Due to a long list of "Things to Do"...I'm taking the next three weeks of blogging off. I'll happily host though - so feel free to link up. I want to wish everyone the joy of this season and if you are going through trials, I offer a hug. Thank you for keeping me company on this creative journey!
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| I mean seriously?! Who thought this was a good idea? |
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| From my stash |
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| its prettier in person and this is just a few rolls! |
What finally got me going was I wanted a nice royal blue for Santa's vest and I didn't have it in my small stash of wool. Luckily, I had bought a set of Cushing Dyes complete with swatches on Facebook Rug Hooking Buy/Sell group. I love this set - complete with wooden cigar box.
Out of the 94 colors, I chose "Blue" ...I know right? ...brilliant!
I also chose a nearly white piece of wool with a tiny light grey strip running through it. I kind of arbitrarily chose it, but actually in the end it was a good choice.
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| The textured wool and the 94 swatches! |
After the many wool dyeing tutorials I watch, I took what they all had in common and did that!
1. Soaked the wool with some kind of humectant..some people use dish soap, some use Synthrapol, some use vinegar. I had Synthrapol so I just used a splash of that. I soaked it for about an hour while I gathered my other stuff.
2. Cut a fat quarter of wool. Measured a 1/4 teaspoon of dye into a cup of filtered water. Gathered all utensils I needed and would forever be designated to wool dyeing. Honestly there is no set measurement for how much dye you use ...mostly people just guess.
4. Put the fabric and the dye into the water...let simmer for about 15 minutes...put in a big splash of
vinegar in with it, to set the dye...let that simmer for about 15 more minutes making sure the wool didn't get too dark. Once I was sure it was the right color, I took it out. (everyone does it different but basically it all involves hot water, vinegar and wool for various amounts of time and dye)
5. Rinsed it in warm water cooling gradually to cold. At this point really no dye was bleeding out of it.
6. There was still plenty of dye in the pot and I could have dyed more (which I should have but didn't think of ). Really, I probably only needed 1/8th of a teaspoon of dye for the fat quarter.
7. I spun the dye in a salad spinner and gave it a finally fluff in the dryer.
For the record, it was much faster and easier than low immersion dyeing of cotton. But of course I was only doing 1 fat quarter as opposed to me doing 24 fat quarters at a time. The thing about dyeing for rug hooking is that for the most part you are doing small amounts and can dye up what you need as you need it. That is totally different than how most quilters do it. I am VERY happy with the results because it's just the color I needed.
And speaking of that...on this week's....
Rug Watch
Santa has now gained a vest! Yes, there is the hand dyed blue vest. While hooking I realized that I had inadvertently chosen a textured wool which not only gave it a slight little change where the gray was in it, but also gave it a more "nubby" loop perfectly suited for his vest. The wool is a bit more fragile especially since it's only 1/8th wide but it hooks up lovely!
I also used yarn for the first time. I meant to watch some tutorials on that but didn't get that far, so I decided to wing it. I love it! It's even more nubby than the textured wool, It's not hard at hook,
I've really been enjoying doing this project and I like how Santa is looking a little more filled out!
So What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?
My Thanksgiving got snowed out (#lifeonLakeErie) so I have the mopes...but I read this and it helped...
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| Sit & Stitch at Whiskey & Wool! |
There are a few traditional ways to transfer a pattern, but they all start basically the same. You cut your backing (for me it's linen) 4" or so bigger than your pattern. Then you zig zag stitch or serge around the edges to stop fraying. Then you trace the edges of the pattern on the "Right of Grain". This is just a fancy way of saying that you pick a corner point and follow the line of the linen straight for the length of your pattern. You do it for each side of your pattern. If at the end your box looks a bit wonky, you just stretch it back and forth so that the corners are now 90 degrees.
Once that's done you can trace the pattern by ....
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| Amazing this is where they begin right? |
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| So Far |
At least, I helped my husband design the pattern for Puzzle Santa....speaking of which...
Here's what you missed on Glee....
I bought an auction lot of half a project on EBay from the estate of a beloved rug hooker.....
I didn't realize until I got it that it was only half the pattern....
Then I had to sweet talk my husband into finishing the Santa from the photo and helping me design the rest. I took a long time to research Christmas and winter rugs. With rug designs, you always got to keep in mind that what cut size you want to use and how will the design look in a bunch of little loops. That's why patterns don't always translate exactly into rug patterns.
For inspiration, I found this pattern on W. Cushing & Co.'s site that I really liked. It is called Winter Wonderland designed by Joan Moshimer based on a vintage postcard.
Here is Ruth Poole's interpretation hooked ...see how hooking can really change the tone of it..something to remember.
I think it's the vintage feel of it that spoke to me and how it would go good with my Santa. Showing it to my husband, we brainstormed ideas. This is what we came up with....
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| And you thought I married him for his looks.... He taught himself how to draw off of YouTube |
I'm a little bummed I couldn't figure out how to get that luscious moon in but "Oh, Well!" I do like how it now looks like a proper rug. With the new border, it grounds Santa instead of just letting him hang out there. I still gotta work out the snow banks, but it's getting there.
Saturday, I have to get it onto linen and start color planning out the beginning of it. I know you are skeptical that I am going to be able to shake this bout of winter ennui to get it done...but I have a plan. Sunday, I'm going out to a hook in with some friends and if I'm going to have something to hook, the pattern needs transferred. Always good to have a little peer pressure to pull you out of a funk!
That's as far as I got....
What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?
But rug hooking and wool is much different. This is what I've learned so far. Here in the United States, there are just a couple of major distributors of wool. There used to be more but with people aging out of the business, there is less selection. These businesses through their mill contacts order patterns of wools in large quantities. Then all the smaller vendors of wools throughout the country buy it from the main distributors. That is not to say, that some vendors aren't buying wool on the secondary market, because surely, they are. But the quality wool is coming basically coming through these primary channels.
The weird thing about wool, unlike quilting cotton, is it is not all uniform. Some are thicker, some are thinner. Some are tighter weave, and some are looser. Most rug hooking wool will be about 12-14 oz per yard. These variations of course make it harder to buy online since really you have to feel the wool to know if it's the kind of wool you like to hook with.
One thing they all have in common though ... they're all expensive. Rug hooking wool is going for about $30/yard (which is 36" by 56"-ish). Hand dyed wool is $60-80/yd. To put that in perspective,,,if you want to hook a 36" by 56" rug, you will need approximately 4 yards of wool. And that's if you can find the colors you need. That's why it's not unusual for rug hookers to buy a pattern and contact a local vendor to help them color plan the pattern, basically kitting it out to hook.
It's such a different way to create than most quilters that it took a while for me to wrap my head around. I do have a plan on how I'm going to get wool though. Now that I have a small working stash here, I'm going to either #1 dye the colors I need and #2 watch out for estate sales of rug hookers. Of course,
Interesting isn't it?
With that said, last month, I took a visit with some rug hooking friends to a new shop called Whiskey & Wool in Kinsman, Ohio. Housed in a restored turn of the century house, it specializes in the primitive fiber arts of needle punching, embroidery, cross stitch and rug hooking. They had a nice selection of Valdai pearl cotton, as well as wool and patterns. The shop also sold primitive decorative items and of course whiskey. Whosever had the idea to sell fiber arts supplies with whiskey is a genius. There is also a renovated carriage house for classes and gatherings.
Oh...and don't worry...I did work on my Puzzle Santa some this week. I have the pattern for the Santa done...well rather...my husband has the Santa done and I've been brainstorming ideas for a simple background. He just seemed so lonely sitting out there on a black background.
So, What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?
