So while I was at Virginia Rug Fest a couple of weekends ago,
I was watching some fellow hookers hook their rugs with bent-shank hooks…
I was fascinated by how they used them and tried to use one myself.
I simply cannot.
so, I will stick with what I use ~
... so I can get different effects from my loops.
my '1863 Sheep' rug
is a perfect example of one of my rugs
hooked in a way that I love ~
 |
| 1863 Sheep ©Notforgotten Farm |
if you look closely, you'll see that my loops have what I call 'rounded shoulders'
it's a look that mimics older, early rugs ~
rugs that were crudely hooked with hooks fashioned from old utensils, nails, et….
I also hand cut all of my strips, so they are never too 'commercial' looking for my rugs…
they may start out at 1/4" wide
then
end up being closer to 3/4" wide
but that's ok with me…
 |
| close up of my loops with 'rounded shoulders' |
I achieve the 'rounded shoulder' look by using a wide strip of wool,
and hooking it through my linen with a small hook.
(the girls at Rug Fest were amazed at the tiny little hook I was using!!)
so here is an example:
 |
| green strip of wool is approx 1/4 inch wide |
for this post, I'm using my medium-coarse Miller pencil hook ~
...when I pull my loop through the backing,
I don't "birth" the entire loop up through…
meaning:
I don't intentionally try to pull the complete loop up through to form a 'straight shouldered' loop ~ instead I pull my loop until it just about pops through the wool,
this keeps the edges or what I call
'shoulders' of my loops kind of rolled or turned under ~
 |
| sorry about the blur, I was taking pics with my right hand hand hooking with my left ~ although I am right handed! |
you can see in the pic below that I'm pointing to a row
that I have hooked by completely pulling up the loop, or what I call 'birthing' your loop…
the edges of the loops are straight, or not curled under…
but then I will make rounded shoulder loops to fill in the rest of the way.
 |
| showing 'straight shouldered' loops |
 |
| showing 'rounded shoulder' loops |
... can you see the difference?
(i hope!)
 |
| here's a good shot of those rounded shouldered loops! not tightly packed in, but just not pulled up through all the way… looks like rows of corn kernels to me! |
So, there you have it ~
I'm hoping to shoot a video demo of this technique soon for you to actually see the difference ~
and
the 1863 Sheep PAPER pattern
and the Sunday Dinner PAPER patterns are now available in my
 |
| 1863 Sheep |
 |
| Sunday Dinner |
Lots of work to do around here before the open house on May 3rd ~
the shop will be CLOSED on May 2nd to get the shop ready for the big day…
(of course there will be NO hook in on open house day!)
Have a beautifully creative day my friends!
* Blessed be *
Lori
