Melbourne Show 2019

We did it. The Melbourne Show for one day. It sounds simple, pack a case, go to show, demonstrate rug making...
There is always a lot of interest in rug making. We didn’t have our big proddy frames and it’s these proggy/clippy/peggy/proddy rugs that the children like to try. However Anne had a standing hoop frame for quilting so managed to let folk have a bit of a go... and lots of people watched or tried hooking too. Plus I got along with my Uzbekistan style rug #2.

It still surprises me that Rug Hooking is so little known in Australia, considering how it parallels quilting in the USA and always has.
But, we did meet Lee, who plans to come on Sunday, so slowly the group is expanding! And we have Veronica as well so that’s two more.

On the way in I bought a coffee at Belgrave’s Blacksmith Cafe and the lovely Alex was wearing this amazing cowl. Her grandfather had spun the wool and she had crocheted it herself. It is done in Crocodile stitch. It was so gorgeous and unusual I asked if I could photograph and post it. Thanks Alex.

I keep meaning to say that another old friend Jennifer Walton, who lives in Far North Queensland, is now a long distance member of our group. Jennie went crazy on tugging after a visit down to mine a little while back. I gave her Miriam’s excellent book and that’s the end of her!

Jen is onto her second rug, this time a hooked rug. She has a good eye as you will see. Pics to follow.

(Too lazy to come and bring a plate, obviously).

We Are Going For Gold With 2 Get Together's This Month.

We are having two Rug Day get togethers this month. Ha ha ha! It comes from not being able to accommodate everyone and then Anne kindly jumped in and said she didn't mind hosting two. We'll meet on this Saturday 13th July and the 27th of July at Warrandyte. I might be able to get my Footy Rug finished so I can go back to my big Uzbeki style rug (I'm always doing way too many things at once).
If you are interested in coming along, email me at r.m.square@bigpond.com or message/call 0410876096. If you call, leave a message if I don't answer or I'll think you are spam!
We've only just had a lovely day at Anne Marie's new place too, so the keen-ness is showing. That's because it's so enjoyable and the company is good!

Old rug I bought 25 years ago.

Another by the same woman. Her husband had heaps of them at St. Andrew's market one day and I bought four. Crimpelene, for the most part.

Joy working on her stair rugs. You can see her small oil painting in the background. 

Two rugs of mine, vying for attention amongst the knitting, the embroidering, the dressmaking and Oh, the working and cleaning.

A Quiet Day At The Patch

Saturday 25th of May was a quiet one at my home in The Patch (Victoria, Australia). Anne, Katherine and myself (Robyne) were joined briefly by my friend Nicole, who had a little go at hooking. I want to convert her of course, but two dogs, four young boys and a full time job keep her busy enough and she said she despairs of any poor rug that lays on their floors just now. I do assure her that children grow (and, shhh, eventually leave home).

I hope the rest of our team were too busy to get along, rather than didn't realise we had a get together. Sooorrryy!! I forgot to send out a reminder....

Katherine working on her Magpie Rug (below). 

Getting there with the Footy Rug. I find if I leave it in the lounge room, I go to it more often, rather than away from the tele in the sewing room. Boring!

Nicole and I are each making 'Calla', a lovely patterned shawl. I dyed some Bendigo Woollen Mills alpaca in two shades of this lovely teal. Mine (the darker) is finished (I started way ahead of Nicole, who is the far better and more dedicated knitter).
We're going to swap our leftover yarn at the end to make complimentary cuffs.

Jennifer Walton, who joined in in spirit from the Atherton Tablelands in FNQ, has finished her first combined proggy/hooky rug! Excepting for the binding (which will no doubt be done by now).
Such finesse! Jen said she spent an aeon preparing the flowers beforehand. So proud! 

Calla. The colour is much darker than this really. It was useful yesterday, out and about in the freezing cold.

Jennie Walton's New Obsession

My dear friend Jennie Walton came to stay a while back, and I showed her my rugs and how to make them. I gave her a copy of Miriam Miller's fabulous book 'Proggy & Hooky Rugs' which is a clear and excellent cover-all of instruction.
Armed, Jennie went home and started! This, her first rug, has a hooked background surrounding prodded flowers.
Jen has always taken a new craft on like a crazy person, mastering techniques in her stride, without the timidity.  Growing up surrounded by the artistry of her father Brian Evans, she has a great eye for detail.

UPDATE: Made using scraps of silk, suede, felt, cotton, velvet, cotton/wool yarn, light blue satin dress, T shirt, and a piece of polyester! The backing is an old hessian curtain bought from the market (heaps left too). In other words, Every kind of  material is here!
Incorporating hooked, shorn-hooky and proddy work.

THE NEXT GET TOGETHER IS AT MY PLACE (ROBYNE'S) IN THE PATCH ON THE 25TH OF MAY. Phone 0410876096 or email r.m.square@bigpond or call any of us or comment here for instructions on how to get here. 10am onward.

