Category Archives: choosing colours

Sky Style

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I’ve finally finished the roadside and pavement of my Prairie Sky piece, (after making a number of colour changes and adjustments to the hooking style). I ended up using a variety of materials….3 different plaids, wool yarn and two different colours of sari silk. DSCN1569Now to turn my full attention to the sky.

I’d tried some areas and ripped most out. I needed to make a decision about how I was actually going to hook it as well , of course, as the colour choices.

My initial colour selection was this: blues I dug out of my stash.DSCN1533….but as I  experimented, I didn’t like the effect of the very dark blues at all. I needed more pale shades. DSCN1535I took this photo awhile ago and I’m not sure why there are only two pieces since I actually dyed four light shades these being the lightest and darkest.

I wanted the clouds to be highlighted, and so I’m using a variety of white wool yarns plus Dorr natural wool .DSCN1551My biggest dilemma was this…….would I hook the sky straight across (bottom right sky sample) or wavy and directional (cloud beginnings). I thought about this for a number of weeks while completing the bottom roadside section. The answer I came up with? Do both. I’ll make the clouds contour the actual shapes and the sky will be pretty well straight lines.  Every time I go through this sort of process, I think afterwards….that is so OBVIOUS! why did it take me so long to figure it out?  So I’m on my way…DSCN1567I knew I would need to dye more pale blue shades and yesterday was the day.

DSCN1563I now have  a wide variety of blue shades to use in finishing my sky.

Many thanks to Lucy Richard  of The Wooly Mason Jar. I recently watched her video about how to dye 1/2 yard of wool  using her amazing colour wheel system of dyeing. I’ve never tried her system,  but I picked up a number of hints from the video which were really helpful. …some hints about micro wave dyeing eg. timing and when she adds the mordent, and using Woolite as a rinse at the end.  Hookers are such a diverse community and we can learn so much from each other. Thanks for the tips Lucy.

Whew! the humidex is to be nearly 40 C today, so for me it’s a stay inside, stay cool, and hook day. Hope you have a good day too

Thanks for stopping by.

Building That Wall

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It seems Trump isn’t the only one having trouble building a wall. Figuring out how I wanted to hook the walls and arch in my ‘Two Virgins’ piece stopped my progress for a few weeks.

From past experience, I know that I have to see something before I’m sure it works for me. My minds eye certainly isn’t always reliable. This time it took several tries to capture the effect I wanted, and I had to accept several compromises  along the way.DSCN1469…two cuts and styles tried here and an attempt to catch the corner highlight……nope!DSCN1473….a 6 cut and straight lines…..nope!  ….but I liked the effect of the cornerDSCN1496 2….a 6 cut, straight lines and a much lighter wool (thinking of marble at this point)….then tried the arch in a 3 cut and a variety of mixed , darker colours.

At this point, I shared my dilemma with my friend Jean who liked  the arch  best…(as did I)  so on to further experiment with wall options….now using a 3 cut and antigodlin hooking.DSCN1498.Hummmm I like the left, the right is too light.

whew!

…so all the attempts came out and I’m finally on my way with the wall and arch.DSCN1503It’s a large area, and a small cut, so I think I’m set with enough hooking to keep myself busy while watching the olympics next month.

I sometimes get frustrated and think ‘will I ever  come up with the effect I want’, but its so exciting when I finally can look at my work and say “Yes! That’s what I was after.”

The compromises I mentioned…..1.) now a lighter sky colour to figure out

2.) lots more work using a 3cut rather than a 6 and antigodlin hooking rather than straight lines.

…….both incidental since I’m pleased with the effect.

If at first you don’t succeed…..

Thanks for stopping by

Virgins’ Faces

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Last week was a very big week if you are a curling fan. The Roar of the Rings Tournament decided on the teams to represent Canada in February’s Winter Olympics. Needless to say, I was glued to the TV, and particularly on Sunday while the finals were on. To help ease the tension, I hooked while I watched and by the end of the day, I had completed the faces of both virgins.

 

The wise virgin…..DSCN1453

….and the foolish virginDSCN1457

I know she looks like she has a milk moustache….(just cover-up to be removed later) hiding some mistakes I made in the original pattern drawing. I wanted to see what the profile actually looked like.

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I was pleased and surprised with how they turned out…..my first attempt at such tiny detailed faces. (done in #2 and #3).

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Some notes to myself in case I want to do this again sometime.

1.) all done in various shades of two basic colours….yellow and pink

2.)all done with bits and scraps from my stash

3.) pre-cut strips which were too wide, I carefully recut to #2 and it worked well

4.) followed the basic procedures taught to me by Anne Boissinot for eyes, nose and mouth

5.) I followed the face and neck value choices and placement taught to me by Wendie Scott Davis

6.) I remembered a recent discussion on cheek shadowing by Gail Mueller and Cheri Hempseed, and followed that advice. Thanks to all these ladies for sharing their expertise.

