Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Retreat into the Mountains 2012 ~

The retreat started with a talk on color by Susan Hoekstra of New Jersey.  Susan is a needlepoint designer and an expert in color planning.  I know NOTHING about color and tried my darnedest to grasp what she was saying.


We learned about using a gray scale to determine value.  This tool can help a person decide if there will be enough contrast in colors to hook them next to each other.  I'm hoping practice makes perfect :)


The majority of the hookers were fine cut hookers.  We are talking anywhere from a 2 to a 6.  Even though they were using a narrow cut, they were not doing the fine shading that I normally associate with the smaller cuts.  I have so much to learn!  The four Ohio hookers were all hooking with an 8 and higher and I believe there were only 2 other women hooking with higher than a 6.  It made for a very eclectic group.

* * * * *

Here are some of the rugs in progress.  Forgive me that for the most part I can't remember who hooked what.  I do know these two rugs were started in the same class. 



This was Donna's (Crows on the Ledge) rug at the beginning of the retreat . . .


. . .and this is what it looked like a couple of days later.  I believe she was hooking it in an 8.5 cut.  She was one of the Ohio hookers.


Shirley was another Ohio hooker.  She is hooking this 3' x 5' rug as a wedding gift.  What a lucky couple!


Another Ohio hooker, Melissa ~ and my partner in crime ~ brought this almost completed rug to camp.  It's a Joan Moshimer pattern and she chose the perfect colors.  


Here's the rug I started.  I bought the paper pattern from Debbie of Woolnsails and had it enlarged.  It is an adaptation of an antique rug.  I have not found the time to pull another loop since returning home.  Maybe tomorrow . . . sigh.


Hookers on the porch . . .


 

Susan helping with color planning.


Stay tuned for more rugs.
Pug hugs :)
Lauren

16 comments:

Dog Trot Farm said...

Oh what fun, lots of very talented ladies, what creativity. The color value always confuses me too. Looking forward to more photos. Greetings from Maine, Julie.

acorn hollow said...

a lot of wonderful rugs looks like it was a great group of women and lots of learning.
Cathy

Julia said...

Wow, some lovely rugs and most of them are very large rugs. You did great taking photos.

I'm so glad that you had a great time as I knew you would. Thanks for sharing. JB

Cherry's Prairie Primitives said...

I loved looking at everyones rugs, they were all beautiful!! How fun to learn and create together!!

Janice said...

I love the variety of all these wonderful rugs in progress. It looks like a great retreat.

Mugwump Woolies said...

Looks like a fun time!
Robyn

Andrea@That'll Do Farm said...

Come to the dark side Lauren. A 6 cut is not fine. You can do it and I promise nothing bad will happen to you if you do!!

My Colonial Home said...

You guys don't fool around with little hooked rugs...look at the size of those things. I can't even get a 12 x 18 finished!!!
Karen

The Wool Cupboard said...

Looks like a very beautiful setting for rug hooking! Love all the rug pictures, Lauren...it is always inspiring to see what others are doing.

Please keep sharing!
Linda

jody said...

looks like so much fun! beautiful!~
raining, cold and dreary here yuk! i may have to hook! enjoy your day!

marly said...

I'm a non-hooker that's getting hooked on staring at hookers' fabulous works, which could possibly be called hookamania. I hooked up again as a follower and this time it better work cause I've been missing out on a lot of hooking looking.

TheCrankyCrow said...

I fall behind here (again), come back to catch up, and find you've been off hobknobbing in hooking heaven! Yikes! Those are some beautiful (and BIG) rugs!!! I love the one you're working on....Kinda reminds me of my welcome rugs. (Are you doing that on purpose???) ;o) Smiles & Hugs ~ Robin

prims by olde lady morgan said...

Lauren, OMG!!! so many wonderful rugs, WOW!!!! OLM

Doris said...

Looks like everyone had a great time. Keep that hook moving! Kiss and poat the Pugs for me.
Doris

Deb said...

I love seeing all those rug projects. I like yours so far!!

Ann said...

Glad you had a good time, and have some new ideas about color. Wish you had been in Mansfield - but I'm thinking maybe we will meet in August at Sauder Village. ~Ann