Progress

A bit of progress to show on my new rug.  Slow going as life keeps getting in the way. But here's what I have so far.

A long way to go!

It's been a VERY busy summer, but not for rug hooking.  I finally have some time to start a new project.  I created a new design, something to ease me back into hooking.  An animal, still life or pictorial was going to require to much thought and concentration.  I don't have it in me right now.  I came up with a "geometric oriental', for lack of a better description.  Straight line hooking is very mindless and relaxing and that is what I need right now.  Here's the design.

I added a watermark on the image so it adds a bit of confusion but you get the idea, I hope.
In a few days I'll have a progress shot.  Check back later.

Alpaca finished.

Except for the matting and framing.  I'm quite pleased with the result.  I always name my animals when they are done.  It is at this point they 'speak' to me.  Her name is Alice.

Start of Alpaca background

I started the background, working my way from bottom to top, from the golden browns into the greens.  I created an angle to repeat the angle of the alpaca's chin. 

Alpaca done, on to the background

I finished up the Alpaca and laid out what I'm going to do for the background.  I wanted to repeat the golden browns of the alpaca's fur in the background.  I also wanted to add in some greens and blue-greens.  My plan is to work these in from bottom to top.

Thanks for stopping by.

Alpaca progress

Alpaca update. 

I sorted my strips into piles; whites, browns and greys.  I have a frame with a large working area that gives me lots of room to layout my strips close to my work.  This is very helpful in quickly picking out the right value. 

 A few tips for those of you hooking animals.

Hook in short strokes, no longer than the actual length of hair that your particular animal has.  For instance, when hooking a Boxer your strokes should be shorter than if you were to hook a Sheepdog.

Always hook in the direction that the fur grows. 

My latest furry endeavor

My time does just fly by.  I could have sworn I posted last only a couple of weeks ago but see that it has been a month!  Way overdue.

On to my latest endeavor.  I visited a local alpaca farm a few years back and took a lot of pictures.  Unfortunately, I am not the best photographer, but I did find one that I could work with. 

The alpacas had just been shaved and they looked SO naked.  This little guy just drew me in. What I found that I  couldn't pass up was how adorable he looked with just a wild tuft of hair on the top of his head!

I cropped the photo to my liking and enlarged it.  The piece will be 12" x 12" .  I went through my stash of cut strips and pulled out what I think will work.  I'm determined to use up some of my cut strips, I have a bin full! 

So, here's my photo and my pile of strips!  Stay tuned to see what happens.

A great resource

Today I want to share a wonderful resource I happened upon at our library's annual book sale.  It is a book by Mary MacCarthy titled "The Crafter's Pattern Sourcebook" .  The designs in this book include North and South American, Ancient Greek and Roman, Egyptian and African, Oriental, Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Celtic and British, Northern European, and South Asian.

I found one from the Egyptian section I just had to hook.  Three fish and three lotus flowers make up this circular design.  I chose a color plan that I typically don't use.  I had a lot of fun working on this one, no shading, just outline and fill.  I enlarged the design to 20" and used a 4 cut as the motifs called for a smaller cut.

The photo is not the best, a bit washed out.  I couldn't quite manage to tweek it in photoshop just right to get the true color.

Some catching up. What I've been up to.

I've been really busy with life. Designing, color planning and dyeing wool for others and teaching doesn't leave me a lot of time to get pieces of my own done.  I'm not complaining as I do love to teach, and dye and design. There is also just general living tasks one must not neglect.  The everyday housework and eldercare tasks. As well as the business end of things. Yes, it's tax season again.

With all that said I have managed to get some projects done.

First, I decided to do another still life piece.  Here's the photo of my setup. 

And then the actual photo I worked from...

I didn't take any progress shots with this one.  Here's the final result.

That's it for today.  More to come.  Thanks for stopping by.