N.B. I must never forget that my work is the result of applying the information passed on by the skilled people I have been privileged to work with.  (I know…it should be “with whom I have been privileged to work”….but that sounds so formal)

Just hands and lamps now to hook before I tackle the arch and background. I’m still struggling with design and colour choices for that. I think it will require several “test” areas to see which I think will be best. The primary dilemma is whether to go dark or light.

So the faces are done and the curling is over. I’m happy with the faces, and although my favourites didn’t win the curling, I’m really happy with the teams that will represent Canada, I’m sure they will do us proud. Go Homan and Koe.

All in all a great Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Revisions and Background decisions

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Have you ever noticed something in your work that you didn’t like, and suddenly that’s all that you can see? Well that’s what happened to me with my wise virgin. I noticed that her breasts were decidedly lopsided. DSCN1422The poor girl needed radical surgery, and for my peace of mind, she needed it at once.DSCN1423

Lots of fiddling about  was needed. It’s surprising how much is involved to move that small section down a bit,  but finally she looks much better.

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The other area of struggle has been the centre of the left side of her skirt (my left).  She’s holding it back, but it just looks like a mish mash. I reduced the light section to see if that helped….DSCN1435….and it does, especially when viewed from a distance, but I’m still not satisfied with it. It will get makeover later when I have a better idea of what I want to do with it.

I love the wild head of hair on this lady , and wanted to do it justice. My first choice of colours was too drab and bah, …..DSCN1442 2so I dug in my bits and pieces for something to give it more pizazz., and I came up with thisDSCN1443

I like how just the hints of orange and pink bring her hair to life…DSCN1440DSCN1439 In the meantime, the background  has been on my mind. I had several ideas, including being on a path with a misty background, a medieval castle in the background, doing a total disconnect with an abstract background of some sort…or?…. Then for some reason, I thought of having them stand in an arch, and immediately went in search of ideas for an “arch to suit”.  These three caught my eye…..DSCN1445DSCN1444DSCN1446

To find out how it might look, I cut out pictures of two left over virgins (not the ones I chose to use) ….DSCN1447….then posed them in front of the arches…..Arch number two I eliminated right away. Down to this one….DSCN1419…..or this one….DSCN1420……and the winner is this last one.  I like the stone blocks, and the greenery hanging down.

I have no intention of doing anything more than use the basic ideas and shapes, (I think the car would really spoil the effect don’t you?)    The potential sky colour is another problem  to solve  in the future, but I am having so much fun with this. Gee I love rug hooking!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Compromise

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In my last post, I was all set to forge ahead with the second virgin’s dress using turquoise and cantaloupe. I wasn’t sure if it would work….DSCN1391 I hooked just a small amount and wasn’t happy with it. I felt that it not only had no connection with the rest of the piece, but it was too bright and dominated far too much.

On the other hand….if I continued, it would be surrounded by lots of turquoise, which might well tone it down . DSCN1387I thought about another option….If I used a pink, it would tie the two costumes together and make the whole thing more harmonious.DSCN1386

I considered these two options for several days. The first was more disconnected than I wanted, the second more harmonious than I wanted.

Eventually I came up with a compromise. I overdyed the pinks with prochem raspberry, which kept the “pink idea” but changed the colour and shade from the one used in the first dress.DSCN1399

Still lots of dyeing to do and the dress details need to be refined, but I think I’m pleased with this compromise colour solution.

Now if I could just take a photo that was in focus,…. (I never seem to notice until it’s up on the computer and too late to get another shot).

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my “fuzzy” hooking.

 

 

Learning Through Doing

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For me, I like every every project I do to present me with a learning experience and a challenge.   Ultimately if I am successful…(at least in my eyes), I derive a great sense of satisfaction in achieving what I set out to do.DSCN1373

To that end, creating the detailed clothing on the two virgins is a new experience for me, and as usual, some of what I tried , I liked, and some….nope…not at all!  I tried two different approaches on the foolish virgin. For the green portion of the dress, I began with dip dyes (I could have used swatches, but dip dyeing is much easier for me to do). I then cut them into several sections giving me a range from dark to light.  I ripped out that effort since there wasn’t enough variation  to be effective.  I then rehooked it using some much darker green, and a much lighter one (almost yellow) to create the highlights and folds, and was then more pleased with the results. DSCN1385The extremes I used very sparingly, but they made all the difference.

I tried a totally different colour approach for the fuchsia portion of the gown. DSCN1376I did a spot dye using  Majic Carpet red violet, and Primary Fusion #12  (which uses Pro Chem magenta, blue, and black). Then I went through my stash and found all the bits and pieces that went with that. I had a good range of values, though not necessarily matching exactly  in hue. The primary colour is the dip dye and I really like the highlights that it creates in the dress.

