A few days ago my neighbor friend Mary stopped by with a friend of her's who was visiting. She wanted to see my studio and my hooked rugs! I happily gave them a tour which ended up being my whole house as Mary's friend loved looking at my antiques! Mary spotted this little hooked mat I did some time ago. As it turns out she has a little table in her bedroom that she wants me to hook one just like it for her. Actually she wanted to buy this one as she really was taken with it!
Okay, maybe it's just me but these are thoughts that started racing through my head...... (1) I hooked this mat for use in my home and have been using it in various places, setting coffee mugs and cold drinks on it. (2) I dyed some of the wool I used in it and of course didn't save the formulas so probably will never be able to get the same colors (3) what would I charge her? After all she's my neighbor and friend who keeps giving me jars of her home made raspberry jam! (4)I know I could hook her one that has colors closer to what she has in her bedroom and she'd be happier with that (5)I happen to love that little mat and really hadn't planned on selling it.......have you got the drift? Can you see my dilemma? It's crazy with these hooked rugs I've made. It's almost like they have some sort of soul (my soul) hooked within their very fibers that if I should be parted from them something will happen. What, I don't exactly have that figured out yet. Silly me.
As it turns out Mary will be happy to wait for me to hook her own special rug! Sort of like a commission. I have done one or two commissions for various people. It seems as though if I know that the rug I am hooking is going to live with someone else, I don't develop the same soul attachment as the ones I hook for myself. During the process of making the rug I am always thinking of it as their rug. There must be some sort of name for this strange way my brain behaves. CPD (Compulsive Possession Disorder) Okay, I just made that up.
Anyhow I will be starting "Mary's rug" this afternoon. She also has a nice little antique side table in her living room she'd like a mat for too. I'll keep you posted on the progress of "Mary's rugs" as they shall be referred to from here on.
CPD.........hahahahahahaha I love that. I have that. Oooh I wonder if there is a support group? LOL
ReplyDeleteAnd I think that I 'over think' things!!! You win the award!!! Pretty funny! Actually, if I'm hooking things to sell at a show, it is with a different mindset ~ I've already detached from it before it leaves the frame. I would have a hard time selling something I hooked just for me! I'm sure you'll do a great job and she'll like it better than she liked yours!! Have fun!
ReplyDeleteOK! Sign me up for the support group! I've never sold a rug I've made for myself. They are part of me. They are one of a kind, impossible to duplicate exactly. I have to start out with the idea that rug will be leaving home. Then I can let it go.
ReplyDeleteCPD. Yep, I got it!
It's such a darn cute little mat! It needs to stay with that board.
Don't blame her for wanting one it is a great rug.
ReplyDeleteI have given several away to the family but always new when I started hooking it, it was going away, so didn't get attached. Boy it would be hard to give/sell one I purposely made for myself. Call me stingy I guess.
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ReplyDeleteI think I need the support group for 'can't finish a rug' I get stuck in the middle of a project looking for the right colors and into the closet it goes.
ReplyDeleteI think it is wonderful people want you to hook rugs for them.
That's always so hard, isn't it...I finally had to stop doing any kind of special order work because I couldn't put my heart into it. I really just like to work spontaneously whenever possible, and trying to envision what will make someone else happy is so hard...we all see things (especially color) so differently. You're a good person for saying yes! I hope it works out well for all involved. I'll look forward to seeing your progress.
ReplyDeleteGood for you getting commission work. Your things are beautiful and I can see why people want them. I have the same issues parting with things that have a little piece of my heart in them (thank you Janis J. for that song). I wish you well on your work and a joyous time creating things.
ReplyDeleteJoHanna
Cathy ~
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet little mat and I'm sure Mary's rug will be just as sweet. What size is it?
Pug hugs :)
Lauren
I guess I'm lucky in that area....I can turn loose of my rugs very easily, whether it's selling them or gifting them. I have a few that I wouldn't part with, but for the most part I'm not attached to much of any of my "stuff".
ReplyDeleteI am also a member of your club. Although I will happily create rugs for friends or commissions, my own rugs are like my children - that's how impossible it would be to part with them. There is a completely different part of the psyche that is at work while hooking something personal versus something for "commerce". I think the emotional safety valve gets turned on - or there's just an awareness as you pull each loop that this mat is for someone else. There is still care and attachment - it's just different.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure she will love her mat. And I love how the little white centres in some of the squares "twinkle". It's a very special piece for sure.