The Making of a Wool Binding......My Way!

I wanted to update you on the finished Penny Circle Rug so that you know I actually did finish it. I am so wrapped up in my current Birch Tree Rug project that it's hard to go back now and do a post on the Penny Circle. If you have followed me at all you will remember that I was trying a new type of binding or finishing the edges on this rug. I used wool strips that I cut from the back of a wool blazer. Now this may or may not be an "approved" method and no one told or taught me how to do it this way. I figured I'd try it and see if it would work. What would I be out if it didn't work? Well, the wool in this jacket was fabulous. A perfect weight for hooking. Once I cut the strips on the bias it probably wouldn't work so well for hooking because it would stretch too much. Plus, it was a beautiful plaid texture with blues and dk. browns that would hook a nice background. So after a little hemmimg and hawing I took the Fiskars after it!
Before I actually started cutting though, I took a yardstick and a piece of chalk and drew lines on the bias all across the back(seems ironed flat) as you see in the above photo.
Next I took those strips and sewed them altogether to make one long strip. I found a piece of cording I had in my sewing stuff and using the zipper foot on my machine, encased it, and made a piping like you would sew around the edge of a pillow.

The back of the rug with binding complete
Now I wouldn't say I had a lot of fun sewing the darn thing onto the rug. It was tedious and hard to get it sewn close to the edge of the hooking. There is probably an easier way to do it, but since I am a lone ranger here with no hooking group or teacher to ask for help, I forged ahead on my own. After a few (three) evenings of hand sewing the binding it got much easier. I really like the way it looks. Yes, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I like it that much! It just really gives this rug a beautiful and I hope durable finish. Pretty classy looking if I may say so!

Here is a close-up of the binding the way it looks on the edge and top.

So for now it rests on the bed in my studio. The painting above the bed is one I painted a long long time ago in my college days. The old building has long been torn down. My art teacher used to tell us to get out there and paint all the old buildings we saw in the country side because one day they would all be bulldozed, never to be seen again. This one stood near a wooded area near my parents homestead. We kids used to think it was haunted. Of course we thought all of the old abandoned buildings were haunted. Most of them have long since vanished.

Comin' Down The Homestretch On The Straight Of Grain

January 19th, 2010
For the record I am coming down the homestretch on my penny circle rug. I want this rug to be one that I'm very proud of the nice straight edges. It looks pretty good in that regard so far. When I was drawing this pattern onto the linen I took a lot of extra care to make sure I drew the lines on the straight of grain. In fact I pulled threads on the linen both ways and in the valley along the line of the pulled threads was where I drew the lines for the outside edge of the rug. The reason I take extra time doing this and measure a lot while drawing the pattern in the first place is this rug:

A rug I designed and hooked in 2006. I had only been hooking for about a year. Look at the awful uneven edges on this rug. I am embarrassed to show you a picture of it. To this day I like the design of the rug very much. But every time I look at it all I see are the uneven edges. Rather ruined what could have been a great rug in my opinion. So a little advice to new hookers and as a constant reminder to myself...Slow down, take extra care when you are drawing your lines for the outside edges of your rug. It wouldn't hurt to measure and check that any new pattern you buy from someone else has been drawn on the linen with nice straight edges and following the grain of the linen. That way you will always end up with a rug you can be proud of.

A Hooker's Hearts Desire

Thought I'd show you the progress on my hooked penny circle rug. It's been a struggle to find the time to pull a few loops everyday, but I persist. A faulty thyroid (mine)is causing some strange symptoms. I don't quite know what's going on but need to give the ol' or should I say the young Doc a call. She's younger than me I'm quite sure. I'm on the medicine for an underactive thyroid(hypothyroidism). For a while there I thought I was going down the tubes with aches, fatigue, memory problems, a screwed up metabolism etc. We are still trying to get the proper strength of the medicine figured out. For awhile I felt half way decent. The last few weeks... not so much.
It's always sumpthin' it seems!
Lately I've been thinking alot about hearts. Those that read my blog regularly (bless your hearts) know that my Mom had heart surgery this last October. She is doing quite well considering. I do have to keep pretty close tabs on her though and help her with lots of daily concerns. She will be undergoing a difficult cataract surgery very soon. Our hearts and minds will be tested once again. Strong women? Well,I should say the kinds of serious health and medical things we've faced as a family this last year were not for the faint of heart. I remember not too long ago, I always felt a little queasy upon entering a hospital while visiting someone. In fact once I actually threw up in a friends room while visiting her shortly after she had surgery. Talk about embarrassed! That seems like eons ago. Having spent the better part of last year in hospitals and nursing homes it felt at times like I was part of the staff. When Mom was the most critical I packed my bags and rented a room a few blocks from the hospital. I stayed with her all day, catching a few hours of sleep at night. Looking back it's hard to believe we were there for almost a month and that I actually spent that much time in a hospital without losing my lunch!
I've learned a few things about hearts this past year. I've been fascinated by the medical technology and the Doctors we've met and dealt with through all of this.
I've read somewhere that the heart is the source of all knowledge. Think about that for a minute. I have and I think it's true. We each have in us the source of all knowledge! We just need to look into our hearts or maybe let our hearts tell us what's in there. Listen to your heart. Whatever our hearts desire. What does your heart desire?
After taking a deep breath..... I think mine desires a good nights rest. I'll sleep on these thoughts and tomorrow............I can think about it some more!

Hooking and Stripping! Dyeing and Dreaming!

I guess it's pretty clear where my mind has been lately! With Christmas past, and even before the last Santa laughed, I was out in the Wool Studio doing my hooking dance!
This rug will entertain many firsts for me. The first and most enjoyable being the tearing and stripping of the wool by hand instead of using a cutter! Why have I not tried this before? I think I may just toss out the old Bliss cutter and never look back! I love it because you hook with these gigantic wide strips of color and texture. Speeds the process up and you cover a lot of ground in a hooking session. The look is fabulous! Big plushy loops. Kind of a contained sloppiness if you will. Okay, primitive. Isn't that the look we primitive lovers crave? This rug measures 18 inches by 38 inches long. A bigger rug for me than the mostly smaller projects I've had the time to work on these last few months!
I'm having my hooking fix big time here. My mind wanders to the new year and the plans I'm conjuring up! Lots and lots of plans! I feel I must make up for this last year I lost due to caring for Mom. I'll still be limited for time as my duties are not over concerning her care in the coming months. But maybe, just maybe I can get back on track a little here. There's so much to do. Mounds of wool waiting to be dyed, rugs in my brain waiting to be drawn on paper! So much, so much! Universe, what have you in mind for me this year?