Tiny mat

Remember the hooked rug kit that I found? Here it is all worked up and finished - it's about 5 x 6 inches. I'm using it as a coaster on the table beside my hooking frame.

I've made some changes to it from the original design. When I started hooking, the yarn that came with the kit was meant to be used as the green in the bottom part - leaves, I guess. But, I disliked hooking with the yarn; it was too thin and slippery. So, I got out some other greens but couldn't see what I wanted: I was looking for a bright yellow-green. I had a Kool-aid dyed piece that was pretty bright but too green. Time for the dye-pot.

I took a piece of plain yellow and put it in hot water with a lot of salt and the darker green piece. As the fabrics simmer, over about a half-hour, the dye will leach out of the fabric and should make a mottled combination of the two colors. This it did but the mottling is pretty subtle. A big gulp of vinegar to set the color and I was happy.

I like how the yellow has seeped into the green as well as the green going to the yellow. The two fabrics are now totally different from their parents. The photo doesn't give the true finished colors but the close-up of the little mat is pretty accurate. The original dark green is still darker than the yellow fabric became.

Then I used the yarn to bind the edges. I quite like this little piece. It's supposed to be tall flowers like lupines or foxgloves that grow wild in grassy spaces. I can see that but it looks as though the field was being looked at through a rainy-day window.

A find

This is my latest thrift store treasure. Isn't this amazing? It's an entire rug hooking kit which I assume was purchased at a group lesson. This person took the class, made copious notes and began to hook but for some reason abandoned the effort. And then, apparently, abandoned the whole idea of rug hooking. The Joan Moshimer book came with the package. So, I have a small wooden frame with backing stapled on. Enough cut strips to make the flower picture, a hook and the binding materials. All for well under $5. Oh, the student was hooking a heart for some reason. That's easily changed back to the original kit design.

The design is from a local artist, Michelle Sirois-Silver, and I do admire her designs. She has a wonderful sense of color and balance. I'll enjoy hooking this little piece up. Then I can save the frame and hook for when I get to teach one of the grandkids how to hook rugs. A few years yet, maybe.