Rug Hooking Again

When I went to France last week to meet my new grandson, my first grandson, I decided not to take my rug hooking with me. My decision was a practical one. I wanted to travel light, with just a little backpack. I was having so much fun with my daughter, her husband and their baby, that I barely had time to miss my roosting hen project.

I was so glad though when I came home to get re-acquainted with my project, and to return to my routine of hooking in the early morning hours.

I have made some progress. The little hens are now sleeping in their night blue "sheets".

Flowers have started growing around them, each a little different.

Night is spreading around the flowers. I just love playing with my married over-dyed "night" fabrics.

The branches are growing, adding movement and at the same time continuity as I am using only one type of textured wool, a brown and white herringbone.

A demain!

Once Upon a Time, There Was One Little Hen...

Once upon a time, there was one little hen roosting in a bleeding heart bush, and then a second one came... These were the thoughts that came to my mind this morning, as I was photographing of my rug in progress.

Last week, my first little hen sat there all lonely, but this weekend, a new little hen joined her. When I first started working on the second hen, I thought she would be a twin of the first one, but then, she, the little hen, took control. She decided she would be redder, and plumper, making her own unique contribution to this rug.

I think, this is one of the things I love so much about rug hooking. When you relax into it, the elements of a rug take on a life of their own, surprising you and guiding you. As I hook the night sky background of the rug, it is as if the sky was talking to me, telling me, make me a little bluer, make me a little darker!

Hand-hooked rugs are as beautiful as the world we live in, bursting with life, unique, diverse, and beautifully imperfect.

The Hen Rug is Started!

Every Wednesday, I take my daughter to chorus. Yesterday was not like any other Wednesday, yesterday was the day I started hooking my new rug while waiting for her.
I packed my new lap frame (which my lovely husband made for me, I will tell you more about it another time.) I took all my hand cut wool strips that I had dyed for the project. We took the bus, then walked, and I dropped her there. I headed to the local cafe, ordered a coffee and a blueberry muffin, and sat down to hook.

I started by hooking a heart, seeing what I could do with my muted jewel tones. See, I had an idea that I wanted the colors to look like they were bright and rich colors but as they would appear at night, being lightly moon kissed. After all, chickens roost at night!

This night idea really came to me yesterday morning as I was looking at the colors, and wondering what I was going to do for the background. At first I considered a safe neutral, but safety is not my thing. I thought a grey could work, and was about to settle on that, when the idea of the night blue came to me. As always, impulsive, I pulled my dye pot out, grabbed some recycled vintage wool fabrics, in light grey, greying celadon, and even a plaid in navy and white, mixed a little bit of "night blue" , and over-dyed the fabrics.
I ended up with some variations of married night blues, some a little bluer, some a little more teal, and some almost black, and some grey blue. I have started playing with the background already. I am so happy with it!  

In my little Rhode Island Red's world, it is night time!

I am really enjoying working with the hand-cut strips, their slight variations in width really add a dynamic feeling to the rug, and maybe also a more authentic appearance. I just love the naive charm of this rug! I really hope I will have some time today to rug hook!

Nothing Beats the Excitement of a New Rug Hooking Poject!

I worked on a new design over the weekend. When I started working on it, I only knew that I wanted a curvy branch, and hearts to be part of the design. I very quickly settled on two hearts. They reminded me of one of my favorite flowers,  bleeding hearts.

The branch kind of naturally started sprouting flowers, here and there. What I find amazing, is how creative ideas come to us. As I was sitting there doodling, from the base of the main branch, a new branch grew, curled like the scroll-like structures in the hearts. Almost naturally, as if they had always been meant to sit there, two hens decided to nest in the sheltered scrolls.

I imagine the piece will be rather large, maybe two feet by three feet, using mostly 1/4" hand-dyed wool strips with textured wool strips here and there. The colors I have in mind are deep, slightly muted jewel tones. I will be transferring it to primitive linen today, and I hope to start dyeing fabrics for it too.

I can hardly wait to start hooking this rug. Nothing beats the excitement of a new rug hooking project!