How easily we forget!

My focus for the last two years has been to "get crooked." I thought I had made a breakthrough with Karen Kahle at Sauder Village in 2006. I was working on her Antique Rose Runner during the lunch break. All the other students were off eating and I was so excited about what and how I was hooking that I decided to work through lunch.

A woman came into the classroom to see what we were working on. I sat on the far side of the room. When she made her way to me, I stretched out the backing so she could get a better view. "Nice," she mumbled. I then explained how I was concentrating on making everything crooked. She brightened up and said, "Oh, it is supposed to be that way."

She probably felt sorry for me. This poor hooker can't hook a straight line!

I love this story because that week changed my hooking dramatically. I explained the feeling to my friends as "hooking naked." I had no cares about what row I was hooking in. I grabbed whatever color was on top. I turned my brain off and hooked away. I had that rug finished within two weeks of coming home. I usually return from camp with less than a square foot hooked.

I applied this mind set to the design of this rug. The four corners are slightly different. Nothing is perfect. But when I got to hooking the boundaries for the hit and miss, I hooked three rows in perfect alignment. I was unhappy about the look, see the post for Day 35! It took me this long to figure out what was wrong. This is one reason I always move out to the borders ASAP.

I decided to use the line I drew for the edge as a guideline only. I wavered three holes left and right at random. Then I hooked another strip on each side for the three rows I wanted. Much better. You can see the crooked rows in the post for Day 094. In Day 065 you can see how much of the straight stuff I ripped out.

I don't have this rug in my rug gallery on my website yet. I will let you know here when it is up and ready. www.cindigay.com

Border progress-Cat's paw

I have always loved the Cat's Paw rugs. I wanted to include this design in one of the minor borders, but I was afraid that it would look too modern. I decided to hook up a section. It looks great. Do you agree? I decided to make the background the darkest background value that I am using to outline the motifs in the center of the rug.

This test proves that what looks bad (or good) on paper as a black and white drawing can look very different once it is hooked. If I had not been so determined to find a way to make this design work, I would never have attempted it. On paper it looks very modern and completely out of sync with the center.

Day 94 Finally got to hook!

I finally got to hook New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. My husband, David, and I rented videos and stayed indoors. --It's cold out there! Especially after my days in the Florida keys.

Enjoying the weather in Florida

Sorry for the lack of posts. My parents were vacationing in Florida between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I decided to join them for a little more than a week in Little Torch Key. We were about 25-30 miles north of Key West. I missed the worst week of weather so far. Yeah!

We went on the ghost tour. What fun. It was dark, and the stories were great. The one that really freaked me out was a story about Robert, the doll.

Before I went home we stopped at the museum just outside the airport that "owns" Robert. I wanted to buy a t-shirt for my son, Bob. The back of the t-shirt has a picture of the doll Robert and says something like "Robert did it." It was a slow morning at the museum and my mom chatted with the clerk about why I was buying the shirt.

The clerk looked up and smiled. "You want to go back? I won't charge you." OMG! Well, what the heck. I said, "Sure."

She led me back and I noticed that my parents stayed in the lobby. So much for parental support. She pointed down the hall and said, "He's in that case. Do you see him?"

When I turned back to answer her, she was gone. OMG!!!!!!

I took a quick picture and skedaddled out of there.

Day 65 Rug Hooking Progress

I had more done than I thought when I reviewed my last entry so here's another picture. I'm beginning to think the hit and miss is too large. If I make it smaller, I will have to add additional borders to keep the finished size. I need to start thinking about this now because the worse thing that can happen is that I finish hooking the entire inside area and I don't have a clue what I want to do with the borders.

Not much rug hooking, lost in Computer Land

Sorry for the lack of activity. I haven't been hooking all that much. My goal for this winter is to rewrite my website, www.cindigay.com. I started this website almost 7 years ago and it has become disorganized and needs an update.

I have to learn new software and I've been playing around with adding video. You have seen some of that in the past posts. I'm beginning to understand how to get it on the internet - I still don't know how to make me look better on film though. I contacted a webmaster that was willing to work with me. He would do the heavy lifting and I would decorate. He hasn't responded to my newest emails or voicemails so I think I am on my own. I do need help with testing and that's where you come in. If you are interested in seeing what is going on before the "public" does, send me an email. I will send you links from time to time to look at. You will send me an email with your comments. Your feedback is very valuable to me. I need users of all types, PC, Mac, novice and experienced.

