From The Studio

Are you ready?

Christine — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:45:39 +0000

Have you been studying your photos? Have you picked out colors you would like to work with? HAVE NO FEAR! We’re only going to make a small rug. Very small. No matter what colors you want to play with, you will not be penalized if no one else likes them. You will learn lots about what pleases YOU. Take the leap and go with your gut.

Now that you have colors in mind, you need to assemble your materials. Don’t worry about everything “going together.” The whole point is to be surprised with what can work when you think it may not.

I am going to hook a small piece, so I’ve drawn, with a fine point marker, a simple pattern on a piece of linen. Actually, it’s the backside of a pattern I didn’t print on the straight. (We never sell such sins!) You’ll notice that I have hooked a bit and pulled it out (the noticeable holes in the backing). Yes, you can “reverse hook” this way with no detriment to the backing.

My pattern is about 9 1/2″ x 17″. You can make yours any size you like. Maybe you want to dip your toe into the waters with a smaller piece. I think about 8″ square is the smallest you should go if you are planning on hooking with #8 (1/4″) strips of wool. That way, you can fit in enough detail to make the experiment satisfactory.

Here is the homely start of my little rug.

A humble beginning

Where do you find inspiration?

Christine — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:37:48 +0000

Is it in a line-up of your happy shoes?

Is it in a stack of pretty sachets?

Is it in colorful table linens?

     Get out your camera and capture some images of things
     that please you from your own environment. Over
     the next few weeks you will use those images to play
     with color and design.

     As you work out your own project, I will develop mine.
     You can do this in stitchery or rug hooking or whichever
     of the gentle arts is calling to you right now.

I think this is going to be fun!

Getting to know you

Christine — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:15:45 +0000

Hello! We have been wanting to get to know you better and what better way is there to accomplish that than for you to get to know us, too? Doing business on the world wide web is great but lacks the satisfaction of the personal touch so we intend to fix that with some behind the scenes information.

I’m often asked if I teach rug hooking and the answer is “Yes,” although not as often as I used to or as often as I’d like. Dyeing wool and running a family business demands lots of time, but I do fit in workshops from time to time.

A couple of months ago, DeeAnn, owner of KnitWitts in Brookfield, MA, had me in to teach a beginner class; we used strips of wool and some lovely yarns. I will be posting some hints for hooking with yarns soon on the website. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots of the KnitWitts class.

Me and Jean hard at work

explaining technique