My pattern is taken from a 1500’s etching, (with no colour) and the next thing I learned, was that all the lines in the etching don’t necessarily translate well when using colour. I started the fuchsia section of the gown by outlining the lines in the etching in a dark value, and soon realized that many of them made no sense to me and looked ridiculous. I eliminated the vast majority, and went mostly by my own idea of where there might be folds and shadows. There is still one line on the floor section of the train that I will remove, and use a bit lighter colour the fill in that area (and I won’t use a straight line).DSCN1374

So with that bit of experience under my belt, I’m ready now to tackle the gown of the wise virgin. I’ve got two colours ready to go….a spot dye using Pro Chem seabreeze and mallard green, DSCN1382 (I  did 3 versions from dark to light), plus a couple of pieces that I had that went with that.  (for some reason the camera bled the green out of the far blue….it actually goes with the rest much better than this photo shows) The second colour is primarily a cantaloupe and mustard spot dye  done over both natural and oatmeal. DSCN1379I have no idea if this will work, but I’m set to try.

The other thing I’ve learned is that I’m either a lousy photographer, or have a lousy camera when it comes to colour (or maybe both).

Thanks so much for stopping by.

 

Starting the Virgins

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This has not been a good summer for us, and as a result I haven’t posted in some time. As things take a turn for the better, I have recently started hooking again, and have made a start on the “foolish Virgin”  (see the last post for  details on my subject choice). I’m using  #2 and #3 cuts with lots of shading and fiddly work…a refreshing change of pace for me after the #8 cuts for both the large abstract and the geometrical Floating Blocks.

While considering a colour palette for the dressses , I looked up images for women’s clothing in the 15th century and having found every colour imaginable on display, I  decided to just use colours that pleased me., whether they were authentic or not.DSCN1366

The two palettes I settled on were:

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and:

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(with no promises to stick to either one)

I soon realized I needed wider variation in both colour and texture for the shadows etc. to be effective, and in fact completely redid the bottom of the green skirt with more contrast, definition and variation before ending up with this version…. sorry…no photo of the mucky one).

With that in mind, I have lots of options available for the fuschia overskirt:DSCN1364

….although I likely won’t use them all. (they’re all more intense than the photo shows)

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I expect I’ll remove some of the dark outlining in the scarf, but leaving it for now.

While working on this part, I’ve been considering questions and options for the background….running the gamut of a cobbled roadway at dusk, pondering how to show the illumination of the wise virgin’s lamp, thoughts of a misty medieval background, or perhaps none of the above and using a purely abstract background of various night colours which deepen as they move outwards…..no decisions on this as yet.

It is so nice to be hooking again and enjoying the act of creating something that pleases my eye.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Creating the Background

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While having coffee with a friend recently, for some reason we got chatting about thinking processes. She mentioned that she is a logical thinker, going from step to step to come to a final conclusion….and how it was sometimes difficult for her to remember that that is not how everyone thinks….aha! and that would be ME! As I think and plan, my mind goes off in a multitude of directions with a wide variety of possibilities, which I then must sort through for pros and cons to come to a “best” solution. It has taken me a long time to realize that My way is OK too…it’s not disorganized….it’s multi organized. Being as well, a visual learner, I often need to “see” the results before making a final decision. DSCN1182….and so it is with the background of Floating Blocks. This is my stack of “married” light neutrals. ….and the first few areas hooked in….DSCN1272After several tries, I decided that I liked the lighter colours ,with just the odd darker piece, using fairly short strips and changing colours frequently.

With that decision, filling in the interior spaces was uneventful, easy hooking.DSCN1282Next decision…..hooking all around the edges….If I kept using the lightest colours only, I knew I wouldn’t have enough wool. I needed to make use of the darker wool as well. It still needed to “go with” the interior spaces. I decided to have some rows of darker wool around the outside and then blend it lighter as it neared the interior. DSCN1278I liked that effect, and dug through the strips each time to find just the right colour….. making progress quite slow. Since I was blending the tones, it finally dawned on me to sort the strips into dark, medium, and light to make it much quicker to find just the right strip each time. DSCN1275…..ah….so much easier and quicker now.DSCN1280I can see my way to the end now…all the way around, with enough wool, and an edge colour which  grounds the rug as well as one which I can more easily replicate with yarn for whipping the outside.

