is not all about the actual hooking. There’s a social aspect, hanging out with friends for fellowship and inspiration fuses us together and keeps the train on the track. Without an audience we would be standing alone and where is the fun in that. Like the pineapple, the international symbol of welcome, we speak the international language of wool and it reaches the far corners of the earth! Every group that has ever met in the name of rug hooking is a community onto itself, a sisterhood, and of course we mustn’t forget the hooking brethren as well. Hooking is not a solitary craft although there are those who prefer standing on their own, but most of us are gathering seekers, finding like-minded people to share our passion.
The finished rug is not the end of an incredible journey, it's actually a beginning. During the process our reservoir is topped up with creative juices, fueling the next great masterpiece. From beginning to end each step is replenishing our cups so there is never a shortage of inspiration to carry forward. In rug hooking there is no confusing what came first, the chicken or the egg? Each rug begins with a concept, an idea.Whether you have purchased a pattern or want to bring to fruition that idea rattling around in your head, the process begins with the design. If you can draw a straight line you can probably conjure up a piece of artwork, but if daunted over the
process, search on Google for resources and use them as a guide. Be careful to obey copyright laws, not only will your drawing be more special when it comes from within you, but you can delight in having a pattern that is uniquely one of a kind.
Once the drawing part is complete, then the colour plan steps up in line. Colour can
be drawn from various sources, the area of the house the rug will be displayed, the colours you love the most, trying something completely opposite than the norm or freeing yourself by choosing colour with abandon, not caring where the rug will go but how it will stand on its own. Create a colour palette so people will bask in its glory, and be so inspired by its magnificence that they want to design an entire room around it. And then of course, the world around can inspire a colour palette; who does colour better than Mother Nature?
The gathering of the wool, touching it, imagining how it will look hooked, selecting textures that will bring depth. Colour planning a rug is like preparing a baby’s layette. Remember after the baby shower, when you've washed everything in Ivory Snow and then play with the little clothes, the facecloths, the nighties and the ever-so-soft receiving blankets? You fold them in the drawer and then go back time after time to look at them, touch them, smell them. I’m kinda like that will wool, hopefully that doesn’t sound too crazy but really, sometimes I have thoughts of getting naked and rolling in the stash. Don’t know why but it pops into my head every now and then. We all know we can't control our thoughts but I can assure you they are only words meant to amuse, I’ve not acted on the urges. After surviving those horrible pleated wool skirts from grade school that were one step up from wearing sand paper, well what can I say? The softness of today’s wool is like bunny fur and inspires a few strange desires.
Around here wool comes from two sources. Frenchies is our local outlet for recycled wools and there are several rug hooking shops in the area that sell a rainbow of dyed wools and factory colours, solids and plaids. Most shops will colour match from paint chips so keep that in mind if you need a custom colour. Most rug hookers I know have a elephant sized stash allowing them the freedom to quickly colour plan but if something is needed there is always the dye pot or a friend to beg, borrow or steal from. Generally, most hookers like to have their rug planned out down to the whipping wool before they even pull their first loop while others not so much. Some start out with an idea and see where it takes them which is mostly my approach. I never like to be confined or pinned down to any particular colour, I like a bit of flexibility and that works with my women's prerogative, change my mind, go with the flow, hooking style.
The finished rug is not the end of an incredible journey, it's actually a beginning. During the process our reservoir is topped up with creative juices, fueling the next great masterpiece. From beginning to end each step is replenishing our cups so there is never a shortage of inspiration to carry forward. In rug hooking there is no confusing what came first, the chicken or the egg? Each rug begins with a concept, an idea.Whether you have purchased a pattern or want to bring to fruition that idea rattling around in your head, the process begins with the design. If you can draw a straight line you can probably conjure up a piece of artwork, but if daunted over the
process, search on Google for resources and use them as a guide. Be careful to obey copyright laws, not only will your drawing be more special when it comes from within you, but you can delight in having a pattern that is uniquely one of a kind.
Once the drawing part is complete, then the colour plan steps up in line. Colour can
be drawn from various sources, the area of the house the rug will be displayed, the colours you love the most, trying something completely opposite than the norm or freeing yourself by choosing colour with abandon, not caring where the rug will go but how it will stand on its own. Create a colour palette so people will bask in its glory, and be so inspired by its magnificence that they want to design an entire room around it. And then of course, the world around can inspire a colour palette; who does colour better than Mother Nature?
