Perception ~ Interpretation

As in literature and music, rug hooking is also left to the individual for interpretation.  The other day I posted a photo of a folky homestead with a patriotic theme.  

A seasoned rug hooker friend of mine interpreted the piece as a bird house. Until she said that I'd interpreted the design as a house with garden in front and the grey strip below the house and "Y" shapes as walkway and driveway.  How do you interpret it?

Below  is a pattern called Gossip by Woolley Fox.  Excuse the red drawing as those were my personal changes to the design.  But you can see the images along the sides and bottom.

Back in June before starting hooking the pattern I asked my readers if they saw the images as leaves or feathers.  Frankly either way would be okay as the birds are on tree limbs so leaves would be quite normal.  I decided they should be feathers to go with the birds and the dark on all four sides would act as an inside border of sorts.

However, my friend Deb perceived those shapes as leaves.  Note she followed the original pattern and didn't change the bird shapes as I did.

Deb was inspired by the leaf shapes in the antique Domestic Zoo design, a section of which is posted below so you can see those leaves.  

This rug was hooked by me and if you wish to purchase a pattern click on the link just above.

Since we are talking about interpretation there are several elements in  Domestic Zoo which had me thinking as I was pulling loops.  That made this big rug even more fun and fast to hook since it didn't take long to hook a motif and hook a row of background around.  

In addition to the cats, horse, donkey, birds and snakes I saw apples, a pear, leaves, hearts, bird house and cherries.  So even a busy runner like that is up for interpretation.

Seems to me I had another design in my head as another example but forget what it was now.  Happy hump day.

Saundra

Same Designs Hooked by Different People

I thoroughly enjoy looking at the same design hooked by others to see how color selection and personalities change each rug.  There were three different designs hooked by others and it is fun to see the differences.

First to show is a design by Benita Raleigh named HOOTER.

The one above was hooked by Linda Woodbury.  Notice chain stitch to achieve the chevron effect in the wings, the beading patterns and directional hooking of the body.  Sure wouldn't be able to watch TV and hook this baby.  

The one above was hooked by Dee Rosenbrock who also has a chain stitched beak and feet as well as the directional hooking.  Appears she used a fuzzy yarn for the ears, and a sparkle evening sky with moon.  Great job gals ~ similar but different.

Next design hooked by 3 different people is an antique adaptation sold by Norma Batastini named Red Lion.

The Red Lion above was hooked by Charlotte Price.

The one just above was hooked by Evelyn Lawrence.

Above is my adaptation and below is the original antique.

Again it is interesting to see how people hook using what they have.

Last but not least is the newly discovered Magdalena Goat which I offer as a pattern, contact me if you are interested.  

Above is the original antique I found on an auction site January 17, 2017.

The one above was hooked by Evelyn Lawrence.

....this above hooked by me.

And not in the show but hooked by Susan Traughber, who purchased the pattern from me, is above.  Susan did a magnificent job.  Both her kids loved the rug so much that she ordered a second pattern and is hooking it again.  Hope Susan will share a picture of that with me also.  Matter of fact, anyone who hooked it I'd love for you to send me a photo of your piece.

Happy fall Sunday everyone.

Saundra

Meet My Friend Shari

Shari always loved putting color together either with scrappy quilts she made in her 20's to her Santa and primitive doll business from her 40's to her 60's.  Her love of anything antique led her to discover hooked rugs. 

Shari continues....."I met Saundra at this time and coincidentally she was intrigued with hooking as well."  Like me, she struggled on her own at home teaching herself to hook.  Finally in 2003 we decided we could use the help and expertise of a teacher, to take just ONE class to get us on our way. Years later we are STILL taking classes and enjoying every moment." 

The above rug was Shari's first camp rug where we attended together. It is a pattern purchased from House of Price, neither she nor I can remember the name of the pattern but was either a Charco or a Primco design.  

Shari has been influenced by such people as Barb Carroll, Lucille Festa and Karen Kahle's rugs.  Shari likes the way Karen is able to pull soft colors together and her goal is to one day take a class with Karen. Meanwhile she will strive to perfect her color choices of soft old colors on her own.

Above is a design by Karen Kahle called Small Flowerbox which Shari hooked.  She likes to hook florals most of all so will choose soft old colors for them.  Shari likes old teal, mustards, yellow green, and soft purples can be found in many of her rugs.