'Buda' Traditional Arts Fair at Castlemaine

Anne and I spent a warm day at Buda yesterday, talking to people and demonstrating our rug making.
I managed to get some bad photo's of the rugs inside the old homestead. The tour of the house was taken by an Enthusiast of the history and she described a family of largely unmarried girls who were encouraged and educated in anything they fancied and led a very adventurous life. It's worth a read here, and definitely worth the tour, although I'd like to go back and look at my leisure (knowing the story). The whole place, inside and out, has been donated to the Castlemaine Art Gallery, which also hold a fabulous collection and is worth a visit.

These Hooked Rugs are made on the old latch-hook canvas (which is so much harder to use than hessian or linen). A lady did a demonstration in the garden but we had to admit it was hard not to butt in! It was suggested you Must Put Latex or Thinned Glue on the Back to keep it together! Exclamation Mark! We politely didn't say anything and at least there was a bit of interest.
She did use a latch-hook with the latch sticky-taped shut, which isn't a bad idea and they are easily found in op shops. 
But I wanted to say how much Cheaper and Easier it is to work on hessian. And they don't fall apart. And come inside and look at ours!

Here I am working on the footy rug.

Anne with her newest proddy, started for the show (I think).

This one was behind a cabinet and in shadow. I really like it! 

Plod, Plod....

I'm still working on it every weekend, although knitting has gotten in the way a little, and some embroidery of late... I leave it at my Dad's house, where I spend a couple of days a week. I used to bring it home every time, thinking (with weekly renewed enthusiasm) that I'd work on it between times, but never do.
However, having nothing else to do (much, at least) for two days (which includes a long evening in front of the tele) means I can get a lot done.

The green is stronger/clearer than in the photo (phone-photo). 

This motif is a different shade at each end, only because I was seeing what the other colour was like and whether or not it was better. I like them both so they'll stay different. Same with the oink flower motifs. Each is slightly different.
It's huge! And will take ages yet...

Using the old ironing board (with a mini one on top) gives me good standing height. Better for creaking back.

The Chaise Rug

The rug is 220 x 112cm. Backing fabric is nylon (I think). I 100% prefer to use linen, but couldn’t get it wide enough. I don’t really like working on this stuff as it splits a bit and it feels plasticky. The hooking is wool.

Much as I love hooking with silks etc., it’ll use tons of fabric and I don’t have it. I do, however, have heaps of old blankets and plenty of dye.
The drawing is roughly based on the Uzbekistan style of textile. I just love Central Asian textile designs, particularly Uzbeki, with their organic, hand-drawn, flowing motifs and pointiness. They are embroidered but lend themselves to hooking.
I made one already, which looked good in front of the beautiful old chaise (and rubbish in its intended position), so decided to do this new biggie and the first can go somewhere else. The chaise is covered in deep cerulean blue French (hand-woven) brocade, the absolute centre-piece in the house, so any rug needs to be a bit glowing and a bit subtle, hence the warm grey background. It deserves a major chunk of my time!
In the central, large polka-dot area, The big orangey-yellow dots are raised, Waldoboro style, which should look good as seen from an angle. That bit will be under the middle of the chaise.

The One True's Standing Mat

'This here's the wattle
the emblem of our land
you can stick it in a bottle
or hold it in your hand'
(Monty Python's 'Bruce' sketch)

What you can't see from my crummy phone photo's is that the wattle blossoms are raised a bit.

My hubby has a lot of pets. Wild birds. They come and sing or chortle outside our bedroom window if they see us there. He's their friend. So when he said he wanted a pad to stand on while at his easel, painting, I thought, there you go.

Bambi Is Finished!

(Lousy phone camera. It's not so highly contrasting, nor the reds/oranges/purples as bright)

I finally finished my Bambi Rug (last night)! Yes, after 6 months (although a lot of that time I didn't touch it excepting at the weekends, so it could have been quicker).

We (the One True and I) went on an emergency trip to Kazari in Prahran last Saturday, because, even though I have as much fabric as they do, I didn't have anything that looked right for the rug binding. Nothing! And, being silks and cottons (and nylons), I wasn't going to use wool (which I could dye the right colour but which wouldn't look right, texture-wise).

I managed to find (within the first minute) the perfect colour and a pleasing texture to use. An old kimono, unlined, $20. You can see it in this awfully blurred and temporary photo (which shows the colour well, nonetheless). It's fluffy because I cut off-grain and the back-colour shows at the edges (an old shell-pinky shade). Noice.

I also had to have a $10 length of gorgeous, purple, silk-satin damask (amazing colour), and... a shell thingy and a fabulous ceramic bird in jade green. While I was choosing the fabric (and I looked at every roll of cloth in the shop, but came back to the first choice) my Fella went to the art supply shop and spent loads of money. Loads. So, our $20 ended up being nearly $300. Sooo naughty.

But we don't care.

Bambi's now in pride of place in front of the chaise, looking the wrong size but nearby enough, for the moment, to gaze upon all of those beautiful mostly vintage silks.

Anne's Santa Star Rug

"My Santa Star Rug finally finished, although not quite, still the binding to do and a few spaces I need to fill in and a steam.