I eventually get there, but my path is definitely neither straight nor step by step.  I’m happy with my way. Mind you that still leaves me wishing my junk drawer was more like Sandi’s….totally organized with everything in its place. …but there’s no hope of that happening any time soon!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

R.U.G. May 2017 Part Two

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As mentioned, Marylou spoke to the group in the morning. ……..about the rug hooking museum of course, but also about a wonderful rug now owned by our hosts….The Simcoe County Museum. About 20 years ago, the members of the Huronia Branch jointly hooked a rug to donate to the museum where they meet each month. This amazing rug is about 7′ or 8′ x about 15′ (it’s massive). It had been displayed at the time , but then was taken down and carefully stored away. Being of Canadian content, Marylou thought it would be nice to have it on display during Canada’s 150th birthday. The museum agreed to once again hang it, and it was given pride of place in the large meeting room for everyone at R.U.G. to enjoy.

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The design is by Thor Hansen,  who was a Canadian designer and craft promoter   of Danish descent.   An interesting interview about him and his work can be viewed here:

Designer Thor Hansen – Huronia Museum Show

…just an aside…the Huronia Museum that houses much of his work  is in Midland about 20 miles from the Simcoe County Museum where we meet.

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The style is “post modern”  and depicts Canada Geese flying over a stylized sea . The Huronia group used a quilt frame to hook it, and it was rolled appropriately as it progressed. Marylou recalled that various members would work on it at meetings and said it was truly a joint effort. DSCN1200….Here Marylou and Fiona are trying to get out of the way so I can get a good shot of it…

Another aside…..a very much smaller version of this design appears in Celebration XXIV hooked by OHCG member Tatiana Knodel.

The afternoon was devoted to a talk about hooking Paisley designs . Suzanne Hill presented the history of paisley and related how the Grey Highlander group explored this wonderful and well loved design.

She presented a quilt top made of countless paisley fabrics which perfectly demonstrated many typical colour combinations.

These were some of my favourites.

Being a pattern designer herself, Suzanne created a number of paisley patterns for the group to try….the variation in colour palettes gives each a distinct feeling. Each of these has a black or grey background, but an entirely different feeling according to the colours chosen. She named this pattern ‘Polka Dot Paisley’.DSCN1256DSCN1242DSCN1257DSCN1231

The same dramatic differences in effect caused by colour are seen in this pattern called ‘Crazy For Paisley’.DSCN1239DSCN1233DSCN1234DSCN1255DSCN1244DSCN1252DSCN1241DSCN1236For those wanting to hook something smaller, or to make some hot pads….she created several ‘Little Paisley’ patterns.  Note the variety….. some are made into pillows, some needle punched or hooked with yarn, and some with beautiful crocheted edges.DSCN1258DSCN1250DSCN1247DSCN1251DSCN1259DSCN1246DSCN1253There were also two examples of paisley patterns by Martina Lesar.DSCN1237This one done in yarn,….and this one…DSCN1245…surrounded by colourful shapes.

The whole presentation was delightful and informative. I heard countless comments afterwards about how much it was enjoyed. Many thanks to Suzanne Hill for her designs, inspiration and explanations.

All in all it was a day full of great rugs, good shopping, delicious food, and friendly people.

If you missed it, it will all happen again in October.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

Floating Blocks Progress

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DSCN1132 2Isn’t “Hit and Miss” a misnomer ? I don’t know of anyone who actually hooked one by blindly sticking their hand in the bag, grabbing a strip and hooking whatever colour came out. However this rug IS being entirely hooked with leftover small bits and pieces so I think it qualifies as “Hit and Miss” and I’m having lots of fun with the creation of each block.DSCN1129I began by hooking all the large squares in the foreground in reds and yellows. …decided that the additional colours would be blue, blue/green and yellow/green and  was amazed that I was able to come up with a good sized bag of leftovers of each!

I decided on the placement of the colours as I went along….trying to make sure they were evenly distributed and balanced throughout.DSCN1133As you can see…I made some changes as I went along….and even in this photo…I need to change one of the B-G’s (blue/greens) on the left since I realize that I do not have  a blue along the outside left edge.

A note for newbies who may be viewing this….Hookers work from foreground to background….(as opposed to painters who can layer on top) and this rug makes it really apparent why.  As I work down layer by layer, it is easy to keep the squares even and straight but it would be impossible the other way. By mistake the other evening, I started hooking one square that had an edge overlapping it. Being too lazy to rip it out and start a different one, I had to leave a bit extra on each strip at that edge so I could finish it properly after the top square is hooked, which will be fiddly and time consuming. (You can see the tag ends on the red block in the middle below.)DSCN1131So this is my progress to date.

In preparation for hooking the background, I’ve gathered up all my bits and pieces of light neutrals (beiges, sands and greys) . I’m still trying to decide if I will hook them as is, or marry the colours in a large stew pot so they are closer in colour. At the moment I’m leaning to the latter.

If I didn’t live in a household with two cats and a dog, I’d think seriously of creams for the background since I love the vibrant colours against the white backing. Too many mucky paws in my house for that to work though.

Thanks for stopping by.