Hall Rug Inspirations

I figured out the middle, fish. I had drawn a dove but it looked weird upside down so left it blank.
Hubby is a keen fisherman. KEEN. And looking at ancient mosaic floor images I caught the vibe!
Inspired also by Heronimous Bosh and his weirdly scaled creatures...
I’m busting to start and determined not to yet.

I need to slightly tweak the fish so they read from both ends and have no  right side up.
Follow the tag ‘Hall Rug’ for a progression.

Leather Rug Hooking Gauntlet Pattern

Make sure to do a backstitch section at the edges. Notice I have left the unseamed edges raw, being leather. Just noted in case you want to hem.

To protect my hand, wrist and forearm from the nastiness of Gripper Strip rug frame injury, I made a single gauntlet using soft leather. I find it easier than using the cover and I can see the whole of the area I'm working on.

I have (or am about to) put the pdf  files on The Victorian Rug Makers,Yarra Valley Group Facebook, so you can download the actual size. If you search 'gauntlet' you'll find them.
I have broadish hands but thinnish wrists. I suggest you adjust the pattern with paper and sticky tape before cutting into any leather. Or run it up in calico.

Right, The Chaise Rug Saga... What Next?

Jo Franco asked me to show how much I'd done and it's at a good point to regroup anyway. 

Right, well, firstly... This rug is to go underneath an old chaise, hence the 3D effect on the dots. The legs go in the middle of the space in each corner, so the 3 outside 'flowers' surround them.

I can see I need to actually lay it out under the chaise, sigh. Boring! (Update. I did and I'm very happy with everything as it is. Phew!).

Question to myself (and to you): I'm not sure about the green anymore. There's a clear green in the ancient Bulgarian rug which will be in the same room, but the green blanket I've used is very clean and crisp. It might need to be removed. While I'm at it, I'm not sure about the apricot either! But I'll wait on that one. And the larger flowers' centres.
Answer: The green glows and picks up on the shine of the French hand-loomed silk upholstering. There's a story behind this chaise too...

This is the first rug I did, which inspired the newby. I love these dirty greys, but made the new one  more duck egg blue. Nice. Very happy about that. But I'm noticing how earthy that one is and I like that. This one is getting too candified. Buggrit! Bit depressed but I'll push on through!The dirty pink works nicely so maybe I need to replicate that mood. I already said buggrit!

These dotted lines are more subtle.

You can't see well with these photo's, but all is well, it looks good. I made coffee so I could sit and problem-solve, putting my big person pants on in case I really needed to pull a lot out and do it again. But no.. I'll just plug on.

I think the ends can be oval. The chaise may end up anywhere after the renovations and the rug neds to be a frame for it plus fit against a wall or in the open. Plus, I might replicate the leafy swathes as on the frst Uzbekistan inspired rig and as drawn on the fabric. Not sure what colour yet.
Thanks Jo! If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have gone through this experimant and may have sunk into depression!

Bobby's Grandma's Bouclé Wristwarmers

New little pattern available for $3AUD in my Ravelry or Etsy shops.

My vast hoard of yarn includes a few snippets of very old wool, given to me by my Grandma. One of these is the gorgeous lavender pebble-dashed bouclé seen here, which is now all but used up. It must be at least fifty years old. Good thing I hung on to it huh? Always a sensible thing to do. 

I did (and do) intend to make another pair of these, using the leftover wool purchased for my Fair Isle Thistle Wristwarmer's and Tam o'Shanter. I'll add them as a project on Ravelry very soon.

OK, so my original plan was to see how far I could take the 10 balls of Jamieson's Spindrift, but I was distracted by the bouclé.