The Merry Hooker Woolens

Purple Rain Progress

2011-08-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

I've been making progress on the great pattern, Purple Rain, that I took down to Cambria Pines Rug Hooking Camp in June. Would you believe that I'm finding the hills more challenging than the women's clothing?
I have no idea what colors I will be using for the rain drops hence the odd color place holders....

Thankfully, I can get away with "no face" faces on this rug!

A Day in the Studio...Making Rug Hooking Kits

2011-08-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

A typical day in the studio....hooking, shipping, dyeing, tons of emails and, ocasionally, days devoted to making up rug hooking kits.
Good kits require a lot of time and planning but can be fun and creative too!

This beautiful collection of about 70 different colors and textures is destined to be hooked in to the wonderful Poppies design by Sharon Smith that I carry on my website.
This picture was taken during the later stages of planning....when I'm choosing the colors it's a much bigger mess. Wool everywhere!

All packaged up and ready to send off to the hooker who will turn this into a lively rug....

Project Planning

2011-08-13T12:05:00.001-07:00

It's been so long since I've blogged.... you've probably thought I've forgotten all about you. Terribly embarrassing, but life just stays so busy!! I'll try to be better....

Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to go down to Cambria Pines Rug Hooking Camp for the first time. What a great week! Three of my friends from the Wine Country Rug Hookers ATHA Guild went as well and we had a fine time hooking, visiting and making new friends.

I chose one of the new patterns from Off the Hook Rugs that I'm carrying on my website, Purple Rain, to hook. You can find the pattern here: Purple Rain

Of course, this meant I had a lot of planning and preparation to do during the week before camp.

First, I photographed the pattern and printed out the photo. Next, I pulled out my trusty box of art pencils and, pretending to be a kid again, colored in most of the clothing. Then I spent an unusual day in the dye pots dyeing colors just for me! (I call this unusual because most of my dyeing is done for other people....it's rare that I take the time to dye specifically for myself.)

For the rest of the week, I pulled out different combinations of colors to use elsewhere in the rug, changing my mind frequently and heading back to the dye pots a couple more times. By the time I got on the Amtrak train to head down to Cambria I had a general idea of where I would start with the rug....

but there's always room for change!

New Rug Hooking Patterns!

2011-05-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, I had a chance to visit with rug hooker and designer, Sharon Smith, when she made a visit to Northern California. Her hooking is rich with color and her designs, many of which are inspired by her world travels, are full of life and whimsey. So naturally, when she asked if I would be interested in adding her designs to my product line, I said yes!

I've added about a dozen of Sharon's designs to my website in the last few days and will be adding more very soon. For those of you with sparse wool stashes, many will be available as rug hooking kits with the pattern and my hand dyed and off-the-bolt wools. Take a look at the ~~~What's New~~~ page on my website to see some eye candy.

I'm having a hard time deciding which is my favorite so I thought I share my top three....
Laundry Day, above, is just delightful....clothes whipping in the Fall wind, hair flying, a few scattered pumpkins. My friend, Marsha is going to hook this one but I think I'm going to have to hook it as well!

Sunflowers; primitive, vibrant colors, and they always make me smile. This design just says "Hook me!"

I'm in the process of dyeing bunches of golds, mustards and rusts for the wool kit for this design and I'm planning to dye a variety of deep, but colorful, shades of russett, brown, eggplant, olive green and antique black for the background.

How many hookers do you know who also knit?
Napping Knitter clearly lives her life just the way she wants to; wools in her basket, little naps now and then & chickens in the living room.....
this may be the one I need to hook.

My Irish Beach Project

2011-05-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

My Irish Beach project is coming along nicely. I have been saving three different dark, textured wools to use for a good Fall-themed rug & I'm really happy with the way they are working in this piece.

As you can guess, there are leaves in this rug.

And maybe an unusual pumpkin.

Perhaps a stem or two?

Hooking at Irish Beach

2011-05-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

You know you're a fortunate person when you get to spend 4 days with lovely and creative friends in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Mendocino Coast in Northern California. We hooked and talked, hooked and laughed, hooked and ate, hooked and walked, and hooked!

China brought bags and bags of worms to work on her portrait of her granddaughter.

Chris worked on three different rugs.....she came up with this design to use up her worms and scraps. It's spectacular!

With this as inspiration, how could we not feel creative?

This landscape has inspired an endless variety of artists.... and as you can imagine, young people enjoy this spot for many other reasons :-)

Getting Ready for Irish Beach

2011-04-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a few days on the wild and beautiful coast of Northern California.... four days of nothing but hooking with friends!
A beautiful pattern has been waiting several months for me to pull together wools and hook it. I decided my time in Irish Beach would be well spent working on it but first, I had to be sure I would be prepared with the right materials. So the pattern laid on a table in my studio for a week while I worked out a plan.

I'm sure you can tell..... the rug has a Fall theme.
This is my favorite way to plan a rug; placing wools around the pattern, leaving it out where I can look at it in different light through the day, remove wools that I think aren't right, trying something new and eventually coming up with a collection of colors that I think will work.
But, of course, once I start hooking it can all change again!

Playing With Wool

2011-04-23T17:02:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I spent time marbleizing wool. I forget at times how much fun it is. I had intended just to marbleize a few light colors together for backgrounds but, before I knew it....I got completely carried away.
Now I have a bunch of beautiful new pieces to pick from the next time I start a new rug

And then, I started playing with my photos on the computer.....I love the way the colors soften into each other.
Happy Easter!

It's 6 AM....Time to Dye

2011-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

I've had a few questions about dyeing recently so I thought I'd bring my basic dyeing tutorial up again for those who didn't see it when I originally published it....enjoy! I dye a lot of wool. I try to do a lot of other things too! Over the next few weeks I'd like to give you a glimpse of my basic dyeing process and, perhaps, share a few tips along the way. I use a variety of techniques in dyeing the wool that I sell on my website and this is just one, but it's good basic dyeing. So, let's get started..... Most of my dyeing is done in the early morning....about 6 AM. Oh! What's the most crucial item I need to get started on an early morning session in the dye pots???? Yes, you guessed it! It's that nice big cup of steaming hot coffee ( my favorite is Peet's Italian Roast...no wimpy Starbucks at my house). For a successful and efficient session of dyeing, planning is really the key. I keep a hand-written journal with a never-ending list of the colors that I need to dye. This helps me to plan the fabrics I need to soak and to be sure I have the proper dyes in stock. All of my dye formulas are stored on computerized worksheets. This is a big help in planning and record-keeping. Keeping good track of my formulas and any variations I may make in the formulas comes in so handy when I'm trying to recreate that perfect deep gold a customer bought a year ago who now wants another yard! I keep all of my dyeing implements, dye measuring spoons, wisks for stirring, Pyrex 2-cup measuring cups, citric acid, etc. all in one cupboard so that it's always within quick reach. Last night I got all of my wool soaking for the 5 colors I hope to get dyed this morning. 2 yards per bucket; 2 yards per color...... 5 big five-gallon painter's buckets with 10 yards of wool soaking overnight in warm water and Synthrapol. Many dye books suggest that soaking your wool for an hour or two is sufficient but I find that I get the best results when I'm patient and allow the wool a good, long soak overnight. There really is a difference in the way the wool absorbs the dyes. More in a day or two....

