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

Reverse Hooking

Seems I do a lot of reverse hooking as you (my regular readers) already know.  Truth be told I've reverse hooked and a couple times put back the wool I'd pulled out.  This is what New Years Eve looks like now.

And this is the previous photo.  It will be fun for me to compare them too and who knows, maybe I'll put back some of the wool I pulled out.

You probably already noticed the reverse hooking was mostly in the window/port hole and the book case to the far right.  For sure I like the darker colors of the bookcase much better as it looks like a companion piece to the bed and even stands out rather than sinking into the background.  

And of course I hooked more of the wall background.  But Buster's eye needs a little tweaking, still need to decide how to hook the Coleman lantern and undecided about the wine glass and if that sparkle line needs to be pulled out.  Yeah Mz Robin I know you want it gone, lol.  But how did I do with the other tweaks?

Still having fun with this fella, have Over the Moon on the side lines, Woolly Santa needs the binding finished and then will need to choose something else to  hook.  I want to hook an antique adaptation again!!!!!!  I miss my antique rug adaptations.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Windy Days

Winds don't just happen in March, they happen in April too.  The last two days walking the mile (total) to pick up my mail was fine when the wind was at my back.  But walking with the wind coming forward I felt like the Mime who used to perform on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Anyone remember him and the show?

As for the pattern, as usual I've reverse hooked a lot and have been drawing on the linen making changes to suit me.  I enlarged the black cat and made a mess of the wind drawing at the top left.  Now not sure which lines to follow but will wing it as usual.  

This is all that has been accomplished and already see changes I want to make in the wind swirl between the house and tree....it needs to have more of a curl.  I struggled with the bottom left wind forever until it satisfied me.

And need to choose a color for the dog flying thru the air above the tree.  It can't be grey since the wind is grey, already have a black cat and black roof, the dog above the house is brown.  Oh, now see where I went wrong.  The tree should be pulled out and that wool used for a red/brown dog.  Then I can use a darker brown wool for the tree to spread the values and color around.

See ~ this why I don't get a lot accomplished.  Am always changing things as I hook first then think.

I made my son, DIL and grandson face masks but recently saw how easy it is to make a face mask even if you don't sew.  It can be done with any fabric or kerchief and hair or rubber bands:  DIY FACEMASK 

Hope you are feeling well, staying entertained and safe.  For me, I'm happy at home anyway, and sure all Doc Martin seasons will be viewed in a day or so.  

Since we're stuck at home and a newbie rug hooker has a question, please ask.  I'm no expert on anything but experienced working with primitives (my favorite), antique adaptations, geometrics, narrow cut, wide cut, etc.  If I don't know the answer I'll ask my expert friend/teachers.

Saundra

www.woodlandjunctionprimitives.weebly.com

Marion Hamm's Horses and Hearts Design

It isn't finished yet but needed to see what the rug looks like on my computer monitor.  Since I've changed the red and blue color schemes I'm thinking there may be some reverse hooking needed.  

Won't change out horse colors since the background requires them to be a lighter color.  Would loved to have a sorrel horse but they have dark tails.  Once on the floor I'll never give the horse colors another thought and not worry about the two similar palomino horses.

Interesting seeing this on the monitor as I am thinking of making some changes in the heart colors.  There are only 6 horses and had trouble coming up with color ideas for them.  HA!  there are 14 hearts so try coming up with non-boring or repetitive colors for those!  Ya see my problem?

Ya notice those two most center RED hearts?  The one on the left looks okay and am thinking of making the other near the white horse look the same with a darker perimeter.

THEN.....on the far left plan to remove that blue center in the red heart and make it more mottled red like the one near the white horse.  

Yup, that's my plan for what's left of tonight but think it will only be the reverse hooking and not the replace hooking.

Have a good evening.

Saundra

Third Time is a Charm...

...or at least that is what people say about marrying again.  Uh... I don't plan to go to that place for a third time.  However, I'm thinking tweaking for the third time might have been a good choice on my horse halter.  Here is the first attempt. Naturally I hadn't thought it thru and the gold compared to the background gave me shivers when seeing it on my blog.

So looked thru my worm baskets for something darker which may work. Below was number two choice and for a brief time was sorta happy with the change.

Finally today decided to pull out the halter wool and go with something looking more like leather which is a keeper.  As usual the color is showing up more bright and more gold.  In real time it is darker and looks like the light and dark of leather and how it wears.  

This blog post for you experienced hookers seems rather boring but you newbies need to know it is perfectly OKAY to pull out wool strips and use something else and try again.    

OMG, it is frigid outside thanks to my Canadian friends for sharing their wealth of the cold.

Saundra

Second Thoughts and Reverse Hooking

Oh my I'm having a dilemma again.  I've already pulled out some of the border and rehooked it in a smaller cut to get the color combinations in there that I wanted.  And am again second guessing what I've hooked in some areas and thinking about pulling out the loops and using something else.  Here is what my sheep looks like as of right this minute.

One area I'm considering changing are the light areas in the sheep, which is supposed to represent an area that either faded or wore thin and had to be replaced.  So I'm thinking about pulling out the light and putting in a piece of wool which is the same as the area hooked to distinguish the two legs.  It is basically the same color as the sheep except has some darker value plaid in it which shows up occasionally when hooked.  So I've taken a picture of that wool and placed it on top of the sheep for you to see.

And then this is the third re-evaluation in the ground color under the teal.  I was going to use a 'dirty muddy' (as Lucille Festa named it) but was concerned it was too close in value and the sheep's feet would become invisible.  Instead I chose a blue with flecks of a golden tan in it.  But now am thinking that it looks kinda weird with the teal line and then dark.  So I have taken a picture of some of that dirty muddy wool so you can see what that would look like.

Still thinking that maybe it should be a color more similar to the teal already hooked, in my wool stash I found two other considerations.  There is a teal texture.

And here is a teal plaid.

So many choices to consider.  But in the meantime I will just hook what I know to continue making progress, let me ponder my options and would love to hear feed back on your thoughts.