The gathering of the wool, touching it, imagining how it will look hooked, selecting textures that will bring depth. Colour planning a rug is like preparing a baby’s layette. Remember after the baby shower, when you've washed everything in Ivory Snow and then play with the little clothes, the facecloths, the nighties and the ever-so-soft receiving blankets? You fold them in the drawer and then go back time after time to look at them, touch them, smell them. I’m kinda like that will wool, hopefully that doesn’t sound too crazy but really, sometimes I have thoughts of getting naked and rolling in the stash. Don’t know why but it pops into my head every now and then. We all know we can't control our thoughts but I can assure you they are only words meant to amuse, I’ve not acted on the urges. After surviving those horrible pleated wool skirts from grade school that were one step up from wearing sand paper, well what can I say? The softness of today’s wool is like bunny fur and inspires a few strange desires.
Around here wool comes from two sources. Frenchies is our local outlet for recycled wools and there are several rug hooking shops in the area that sell a rainbow of dyed wools and factory colours, solids and plaids. Most shops will colour match from paint chips so keep that in mind if you need a custom colour. Most rug hookers I know have a elephant sized stash allowing them the freedom to quickly colour plan but if something is needed there is always the dye pot or a friend to beg, borrow or steal from. Generally, most hookers like to have their rug planned out down to the whipping wool before they even pull their first loop while others not so much. Some start out with an idea and see where it takes them which is mostly my approach. I never like to be confined or pinned down to any particular colour, I like a bit of flexibility and that works with my women's prerogative, change my mind, go with the flow, hooking style.
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Don’t wait to be hooking your new project to share with your peers. Each segment of the journey can be an excuse to gather with like-minded friends. To see your rug through another pair of
eyes can sometime take you on a very different journey and I’ll admit, it just fun to get together and talk about wool! Remember two heads are always better than one, three are even better and so on. Back in the days of all our renovations, I always used to say, make friends with a carpenter, an electrician and a plumber, covering all bases in an emergency. Well for a rug hooker my advice would be to sidle up to an artist for help with your drawings and someone with dye knowledge and the equipment, just in case you have a dye emergency! Not so long ago Mary, Sue and I got together for a bit of after hours fun and WWW. No not the wrestling thing, but Wine, Women and Wool. Mary was working on a pattern design and I’m helping Sue dye the colours for her latest commission. We had a blast that evening. Two parts inspiration, one part perspiration (it was a warm eveing), a bit of wine and a whole lot of fun.
A shared passion is a wonderful thing. Throwing ideas back and forth is not only stimulating but each thought leads to more thoughts until it takes on a life of its own; an entire world of creativity turning on its axis. I am lucky to have friends like that. Bursting with ideas and willing to share. Without them I would be stagnant in the water, with little desire to carry on. For me, sharing this passion with friends is what it is all about. When we get together it’s like being in a think tank, inspiring one another to greater and more fantastic designs. So many brilliant ideas transpire that we could never realize them all in our lifetime, but that's okay, sometimes the fantasy is better than the reality so we dream on. I couldn’t imagine not having all that resource, inspiration and support to tap into.
eyes can sometime take you on a very different journey and I’ll admit, it just fun to get together and talk about wool! Remember two heads are always better than one, three are even better and so on. Back in the days of all our renovations, I always used to say, make friends with a carpenter, an electrician and a plumber, covering all bases in an emergency. Well for a rug hooker my advice would be to sidle up to an artist for help with your drawings and someone with dye knowledge and the equipment, just in case you have a dye emergency! Not so long ago Mary, Sue and I got together for a bit of after hours fun and WWW. No not the wrestling thing, but Wine, Women and Wool. Mary was working on a pattern design and I’m helping Sue dye the colours for her latest commission. We had a blast that evening. Two parts inspiration, one part perspiration (it was a warm eveing), a bit of wine and a whole lot of fun.
A shared passion is a wonderful thing. Throwing ideas back and forth is not only stimulating but each thought leads to more thoughts until it takes on a life of its own; an entire world of creativity turning on its axis. I am lucky to have friends like that. Bursting with ideas and willing to share. Without them I would be stagnant in the water, with little desire to carry on. For me, sharing this passion with friends is what it is all about. When we get together it’s like being in a think tank, inspiring one another to greater and more fantastic designs. So many brilliant ideas transpire that we could never realize them all in our lifetime, but that's okay, sometimes the fantasy is better than the reality so we dream on. I couldn’t imagine not having all that resource, inspiration and support to tap into.
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