It's 6 AM....Time to Dye II

2011-04-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

The wool has been soaking overnight, the coffee's made, the dye formulas are up on the computer...... now, it's time to set out the dyes.

I use both Cushing's Acidfast and Prochem dyes. I'd love to try out a couple of other lines but, as you can see, I already have a small fortune invested in dye. I'm afraid if I try other, I'll have to invest yet another small fortune! But someday I will ....it's so much fun to experiment with color.

This is my cabinet of Cushing's dyes. I transfer the dyes from those silly little brown envelopes with the tiny baggie inside to these plastic 2 and 4 oz. jars. It saves a bucketful of time and it's so easy see when it's time to reorder. (And, truthfully, don't you love looking at the colors stacked in the cabinet just waiting to be turned into more beautiful wool?)

My kettle of water is on the stove to boil, my counter top is protected with paper and a jar of uniodized salt is open beside my work. To measure out the dyes, I start with about a 1/2 inch of warm/hot tap water in the bottom of a heat-tempered Pyrex measuring cup. (I will, of course, never use this cup for food preparation!) Using Gray dye spoons ....my absolute favorites, I carefully open one jar of dye at a time and scoop up the granules. Using an old abalone knife, I'll level off the dye in the spoon and gently tip the dye into the measuring cup. After swishing the dye spoon around in the jar of salt to clean off any remaining dye, I set it aside and immediately replace the lid on the jar of dye. To help prevent errors, spills and dye catastrophes, I measure one dye color at a time. Can you imagine the mess from a spilled jar of dye?!!! Yes, I've done that and no, I didn't take any pictures. I repeat this step for every color I'm adding to my solution.

I love imagining how the various dyes will mix together.....it's like magic!

Once all the dyes are in the measuring cup, I give the dyes a really good stir with a small whisk to moisten all of the granules and form a slurry.....in this photo I've still got a bit more stirring to do. Once the dyes are thoroughly mixed you're ready to add boiling water. Be careful when doing this.... I find I have fewer splashes if I pour the boiling water down the side of the measuring cup rather than pouring it into the bottom. After the boiling water is added I give the solution a really good stir with the whisk, let it rest for a minute or two, and then give it another good stir. It's really important to stir enough to dissolve all of the dye otherwise you may get an unwanted surprise on your wool! (A tip from personal experience: red dye takes more time & more stirring to dissolve completely.)

~~~~

An aside about leftover dye solutions....I adjust my formulas to the amount of wool I'm planning to dye because I don't like to waste expensive dyes. In other words, if you're using a formula from a book and it says, "Add one cup of boiling water to your dyes and then use 1/4 cup of this solution to dye a 1/2 yard piece of wool.", then you're going to have 3/4 cup of dye solution left over to store or throw away. It's much easier and less costly to just measure out 1/4 of the amount of dye given in the formula, add your boiling water and use all of the solution.....no waste, no storage!

~~~~~

Dyes are mixed and ready to add to the dye pot!

It’s 6 AM….. Time to Dye III

2011-04-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Oh dear! I said a day or two for this post in my series about basic dyeing....life just gets in the way of blogging sometimes. But, as promised, here's the third and final installment of my early morning dyeing series…..

This first picture is really the end of the process, of course, but all the colors are so happy that I just had to start here. Would you believe that there are 26 yards of wool stacked and folded on my kitchen table? So our dyes are mixed & stirred….time to get the big pots of water onto the stove. I like to use these big 16 qt. white enamel pots but any big canning-type pot will do (except aluminum….). I generally fill the pot about ¾ full with warm water. Sometimes, if I want a more mottled look to my wool, I'll add less water.

Remember….

More water + more stirring = more evenly dyed color

Less water + less stirring = less evenly dyed color (more mottling!) Next, I'll add my dye solution to the pot, give it a good stir and turn on the heat.

While the dye bath begins to heat on the stove, I'll pour my bucket of wool into the sink and let it drain for a couple of minutes. I'll gently squeeze out the excess water, gather the wool into soft folds and

into the pot it goes!

I'm a compulsive stirrer so the first thing I do once the wool is in the pot is give it a really good stir. I want to be sure that all of the wool is exposed to the liquid very early in the process because the different colors in my dye formulas move into the wool at different temperatures. Blue tends to move into the wool very quickly. Yellow moves into the wool much later in the process and at higher temperatures. When I want a mottled effect I force myself to walk away after that first stir and find something else to do….maybe a bit of hooking?

Let it simmer (never boil!) for awhile…..

Once a good amount of the dye has moved into the wool and the dye bath has begun to clear (generally 15-30 minutes), it's time to add the mordant. This is the important step that chemically binds the color to the fiber permanantly. Since I use acid fast dyes my best choices are acetic acid (common household white vinegar) or citric acid crystals (the chemical form of Vitamin C).

When I first began dyeing I used vinegar because it was so readily available at my local grocery store. However, it definitely has its drawbacks! Some time ago I switched from acetic acid to citric acid because I took pity on my teenaged offspring and got tired of hearing "Mom, it stinks in here!" every time he walked in the door. Having made the switch, I'd never go back. I've seen no difference in the quality or shades of my colors and the convenience of citric acid is wonderful. I fill a labeled Mason jar with the chemical and keep it with all of my other dyeing supplies....it's so easy to use. Since I really hate to run out of supplies I buy 20 pounds at a time. It would take up my whole linen closet to store an equivalent amount of vinegar! A good source out here on the Left Coast is Dharma Trading Company.

I add about a teaspoon of citric acid per yard of wool into a large 2-cup measure…

Then I carefully dip it into my pot, fill it with liquid from the dye bath and give it a good stir until all of the crystals are dissolved (this doesn't take long).

Finally, I slowly pour the solution back into the depot while stirring at the same time. Many people advise removing the wool from the dye pot, adding the citric acid and then adding the wool back into the pot. I find this to be an unnecessary, messy and risky step and don't advise it.

Once the citric acid is added, I'll let the wool simmer just below the boil point for a full 60 minutes and then remove it from the heat. It's very important to apply heat for a full 60 minutes after adding the citric acid in order to fully bind the dye to the fiber. (If the dye bath isn't completely clear it really is not necessary to add more citric acid or vinegar. If you're patient and allow the wool to cool completely in the dye bath you'll usually find that the water will be very close to clear. If you're dyeing dark, saturated colors (especially reds) the water will never be completely clear…..don't worry about it!

After the wool has cooled, I drain it in my kitchen sink and then I place it in my washer & run it through the spin cycle to remove all of the excess moisture. Finally, it goes into the dryer on the normal setting with a big fluffy towel. Pull it out of the dryer as soon as it's dry to prevent wrinkles and…… Now you have beautiful hand dyed wool! Tigger does get rather insulted when the table is full of wool because she thinks I've placed the table there just so she can watch the world go by from the big kitchen window!

