Day 276 – 425 Progress on Room-sized Rug

Day 281 I spent the 4th hooking!

As promised, here is another picture of the rug. I made a lot of progress this weekend. Most of the progress is in the upper right hand corner. When I lug it back upstairs, I will hook more of the border this time. Once I decide that the hit and miss with the circles are at the right size, I will begin drafting out the major border. This will be roughly based on the Queen Anne Rose stair riser.

Day 372 Rug Hooking progress and Jack

I’ve been home a little over a week and I am back at the rug hooking frame. I am concentrating on hooking the center of the rug. As soon as I have it completed, I will check for holidays. What this means is that I examine the back of the rug and look for large blank spaces. I will then mark these spaces with a piece of junk (acrylic) yarn because it is cheap and a plastic canvas needle because it is easy on the backing.

Marking them all first and then taking the rug to the frame is absolutely necessary on a rug this large, but I mark the holidays this way no matter what the size. It is an extra step but in the long rug it saves a lot of time and a lot of flipping the rug back and forth. I have a philosophy that I would rather do something pleasant for a long time than something unpleasant for a short time.

As you can see, Jack is settling into the studio. His favorite place to sleep is in the cave created by the rug. Earlier this week, I looked all over for him only to find him deep in the folds of the rug sound asleep. He went to the vet today for his second puppy visit, 15 pounds and counting. Doc thinks he will be smaller than expected because the rule of thumb he uses is to take their weight at 4 months and double it for his expected adult weight.

Day 381 Measurements

No new picture yet. It is a big production to get the rug off the frame so I am waiting until I have the center area done. I have just the scroll, a rose and some background to do so you should get a new picture soon.

In the meantime, I found the measurements of the center area. It is 51″ x 79″. The additional borders are not included in this measurement.

Day 425 Thanksgiving weekend, some progress

The dog on the rug is my son’s dog, Mickey. They were visiting over the holiday. Bob and his girlfriend, Amanda, live in NYC. It was great to see them. Since I was showing off the rug it was a good time to take a picture.

It has been over a month since my last post. I thought I would be able to show you a finished center after just one full week. I was only able to squeeze out a few days so I made some progress, but not as much as I had hoped. I think my goal to have this rug finished by the ATHA national is in jeo…

OH CRAP… well, urine actually. As I was writing this, my puppy, Jackson, decided that my rug was a better place to relieve himself instead of the cold wet (and still raining) ground outside. My rug was in a pile in the livingroom. This was not his first accident but he has been doing so well with the potty training. The spot he hit was just bare backing so I could get it very wet and use neutralizer. He was caught in the act so my husband and Jack are now having a heart-to-heart talk and some quality time outside.

Where was I? Oh yes, the national. My goal was to have the rug done by the ATHA national next fall. I haven’t designed the major border yet, so I don’t know the final size, but the square inches left to hook are probably more than what I have done so far. I am discouraged because it is getting close to the end of the year and I need to find a new accountant. I will need several weeks to finish preparing for a class in March. While my out of town schedule for 2009 is light, I will still be gone for many weeks during the year. Listen to me,I am whining. I need to recommit to just 30 minutes a day. It will get me further than I am now. So here’s my promise: It is Sunday night and I will post a picture of my progress next Sunday. I should have 3 and a half hours of progress after 7 days. I know several of you out there are watching.