A pattern by Leah Smith, it was originally intended for a star shaped pillow or on a board, but I decided to turn it into a rug instead as I thought it would make for easier storing when not in use.

Measures 26"(66cm) by 24 1/2"(62cm) done in a #8 cut wool.

What to finish next??  Or start!!"

Still Thinking Of Magdalena Briny Eby

Well, I am still thinking of Magdalena Briner Eby,ish... though not trying to copy her so much as starting with her work in mind. She had a fantastic, organic style, and this rug has been growing too, rather than following any pre-known or colour plan. I like to begin with the Must Use fabrics or Definitely Will Include colours, and then follow their lead.

As usual, in so doing, I make work for myself. But the idea of using old clothes and fabrics dictates the colours and you can't always know what works, in advance. As opposed to dyeing woollen cloths to suit, that is (where you obviously have a plan).

I've really made inroads into my (often) Japanese silk and my (unwearable) vintage clothes stashes! It feels at once wasteful and the exact opposite. You can't see the details of prints etc., but the lusciousness abides! And I don't do so much embroidery these days so it's just sitting there accusing me.

Scribbles become intelligible if you Add Too Many!

These are just crummy 'phone shots. My camera had Alzheimer's. So... the colours aren't good in this overall shot. Probably, the first photo is most accurate.

Not So Nylon Now



The background is following a mood of Magdalena Briny Eby, sort of. I don't have a plan so much as am working abstractedly. Originally I thought I'd use all blues, then all drabs, but now the combo of shades and colour is melding the dear little deer into the image, rather than having it too prominent. I think the (wide) border will be striped, fanning outwards? Hmmm... not sure yet.

The beginning of the rug was Grandma's clothes, but the fabrics I've accumulated over many embroidering years are Vast and Silken, so they come into it when the colour is right. It's nice to work with silks too.

I almost 100% refuse to buy synthetics, but sometimes there's bling that wants in.

I've been cutting my strips off grain. Not particularly on the bias, just enough to avoid fraying. Or, cutting wide and folding the raw edges into the centre. I have an iron set up next to my table. The more I do, the less I use the iron though, and just hold it in. I've never really been terribly fond of 'rows' of loops, so try to twist them a bit... it depends. The ironed strips are very uniform as loops you see.
A few of the silks I've had to hold two strips (worms) as they haven't been thick enough to stay.
I'm really enjoying this rug... do I say that every time? This feels more me than the last (fox seat cover) and I'm learning loads. It's harder on the hands to use regular fabric... wool is so gentle, but worth the effort! I've used an old skirt of mine that I wore to death and fading. It's a nice pink and now it's all gone and no longer a burden (burden as in, sitting in my stash wanting to be used). I LOVE using up my fabric! My lifetime goal is to use all of my fabric.

Rememberance Day Poppy Project

Here are Jen's poppies for the 5000 poppies project.

 

To quote the website:

 

Between 2014 and 2018 Australia will commemorate the Anzac Centenary, marking 100 years since Australia’s involvement in the First World War.
The aim of this project is to create a field of 5000 poppies which will be displayed publicly in Melbourne on ANZAC Day 2015 as a community tribute to commemorate more than a century of service by Australian servicemen and women in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations in which Australians have been involved.
Now I know that 2015 seems a long way off … But there is a LOT of work to be done between then and now and a milestone or two to meet along the way.
Poppies can be crocheted, knitted, felted or stitched in any design you like and must, of course, be RED and no more than 15 cm in diameter.  That’s the only criteria.



Please follow the link to find patterns and updates about the project. As of September 2014, the count is 35,000! What was once a goal of 5000 has now jumped to a goal of 102,784. You'll have to read up on what the significance of the number is.

Jen's hooked poppies will be a different note in the scrum!

The Ruggy Seat Covers

OK, here they are. I like the first (pink tabby) the best.

I want to avoid the direction I'm heading, style-wise, and need to think on it a bit.

I like him, and I love the colours, but...

Blossom. You can still get a pattern for Blossom if you email me at r.m.square@bigpond.com. For free that is. If you're new, there are a few tips you might find useful.

There is minimal dyeing here, just the tan colours in the ears. It makes for a different look I feel, and may be part of what I like. I love dyeing though, so there's loads to ponder.

Foxy didn't feel as if it needed bobbles. It's quite chunky. Overall, Foxy gives a lovely warm hue to the kitchen.

Developing your own (my own) style means thinking about (and applying) what you like and don't like. I find that if I have references around me while I work (in Foxy's case it was various photo's of foxes) then I will go in that direction unless I purposely redirect my thinking.

I guess that indicates that there is a style that comes unbidden (and is therefore my own natural tendency), and a style that I seek to satisfy my brain (for example, I can truly hate my drawing style. I have always to apply discipline to avoid going to a hateful place). It's better if I draw my picture, from whatever references I like, then refer to my drawing instead of the photo's. If I get that right, the rest will follow. Ish.

But, it's not a biggie. It's not Rembrandt. It's all fun and when I say fun I mean heaps of fun. Rug hooking is a lovely thing to do.