Have fun in the dye pots.....

Hooker's Block

2010-12-06T07:45:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have one?

I seem to have a bit of a block going on with my hooking right now. Life has been terribly busy the past couple of months so I guess that's one excuse that I can use but, truthfully, I suspect it has more to do with the piece that I've been trying to hook recently.
Everyone else seems to like what's happening with this design but it just isn't speaking to me. Those of you who read my blog regularly know that I tend to gravitate to a rich but more subdued palette....I'm trying to push myself outside that comfort zone with the colors in this piece. (Obviously!)
Should I push on and just get it done or stuff it in the bottom of a closet & forget about it.....I need to just get over myself & make a decision!

Townsend Fabric Cutters!

2010-11-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't usually use my blog for blatent advertising of my website but this is one instance where I'm just going to do it!

Announcing....
The Merry Hooker Woolens is proud to begin offering the full line of Beeline Townsend Fabric Cutters for rug hookers! This essential piece of rug hooking equipment is so well-made that you will never need to upgrade to another cutter. It is, without a doubt,the finest precision wool cutter available for rug hooking.
I've wanted to add the Townsend line of products to my website for several years and, with the change in ownership of the company, the opportunity has finally presented itself. I've resisted adding other cutters to my website because I've always tried to offer the best quality rug hooking materials and supplies to my customers....now, I'm so glad I waited.

Precision engineered and manufactured using the original Townsend specifications, the attractive Bee Line-Townsend Fabric Cutter attaches easily to a variety of work surfaces or to the Beeline-Townsend tote table. The cutter cassette easily snaps into place and, within a few seconds, you are cutting (like buttah!) perfect fabric strips. I'm offering the cutter cartridges in all sizes ranging from a #3 cut up to a #10 cut in both the standard and kitmaker (long) sizes.
Go directly to my new Beeline Townsend Products page by clicking on this link:

Beeline Townsend Cutters and Cassettes

Preorder your cutter now for delivery in December!

The big bonus..... Free US Shipping on most Beeline-Townsend Cutter orders.*
Beeline-Townsend plans to begin manufacturing the tote table and orbiter frames for early 2011 delivery......and I'll add them to the website just as soon as they are available!

*Minimum orders apply. Please see the Townsend Cutters page for details.

Still Here!

2010-10-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

No, I haven't dropped off into the Pacific Ocean yet...life is just unbelievably busy right now. I've just put the finishing touches on my next article for Rug Hooking Magazine (watch for it in the March/April/May 2011 issue!!), coordinated a workshop with Dianne Stoffel for the ATHA guild I belong to (Wine Country Rug Hookers), as well as keeping up with bunches of orders from my website. Whew!
Now I'm dyeing as much wool as I can to get ahead and prepare for vending at the California's First ATHA Chapter hook-in in Southern California in mid-November. (I'm so looking forward to meeting my rug hooking neighbors to the South) and I'm getting ready for my little trip to Argentina the end of this month!
So...not much hooking happening around here right now (except in my head) but I thought I'd share this little piece I managed to finish recently. It's a fun and easy design from Martina Lesar.....if you want to hook one just like it you can find the pattern here: Aquatic.
I'll get back to regular blogging soon,, I promise!

Pumpkin Season is Coming...

2010-09-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Time for a little change of pace....
Lately, I've been working on a new line of hand dyed woolens that have more vibrant and saturated colors. Instead of my usual bundles of textured wools, these are dyed using a mottling technique over a wonderfully soft natural wool. I think they are incredibly beautiful (but, I'm biased!)
You can see what I've added to my website, so far, here:
Island Brights

I'll have a lot more to add as soon as I can squeeze in some good photography time (sometimes I wish I could clone myself :-).

One of my friends suggested that these new woolens would be perfect for appliqued pieces so I've hunted up some great applique patterns to stock as well.

This little work-in-progress pumpkin piece is proving to be a perfect project to try out some of these wools. It's so easy to do & bunches of fun!
The background is Kona Coffee, the pumpkin is Orange Hibiscus and the leaves are Rain Forest and Palm Leaves. I don't remember what the three colors on the right side are at the moment....I just stuck them on the design board because I'm trying to decide on colors for the smaller details on the piece.

A purist would probably use a nice wool crewel thread for the blanket stitch but, I have a bunch of beautiful hand dyed variegated embroidery floss from Gentle Arts that's just been laying around doing nothing so I put some of it to work!

Rug Hooking Diary...Wonderland

2010-09-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

The hooking is finally completed on Wonderland. Many subtle changes have been made since I last blogged about it and I'm very happy with the result.
I have one major detail to finish but (tease, tease) you won't see that until next winter!

Rug Hooking Diary...Wonderland is Close!

2010-08-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Wine Country Rug Hooker’s annual retreat at Irish Beach….what fun we had. I wish you all could have been there. We took walks to the beach, did a lot of hooking, ate too much good food, laughed a bunch and had some tasty Margaritas!
I managed to get quite a bit of work done on Wonderland and it feels like it's getting close to completion.
I've decided to make one small change to the pattern as drawn. It has little crosses drawn in for the stars and, after hooking a couple of them, it's just not working for me. They look wonderful in Martina's original piece but I've pulled them out and plan to hook in a few stars at the end.

The biggest challenge, so far, has been bringing the trees into the foreground. A little story about this..... I meet once a month with a group of textile friends at a little tea shop on the island of Alameda; we sit outside in the patio/garden and hook, knit, embroider, and have good talks. At the end of one of our recent meetings, I held this piece up and mentioned that I was finding the trees to be a challenge. My lovely friend, Andrine, spoke up and said, "What trees? I didn't realize there were any trees!" Humbled, I went back to the studio & spent two hours tweaking the trees and roof lines.....a little strip here and a little strip there.
It's good to have friends who are honest with you and let you know when you can't see the forest for the snow!

Rug Hooking Diary... Value Study

2010-08-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

I just wrote about this in response to a topic on Rug Hooking Daily & decided it was a good comment to add here.

Tools for evaluating light and color.....I keep a color wheel and a value finder with my rug hooking tools and find them to be invaluable. I have another color wheel that I keep tacked up next to my dye cabinet. It gets used constantly!

Sometimes I use the "squint" method for evaluating value but my favorite tool for evaluating values is my camera. I take a photograph of the area in question & convert it to black & white. It's easy to see at a glance when a value needs changing.

In this value study, I can see immediately in the B & W photo that I might want to change the value of the gold in the window pane of the blue door. The values of the gold & blue are almost the same & the pane disappears. In this particular case I probably won't change it because I like the overall quiet and cozy feel of the little cabin so far.

As you can see, it's a little slow-going on Wonderland right now.....I've worked very hard at getting the trees to stand out and I've mades several small changes to the rooflines to (hopefully!) give them some dimension.

Rug Hooking Diary...Wonderland Begins to Take Form

2010-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm sure enjoying working on this little piece! It's stretching my abilities & I see many small changes I'll want to make before it's done but I love the design.

