Monday, February 7, 2011

Hooking?

The Bag Lady has a project.

She has actually had this project on the go for many years, but she got distracted from it's completion by tucking it away in a closet and promptly forgetting about it for 3 or 4 years and only recently started working on it again.
Of course, her decorating scheme has changed in the years since she started, but, at the rate she's going, by the time she actually finishes the rug, she may very well have come full circle with her colour scheme!

Is anyone else out there crazy about rug hooking (or crazy enough to try hooking a 4 ft x 5 ft rug)?

24 comments:

Reb said...

Wow! That is some undertaking Sis! I think it will be lovely when it's done. I have hooked in the past, but I had to put bandages on all my knuckles to stop the backing material from ripping them to shreds. Wanna do a 7X5 for my living room in chocolate and off white? ;)

carla said...

ooooh I used to make these by the dozens!!

I wonder if 5 is too young to start??

The Book Nut said...

I started a 2.5' by 5' one when I was about 7 and finished it when I was 15! It was a really pretty scene of several deer running through the woods. Somehow my brother ended up with it and never gave it back! :(

I enjoy doing it but tend to fall asleep when I try! :)

Good luck, it looks like you're making progress!

Leah J. Utas said...

Good for you. This sort of thing is beyond me.

Hilary said...

Oh what a big project! I used to hook small rugs when I was in my 20s. I had a friend who would draw the design on the canvas for me with charcoal and I would figure out and choose my own colours. One of the pieces I did was a much less sophisticated but decent version of the Unicorn in Captivity tapestry http://www.moonandunicorn.com/welcomeF/imagesF/artF/unicor.jpg . I have no idea what became of these rugs.

Good luck with yours. It's a good way to keep warm.. if you do hook with it on your lap like I did.

JavaChick said...

I have never tried it, but my Mother-In-Law has been getting into rug hooking (the joys of retirement - lots of time for crafty stuff).

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - You should buy the canvas and the yarn and several hooks (I'm on my 3rd one)-- and a big box of bandaids and get at it. Oh, wait.... you were asking ME to do it? Ummm... will you still want chocolate and off white in the Senior's Lodge?

Carla - Five is definitely not too young! They sell kits for kids, I'm pretty sure.

Book Nut - at least you finished yours, and you brother must really like it if he kept it.

Leah - thanks. I'm not sure it's beyond you - perhaps you are just wise enough not to start!

Hilary - I'm betting yours were beautiful! I have done several really large ones over the years that I designed myself, but this is the biggest (and has taken the longest). It is also the simplest design I could come up with. Which, in a way, was a bad thing - no challenge in those big blocks of colour.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure I can find a home for that when you're done. (Mine!) :)
I've had a cross-stitched project stashed away for the past 14 years (it was supposed to be a 10th anniversary gift for my husband... maybe for our 35th instead?).
My husband's uncle did a huge wall hanging of the Last Supper. (Well, you wouldn't exactly want to walk on it, would you?!?) It was rather impressive.

the Bag Lady said...

JavaChick - good for your MIL! It's actually kind of fun - I've been doing it for years (well, oaky, not recent years.....)

solarity said...

One of the yarn crafts I've never tried. One of my friends did a three-foot circle rug in a graduate seminar one semester; she said it was a great stress reliever to work with her hands as well as her brain for two hours a week.

(Reb--chocolate and off white? To match the cat?)

Mary Anne in Kentucky

Geosomin said...

Wow - I have wanted to try that, but I figured that since I can't even bring myself to knit a full scarf, I don't think I'd be patient enough to do something that large. Plus I think the cats would destroy it once I finished...

I know I haven't the patience for it. I like to *think* I do, but I know I'd get about 2 feet in and stop. :) It's why I like sewing...it's a lot faster.

It looks wonderful so far :)

the Bag Lady said...

Mary Anne - it's a great way to keep your hands busy! (and dry, and sore.... oh, wait, that's probably not going to encourage you to try it, is it?)

Geo - if you could see the pile of unfinished projects I have everywhere... (knitting and sewing included.) My theory is that I can never die because I haven't finished all these things!

messymimi said...

I've hooked a couple of smaller ones in the past. Don't have the patience for one that big.

It is looking beautiful.

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, messymimi... I'm not sure I have the patience for one this big, either! :)

Reb said...

Sis, yes, choc & off white will go with everything ;)

Mary anne, of course ;)

Marste said...

Oh wow, that's gorgeous! I've never hooked a rug; just knitted (lopsided) blankets!

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - hehehe.

Marste - My knitting skills are limited to lopsided dishcloths and baby blankets. The odd odd-looking scarf.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Whoa! That is a major job!!!! I haven't made a hook rug in years but I remember they were fun.
Cheers, jj

Sagan said...

Hooking? Never even heard of it! But that looks amazing.

I really like that about projects - how you can start on them, put them aside for a few years, and then get back to them later on. There are so many great possibilities for hobby-style projects, boredom just isn't an option!

the Bag Lady said...

Joanna - it IS fun to hook rugs! I quite enjoy it - especially when it's either a complicated pattern or one I've made up myself.

Sagan - that is so true - I always laugh when people say they're bored! There are so many things to do or try to do - all it takes is a little imagination.

Gena said...

I made a small wall hanging one once as a kid. I think it may have had a hideous purple butterfly on it. It was finished, and I think it lived out the rest of it's days hidden on a closet shelf.

the Bag Lady said...

Gena - your wall hanging and my knitting could probably share closet space, then! :)

Cheryl Kohan said...

That's pretty, B.L.! I haven't ever tried hooking rugs but I think it looks like fun. Am definitely adding it to my "stuff to try" list.

the Bag Lady said...

Cheryl - it IS fun! And can be practical, too.