Kalon is Finished

Kalon, my little heart is finished. I had a great time hooking this design. I planned but not too much! I made most of my decisions as I was hooking. I love the freedom that gives me.

I dyed recycled woolens from vintage skirts, and used them in the heart. There are no new wools in it. Somehow this makes me happy. There were some plain wools, and some textures. I really like the contrast of the two. The contrast adds a lot of dimension to the work. I did not outline any of the forms as I preferred the soft transitions between background and forms. Rather I used the directional possibilities of rug hooking to create a background that would follow the forms. I lined the back with a piece of soft brown wool, and whip-stitched it snugly against the edge of the heart.


I am planing on creating a pdf of the pattern and offering it as a free pattern on this blog. I hope to have the pdf ready in a few days.

Have a great weekend, and happy hooking!

What's in a Heart

When I started designing Kalon, I was inspired by a type of embroidery from Brittany, a region of France, called Glazig.

Then, as is always the case, as I started to draw, the design evolved and adapted to rug hooking. I placed flowers, branches, a heart within the heart. As I was designing I considered balance and movement. However, I did not realize that there was a more subtle reason for my choices. One so deep I was not even aware of it, until on Friday evening, when I stepped away from my hooking to look at the heart, it dawned on me.

I placed five flowers within my heart, one for each of my children.  The three flowers buds on the right, under the protective branches represent three of my children: my two teen boys, as close to each other in the heart as they are in real life, and then slightly to the side,  my 10 year old daughter.

On the left is a single blue flower bud, under a protective branch. This is my 8 month old baby boy.

In the top left corner of the heart, the bud has transformed into a glorious blossoming flower. That is my oldest daughter, who has left the protective branches, but is still within my heart, and will in a few weeks give birth to her first child.

I knew this heart was special to me. I put all my love in it.

Blossoming Heart

Today, I just want to share with you the progress on Kalon, my heart design. I had a little time to hook yesterday. I added stems and leaves to the flowers.

I used vintage, recylcled wools to hook both stems and leaves. Both textured fabrics had been over-dyed in the same pot of green.

The stem fabric is a very subtle plaid, while the leaf fabric is a chevron. The almost solid plaid seems perfect for the simplicity of the stems. The contrasting texture of the chevron gives the leaves a certain glow.

I cut some more strips of wool from my hand-dyeds. I am proceeding slowly, laying colored strips here and there, making sure that I like their color before hooking, enjoying the time it takes to create.

I am hoping to have a lot more rug hooking to show you on Monday. Have a great weekend, and happy hooking!

Resistance is Futile

Yesterday happened almost as planned. I drew the heart design for Kalon on primitive linen.

I cut some 1/4 inch strips of wool.

And then, instead of following my plan, and working at finishing my Moshimer rug, I thought, I'll just hook one little flower, just one.

Then I started wondering what a blue purple flower would look like.

It seems that at that point I lost all self control. One flower led to another, until they were all hooked.

To sum up my day a la Bridget Jones:

Goals accomplished: 0
Fun had: tons!

The Magic of Colors

Yesterday, I hand-dyed some woolens. I started with a cream base from a recycled skirt. I had RIT dyes at home. My goal was to create bright colored wool for my heart design, Kalon.

I plan on using the hand-dyeds in the circular shapes. I placed the wetted fabric on plastic wrap, and applied the colors. I then rolled the fabric into a  burrito and cooked it in the microwave for 5 minutes. I have no precise records. I just mix the colors as I go.

I created this piece using wines, reds, yellows, peach, and a touch of aqua. The close-up shows the aqua a little better.

I dyed a`second piece with more reds and still the magical aqua.

And then a section with navy blue, and muted purples.

They all look so wonderful together!

 I still have some work to do on the Moshimer rug, so I might just draw the Kalon design on my linen, and precut strips today. It will be hard to resist pulling a few loops!

I hope you will try to dye some woolens too. There is something magical about how the colors come together in a piece of wool.