Second Attempt at Video

Day 050 Rug hooking all weekend

This weekend my husband and I rented videos and stayed home. I was able to hook for hours and hours. I got a lot done, but I am determined to get to the half-way point (of the center) before I take it off the frame.

The rug is now large enough to drape on the ground as I hook. The cats, Georgia and Gracie, now have enough room to share. Georgia is almost two years old and was a good companion to our elderly dog, Samson. When he passed away over Labor Day weekend she seemed lost, so we adopted Gracie from the shelter. They get along very well and I (almost) don't miss having a dog around the house.

I should be able to post a full progress shot it a few days.

Day 44 Georgia loves my hooked rugs

Here's a full shot of the progress on the rug. Whenever it is on the floor, the cats are willing to keep it company.

Day 44 of rug hooking: Rose improvement

Rose - before

I did not want to hook the rose the same way I hooked in the stair riser, Queen Anne Rose. I did hook it differently, but I did not like it at all. I let it go and continued to hook. I hooked another one with more pronounced lights and darks, but it still did not work. Once I had a quarter of the center of the rug finished, I realized the problem was that the rose was too red.

Rose - after

The colors on the after picture are off, but I love this resolution. There are two large roses and two small ones on this rug, but the border contains several small ones. I'm glad I found something that worked. Now I can resize the border to fit....after I figure out how big to make the hit and miss.

A Day Off

Yesterday I traveled to Columbus with my daughter, Jenny. We went to the From our Hands show. It was great to see everyone.

On the way home, we made an impulse decision to go to Home Goods. This store is not in NW Ohio and we had passed it up many times on our way to Easton. Well, quite some time later, we were ready to head back home. We found many great treasures, including a white ceramic pomegranate.

Day 38 of rug hooking: Resolving the Large Leaves

The large leaf motif is one that I have not hooked in my study pieces so this was new territory. I hooked the two shown first. I added two different wools around the veins just to break up the area. The fill area of the leaf was so large. I did not like either solution.

Next I hooked the veins with the vein color only, no secondary color. The vein was a bit harsh. Then I decided to try just the lighter value. This is the same wool that I am using to fill the scrolls. I like this a lot better. The dark that I tried initially was too dark on its own, but I like the look of two different values together. This is something that I might not have thought about if I had ripped out the dark when I decided I did not like it alone. My personal rule is to not rip out until I need the spot to hook. You need to see what does not work in order to find what does work.

When I hook the next leaf, I will try the light vein with another wool. When I find something I like, then I need to decide if I want them all the same. Probably not. I will need to find a few solutions that work.

Day 36 My temporary rug hooking set up

I actually rearranged this corner of the living room. This way I can hook whenever I have a few spare moments. They really add up. The wire shelving is the same shelving I use in the studio. It can be set up and torn down in just moments. See my website for more details. Click on the rug eSchool and take a look at the pictorial tour of my studio. They are old pictures. I have actually added another row across the top.


After about a week I decided to roll the edges of the backing up and baste them in place with yarn so that I could deal with only the center of the rug. That helped a lot.

I initially tried to use clamps for quilting to hold the edge of the rug out of my way. I need to get my arm under the frame either at the bottom or the left side. The rug was just too heavy for these clamps. I found these heavy duty clamps at the home improvement store. They were even on sale for about $4 apiece! They have helped a lot. Even if I cannot get the heavier hooked part of the rug inside the clamp, I can close the clamps on the rug itself and still get the bulk of the rug out of the way.

Day 35 Still rug hooking the scrolls

The design of this scroll is based on the porch supports at the Chalfonte Hotel in Cape May, NJ. I fell in love with this hotel and the area the first year I taught at the Rugs by the Sea rug camp. It is held every year in September. There are two weeks of instruction offered. See the teaching schedule on my website for more information on this camp and others.

I started the hit and miss that will be outside the scroll. I haven't decided how wide to make this border, so I hooked it the largest I think I want to go. If I decide later that I want to make it smaller, I will just rip out. I started with one row of dark at the outside of the scroll and I felt the scroll was getting buried by the hit and miss. I increased the dark to three rows of the background color. I think this will work.