Hello everyone! We hope you have had a great April, and are enjoying the warmer weather. April has been a very busy month for Ania: it was her birthday, she spent a week at rug school, and she had to complete some very serious gardening. To wrap up the month, we thought we could feature a pattern we’ve shown previously: Paisley Rainforest. Back in November, we shared a post on the inspiration behind the pattern, and now here is another update.
Below, see the (almost) finished rug, and read about Ania’s process!
What were you most excited about, when it came to hooking this pattern?
It was by my daughter, her first design. That was exciting. It is not the easiest pattern, it is definitely a challenging piece to hook.
How did you approach elements like color planning for this project?
The complexity of the pattern and its size meant that I knew it would be hooked in a #3 cut. I’m a fan of bright colors, but I was specifically inspired by Lily Pulitzer’s signature colors – the bright pinks and greens.
Every single color in the motif is straight out of one bottle of dye. My goal in doing the 8 value swatches, was to select the values based off of the color wheel that I’ve created. This color wheel is actually available to buy! If anyone is interested they can reach out to me.
What are you most proud of in this rug? What was the most difficult aspect to complete?
I was most proud of how this was a mother-daughter team event. My daughter designed it and I hooked it! Like I mentioned, this rug was really challenging. The most important aspect of the color planning was the color placement in the central three motifs in the pattern. They are the two paisleys and one leaf, and once that was figured out, I could repeat those colors in the other elements by triangulating the colors used in those initial elements throughout the rest of the piece. By doing that, I think the eye moves smoothly over the piece.
A lot of people like to hook in all medium values. A method to use when you’re using swatches is to ensure you don’t use up one value in a swatch too early in the hooking process. It is a fun game to play with oneself; give it a try sometime!
Do you have any other comments about this rug?
I really liked working with the bright colors – it was fun playing with the shading and teaching others how to use the bright colors and swatches. Some of my students were even afraid of using the swatches, so it was fun allowing them to explore something that intimidated them,but ultimately gave them great joy and built confidence in their own abilities.
We hope you enjoyed this post, and seeing this rug. We have an additional surprise coming up in May – consider it a part two to this post! Feel free to let Ania know what you thought of this piece in the comments.
My Mother's a Hooker 