A lot of people have helped me with my rug hooking…rug hookers must be the friendliest, kindest group of people you could ever meet. However , the person whose ideas and style have influenced me the most , is undoubtedly Gene Shepherd. He suggests finding a piece of fabric whose colours please you, and use that as the basis of your colour palette. I spent a long time in Fabricland, and finally found a piece that pleased me. I realized as I began hooking a variety of the motifs, that it was more muted than I wanted, so with some suggestions from other hookers , I added the ‘acid green’, and ‘yellow’ to ‘pumpkin’ tones….the latter being used quite sparingly since they really ‘jump out’. I also added small amounts of a deeper, more vibrant blue and red. The background ‘antique black’ is spot dyed over a claret coloured cashmere with majic carpet black and bottle green dye (thanks to Rittermere’s for the recipe). It gives the background life and vitality. The majority of the colours I dyed over natural Dorr wool, with a few over a light beige tweed, and a pendleton plaid. I am using spot dyeing and dip dyeing methods.
The rectangular rug is a 6 cut, and the hall runner an 8 cut. This picture shows about half of the hall runner.
Now off to put today’s freshly dyed wool in the dryer.
Eliszabeth, your hooking is gorgeous… Can’t wait to see the finished rugs!! ~Anita of Tucson!
The colors you have chosen are gorgeous! Very rich and classy. You have done a lot and are making fabulous progress! Lovely work!Lauri in Maine
Obviously you have talent and are putting it to grand use. I’ll keep an eye on you so you don’t shelve things for years! :0)