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.

Hand Spun Mohair Dyed With Walnut Hulls

Left to right: knitted shawl in natural dark alpaca’s and teal possum wool; antique black overdyed dark alpaca (ball); walnut dyed mohair and lastly undyed mohair.

My experiments with using walnut hulls for dyeing continue. I’ve used the whole packet now, but know of a tree up the road I might be able to hunt around to find some more, if the birds and possums haven’t absconded with everything by now.
The colour is amazing! But... I might over dye it. Not sure. I’m not sure I don’t look ill wearing this warm camel brown. This delicious, luscious, beautiful caramel. Perhaps it’s too gorgeous to fuss with?
The mohair takes up the dye much better than the silk or linen, having used a similar amount... oh, I did use the remaining dye from the last pot so perhaps it’s a bit more. Not significantly more though.
I’m thinking of making Kate Davies’s Mouat cowl. I have a dark yarn spun by the same friend, Chris Noorbergen. It’s the overdyed alpaca, dark brown with a blotchy bluish cast pictured above . Then with some undyed mohair, which is a brilliant white, it might be enough colour. Not sure. So many not sure’s.
Thanks so much tomBrenda Liano for the fleece! Xxx

Dyeing With Walnut Hulls

Here I’ve dyed two pieces of even weave linen and a small trial of herringbone twilled raw silk, all for embroidery. Using two heaped tablespoons of husks a friend gave me (bought at Kryal Castle, The Forest & The Fae).
I read up on dyeing with walnut at Woodlark blog, though instead of soaking my cloth in water and vinegar as they do, I used a bit of detergent as I would with wool dyeing. The purpose being to open up the fibres to soak in the dye. I used some vinegar to set the dye after it had been cooking for a while. Quite a while.

You can see the colour, compared to the stark white plastic box behind. One piece had previously been dyed lightly with (I think) red onion skins. But very lightly, ineffectually.
I tried to leave the cloth unagitated so as to get a mottled effect, then threw in a handful of coffee beans and let simmer for a couple of more hours.
I don’t know that these or the lack of agitation made much difference. The dye is quite even across the cloth, saving for a few crease marks. Even though, to look at the pot, a lot of residue was sitting on the top, it didn’t create a darker patch.
It’s a very beautiful taupe colour though, nothing to disappoint. My only concern being it is a cool brown and for an aged look (for a sampler) it might do well to be warmer?
Today I’m going to try some mohair handspun. I’ll add more than the two tablespoons I think and see what happens. A cool brown suits my skin so that will be perfect.
Thanks Nicole!

Update: I’ve decided to try one of the linen pieces in tea. It’s just in a baking tray, sprinkled strategically with tea leaves. Some parts have none or few leaves. 

I’ll leave it overnight then rinse and see what I have.

Also, the mohair is on, brewing as we speak. Someone told me that walnut is acidic, so washing out all residual dye is important. I may even put the mohair into a washing bag, tied so it won’t move about, and machine wash it on a gentle cycle.

Plans For A Hall Rug

I was given a couple of hessian coffee bags and the size lends itself to being a hall rug. We’ll have a hallway when we renovate. It’s a bit over 2 metres long.
I’ve collected designs on Pinterest for some time and made a Short List folder and the feeling became clear. The pictures are largely German folk paintings but remind me of Heronemous Bosch, a favourite. Maybe it’ll change more, who knows? It’s not hard to over draw.

This time, unlike the footy rug, I’ll use colours that fit with how we intend to decorate. Old colours I suppose, though these things change. The figures look a bit cheesy here, but I can imagine them subtlety done and not dominant. No hurry though, I have the other rug to finish. Oh, two other rugs.
Look here.https://www.pinterest.com.au/robynemelia/rug-hooking-inspiration-for-rugs/hall-rug-short-list/

I want to use old clothes and my fabric stash, not wool.