The Anatomy of a Rug

I love looking at other people's rugs.  Getting close up to the hooking.  Looking at the back of the rug... examining each loop.   What intrigues me the most  is looking at the colors of the wool they used. 

When I'm hooking on my own rugs I often wonder what someone, perhaps a hundred years from now will think of my color choices.  Not that it makes one iota  of a difference what colors I choose now because I use what I like. 

I use what makes sense to me... my eye.  

That being said...  I think there has to be some sense of what colors look good next to each other.  That may be what keeps me so passionate about rug hooking.  With each rug there are new discoveries. Being surprised, delighted and downright flabbergasted at how a certain wool looks hooked and how it can change the look and color of the wool next to it! 

So far I have used 17 different wools in this rug. I have to remember to stack them all up tomorrow and take a photo in the daylight. 

There are browns, solids, plaids, eggplant, corals, antique rose.  Dirty sheep, creams, taupes, silver gray.  A gorgeous rusty, orangey, pumpkin plaid that I wish I had a bolt of!!

( rug design by Maggie Bonanomi~ Tulips and Peonies)

All along I am thinking about the outside border that I've added to make this rug larger.  My  drawings,  of which you can see around the outside edge will probably not make the cut. I have a couple of different ideas brewing. One is a simple wavy line in the Dirty Sheep wool and filling in with all the wools I've used in the rug. Hmmmmm.... I'm waiting for the rug to speak.  I will hear it... no matter where I am.  Sometimes I hear them call to me when I am in the shower... "Hey you... I would like the horizontal stripes in corals, browns and rusts for my border!  Are you listening?"

Oh I hear you rug... just hold your peonies... time will tell.   Let me get the rest of those funky leaves and stems hooked tonight and we shall talk!

Cathy G.