The Adventurous Experiences of Wee Folk

Okay, Okay, here is my Wee Folk.  And yes, it is a wool covered cord.  But I am TOTALLY happy now.  Yes, I took one step forward and two steps back but will explain all this.  Oh, and it isn't really more narrow on one end than the other it must be that my camera was tilted to the side as I make sure that I hook on the straight of the grain.

Any way, you've all heard the comment...." just sleep on it" I'm sure.  With all internal questions and angst I've had with the binding of the rug I awoke one morning at O'dark 30 (yeah there is a movie title now but in military speak it means in the !#@*& dark of night.  Anyway, my realization was that to do the binding method whether yarn or wool strips would jeopardize the edge of the rug.  And here is why.

Notice the pre-whipping on the left, which, by the way, was done lightly, makes a huge gap between the hooked rug and the whipped edge.  And now look what it is like after I pulled out the wool yarn.

That gap is even bigger.  So I realized what I was doing was making a 'perferated edge' which might rip off the end of my precious rug with wear or additional stress.  

I've successfully bound rugs with yarn or wool strips with backing which is more sturdy.  And THAT was the issue here.  While this pattern WAS hooked on good linen it wasn't quite as heavy as the Dorr Natural Linen therefore I didn't want to use the whipping technique on this rug. 

Here is a picture of the two linens ~ Dorr Natural Primitive Linen is on the left and the thinner linen Wee Folk was drawn on (producer unknown) is on the right.  Also, remember the one on the right is BLEACHED.

It might well be that this situation of 'a backing deciding the binding technique' would never had happened had I chosen a different method.  IF this rug had been bound with a regular cotton binding or the wool covered cord in the very beginning, I'd have  never realized that a backing can choose its binding technique.  This was an eye opener for me and one I will consider in the future so that I don't waste time trying a binding technique which won't work for the foundation.

The Wee Folk pattern I hooked was drawn from the original Vermont Folk Art and not the current owner Hooked On Ewe.   Don't get me wrong, this linen was just great to hook on and the rug will live a long life now that it has been bound in a way which is best for this type of backing.  So this is a lesson to be learned when you are trying to figure out how to bind a rug.  You may WANT to bind a rug a certain way, but what does the  foundation call for?

IF you are interested in hooking this design ( I love this Wee Folk rug) the patterns are now being offered by Hooked on Ewe.  And whether you have a pattern on this linen foundation from the former company or not, just choose your method of binding suitable to work with the foundation.

AGAIN, the linen used in hooking the Wee Folk was great, it just needed a particular binding method.  Click HERE if you would like to see a previously posted tutorial on how to do the wool covered cord style binding.

Thanks for visiting, have fun hooking and be kind to one another.

Saundra