Shari will often change the design to suit herself; an example of that is her rug below where she is using teal in the triangle border.

It is an adaptation of a rug (Old Chatham) she purchased from Hook Nook who carried Lib Callaway designs.

Now Lib Callaway designs are offered by New Earth Designs.  Above is the original pattern and the banana shapped basket Shari changed.

Shari said her biggest hurdle was trying to keep her business going, responsibilites of husband/home life and finding time to hook. Then since retiring from her business she can enjoy her great love of rughooking freely! 

Sadly, while keeping the business going Shari had to sell some of her precious rugs but is thankful to have had a venue to sell them to make ends meet at the time.  The General George Washington is a rug which was commissioned.

Another cherished rug she sold was an adaptation of an E.S. Frost rug. That design is offered by Woodland Junction.

Now Shari can spend her day playing in the wool to her heart's content.

Above is a foot stool she hooked last year in a Barb Carroll class.  

Last September at Cape May Shari designed and hooked the design above.  You can see the inspiration she is channeling from Karen Kahle in it's design.  

Shari's light bulb moment came when she realized an 8 and 8.5 cut enabled her to keep to the primitive style yet small enough to give the slight detail she likes her rugs to have. 

Want to thank Shari for the idea of this segment and for sharing.  If any of you wish to participate and share your rug hooking journey, you can get the questions on a previous post HERE.

Saundra

Something I learned from Barb...

...Barb Carroll, that is.  While I cannot remember all the subtle things I've learned from Barb over the years of classes there are two which really hit home after this last rug camp. 

First was Rug Binding.  UGH!  Not my favorite thing to do and not sure if I know anyone who enjoys it.  AND, my friends, if you admit you LIKE binding you might end up getting some offers for that task so be careful. 

Moving right along, while being taken on a mini tour at Woolley Fox I knelt down to look at the binding of her beautiful rug Santa Fe Crossing and realized there was a way she did the binding which not only was whipped with wool but allowed the last row of hooking to show instead of the wool whipped edge.  HUH?  Why didn't I absorb this from her book before?  Perhaps I just skipped thru that part thinking I knew it all.  There is a lot to learn in this booklet so contact Woolley Fox to get your copy of this book if they are available.

So this week I started binding The Cat's Meow rug trying to do it the way Barb's rug was done but with the wool yarn I have on hand.  This is the back of the rug where I'm grabbing almost 1/4" of cotton binding and whipping it sorta between the rows of hooking. 

This is a great way to bind a rug so gets a lot of protection from use BUT the whipping isn't seen from the front where the backing is rolled forward and whipped so it is wool yarn seen from the front. 

That is exactly what hit me in the head when seeing Barb's binding method on Sante Fe Crossing.  So thought I'd give it a try on my rug.  Above this the back of the rug with the whipped wool protection and here is the front where it is wool hooking showing.  VOILA.

The other thing I learned this class was about the last row of hooking around MY rug.  Surely every rug is different, but this is what she taught me about MY class rug Magdalena's Farm. 

Barb will always go to the student's wool first for the student's rug since those are the colors he or she likes.  Usually I know first off if I want a light or dark background.  This time I didn't care and told Barb that.  This way she could color plan to her heart's content with freedom knowing it could be light or dark and I'd be happy.  Based on the colors I took to camp Barb chose primitive black.  Sounded great to me!

So she told me to use a wool called Woodland Junction (yes, my name sake from Heavens to Betsy) along the entire edge so it would give the appearance of the rug being scuffed and worn beyond the other primitive black background.  Here is what Woodland Junction looks like along the edge in this section.

Below is what Woodland Junction looks like in the other corner of the rug.  Yeah, it does look like there was a little more wear there and would definitely add to the old look of the rug.  Woodland Junction wool is the only thing I'm using along the last row of hooking AND, it is also being used inside the rug here and there just for the dusty and worn look.  Sounds like a keeper for that antique primitive black background.  It was recently RE-milled by Betsy so you better grab it now because it may be a while before it is milled again. 

Maybe tomorrow I'll have some real progress to show you on Magdalena's Farm rug.  I could have shown you what it looks like now but I'm saving it until there's more hooked.

Have a great night and be kind to one another.

Saundra