My newest hooking project, and some wool color help..please ??

I really want to do this project in these colors for some reason ?? They are almost neutrals except for the green and coral or burnt pinkish tone, but I have a really big problem ( well, for me it's big....lol), I don't have anything in the right hues...And...I don't have any acid dyes ...So I know that what I'm going to need to do is eiter " marry" some of my wools or "stew" them to get the right colors, or at least closer to it then what I already have...

Now, I know I hae been a pain asking question after question since I started my hooking adventures, but please, have mercy on me .....lol
I know most of you hookers out there have done these techniques, one or all, so ANY helpful advice or hints will be greatly appreciated...These wools , not all but most, have already been overdyed..does that make a difference in the process of marrying or stewing to change the tone or hue or whatever ??
Thank you in advance folks...I love you all for all of the help you've given me already..
ugs,
Robin

Very Quickly...Petunia Prairie Bunny Pattern Avalable !

Petunia Prairie Bunny Dool on Spindle


She is the sweetest little prairie girl. You could have her out just for Easter/Spring or all year ...

Price: US$6.50






I stayed up way too late to finish this..I must say night night now...LOL

*NEW* Petunia Prairie Bunny...pattern coming

I worked on this gal yesterday, and had hoped to get he pattrn done, but spent most of the day visiting with a friend and my daughters and Grandson Keegan...so all was not lost !!
Here is a long view of her. I attached her to an old beehive bobbin..a bigger one, but you could use anything really...
Her face is needle sculpted and I used wire for her whiskers...

I hope you all have a fun day being creative !!
Robin

Another talented lady....and..I finished my rug....

First off, I wanted to spotlight this talented gal...Sherry of " From Sherry's Heart "(fromsherrysheart847) always has something wonderful up for sale, whether on Ebay or she is also a member of our new selling group " Primitive Handmades Mercantile" ...
I am so thrilled she used a few of my designs for her creations...click on her name to go and bid on one of her lovelies !!
And now...onto my finished rug...Let me first say this...If you didn't read any of my last few posts or the comments that were left, you need to first, otherwise you just won't quite get the gist of it...
This is what you get when you tell me I can't do anything right, or that I will never finish what I've started :

I'm referring to a little discussion...errrr....argument between my mother in law and I when I announced I was going to take the entrance exam for Nursing School...
Not only did those biting remarks inspire me to finish, but I graduated class Valedictorian, and received a few other awards..now I'm not bragging, just stating a fact and don't get me wrong...I love my mother in law dearly, but we went a few rounds when I was younger....lol
So with that all said...I am even more determined to keep hooking ( after not so nice comments were made..allthough some were instructional...lol)And...I know I made " mistakes" I'm not representing my rug as perfect, I may still fix a few things, but hey ...here is the finished rug ...for now ....


Thank you so much....all the encouraging comments, some were so sweet, others were quite funny ...and sweet !!
Now, onto my next project...I am designing a Bunny Doll and creating the pattern...Then, another hooked project...hmmmm..thinking, thinking...

Everyone has an opinion....but ...

