This May, I finished my whale rug, Windrose Whale that I had blogged about in April. It was a delightful pattern to hook, and I’m excited to offer it at my ETSY shop. As I said before, the whale with the compass rose, floating roses and arching branches was a fun rug to create. I had barely finished hooking Windrose Whale, when I got the idea to make another whale rug. I was curious. What if I used the exact SAME whale, but changed everything else. Could I create a totally different feel to this new rug. That is how, Find Your Anchor, came to be. The whale is the same shape, but the color ..read more

With an upcoming workshop to teach in just two weeks, I should be dyeing wool, writing out lesson plans, getting organized. And, truth be told I am doing all that, but in between the cracks, I am designing and hooking this sweet whale rug! As I hook, I can think more clearly about what needs to be done. It is a win-win situation because I get a new rug design, and I get more focused on the other things I need to do. I have got a lot of lists on my clipboard. With Windrose Whale, I am still making decisions about color and design. Up until yesterday, the second small scalloped border had been ..read more

Praise Every Morning, size 28" x 50" is a rug I designed last summer that has taken me until now to finally complete. Up until a few days ago, I always referred to this as my "big rug". Usually, a name comes to me as I hook, or often before I even start. Yet with this rug, taking over nine months to complete, I was surprised that a name hadn't jumped out at me. Then I remembered backed to the summer when I was thinking about making a big rug. As the ideas for my rug were coming together, there were several mornings when I would awaken with the song "Morning has Broken" dancing around in my ..read more

These past few weeks I have been lucky enough to spend time in the dye kitchen experimenting with this wonderful dye technique. Marbleizing, the blending of colors onto wool that uses no dye. The technique was invented over 15 years ago by Karen Kahle of Primitive Spirit. I still remember the day she called me to come see the amazing results produced by having colors bleed out onto each other, using no powdered dyes. The wool was breathtaking. Now, years later, as I marbleize my own wool, I am still ridiculously giddy and inspired by the results as I take the wools off the stovetop and unroll ..read more

Valentine's Day seems like the perfect time to be reminded that, "love binds us"! This phrase, "loves binds us" kept bouncing around in my head, as 2016 came to a close. So, of course, when an idea gets caught in my brain, I did what I always do. I pulled up loops and hooked it into art! I like the simplicity of this design and the soft, romantic colors. The background was hooked with mellow greens, camels, gray and other neutrals. The outline of the hearts was hooked with sari silk. I liked the sheen of the silk, and the unpredictable way the loops lay, because of the differing widths of the ..read more

  I like the idea that my first rug of 2017 has the message of love, doves and hearts! Doves Ascending is a hopeful way to begin the year don't you think! The scrolling hearts were the original idea that brought me to my sketch book, the doves came later. However, for over a year now I have wanted to do a primitive style rug featuring doves, and some how, some way, the doves insisted on being part of this design. Interestingly enough, last year, my first 2016 rug, was an antique reproduction that featured a dove. My new design, doesn't look anything like the antique one. My intent was no ..read more

When it comes to hooking, my guiding force has always been, "Hook what makes your heart sing!" Creating these Heart Prayer Flags does just that. Yet, perhaps you are wondering, just WHAT are Heart Prayer Flags? Let me explain... Earlier this year, the idea came to me to create banners. We rug hookers are always thinking of new ways to use our rug hooking skills. We make all sizes of hooked rugs from very large to small. We make table mats, wall hangings, chair pads, stool covers, mug rugs, ornaments, tree skirts, standing hooked items and even little stuffed animals. For me, the original conc ..read more

Making a small hooked mat is a perfect way to experiment with color. Maybe you are in-between projects yet feel the need to have wool and hook between your fingers, so you grab a small design and commence with the hooking. Perhaps you have a large pattern and want to experiment with the colors on a smaller scale, before you commit to using them in a large rug. These scenarios were just the case for me, earlier this summer, when I was finishing a rug. If you are like me, you most likely have another project vying for your attention, before you have even completed the current one! I had a big ..read more

My latest design, Forget Me Not, was inspired by an antique rug. The original piece featured several flowers with a narrow border. I wanted to simplify the array of flowers, and add a geometric aspect to play off of the organic shape of those flowers. Above all, I wanted the design to look muted, time-worn, washed out, soft and faded. The large rose-like flower with the oversized leaf, surrounded by different flowers reminded me of a vintage-type postcard, which made me feel sentimental, hence the name, Forget Me Not. Once I decided on offsetting the two large flower-filled squares, the diam ..read more

In the spring of 2014, three rug hookers, independent of one another, told me I should design a goat rug. And so I did! In this rug, Kids At Play, each goat represents them and their favorite flowers...trillium, hydrangea and the heavenly-scented sweet pea. I love how happy these goats are! It truly is a good day to be a kid! For me, what is even better than designing a rug, is to get to see other rug hookers interpretation of my design. Below are photos of the beautiful rugs made by them. It is really inspiring to see how they make the design their own, whether through subtle color changes ..read more