Exclusive Excerpt from Hooked Rug Designs for Baby & Beyond - Part Two

Exclusive Excerpt from Hooked Rug Designs for Baby & Beyond - Part Two

Artist's Statement: Jen Manuell

A Pillow for Jack, 22" x 15", wool on rug warp backing with purchased pillow form. Designed and hooked by Jen Manuell, Elmsdale, Ontario.

A pillow hooked in the colors of a little boy's room, yet still relevant when he is a man. The biggest challenge in hooking this pillow was to make each diamond unique, both in color and in design, while more or less creating the pattern on the fly on a blank piece of rug warp. Think rug hooking meets counted cross-stitch, but without a chart to guide you.

After flirting with many styles of rug hooking, I've been infaturated by geometrics for the last several years, to the point that I really don't want to hook anything else! For me, the inherent structure of geometrics satisfies my need for order, while the simple shapes are ideal for playing with layers of color.

My Amazing Matrix series of rugs (modern inch mats featuring simple shapes created from a 1" grid) has evolved into a new series of free-form geometrics. And while my work naturally has a degree of uniformity, I am constantly reminding myself that it does not need to be perfect. Shapes don't have to be identical to be the same, nor do they need to be exactly symmetrical. The brain seems to autocorrect as needed.

For these latest rugs, I like to start hooking with only a basic idea for my design and a pile of colors I would like to use, allowing lots of room for both to evolve as my work progresses. Not really knowing exactly what I'm doing—and making it up as I go—is all part of the adventure. The overall appearance is constantly changing. I'm always curious to see how it is going to look, so I'm easily motivated to get to the very end so that I can know for sure! And as an added bonus, hooking and filling in as you go means not struggling with a whole stretch of boring background to hook at the end!

I like to use small amounts of lots of different wools—and some of these can be quite subtle variations of one another. Switching a couple of brighter strips for lighter or duller ones can change the appearance of the overall color of different shapes, even if most of the wool used is the same! Without many variations in value (as well as in color), any pattern will easily become lost and a rug will probably look boring. For this reason, it's really important to have enough variety, and especially to make sure that you have an adequate balance of lights and darks.

I find that adding neutrals really makes colors sing. If you want to have aan easier time integrating colors, it is best to steer away from a medium background. Instead pick something light or dark, preferably a more neutral color. These geometric rugs also provide a great opportunity to mix in remnants from previous projects. (No piece is too small! Just try to keep to the same cut size; #8 is my favorite.) Not only does this help use up your stash, it also adds interest and a bit of the unexpected. As an added bonus it also makes any (hopefully unnecessary) future repairs a lot easier and more forgiving!