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How to Rug Hook

Learn rug hooking without leaving home!

Questions

Use this space to ask questions. If your course has a question option, use that instead. This is the catchall for everything else.

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  1. Cindi Gay says

    From Pat Peschman:

    You asked for questions for our Tuesday office hours. Here are a couple of mine.

    1). When you are hooking and complete an area but still have quite a bit of wool left on the strip do you ever loop it under 1 or more completed rows of hooking to get to an open space or do you always bring the end of the wool up and cut it off, restarting in the open space.

    2). How do you prevent the grippers on your frame from tearing out completed work when you take the piece off the frame to move it.

    3) How would you attach a label to a pillow?

  2. Debbie Wharton says

    In the replay video for 12-6-2022, near the end when you are talking about setting up columns in the NAC and you shared your screen, the video recording posted stays on you and does not show your shared screen.

  3. Linda knataitis says

    I’ve been doing something wrong, I’ve managed to rub the
    the edge of my right hand as well as those knuckles until they bleed on the rug warp. I was glad to see the question with the mole skin as the answer, so I will try that, but it must be something about the way I’m holding my hand as I hook. Suggestions?

  4. David Fuller says

    Hi, Cindi,
    I really wanted to join your beginner rug hooking class on October 8th. Unfortunately our younger daughter will be coming here from Boston. Will I be able to watch it even if I miss it?
    Best, David

    • Cindi Gay says

      This will be offered once a quarter if it is a success. Because I intend this to be specific to the people who attend, the replay may not be of any value. If the lesson is a good one that could be of value to anyone, I will post all or part of it.

  6. David Fuller Fuller says

    Hi, Cindi,
    It was so nice to join the zoom session. I have two questions:
    * What is the best finger protector? My hook has dug into my thumb and my third finger on the right gets sore. Right now I use moleskin.
    • Where can I get the pins to affix a rug to the wall?
    Best, Dave

      • Cindi Gay says

        We have discovered that only people logged into the Vimeo account can view it. That would be me and my editor. I never dreamed that the direct link would not work. I can embed the video but I cannot link to it from the allowed website, hmmm. I’ve since set up a procedure where the video is automatically uploaded to Vimeo and then after it gets processed, I can add it to the lesson.

  8. Becky Groff Groff says

    Cindi,
    I was thinking of doing a project where I leave part of the backing show between hooking. I would like to add some color to the backing. I wondered if there is a way to do the color prior to the hooking? Do you have a recommendation for how I might do that? Regular dye painted on? Thank you. Becky Groff

    • Cindi Gay says

      “Regular dye” would have to be a dye that works with the particular fiber of your backing, such as linen or cotton. Look for something suitable for fabric that does not make the fabric stiff. Any good craft store should have a few options. Good luck.

      In addition, if you have a wool that is too loose to cut up for strips, consider hooking into the wool. Just be careful not to stretch it too tight on your frame while you work and do not pack.

    • Cindi Gay says

      Click on the new icon, All Past Replays. I keep the current year on the first line because it makes it easy to get to. The rest are still available, but are accessible from the page you get to when you click the All Past Replays icon.

  10. Noel Payton says

    I was late in making up my mind (if I even have one!) to join the pencil case/purse so when I went to Amazon they were all sold out of the pencil cases. Are there any other sellers from whom I can buy?

  11. Donna McGraw says

    Hi Cindi,
    I was wounding if you could talk about hooking a monochromatic rug. Were fo you put your values? Hiw many values do you need to make the rug work and not get board when hooking it? I haven’t started my big rug yet. I was thinking about hooking it monochromatic using black.I like the chair pad I did but I think the big rug will be too busy with my furniture. I got the idea from the last book from rug hooking magazine by Donna Hrkman. I think it would be fun but I’m nervous about it too.

    • Cindi Gay says

      Do you own the Practical Color Planning Class? I talk about creating a value study and then using that to hook your rug. Those lessons would be helpful. When we Color Plan, we are actually Value Planning. Choose your color wisely. A cool black to gray is not for everyone, you might want to use something warmer. You could use beiges to brown, for instance.

  12. Kim Hirt says

    How do you use the pen tool?
    How do you get the shape tools to work and have a colored line? I can see them when I open up the line color tool, but then the lines of the shapes disappear when I close the tool.

  13. Patricia Doner says

    The other day you mentioned hooking with mottled, overdyed wool… this type of wool seems to be readily available now. Possibly due to the lack of textures out there. I’ve been hooking for about three years and have always wondered about hooking with mottled/splotchy wool. You mentioned pulling up a loop until you get the color you need for the area being hooked. I get it, but it sure seems like this mottled wool could be wasteful or a pain in the butt! LOL. I’m wondering if you could address this, since it seems our wool choices are going down this avenue.
    Thanks- pat

    Make it a great day!