I'm using a #7 cut for most of the hooking, a #6 cut for some of the detail and have hand cut a few narrow strips.

Susan asked about my directional hooking of the snow....I'm trying to make it look as if there are large drifts of new snow on the roof and trees. We'll see how successful the attempt is as more hooking is done.

Sometimes I feel like I'm hanging my dirty laundry out here for you all to see......the more I look at this photo, the more wierd things I see that need changing!

Rug Hooking Diary... Just a Beginning

2010-07-17T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just a brief note today....I'm thinking that if I don't write so much maybe I'll add to this blog more often. We'll see!

I like the start I've made on Wonderland. I've marked up the pattern more than I usually do but, with the snow, it's really all about the values.

Doesn't it look nice & cool here? (As I sit sweating in the studio with the fan switched on high.)

Rug Hooking Diary... Starting a New Rug

2010-07-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Starting a new rug hooking project is often an ambivalent time for me...isn't that odd? It's a time filled with the excitement of new possibilities and the insecurities of the outcome. I love working out a starting point for a piece, thinking about the colors, maybe dyeing up something new...and where I begin with color is often different from where I end (which is so much of the fun in rug hooking). But, I also have those moments of thinking, "Can I do this? Will it turn out well? Will I mess it up?"

My next project is Wonderland, designed by Canadian rug hooking artist, Martina Lesar. It's a magical piece that I'm anxious to start! The big challenge.....hooking all that snow while giving definition to the landscape.

I've admired Martina's designs for some time. She has a wonderful sense of color and a beautiful, broad selection of rug hooking designs. She hand draws her patterns, leaves a good amount of border beyond the designs and is very careful about starting her patterns on-grain. I like her designs enough that I'm importing them to carry on my website (you can find them here: Martina Lesar Designs) and have three or four on my list of rugs I want to hook.

Quick update on my new studio....I'm behind on my photography but here are a couple of recent shots.

One of the best changes I made with the move was to invest in some nice shelving for the mill dyed bolts of wool....no more bolts of wool sitting on the floor.

The rolling cubby shelving for the hand dyed wool is making my life much easier. Looks nice too!

It's July Already!

2010-07-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!
What happened to June? I guess things have been hopping around here....I just realized that I didn't post anything at all last month.

Two important events occurred last month....I sent my son off to Argentina for five months for his study abroad program through the University of Oregon (the plan is for him to seriously improve his Spanish but I think the study of women & the tango are also on his list) and..... my article about my hooked carpetbags was published in Rug Hooking Magazine. It's so exciting to actually see it in print, especially in an issue that's full of other great articles and photographs. I feel honored to be in such good company. So, as you can see, June was a big month!

Preparing for & writing the article was a wonderful learning experience which has given me a new respect for professional writers. The time involved, even before sitting down to write the actual article, was substantial. Researching traditional carpetbags, making a number of test bags to come up with the best design, drafting the final flat pattern, to say nothing of hooking and constructing the three bags featured in the article, took about six months of off-and-on work. Thank goodness for those flat pattern drafting classes I took in college & the Japanese clothing designer I studied with when I lived in Japan. But, most especially, thank goodness for my friend, Denise, who hooked the Revolution Carpetbag when I was down to the wire with deadlines and having a panic attack!

It was a surprise to find that the most challenging aspect of writing the article was finding the right words to describe what my hands just "do". Having been a professional seamstress & soft-furnishings designer for many years, I generally spend time planning a project at the outset & then just work away, often listening to an audio book to keep my mind active while my hands work. Putting step-by-step, concise instructions down on paper (or laptop screen, actually) was a totally new experience.

But, it's nice to know that one can continue to develop new skills, even when you're on the down side of your fifties!

Hope you enjoy the article and yes, I miss my son, but I'm so proud of him for having an adventuresome spirit and a willingness to learn about other cultures.
May your 4th of July be filled with loved ones and appreciation for the fine country we are all a part of...

Rug Hooking Diary... Simple Gifts is Complete

2010-05-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

My version of Simple Gifts is done! (OK, I admit, I still have to whip the bound edge of the rug but the hooking is done & the cording is sewn in :-)
This design was a joy to hook.... I had been in need of a relaxing project after my huge effort during the Fall and Winter designing & constucting my new carpetbags and writing an article about the bags for Rug Hooking Magazine. This rug certainly filled the bill with its spunky & whimsical primitive animals. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out and plan to put it on the floor in front of a colorfully painted armoire in my living room.

A big thank you to Karen Kahle of Primitive Spirit for designing such a fun rug!

Coming next.... planning a new project using a wonderful snowy landscape scene, Wonderland, from Martina Lesar.

The New Studio (Before the Move!)

2010-05-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Isn't it something how a completely (almost) empty space can look so vast? You just can't believe you can fill it up with your stuff....Ha!
The new studio is on the Southwest side of the building so I'll be getting morning sun instead of the afternoon sun that we got in the old studio. Notice that I still have those nice, big windows? Makes me very happy. These windows have clear glass which means that I can see the sky (and even some hills on the other side of the bay). The windows in the old studio gave wonderful light but the glass was frosted & you couldn't see outside.

I've been very busy painting....one wall was a deep red (13' high X 17' wide - that was a lot of red!) and another was a dark, dark, dark navy blue. While both colors were nice, they were just too much competition. I felt like they would suck the life out of my own work! It took two coats of primer & two coats of paint to cover all that deep red & blue.

The ceiling is very high....over 13', giving an airy feel to the space. One of my wonderful old Italian landlords, Joe, is in the picture to the left & he's well over 6' tall.

Lights & the iron track had to come down from the old space & get reinstalled in the new space.....thanks to Joe & Eric, it all happened without a hitch! (Which is a really good thing because I couldn't have done it by myself.....not on that huge ladder.....no way!).

Getting everything ready in the old studio is bittersweet....I've had a lot of happy time here.

Taking apart my 6' X 10' padded work table is a little scary....I've done it before but I'm always afraid it won't go back together again & I'd be lost without it.

Next, got to find some strong college kids to help with the heavy stuff on moving day...

Big News (& Changes) Around My Studio...

2010-05-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Change is good; kind'a gets us out of a rut & makes us think about things differently. So here's my big change....

My wonderful studio mate of 11 years has decided to move out of our space and set up her art studio much closer to her home. Besides being a fine artist, she has been the best studio mate a girl could ask for & I will miss seeing her almost every day. But friendship remains!

After thinking about my various options, rather than look for new people to share the space I'm in, I have decided to move my studio too! Not too far; just to a smaller space upstairs in the same building.

I must admit to a feeling of loss at leaving this space. It has been a place I've been happy to come to almost every day for the past 11 years....& how many people can say that about the place where they work?

While the focus of my work has changed & I'm no longer sewing custom curtains, pillows & bedding, I have continued to develop & create in this space.

No, my office rarely looks this neat....I must have cleaned up (a bunch) to take this photo!

My new studio looks pretty funky right now.....lots of work to do to make it interesting. But, given a little time & a lot of elbow grease, I know it will be another place I will look forward to going to every day. Especially those days when we have the monthly hook-in and old & new friends come by to visit & hook rugs.

