REVERSE HOOKING, DYEING & RESTART

Welcome to the unpleasant side of rug hooking.  Nope, it isn't a badly drawn pattern (a/k/a Mary Mary), it is finding the right colors for the border.  Was sure the light green I had available would work to resemble the antique eagle rug shown below.  

But it didn't meet the mark because what I hooked was too mint green and underwhelming.

So today I dyed some wool and was sure it would work but after it appeared to be more blue and still not good trashed that idea.  Then I went to my milled wool selections and tried this below.  Nope, too dark and overpowering.  Perhaps if I'd used a more yellow/gold wool where mine is mellow this green would have worked.  My fault.

Then went to the wool I'd previously overdyed using the Olde Patina recipe and placed them in the triangles just to see.  Was definitely tired of hooking, reverse hooking and doing it all over again so just placing it there would give me an idea.

Also thought of a grey but don't have enough of that grey in the right eagle and the rest of the grey on my shelves is either too over-powering or not enough of the proper grey.  A gold didn't look right either.

IF there isn't enough of the olde patina dyed wool in my stash it is a dependable recipe and can replicate great results every time.  But as I'm leaving my wool room the question in my mind was...."WWBD" (what would Barb Do)?  Bet she could have immediately chosen the perfect wool if she could find it in my disorganized room.  Dear sweet talented Barb Carroll is still in my mind and heart ~ God Bless you Barb.

OH, I'd also briefly considered reverse hooking the light colored triangles and using a more golden color.  UH, ain't gonna reverse hook all that and eventually end up not liking it with the darker green anyway.  

Soooo, for tonight I'll concentrate on hooking the outward triangles of the border in the same wool and figure out the rest in the coming days.  

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Horse Update

For those just now checking out my blog, this is an adaptation of an antique horse mat that is on my frame right now.  For you others who follow me I'm sorry if this is redundent  But it is a great way for me to view progress and see what needs top be tweaked.

As you can see comparing my rug to the antique below my colors are different.  However, I am using a darker value where is required yet using what I have.  

The plan is to use only my left overs and the wool worms over dyed (shown in a previous blog post).  Haven't figured out what choices to make for the tail but won't be almost invisible like the antique.  

Binding of the sheep has been stagnant because once I get the hook in my hand it is glued in.  Each day the plan is to bind the sheep for 20 minutes and THEN hook.  Uh, hasn't happened since starting hooking on the horse mat.

Craziness is happening with my followers again.  The other day I gained a person after having lost several in previous weeks.  So I thought Google had gotten their s**t together removing all folks who had a yahoo, aol or other email address and didn't have a Google email.  Well today I lost another 16 followers.   

No way I believe the followers don't like me.  Think it is because the people who join are being held captive until they become a gmail person.  Hey, Google, what the hell does that prove?  Do you really want to put yourself out there to say...."it my way or the highway?"

Okay folks, if my blog disappears overnight you'll know why.  Google decided to say "bye bye".

Hope everyone has a great night.

Saundra (who did make the blog with a gmail account but who has other email accounts as well)

Dyeing in Anticipation

That's right, I'm dyeing in anticipation...of the next project to go on my frame.  Some of you (Lauren) figured out which one is the next one.  I've been collecting odd pieces of wool which weren't large enough for a whole motif and light colored wool with too much white to suit me. 

The intention was to have some toned down dirty muddy alternatives in stock to use in antique adaptations.  It is great to have several different wools from the same dye bath as it looks great all hooked together.  Or it can be used here and there mixed with other wool for a background or motif.  I'm sure some will be used in my Woolley Fox camp rug too.

This morning I gathered about 3 yards of wool to dye in 3 different pots but with the same recipe.  BUT, from the ONE CUP I used only tablespoons per pot, NOT the whole cup per pot.  So, two pots had 5 tablespoons of the solution and the darker wool had only 4 tablespoons.  So there is a smidgen of dye left which I've saved for another time.  Here is the recipe:

Olde Patina
1/2 t. Khaki Drab (Cushings)
1/8 + 1/16 Golden Brown (Cushings)
1/8 Prochem 124 Gold (since I didn't have Cushings Old Gold)
1/16 t. Dark Gray (Cushings)
1/64 t. Wood Rose (Cushings)

This was pot 1 Before.  Most of the wool is from Heavens to Betsy.  I'm not sure where I got the wool with the orange, the 4th one from the left. As I LOVE buying Betsy's Remnant Bags, I save pieces like this for the dye pot.  AND, what is lovely is that I get to see pieces larger than the samples to get a better look at the wool.  The 3rd and 5th pieces of wool are wonderful as they are but since I've more of the 3rd, thought I'd toss it all into a pot anyway.

Here is Pot 1 After.  And I swear the wool to the far right doesn't look that orange in person.  Nor does the pink in the second one show up as much as in the photo.  Oh well, cameras, flashes and monitors...what can I say.  But you can see they will work well in antiques.

Pot 2 Before, again mostly Betsy wool except for the third piece where I'm not sure of it's origin.

Pot 2 After.  Need to explain something here.  There were a couple pieces of white/natural wool and they must have been from different mill jobs as they dyed differently.  When I placed them out  for the before photo they were all tucked in together, but when they came out of the pot and look differently, I split the first two white wools for the after photo.   Again these lovelies (except for the orange plaid) came from Betsy.

 

Pot 3 Before.  That green/gold wool, third over, is from Scotland and the one below is from a skirt I purchased at the thrift shop.  The very light in the wool I wanted toned down.

Pot 3 After.  Perhaps I could have added another tablespoon or two to the pot but this is still toned down.  The rug going on my frame next has some blue in it so am hoping that the blue here plus an already old looking blue wool I have will work.

If you haven't already done so, I'd suggest you try one of the Remnant Bag sales that Heavens to Betsy offers.  She doesn't have them often but if you sign up for her newsletter or check her link often enough you will find out when she is having one.  Most times the pieces are larger than you saw here.  But sometimes to make the weight right she needs to put in a narrow piece of wool.  Hey, that works for me particularly for jobs like this.

Goodness, I'm running way late so will check tomorrow for incorrect sentences.  Have a great evening.

Saundra