Live! Lessons

During this crisis, I will be going live 6 days a week.  You can view the schedule at cindigayrughooking.com.

Once the COVID19 crisis is over, I will return to just a weekly lesson on Friday.

The hook-ins are such great fun that I think I will continue with them once a week.  I'll make a decision in the next few weeks when that will happen, but for now, join me three times a week!

New online store at my website

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I broke my knee in early January.  I'm still on crutches for at least another month, but I have been getting a lot done on the computer!  I've rewritten the online store on my website, cindigayrughooking.com.

If you are not a subscriber to my website, now is a great time to sign up.  I will be announcing a sale on my wool (I will be adding a lot of new ones between now and then) as soon as I am rid of the crutches and I can fill your orders.  I expect this to happen by late March.

See new entries on my website

I have been having trouble posting my entries on blogger. I installed software on my website and it is now self contained. You can see my new entries at www.cindigay.com, click on blog.

Here's a preview of my current project:

The website name is still the same

In my last post I told you that I got possession of www.cindygay.com back. That does NOT mean that the domain name has changed. You can still reach my site using www.cindigay.com or www.cindigayrughooking.com. I also own several misspellings so there are other ways also. The important thing is that I can now announce to a group that my domain name is cindigay.com and I do not have to spell it out because I own all the spellings. It's a technical web thing, if you have my website on your list of favorites, you do not have to change a thing. And thank you for visiting the site.
Tuesday I attended a sales tax seminar. yawn...... but I used the time to doodle and I am getting closer to the design of the major border for my room-sized rug.

FINALLY!

Today I was able to purchase cindygay.com. For those of you following the blog for a while, you know that I lost it due to a billing problem over a year ago. It was important because many people would naturally spell my name with a y instead of i.

My favorite backing: rug warp

Sheri's question:

Hi Cindi, what's the difference in rug warp and say primitive linen. That's what I usually hook on but it's so darned expensive. I use an 8, 8.5 and 9 cut. I am also experimenting with monks cloth. It's not too bad and Alot cheaper than linen. And where do you get to rug warp? Dorr?
Thanks for the help.

Rug warp is the heaviest backing that I know of. It lays on the floor like a rug. My linen rugs are often a pain because they tend to wrinkle and I have to straighten them. In my opinion, a rug should not wrinkle.

Rug warp is made of 100% cotton just like monk's cloth so it is easy on alergies, but much heavier and not nearly as prone to stretching. If you pack, avoid monk's cloth.

I've heard some comments that rug warp is not straight. It may not be at first, but pull on it! It straightens out every time. I will work on writing up a lesson on transferring a pattern. If you use the threads to draw the outlines of your rug, and then tug until the box is square before transferring your motifs it works like a charm.

Rug warp will hold your loops tight. If you have problem with the loops pulling out as you work, consider rug warp. If you have pets, rug warp is the best backing of them all. I have two of Kim Nixon's footstools sitting in front of my couch. The two cats consider them their own scratching posts. I know all animals are different, but I have no problem with them.

And last, but not least, rug warp is cheaper than linen but it costs more than monk's cloth the last time I checked. My supplier of choice is Dorr Mill Store.

I planned a large rug, Antique Rose Basket, to hook at Sauder Village last year. Because I wanted to use 8.5 and 9's I drew it on linen. I tried hooking a bit on Monday night and ended up running home Tuesday to get rug warp. I haven't worked on it since because of the large rug, but I am glad I made the change. Be sure to use a hook with a thick shank such as a Hartman Hook. You can buy these hooks at Dorr Mill Store. My favorite hook is made by Diane Kelly.

Here's what she says about her hooks:
the hooks are hand ground, magnetic and will hook wool strips, sizes 4 through 12. contact Dianne Kelly at 330-357-8074 or e-mail at diannekelly67@yahoo.com.

I put an earth magnet on the corner of my Puritan frame and this hook will latch on even through heavy #8 and #8.5 strips.

Update on Mom

This weekend Mom got out of the hospital but has to stay in a rehab facility because she needs IV antibiotics twice a day for the next three weeks. The pain in her lower back is some degeneration. She is slowly regaining her strength but still needs the walker to keep her balance. Every day is showing some improvement.

Thank you again to everyone who sent messages or said a prayer.

No hooking last week at all

So much for my commitment to hook 1/2 hour a day. Life got in the way. I still believe that consistent time at the frame is the fastest way to complete a project and I will get back to that as soon as I can. Like dieting, one bad day or a bad week should not keep you from the final goal. The likelihood of having this rug complete by August, however, looks doubtful.

Mom is doing somewhat better. We still don't know the source of the pain in her hip caused by a strain the week before and then falling last Tuesday. Her fever has been diagnosed as MRSA. They removed her chemo port as soon as the diagnosis was made. Today is day 8. Hopefully we have MRI results today.

I know this is not exciting rug hooking information, but many of my regular students and friends tune in. Thank you for your patience and kind words. Special thanks to Kim for reminding me that I will not be able to take care of anyone if I go down. I have the morning shift, Dad comes in to sit with her in the afternoon, and my husband pampers me when I get home.

In the meantime, the hospital is filled with graphics and great ideas for designs. I carry my tiny journal everywhere.

