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June July August 2010 , Volume XXI , Issue 1

St. Nicholas with Chickadee

Tish Murphy

Across many cultures, Santa Claus—aka Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, Sinter Klass, among others—is one of the most recognizable images of the Christmas season. What better way to capture the best qualities of this jolly old man than with a hooked rug?

Posing here with another familiar winter visitor, the chickadee, Santa is kind, eminently wise, in harmony with nature as he peers out from behind his characteristic gray hair and robust beard.

St. Nicholas’ ruddy face is central to the success of this design. The goal is to create an image that rises above the sappy and trite and portrays a clear emotional connection with the curious chickadee.

Basic Principles for Hooking Faces

I’ve developed these basic principles over many years of hooking faces and teaching workshops on the topic. They can be applied to hooking faces of almost any scale or style.

St. Nicholas with Chickadee is designed and hooked by Tish Murphy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2008.

Tish Murphy has been a rug hooking artist for the past 25 years. For more information on purchasing Tish’s kits and patterns, including St. Nicholas with Chickadee, please contact Tish at tishkits@yahoo.com or by visiting www.tishkits.com.

To read this complete article, please see the November/December 2009 issue of Rug Hooking magazine.