I'll try to be brave & post some before & after photos of the new studio as I go along.

(BTW, my Simple Gifts rug is done & I'm working on the binding! No time to take a good photo right now but I'll get one posted here soon.)
Back to packing.....

Rug Hooking Diary Part IV.... Back to Hooking

2010-04-29T14:58:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note today....

Simple Gifts is getting very close to being done!

The corners are giving me fits & I know I'll need to make some changes to the birds but I'm really liking the hit & miss border.

More soon.....

Family Time

2010-04-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Not getting any hooking done this week.... but I have a really good reason! My sister, my brother & my stepmother are here for a visit and we've been traveling all over Northern California to see homes where we grew up, schools we went to, parks we used to play in....it's been fun & very interesting. The only scary thing is realizing how long ago we were children!

We spent time in Golden Gate Park at the Conservatory of Flowers (I can't believe I took these photos with my iPhone).....

And wandered around the old adobe buildings in Sonoma (wish you could smell the Wisteria)....

Back to hooking next week!

Rug Hooking Diary...Part III Challenges with Values

2010-04-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Pig has had me fretting a bit.... she's quite lively but seems to be fading into the background and no self-respecting pig wants to do that!
I'm sure most of you know all about this useful technique for taking a critical (& I mean that in the most positive way) look at the values in your work but here it is anyway....

When I question how the values are relating to each other, I like to photograph the section that I'm concerned about and transform it into a black & white image. (Aren't we fortunate to live in the digital age?). In the top photo we see the pig in color.......
And the lower image is the same image transformed into black & white. So where did that pig go??? Because the values of the pinks in the pig and the values of the neutrals in the background are so similar, she pretty much disappears.

So, I could pull out the pinks & rehook the pig in darker values, but I really like the current pinks. And, lucky for me, my friend Julie was working on a wonderful rug of farm animals for her new granddaughter's room at our last Wine Country Rug Hookers guild meeting.

She has a delightful pig in the rug, hooked in a #3 cut, that she had outlined in a darker rose.....thank you for the inspiration & a perfect solution Julie! (And congratulations on that lovely little addition to your family xoxo)

And the result.....no more disappearing pig!

Rug Hooking Diary... Part II

2010-04-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've been working away on the Simple Gifts pattern... what a primitive horse! He wouldn't win any prizes in a confirmation class but he has his own personality.
I made a bit of a change in the shape to give him a very primitive mane flying in the wind. Perhaps his eye needs to be a bit more bright but I'll wait until later to make any changes.

The horse is hooked with my Walnut Hollow plaid. After cutting the plaid into strips I've separated the colors into predominately brown & gray strips and used more of the gray in his belly area. Plaids are such useful and fun fabrics to use in our hooking.

I've also started playing with the border.....at first, I thought I'd use blocks of color but I kind of like this little test area of hit & miss.... we'll see!

Rug Hooking Diary... Part I

2010-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

Increasingly, my rug hooking customers are asking me to put together rug hooking kits for the patterns I offer on my website. I'm honored that they trust me with this task but, I confess, I also stress over the process....will they like the colors I'm sending, have I put in enough variety of wool, enough wool, is this color going to work? ....I could go on & on!
While it's impossible for me to hook a rug from every kit that I put together, I've decided to use my kits to hook a couple of patterns that have been on my to-do list for awhile just to see how they come together & I thought it would be fun to share the process with you.
So here's my start on the first project.... it's a delightful Primitive Spirit design, Simple Gifts. This is a fun and very primitive design inspired by antique Magdalena Briner designs. You can click on the picture if you want to see more detail.
One thing to notice about my progress so far...you may not be able to see it in the photo but the border edge of the pattern was a little wonky (read: not on the straight of grain). I'm a bit obsessive about having the outer border be on grain so the first thing I did was to hook a single line of loops, on-grain, at the outer border. I may change the color later but wanted to at least have the placement of the line established.

I'll do my best to keep you posted on my progress!

Busy,busy,busy!

2010-01-14T08:55:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update to let you know that I haven't dropped of the face of any cliffs on the California coast...
I'm in the midst of getting my new line of Mary Poppins-style carpetbag patterns ready for my website.....they should be ready by the end of January.
The patterns will come with good directions for constructing your bag.....they are so much fun to make!
Just so you know....these are my own copywrited designs from start to finish, including the drafting of the bag pattern (I've already had one well-known rug hooking designer suggest that the the Revolution bag is her design) :-(

More soon!

A Woolly Winter Holiday to You...

2009-12-19T12:48:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a warm & safe holiday season to share with your loved ones. And remember those who are not as fortunate by giving a little back in some way.....even the small things help.
Thanks to my wonderful friend, Charly, every year I have the good fortune to be involved in adopting a needy family in our community who otherwise might not have much at Christmastime. Thank you Charly.
My decorating for the holidays consists of pulling out a few of my favorite things.... simple, not much fuss, and usually involving wool of course!
Do you remember this post....
A Blank Canvas
Well, he now graces my mantle along with a few beautiful pots and a lovely painting by my studio mate, Suzanne D'Arcy.

This girl is out for the first time....my first attempt at doll making. She's not perfect but she has a great personality.

Getting in the Spirit.....

2009-12-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Just now home from a couple of weeks of non-stop family gatherings, Thanksgiving, traveling and the wonderful wedding of my niece, Michelle, at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama.
I also got to pay a visit to one of my favorite hooked rugs....this little guy now resides with my brother and sister-in-law in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

I fell in love with many houses on Mobile Bay as I walked along the beach beyond the hotel....wouldn't you love to decorate this little beach shack for Christmas!

Of course, it doesn't hurt that this is the view from the front porch.

(Doesn't show up well, but the weather vane has a flying crane atop it...I love the little details.)

And I couldn't resist sharing this photo of Michelle and her father (my darling, smart & bratty little brother, Jack).

Proddy Workshop with Gene Shepherd

2009-11-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

I'm so fortunate to be a member of the Wine Country Rug Hookers, an ATHA guild based in the lovely region of California where I grew up. There are many reasons to appreciate this guild.....not the least of which is the varied and talented group of hookers I've come to know & love.

Another reason is that, at least twice a year, we host well-known teachers from around the country to come & share their expertise with our members. For some inexplicable reason, we don't have much difficulty getting teaching commitments from these great teachers. I wonder why???

Last weekend, we had a visitor from not-too-far-away, the inestimable Gene Shepherd from Anaheim, California (otherwise known as the home of Disneyland). Gene spent a very busy day and a half teaching us proddy techniques to enhance our hooking. It was great fun and Gene is a great teacher. He's thoroughly researched his subject and has worked hard to develop neat ways of prodding realistic-looking flowers. He's also quite personable, tells a good story and kept us laughing.

