The background is a deep eggplant purple. The lighter swirls were part of the wool design – there was a lighter stripe in the wool that I saved out and hooked in at various times.

Puddle- The “old fashioned” way was to simply reclaim/recycle wool garments. Old skirts etc became Rugs. It was a way to use up everything in a household.

I do use some recycled wool, but only when it fits the color palate I am working in or with. This rug has no recycled wool in it -mainly because the colors were so specific. Sometimes Quilt shops will carry some wool, but you generally have to find a place that caters to “hookers”. I do buy most of my wool from a woman in Rhode Island who dyes her own. Some I get from the Dorr Wool Store in Guild NH ( where I got the 4 yards of purple) , and some I get from my Teacher in Montreal, who also dyes her own wool.

I find it to be such a soothing thing to do, the feel of the wool in my hands and the way it all starts to come together.

LPT – I free hand drew the rabbits. I kind of knew I wanted them face to face, and it is an “old” rug design to have two animals face to face. Since you just have to have outlines in hooking, it wasn’t too hard. The texture and color is added by the wool you choose and the way you hook it.

The outer border – the flowers and scrolls were inspired by an old Nova Scotia pattern company – BlueNose Rugs. Hooking is pretty specific to some areas, and Nova Scotia has a very long history. My teacher is from Nova Scotia. I copied the basic pattern, then “enlarged” them by eye and made a basic template.

THEN I transferred them onto fabric tracing paper once I had the basic design down- used for clothing patterns – then lay that on top of Linen and traced it onto my linen with a Sharpie. I use Linen since it is a sturdier fabric. Traditional Hookers use Burlap, but it will dry and crumble over the years. I prefer thinking my rugs will be passed down to my great great grand children.

Once onto the linen, I start hooking. There are lots of bits that don’t get put on until the last minute. Their names on this one was a last minute addition, as were the hearts. The swirls didn’t “evolve” until I realized I needed something more after getting 2/3rds of the rug done. I try not to limit myself too much in the design, if that makes sense. I have found that a rug will tell me what it needs as I go along.

My teacher has a blog – gohookit.blogspot.com She has some of my rugs up there, as well as the other students and her own.

You can buy patterns to start with…my first two were patterns I bought. I only started designing my own at the urging of my teacher. There are lots of places that sell patterns, you just have to find one you like. I bought my first two from Deanne Fitzpatrick’s studio ( in Nova Scotia).