Learning to rug hook is a journey. It can be a confusing process where you spend hours on the internet looking for an answer to a simple question. When you find what you think is the answer, the directions are confusing or incomplete or worse — just plain wrong.
Or… because you joined the Rug Hooking Journey, you can concentrate on just the information you need for where you are on the Journey. I work really hard to be sure all my instructions are written with all the details you need. They are complete but not bloated with information you don’t.
These stages are newborns. I am still working on adding links. If you see something that belongs on one stage or another, please help me out. Send me an email at howtorughook@gmail.com.
Getting Ready: the Seed Artist
The seed idea of rug hooking is planted
What is rug hooking? How do the loops stay in? Where do I get supplies? Is it easy? What if I don’t have any artistic talent? Where do I find other rug hookers? You love fabric and are unsure abut what to do with wool, but you want to know more.
If you answer YES to these questions you are just Getting Ready:
- Do you wonder if this is something you can do?
- Have you just discovered rug hooking?
- Do you still need to find equipment and supplies?
- Do you dream of creating beautiful rugs for your home?
What you will accomplish by the end of this stage:
- You will have all your equipment and suppplies
- Your rug hooking journal will be set up
- Your Rug Hooking Journey Notebook will be set up and ready for the lessons you will print out as you go through the lessons.
The First Steps: Emerging Artist
Time to start growing
You are on your way. You have all your supplies and are ready to pull basic loops. You are willing to try and experiment. This is great fun. Meeting new people has really brightened your week. You still use pre-printed patterns and use a photo of another rug as a crutch. It is OK at this stage to depend on guidance from other rug hookers or a teacher.
If you answer YES to these questions you are taking the First Steps:
- Do you need to learn or improve the basic rug hooking technique?
- Are you struggling to pull up loops?
- Are you confused on where to begin or what to do next?
What you will accomplish by the end of this stage:
- You can pull loops with ease.
- Your technique is not perfect, but it is improving every day.
- You can hook in all directions.
Going Forward: the Growing Artist
You are using your new skills
Now that you are confidently pulling up loops you wonder, what else? You are beginning to notice things that you never did before, such as the shadow on a fence post or the shading in the sky. Everything around you becomes a potential rug subject. Now you just need to decide what to hook next! You throw out the photos of other peoples rugs because you know you can create even better rugs. Black line drawings hold so many more possibilities. You are still searching for your own unique style.
If you answer YES to these questions you are Going Forward:
- Are you ready to experiment?
- Do you concentrate less on technique and more on color?
- Are you searching for your personal style?
What you will accomplish by the end of this stage:
- You can color plan your rugs and feel confident in your choices.
- You can hook for long periods without pain or injury.
- You are beginning to get an idea of your individual unique style.
Here are the basic lessons for the Going Forward Stage:
Basic Color Planning Techniques
Attend an in-person rug hooking workshop
Adding shadows and shading for more interest
Applying the More is More theory
You are a Rug Hooking Artist
You call yourself an artist
You are beginning to zero in on your own unique personal style. You have given yourself permission to call yourself an artist. You need to claim this before others will call you an artist. Put it on a business card, even if you don’t have a business. Take time and pleasure every day to notice your surroundings and truly see. You are not afraid to create artwork that does not look like other rug hooker’s work. You are confident with most of your color choices and are designing your own patterns.
If you answer YES to these questions you are an Artist
- Can you hook any style and design?
- Do you feel comfortable teaching others?
- Are you willing to experiment and think outside the box?
- Have you created your own designs?
- Do you feel your own unique style developing?
What you will continue to accomplish in this stage:
- You will discover and rediscover your own unique style.
- You are seeing possibilities everywhere.
- The sky is the limit.
- Learn how to achieve the look you want, such as painterly
Here are the basic lessons to continue being an Artist:
Creativity Lessons
Trends and new things I have discovered in rug hooking
Polishing your skills
Finding inspiration
This stage is not something you master and then move on to the next stage. This stage will continue your entire life. You may need to review a lesson or two in an earlier stage from time to time, but as you do, you discover tidbits in these earlier lessons you did not notice before because you are in a different place in your Rug Hooking Journey.
