We're talking projects people!   

Nothing makes a fiber artist want to share her work more than compliments!  Since I got so many compliments at Green Mountain Rug School this year, I have decided to share it below.  I took some cool photos of it through out production.  Enjoy!

Photo 1 - Just Getting Started
This pattern is one of our Green Mountain Designs called Seth.  I started this project back in October of 2015.

Photo 2 - OK - this is fun!
I had picked out all the wool I needed and was off an running!  I loved the way my green leaves were looking. (yes, that is a glass of wine in the bottom corner).

Photo 3 - OK - this is HARD!
I had to hook the nuts and orange leaves in a size 4 cut... I was not pleased about that.  In addition, my orange leaf looked like a blob.  Mom suggested I change the vein to something closer to the orange and make sure I pack my loops together.

Photo 4 - Progress
Most of my green leaves were in.  Hooking objects in the foreground and background is really hard and I was way out of my comfort zone.  I had to find a way to make them look distinctive.  I did that mostly with the color of my wool, but also tried to shade a few parts.  That worked in most places except the leaf right in the middle, what a mess!  Oh well, my first rule of rug hooking... I am not allowed to pull anything out (hence blobby leaf stays). 

Photo 5 - My Long, Lost Love
I started to hook the background in... a Heaven's to Betsy wool called Cotton Eyed Joe.  This is literally the best wool I have ever hooked with and I am not just saying that because we sell it (though we do).  The loops pulled through the backing like butter and it added a lot of movement to my rug without overpowering it.  I loved it so much, I skipped the boarder and hooked it all the way to the edge!

Photo 6 - Production comes to a halt
I am finding my project difficult to finish thanks to our one year old Golden Retriever, Freddie.  Not helpful.

Photo 7 - C'est Fini!
My completed project below!  Again, look at how nice the background came out.  You may see Cotton Eyed Joe in future art work of mine... also notice how the crummy shaded leaf in the middle and blobby leaf stayed put - I do not pull out!  I am still very happy with how it turned out.  Its a learning process!

This blog post got too long, so I decided to split it into two.  Read about my new project in part two of this blog titled "Are you there wool?  It's me, Lindsay".  I will post part two on Friday morning, July 15th.  A preview of the pattern is below...

Green Mountain Design - Cat on a Fence