another glimpse of that rug

I have been back at the rug. I affectionately call this rug Annie, because as you probably know, the quotation at either end is from Annie Dillard. These are words to reflect on at any stage of life and so the quotation is perfect for rug hooking especially a rug of this size. Pulling the loops gives you lots of time to think. I promised myself I would not post the rug until all 65 houses were done. But as I approached house #50 I thought it was time. Each house takes about 1/2 hour by the time I choose the colours, cut them and hook. So there has been lots of hooking time already and I still have the background and border to go.

I began the rug with an off the bolt blue. I had 7 yards of it, but realized early that I would not have enough even though my plan involved a switch to green and maybe even yellow. The off the bolt wool had a pronounced stripe and one of the stripes didn’t work in the design. So seven yards weren’t really seven yards. So on Sunday, the first day of glorious rain we have had in Southern Ontario in ages, I got out the dye pots. Below you see some of the blues and greens I dyed. It feels good to know that if my plan to move on to yellow or even yellow green doesn’t work, I will be able to dye enough to finish this big rug.

And below that you see the rug as it lies with 49 houses winding their way around the rug. Eventually there will be 65, because this is my birthday rug–yes, yes, I am now past that marker. And the rug goes on.