On a Wing and a Prayer

I'm well into this table mat commissioned by my friend Mary.  Hooking in a #6 which seemed small after  my last project with the hand torn strips!  But after hooking awhile it doesn't seem much different than an 8.   I guess I'm tricking my own mind!  Something which comes in very handy on occasion. 
This little mat is designed per Mary's request to fit a small rectangular shaped table with rounded corners in her living room.  The mat is to cover the entire top of the table.  Hopefully my measurements and careful hooking inside the lines of the perimeter will have it fitting her table almost perfectly.  It is a nagging thing I keep trying not to think about. ( fitting the table perfectly).  The table was tipped upside down and traced onto my paper when I started the design. I actually cut the design out and walked over to Mary's and laid the pattern on the table.  A couple of minor adjustments and we have what I hope is going to be the perfect fit.   Using the word perfect lightly! 
How do you like the colors?  Mary has been over here visiting my wool stash and was drooling over the hot pink texture in my cabinet.  I didn't think at first we'd go with the brightest thing in my stash..... but as time went on and we talked colors and I could sense  she was thinking colorful and what she calls "Bohemian colors"was going to be what made her happiest.  Then Mary sprung a little divine intervention on the subject which clinched the hot pink texture right out of the cabinet and into her rug!  She shyly revealed that God wanted me to know that if I used  one of my special wools ( read: one that I have been hoarding for God knows what) in her rug, that every time she walked past the rug knowing what special wool I used she could say a prayer.  And God would send special blessings my way.


Well, I'm not one to interfere in divine interventions.  Truth be told I was saving that special piece of pink for a special rug.  Is this that rug?  So far the colors seem to be picking themselves...... or are they? What better way to be hooking with such lovely thoughts in mind.  Flowers, friends, color and happiness.  Oh and maybe a little prayer that it actually fits the table when it's done!
Cathy G

Mary's Rug

The rug above is my original rug I hooked for myself.

Mary's rug in progress next to mine




Mary's rug hooked before changes and binding

Your work is to discover your work.....
and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. (Buddha)
I'm learning that hooking a rug for someone else who is paying for my work is a horse of a different color. I'm detached. Big time! Maybe you seasoned hookers know what I'm talking about. I want this rug to be one of my best ever. I know Mary is going to "show and tell" this rug to every single person who comes to her house.  Whew! I have been hooking and rehooking and measuring and remeasuring. Cutting a lot of the strips by hand. Cursing this soft linen on which I love to hook, wishing it was a tad bit firmer. I think the geometric design would have been a little crisper......in short, obsessing.
Notice the white "lights" as I like to call them. In my original rug that I hooked for myself I didn't seem to mind that they didn't come out even leaving the last row of squares without any lights. In fact I guess I never noticed knowing it was for my own use. In Mary's rug I have in my head the "white lights" needed to be in the last row of squares. In order to do that and keep the pattern even throughout I would have had to add another row. Not an option here as it has to specifically fit the night stand next to Mary's bed. The picture here, shows the rug as it sits now. However, I think I am going to move the white light in the 5th row over to the 6th row. Any opinions?
Hooking detached seems to have made a difference in this rug. I like to believe I am putting my whole heart and soul into it. After all it is a reflection of me. It will be out in the world for all to see. Hmmmmm....Maybe I'm not cut out for these commission rugs......or maybe I'm just obsessing.

This weekend (Fri. the 30th we will be revealing our "Forest Secret" challenge rugs! I will be posting mine here for you to see and also I need to get permission to show the others who participated in the challenge. What fun! I can hardly wait to see the designs and rugs of everyone else. It will be really interesting to see how everyone interpreted the "Rock, Ring, and a touch of the color Royal Purple keeping the theme Forest Secrets. So stay tuned!

The Commission Crazies!

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.