You know, I don't believe in moderating my comments on my blog, unless they are obscene or "hateful" personal attacks.
I've received many sweet compliments about my hooking projects, and I know they come from the heart with most , some God Bless you , you are probably just being sweet and polite......lol...and a few...well, maybe they aren't formed in the fashion that we have come to expect...Most of us have a tendency to tippy toe around an issue or like the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, we figue if we ignore it or pretend we can't see it, it doesn't exist....
Now, if ayone wants to critique my work , my beginning efforts at whatever pool of art form I am dipping my toes in, please feel free. I put it out there, I am a realist enough to know that not every question or story or little peek into my life is going to attract honey and roses...There's alot of opinions out there, some not always so nice....
Here's my opinion or " take" on some of the not so nice comments that have been posted on my blog by a person, concerning my hooking progress...
I am a TYPE A personality, but I try to hide it behind a sweet exterior and jovial personna....I am the quickest to rip myself up one side and down the other when critiquing my work. Sometimes with good reason, others at the hand of the critical person inside me that just can never quite get it " good enough".
I was raised in a certain environment, where there was a constant drive to do better. To be all that you can be, and better. I'm referring to Catholic School of course...I love it though....Within those walls of strict rules and consistent attention to striving for pefection, I felt I had nowhere to go but up. Most people are like that though, If you are surrounded by standards of excellence, unless you are truly rebellious, you will rise to the level of wherever your personal bar has been set.
All philosophy aside, I actually welcome the comments and helpful direction that this person has given about my hooking. There is a part of me that says, " take it easy on me, I AM just starting out, and it is supposed to be enjoyable !!", but another part of me says " If I raise the bar to this standard, maybe I can acheive this level of success in my technique...SOME DAY !"..
I will though, draw the line, when it comes to comments, that attack the lovely folks and my blogging friends that want me to stay motivated by gentle suggestion , and encouraging compliments. Like the mother in me says...dish it all you want to me, but leave my kids out of it !!!....lol
So...I posted another pic of my progress on my rug. I haven'y " fixed" uneven loops ...yet .... I have probably made tons of mistakes in regards to my hooking technique, but let me say this ...I am enjoying the experience as I go...I AM learning...I WILL get better with more practice...I am taking all helpful hints into consideration...but I have to accept that I am not going to be perfect, maybe I will never be truly successful in rug hooking as far as going to the heights of it becoming an award winning art form for me .....That's ok ....But ,I won't ever disregard useful information either....
Last comment : If I were paying BIG MONEY for hooking lessons, I would at least rather throw my money to someone who has a kinder, gentler way of saying I'm doing a crappy job !!!....lol
And ending on a more fun note...I got my plethora of overdyed wool I ordered on Ebay ..


Awesome wool !! some of the colors are a bit brighter than they looked in the pictures, but I'm ure some of you can give me "polite" tips on how to tone it down a bit ....lol
Have a constructive, creative day !!
Robin

Bunny Rug Begginning ...hmmmm

I'm not real sure my mind is made up whether I am liking this so far...I love the color wools that were gifted to me, but I'm not working them right ??

I am happy however with the skill level I've nudged my way too...I am starting to get the hang of the even loops and not hooking so tight. I AM Loving hooking, that is a positive !! I can't wait to get better, and learn some new skills...color planning is a challenge for me... But I guess that all works out in time..Tell me I'm right please ??
Hugs,
Robin

Experimenting Dyeing wool with Rit Dye...

I have been reading alot of blogs and tutorials about dyeing wool with Rit dye instead of the cushing or other dyes used specifically for wool. The lady from the shop where I purchased some hand dyed wool insisted that you can dye wool with just about anything from food coloring and kool aid to onion peels.( yuck, does it stink ??...lol)
So here is what I did... First off, I had purchased an old blanket from Salvation Army years ago. It was probably a full size. I had washed and dried it right away, but it was just an ugly pinkish tan color, I never wanted to use it for anything.
I didn't had red or yellow dye , just tan, brown, black, royal blue, orange and hunter green.
I cut the blanket up into smaller manageable pieces, and I also had to other types of a very gaudy red wool I wanted to tone done.
I soaked all my pieces in just a squirt of cascade rinse for dishwashers. This, I've read does something to the wool to make it more porous to accept the dye...The rit dye isn't acidy ??? like the others like Cushings, so this increases the color absorption. I added about 1/4 cup white vinegar to the color bath, and 1/4 cup vinegar to the rinse water also.
The problem with the old blanket was that it didn't want to accept the dye enough to cover what little color it had, until I added almost too much of each color I was using.The green that I had was hunter green..I had originally intended to add a small amount of that and a bit of tan to make kind of a sage color. Didn't work, I ended up using too much hunter and tan and it ended up almost like a black green....
The two different types of red wool started to bleed alot in the pre-soak, so I added just a hint of orange and a dash of tan and it came out almost a nice deep brick red.



Oh, I found a piece of real light tan and added that to the blue with a touch of tan...That piece came out nice, but I had to add more blue for the blanket piece to dye up and it came out too dark of a blue...






Well..all together, I'd say it was a learning process, and I'm happy with the fact that at least now I have some nice big pieces of wool that are at least some not too bad usable colors....
I will be looking for more wool skirts and jackets from the thrift stores and trying other colors and shades out...I think it was fun !! I have sore arms though from all the wringing out, but I did throw it in the washer for quick spins as I went along,to get the last bit of excess liquid out of the pieces...
Good Night !
Robin