NEW Paper Rug Hooking Patterns and "ROUNDED SHOULDERS"

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

Etsy shop :)

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