The hookers in our group have a broad range of styles and, as a result, there were a great many interpretations of Gene's proddy flower techniques. I took two pieces that I had put a lot of work in to before the workshop. The first is a Primitive Spirit design, Almond Blossoms, which I had completely hooked but left spaces to add the proddy blossoms. The top photo is how the piece looked after the workshop. I spent the whole first day cutting out the blossoms and adding them to the piece.
While I was very happy with all that I learned, I did find that I was not completely pleased with the colors of the blossoms.....somehow the brighter pink just didn't go with the overall muted colors of the mat. I have since made a few changes and additions and am much happier with the total effect.
I welcome your opinions on which you like best.....the first version with the brighter blossoms or the second version with the more subtle coloration in the blossoms?

This mat will be used as my demonstration piece for the Pillow Construction Workshop I'm teaching in my studio next month.....I rather like the idea that I'll be using a piece that Gene helped me to learn from to help others learn some of what I have to offer.

The second piece that I worked on is my own design.....you'll see the finished version & the pattern at a later time but, for now, I just wanted to share the flowers I added using Gene's techniques & guidance. This piece makes me very happy!

Notice the wonderful vintage Bakelite buttons I used as centers for two of the flowers? I have quite an extensive collection of vintage & antique buttons and it's fun to find such a great use for a few of them!

Keep Hooking.....

Midnight in the Studio

2009-10-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

Working very late in the studio one night this week, I just happened to snap this shot as I thought about photographing lots of new hand dyed woolens for my website. As I took a better look at the photo I realized that my studio mate, Suzanne, and I share our studio with some rather odd characters!

Happy Hallowe'en to all.......

Spooky Time of Year

2009-10-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

Seems like a good time to bring this old friend out for a visit....he's based upon a pattern available in Rug Hooking Magazine a few years ago.
He hangs out in my studio most of the time and scares off the goblins & ghosts!

We had a great time at the planning session for the Pillow Construction Workshop in my studio last weekend. I'm sure I talked way more than was necessary but my lovely class participants were very kind. I'm so encouraged by their enthusiasm and the projects they are planning! We'll have several beautiful new pillows to share the end of November.

If you'd like to join the class we still have a little room and I'm giving a make-up class on Sunday, October 25 in my studio. You can click HERE for more information.
All of you good witches and wizards stay out of trouble~~~~

Pillow Construction for Rug Hookers

2009-10-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well I sure didn't mean to be gone so long! Life just has a way of getting in the way of blogging.

I'm busily preparing for the pillow workshop I'm teaching in my studio this and next month.... I've spent years making beautiful custom pillows for the interior design trade and thought it would be fun to teach some of the professional tricks I've developed to my rug hooking friends. We're going to have great fun making lovely pillows.

I still have room in the class for a couple more people.... come and join us! Click here for more info:

Classes and Events at The Merry Hooker Woolens Studio

I'll post pictures of the class and the pillows they make when we're done.

I made these great (big!) pillows for a favorite client in Silicone Valley a few years ago. Big fluffy pillow inserts and attention to all the details make them just perfect. It wasn't easy getting the Greek Key trim perfectly placed for the boxing strip of the two big boxed pillows but I was pleased with the way they turned out. And, more importantly, so was my client.

If you click on this picture you can get a better look at the trim details....the trim on the knife edge pillow has incredible red glass beads combined with the tassels and the textures of the fabrics are wonderful. I especially love the old green velvet in the center.

Wonky Houses

2009-08-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Geez, it took me awhile to finish the sky on this rug! I'm still not entirely thrilled with it & will probably rip out a few things before I put it on stretcher bars.
I tried a few new (to me) materials.... hand dyed silk ribbon that I got up in Oregon the last time I visited my son at school, and some of my own hand dyed fleece, Starless Night. It was great fun trying out new materials......

Oak Leaves Tote

2009-08-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yippee! The hooking is done on my Oak Leaves tote. I confess that I agonized more than usual over the colors on this one and did quite a bit of reverse hooking. Sometimes a color that you think is going to be perfect ends up being just blah..... (A little 'thank you' to our Tuesday Night Hookers group ...they listened to a lot of whining.) But I think persistence paid off and I'm pleased with the results.

I will often hooked a variety of related colors and textures into my backgrounds. But, for this piece, I wanted to keep a strong focus on the leaves so I used just one color, Chocolate Truffle, in the background. Because it's dyed with some mottling over a great plaid, it has just enough variation to give it some movement without drawing your eye to the background. I especially love the deep rusty orange, Late Fall Maples, that outlines two of the leaves.

Now I'm patiently waiting (fingers tapping on the table) for the lovely pair of leather handles I've ordered to arrive ..... then I can construct a beautiful and useful bag to take to the Farmer's Market on Sundays!

Finishing A UFO.... Oak Leaves Tote

2009-07-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

Why did I put this beautiful piece away??? Literally, it was stuffed in a bag at the back of my closet for more than a year.

This great Bev Conway pattern was given to me as a prize a couple of years ago by Tammy, of Skip To My Ewe. It's a 2-sided tote (one side is shown) with a nice shape.

Michelle Micarelli did a wonderful job getting me started on it at a workshop hosted by our guild, Wine Country Rug Hookers. Michelle helped me step outside of my color "box" and combine my leafy greens in ways that I would not have on my own...... and, she convinced me to use a #6 cut. This was an important choice because the detail would have been lost with a wider cut.

(It did take a bit of convincing on her part since I'm rather wedded to wide cuts)

So why did I put it away? I've thought about this (since I can't really remember!) and I think that, first, I got distracted by another project and second, this pattern is on Monk's cloth and it was bothering my hand quite a bit to work on it. In retrospect, I should have redrawn it on to linen... live & learn!

Another lesson: When you put away a project, be sure to put all of your wool with it and don't raid that wool for another project. .....took me a week to find the wool! And, of course, I had to dye more of the color I stole for a green pumpkin....what formula did I use for that sparky green???

In a couple of days (once I take a few good photos) I'll post my recent progress on this. I'm very happy with the results and it's going to be great fun to turn it into a tote bag.

You Must See This Rug Collection

2009-07-17T09:50:00.000-07:00

Mary Shepard Burton is a noted rug hooking artist and author (A Passion for the Creative Life: Textiles to Lift the Spirit) who has donated a collection of her work to the American Folklife Center, a research center of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
The site has excellent pictures of the pieces that will surely be an inspiration to all rug hookers. There is a great zoom function that allows you to see the fine detail in the rugs and many have a link to commentary by the artist.
It's encouraging to see our art and craft form in a venue of artistic respectability.
Be sure to take a look:

The Mary Shepard Burton Collection

Primitive Spirit Rug Hooking Patterns

2009-07-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased to be able to offer a variety of primitive and whimsical rug hooking patterns from Primitive Spirit by Karen Kahle. The designs are available on my website as patterns on quality linen and several are now available as kits with both the pattern and my premium quality hand dyed woolens included. If you're brand new to rug hooking and don't yet have your own cutter, you can even order the kit with the strips prewashed and cut.....get hooking right away.
My favorites for a beginner are Lavender Welcome, Bittersweet and Friendship (a great novice pattern!).