I'll be out of touch for a few days

Mom is in the hospital. Nothing to do with the breast cancer. Her last scans were still clear. Miracles do happen. This is some kind of infection and we just do not know enough yet. I spend the better part of the day with her, come home, put in a load of laundry, feed the dog and fall into bed.

Lesson: Hook a bit here, then a bit there

I'll be away from the rug hooking frame while I clear out some backlogged paperwork to get ready to do the dreaded taxes. It used to take a day or so to get things ready but with the business, it seems to take forever. I have decided to hit it hard and get it done.


While clearing off my hard drive, I found this photo. It is a bit dark, but it is a perfect example of how I hook all over the project. This helps me to get a feel for how the colors work and if I run into a problem, I just move on. My goal is to complete the background before I complete the motifs.

This is a footstool pattern available from Kim Nixon at www.undertherug.com called Square Pocketful. You can see it finished here. I designed a companion footstool.



This footstool was designed to work out some of the design ideas I had for my room-sized rug. For those of you following the blog you can see the resemblance. This pattern is called Annie's Square Flower Power and you can purchase it on Kim's site also. This is the only pattern of mine that is not available from www.spruceridgestudios.com

Use and Abuse of Hand Hooked Rug

I use my hand hooked rugs as rugs. It is remarkable how well they hold up. Wool is one of the very best fibers for rugs. It does not accumulate dirt and because I hook on rug warp, my rugs can take what my animals dish out. Watch the movie below to see what I mean.



Luckily, Jack has never damaged shoes. He prefers the shoe laces, but leaves the shoes alone. When he gets excited, nothing works like a tennis shoe. I think he is enjoying the rug shifting on the floor. When the rug is finished, it will have a rubber mat below it to hold it in place. This is mainly for safety, but I will need it to keep the rug from being plowed into the wall.

This was taken when I had the rug downstairs to mark the holidays (gaps in the hooking). I am finally done with that, but I still need to get the gaps hooked. The last few weeks were lost in holiday (Christmas and New Year) activities and my husband being home. For the last several days I have been getting my project for Teachers' Workshop finished. My report is due soon even though the class isn't until March. Here's what Jackson thinks about it:

Elephants - David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

I got the best Christmas gift idea last year during a trip from the Atlantic City Airport to Cape May. Linda told me about the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. We stopped during our drive at Lucy, the Victorian era 3-story elephant on the Jersey shore. I was very excited because my granddaughter, Alaina, loves elephants. I wasn't disappointed. The gift shop had great elephant stuff.

That's when Linda told me about the baby elephant she adopted. It sounded perfect for Alaina. So last year for Christmas, Alaina got her elephant stuff and a printout of the current Sheldrick newsletter. She sat in a corner and poured over it. Soon she was on the computer picking out the baby she wanted to adopt. My daughter said this process took several days.

This year my daughter and her husband are taking the kids to Disneyland over the New Year's holiday. I planned on giving the children cash for the trip. I do not know if Alaina would prefer her elephant adoption this year. I decided to leave it up to her.

Here's a link to a show about the elephants on the CBS website. A new 60 minutes segment is planned for this Sunday. You can get more information at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website. Fair warning -- you can get lost for hours on this beautiful site.

Day 444 No hooking going on today

Not much rug hooking planned for today. I am about 1/2 done marking the holidays and should be able to finish that this afternoon. Tonight is the last day of puppy school and Jackson will graduate.

I am working on learning a new shopping cart and getting that set up for my website. I think I give up on Ohio. Anyone who lives there will have to call me to place the order because calculating the correct % is impossible. Ohio has 88 counties, each with a different % and even some special areas within those counties with a different %. I don't stand a chance.

So far, all I can say is thank goodness for Carbonite. I messed up a slew of files and just went to my online backup (which happens automatically everytime I am online) and downloaded the files as they were last night. I can send you a link to Carbonite that can give you and me both some free time. Just send me an email and I will send you a link.
email: cindi@cindigayrughooking.com.

Day 442 Center DONE. . . well, almost

I "finished" the center this morning. It is not not completely done because I need to check for holidays. This means that I will inspect the back of the rug and look for larger than normal spaces where I did not hook. They are easy to see on the back but impossible to see on the front.

Some of the early books I read suggested using toothpicks to mark the holes. I found that technique almost impossible. When I marked a bunch of them and then put the rug back on the frame, many of the toothpicks pushed out because they hit the grippers on my frame. Yarn is so much easier. You can roll the rug up, transport it and then get right back to filling in the holidays without any of the markers falling out. Below is the back of my rug with just two spaces marked. You can clearly see the spaces.



On the front, all you see is the yarn. I will find the holes by pushing up with my fingers at the spot marked by the yarn. A loop or two is all that is needed to fill most spaces. I usually do this when the rug is completely done, but I will not be able to reach the center once I hook all the borders.

Now why is all this important? It has to do with wear. As the rug is on the floor and walked on, the loops surrounding the holiday will fall over to fill in the space. Making the surface uniform will ensure even wear.

DID YOU KNOW? I don't usually shrink the pictures I post on this blog. If you want a closer view, you can click on the picture.