My dear husband hung my retirement hooked rug today. It is in a post near the end of February that I updated and edited today. After we were finished he mentioned that he hung Bob's rug too. Bob adopted us about a 10 years ago. He is an American Bobtail with tuxedo markings. I'll add a pic of him to this post after find one on the computer. He has been quite a clown, and is a great hunter. His favorite prey seems to be the rats that are quite common to this area, although our address is in a suburban area that wouldn't boast about rats. So his rug had to be of him finishing off a rat. Bob will eventually cross the rainbow bridge, as so many beloved pets do, but this will help us to keep our memories of him in his prime. I made it during our first challenge this year for An American Primitive Group.

A Mini Lesson on Color and Value

I thought this was a great time to document the benefits of reverse hooking on a rug. Color choices can make such a difference. Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of the original prior to reverse hooking and choosing a different color for an area. The dark brown of the dirt road went up to the dark purple of the "trailer". From a distance, the trailer just didn't show up very well. Brown and purple and it didn't show up? That was because their value was too close. It is why lots of deep colors can be mixed in with black for an antique black. So I knew change was needed.

My color choices are limited by the fact I don't dye with anything but koolaid. More about that in another post. Most of my wool is upcycled from discarded men's sport coats, ladies blazers, or skirts*trailer is from a tweed skirt* OR hand dyed wool I purchase from other members of Primitive Rug Hooking Group PRHG on ebay. Such as Christy Mason of Double M Sheep! So first the reverse hooking which really just means pulling out the wool strip that is hooked into the backing. My backing, 100 % linen is visible in the photo. You simply find an end and tug to remove it.

If you look below the trailer you'll see a light brown that appears brighter than it is because of the contrast in value. So now the trailer "pops". :) Should make me happy, but sadly, as my hooking experience has developed, thanks to observing the beautiful work of all my rug hooking groups, An American Primitive Gathering in particular, it just won't do. Not only does the trailer pop, but so does the new buffer color. Looks out of place with two darks on either side.

Second reverse hooking, with the really medium brown strips coming out and a sage green plaid strips in their place. Voila! The rug works so much better! :) Blending is quite an improvement over disappearing or sore thumb placement! I like clear bright colors, but not when they stand out like a sore thumb.