I have one or two projects to finish up and then I'm going to hook Almond Blossoms.....I have the wool all dyed and tossed on the floor of my studio so that I can pick and choose which colors are really working for me. I'm reshaping the outline of the rug slightly because the completed hooked piece will be used as a teaching tool in the pillow construction workshop that I'll be teaching in my studio in October.

I've never done any proddy but I think this will be a perfect piece to try out that technique for the almond blossoms. I'll post pictures when I get it started......but, no promises about when!

Happy Birthday USA!

2009-07-03T22:24:00.001-07:00

Wishing you all a memorable 4th of July....

A Blank Canvas....

2009-06-29T10:13:00.001-07:00

....metaphorically speaking.

This deceptively simple-looking form took quite a bit of time to make! Not hard, just needed attention to detail. So what do you think it's going to be when it's completed?????

Home From College (Briefly!)

2009-06-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up Wednesday AM to signs that my soon-to-be 21 year old son, Alex, was in the house.

Having just finished his second year at University of Oregon, he's off to backpack in Europe for three months.

This means we're cramming a summer's worth of visiting, home cooking, friends stopping by, Father's Day and hugs from Mom into 5 short days.

Ryan came by to say hi ....

I love having their energy in the house!

And what, you may ask, was the clue that tipped me off to Alex's middle-of-the-night arrival?

Hooking Styles

2009-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

After watching each of these well-produced videos, I am reminded of how inclusive our art from is. Perhaps, since I'm not much in to dogmatic thinking, that is part of the reason rug hooking is so appealing to me. Watch these & see what you think (be patient, they may take a moment to load):
From Deanne Fitzpatrick....

From Gene Shepherd....

Gene is precise in his technique…..each of his “linguine” strips is evenly cut and his movements to create his loops are so uniform; Deanne will quickly snip a strip off a width of fabric with her scissors and she allows her loops to wander over her foundation to give an impression of the form she wishes to depict.
My personal hooking is somewhere in between....where's yours?

There are so many 'right ways' to hook.....we can all find what works for us.

Maybe more world leaders and religious leaders should take up rug hooking. Oh dear, that doesn't solve the challenges with the bankers and corporate exec's though, does it? Sigh.....

Moving Along with Wonky Houses

2009-06-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Now I'm starting to like it....the color choice for the third house was a challenge but the Majolica, a soft blue-green, seems to be the right balance of light to medium I was looking for.
Next....trying new materials for the night sky!

A Few Good Greys

2009-05-23T08:30:00.000-07:00

Playing around with Photoshop can be fun.....this gives just an impression of a few new colors I came up with recently.

I spent a little time reviewing the range of hand dyed wool colors that I offer on my website. Keeping up with a full rainbow in light, medium and dark shades is no easy task. And there are the dulls and brights too!
I knew there were gaps in my color spectrum but it dawned on me that I had a whole category missing..... we all need a grey now & then. So, I spent a dye day working up a few good grays (plus a few others for fun). Who knew that boring ole' grey could be so much fun & come in so many shades....and look so nice with the Dusty Plums and Canning Jar Blue I dyed on the same day. I think the Warm Grey is my favorite today.

Here's the original photo:

Wonky Houses III

2009-05-20T07:16:00.000-07:00

I really admire those hookers who can plan a rug from beginning to end before they ever pull a loop....but, alas, I'm not one of them. My preferred method is get stuck, throw it on the floor for a few days, toss stuff at it, agonize. Repeat as needed.

I do like the way the houses are coming together! I don't think I would normally use Ice House blue, Pepperberry and Pepperberry Plaids in the same rug but your neighbors don't necessarily coordinate their home's paint color to yours, do they?

It's surprising how much faster this project is coming along with the 8.5 cut. I was concerned, at first, that that I'd have a hard time getting enough definition in the shapes but it seems to be working just fine.

.......just playing around with the unspun fleece to see how it behaves!

Wonky Houses II

2009-05-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

I'm having such a good time with this! But, I'm also doing more reverse hooking* than usual. Since I'm hooking the houses, window frames and eaves all in medium values I'm having a bit of a time getting everything to show up the way I want....and what to do with the windowpanes???
Sometimes, when I'm having trouble with the values in a rug, I really like to get a good working photo and use the black & white effects in Photoshop....it helps me see what's working & what's not.

* A highly technical term for the time-honored practice of ripping out strips of wool from your foundation when you don't like what you've done.

Planning Wonky Houses

2009-05-02T09:28:00.000-07:00

Do you belong to a rug hooking group? I'd love to hear about yours!
A little over three years ago I had the good fortune to find a great group of women who meet weekly to visit and work on hooking projects together. Lately, some of us have been exploring Deanne Fitzpatrick's designs and influence on rug hooking. What glorious inspiration her work is.
I will try to get photos of a few of my friends' DF pieces to share with you but here's what I'm starting on:

Deanne's style is so distinctive and free....this design calls out to me. I'm thinking that I will try adding a greater variety of materials to the sky which I've redrawn to add a sliver of a moon. I think I'll hook the houses in my own style but using a #8.5 cut which I have not done before. What else can I try that I've never done before??
Thanks for putting up with my ramblings today..... perhaps you can see why a design with wonky houses appeals to my wonky mind.

Sheep Rug Gets Published!

2009-04-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

I've had the good fortune to have my custom sewing work published in shelter magazines but this is the first time I've had a hooked rug published. What fun!
This was an exceptionally satisfying project to hook and I was so honored that others enjoyed my interpretation of the design and use of the materials sent from other hookers around the country. This rug now occupies a prominent place on the floor of my studio right in front of the shelves stacked high with hand dyed wool……appropriate, don't you think?
The rug is my adaptation of Maria Barton's Star and Two Sheep design that I hooked as a participant in her ingenious online challenge. You can see the full article, challenge details & rugs from other participants in the March/April/May 2009 issue of Rug Hooking Magazine but I thought I'd share the text of the notes I wrote for Maria when she was writing the article:

"This challenge motivated me to try three "new-to-me" techniques which I'd been thinking about for some time. I'd had the idea of a sheep hooked from roving rolling around in my head & even had a bag full of several beautiful colors of natural roving sitting in the closet. I had been inspired by Karen Kahle's hit & miss technique at a workshop a few years ago and by Pris Butler's lettering techniques.

When Maria proposed the challenge and graciously allowed the participants to modify the designs to suit their own needs, I knew that this was my opportunity to try all of these techniques. And I adore Maria's Two Sheep and Star design…..perfect in its simplicity and whimsy. I was so excited to get started that I had the pattern all drawn up and on to my linen before Maria had the chance to send all the strips out to us.

Adding the block at the bottom was just one of those middle-of-the-night things…..easy to do once I had the idea (and thank goodness for modern computer technology, big sheets of paper and Scotch magic tape).

The hit & miss block was a lot more fun than I thought it would be….I used most of the 200 strips from my hooking friends in this area. I do confess that when the strips arrived I laid them out on the floor and thought "OMG….how am I going to make this work???" (It was a great education as to how others prepare their strips for hooking!) But, in my obsessive way, I began to group them into collections, first according to value and then, according to hue. Before long, I began to see how it could come together. The hooking had a bit of a Zen-like quality….mostly just hooked what felt right. One conscious hooking decision was to hook both the left & right sides of the block at the same time….I wanted the block to have fairly even tones across the width and felt I could best accomplish this by hooking the sides simultaneously.

As a professional dyer, I find joy and inspiration in knowing that my hand dyed woolens are hooked into beautiful rugs by hookers all over the country. I feel a special fondness for this rug….perhaps it's because participating in this challenge allowed me to feel the joy of adding the creativity and inspiration of others into my rug. "

If you have the opportunity to get involved in a rug hooking challenge I highly recommend you go for it..... It can be a great learning experience!

Winter on the Faultline

2009-02-12T09:38:00.000-08:00

Just a brief note today....
California has been so beautiful this winter. Sunny skies, weeks of 65 degree days, very little rain.
But, as with many things, we'll pay a price...... it's much too early for the trees to be blooming and we'll be rationing water by spring.

January Hook-In

2009-02-01T08:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had the second monthly hook-in in my studio. What a fun & busy day with lots of hooking and visiting!
Carol looked for wool for her next project.....

My studio is rather large and spacious but we managed to fill it up with lots of hookers and beautiful rugs in progress. Nada brought her friend, Diane, who's visiting all the way from Minnesota (they've been friends for almost 40 years!).

Jane is the most prolific hooker that I know.... she has a wonderful willingness to learn, try new techniques & use new materials. Her enthusiasm is contagious.

Here's a close-up of the Deanne Fitzpatrick design she's almost completed.....

My friend, Denise, designs all of her own rugs. And they are all BIG rugs! This one, depicting a tree and sky in winter, is the last in her series of four seasonal rugs, all about 5' by 6'. I will beg her to let me post a photo of this rug when she's done. Denise is also a talented quilter with a finely developed eye for the use of color and value. I learn a lot just by watching her plan and execute her rug designs.

I had a great time welcoming everyone to my studio....if the interest continues we will have many more of these monthly hook-ins. My hope is that we will be able to increase awareness of and interest in rug hooking out here on the Left Coast.

O Christmas Tree Rug Completed!

2009-01-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

It didn't get done by December 31st as I'd hoped, but the hooking is done!

I found a nice brown plaid for the shoes..... I was surprised at the trouble I had deciding what to use for those darn little things. I really liked the black textured wool I had originally used and then had trouble coming up with a different idea when I realized it would certainly not work with my background.

The snowflakes were inspired by a Deanne Fitzpatrick rug, Standing Before the Monument.

I'm finishing this rug in a traditional manner by adding a corded edge whipped with black wool yarn. I'll then hand stitch an antique gold twill rug binding tape over the serged linen on the back. This finish takes a bit of time but I love the feeling of knowing that I've made a piece that will withstand the ravages of time.

Merry Hooking.......

Beautiful Wool by Laurice Heath

2009-01-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Wool... A Hand-Dyer's Guide by Laurice Heath of Fredericksburg Rugs is one of the best dye books ever published and is now out of print. It's full of dye formulas (over 150) using both Cushing's Acid Dyes and ProChem Acid Dyes and page after page of wool and dyeing wisdom. This is one of my two favorite dye books and I would be lost without my well-worn, dye-stained copy.

It's a little short of a miracle, but I managed to get a hold of several brand new copies! I had to pay full price for the books and an arm & a leg for shipping, but I think this book is worth every penny. I can't tell you how many times I've had a customer ask me for a custom color that I don't have listed on my website and I've gone straight to this book.......to say nothing of the times I've used these formulas for my own projects!

Here's where you can buy a copy for yourself:

Beautiful Wool

Have fun playing in the dyepots!

First Day of Rug Hooking Class

2009-01-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

My first three rug hooking students! They were good natured and very patient with me. We had a good time learning to cut beautiful wool into little strips and practicing lifting loops. Everyone went home with a small project planned and enough wool cut to get a good start on their first hooked mats.
Lisa and Leslie chose the same little heart pattern but they are using completely different colorways. It will be so much fun to see how they turn out. Penny chose a great geometric pattern that she'll hook with reds, golds and muted browns with a dash of brilliant blue-green to give it life. She'll get good practice hooking sharp corners and big circles.
They were a great group .....they listened, watched and weren't timid about asking good questions. And they jumped right in when I told them it was time to start practicing making those loops!
I'm really looking forward to seeing their progress next week when we'll also explore the world of good wool and where to get it, cutters, frames, Internet resources and .....
I think we may need more than three weeks of class.

Happy New Year....Time to Learn to Hook!

2009-01-15T20:40:00.000-08:00

Wishing all of you a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

Well, I just didn't know that keeping up with a blog would be such a challenge but I'm really not a wordy person (although some members of my family might disagree) & I keep forgetting to take photographs when I'm out and about.

This week's big news is that we're starting off the year with a beginning rug hooking class in the studio. I'm looking forward to sharing my love of this art & craft with others. We'll start with simple, but interesting, patterns hand drawn on good linen and add beautiful wool, a little bit of lecturing and a lot of hands-on time and, hopefully, my students will be hooked!

I will try to get a couple of photos to share.

Stay Warm.....

Winter Time Rug Hooking

2008-12-23T13:02:00.000-08:00

What a spunky fellow this snowman is with his jaunty bow tie and red hat!
I've been agonizing over the background in this little rug but I think it's going to work out. And, I keep changing my mind about his shoes. Originally, they were black but, of course, with the very dark background, that had to change ....so, gray, brown???
Can I finish this by New Years Eve?
Thank you to Maria Barton (one of my favorite designers) for this lively design.

Vintage Ribbonwork

2008-12-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Years ago I had the good fortune (and the time!) to study antique ribbonwork with Candace Kling, a notable artist who works largely with ribbon and other textiles. While best known for the magnificent floral forms and hats that she creates, Candace has made a study of vintage Victorian ribbonwork. Her teaching methods are detailed and exact. I still use my notebook, filled with measurements and scraps of folded paper, to construct fine fabric ribbonwork to embellish my custom hand sewn curtains.

This simple cocarde, or more precisely, galette, is one of my favorites and is constructed from vintage grosgrain ribbon and embellished with an antique hand- carved mother of pearl button from my collection. I wish there were still mills that would weave ribbon of this quality..... this vintage piece was a dream to work with.

Welcome To My Studio

2008-12-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

As I begin this blog, it's a good time to announce the rug hooking gathering that I will be hosting in my studio.....

Beginning in December, 2008, come and join us for a casual hook-in on the last Saturday of every month. Bring your project and your lunch for an afternoon of creativity and companionship in an artistic setting. All levels of experience from novice to expert are welcome. We'll start at 11:00 AM and hook until 3:00 PM. (I'll stay in the studio until 5:00 PM for anyone who wants to shop for wool too!)

Email me to RSVP and for directions to my studio in the Jack London Square District of Oakland, CA.

Contact Marita

Hope you can come!