​It was so good to get back to hooking with the group. The masks and social distance was a little strange at first but we all seem to adjust.

​It was fun to have the Proddy and Mug Rug Challenge project's to work on with others and watch the creativity flow. So many different ideas of Proddy Wreaths, Flowers, and Mug Rugs (as you will see in the photos.)

Really looking forward to next season's challenge of a Holiday project. Hope to have a big variety of Holiday's represented.

Enjoy the show of Proddy Challenge Photos.

​Tools and supplies:
Rug hooking frame or hoop
Large rug hook or proddy tool
Rug hooking backing that fits your frame ((such as linen, rug warp,                                         or monk's cloth)
Felted wool - your color of choice
Needle and thread
Scissors
Fabric glue
 
Step 1 - Determine the size of your flower.
Large Flower: Draw a 5" circle on backing, inside that circle draw a 3" circle.
                 Row 1 petals - 1" x 3"; Row 2 petals - 1" x 3 1/2"; Row 3 petals - 1" x 4"
Medium Flower: Draw a 4" circle on backing, inside that circle draw a 2" circle.
                  Row 1 petals - 1" x 3"; Row 2 - 1" x 3 1/4"; Row 3 - 1" x 3 1/2"
Small Flower: Draw a 3" circle on backing, inside that circle draw a 1" circle.
                  Row 1 petals 1" x 3"; Row 2 and 3 - 1" x 3 1/4"
 Note: you can get multiple flowers on one piece of linen by spacing around and leaving about 2" between circles.
Preparing your petals: You can either tear or cut the strips to width. Use scissors or a rotary cutter and mat to cut to length.
Strips can vary between 1/2" and 1" width and 3" to 4" length. (Anything less than 3" length will be easier to work out of backing and greater than 4" will take much more wool.

​Position your backing on your rug hooking frame or hoop - pulling it very tight.
Begin filling the center with any technique of your choice. Some different ways to do the center are:

Hooked Center                                   Waldoboro Center                               Proddy Center
​# 5 - 8 Cut                                       See Instructions Below                             #8 Or #9 Cut
​                                                                                                                                    2" Length

​To proddy you will pull the petals from beneath the backing to the top using a large rug hook.
First Row:
Using your rug hook, pull one end of the petal through the backing very close to the center. Skip a few holes and pull the other end of petal through. Skip a few holes and push your hook down in a hole and pull the next petal up through the backing. Skip a few holes and pull the other end of petal through.
Continue in this manner until the first row is complete.
Repeat "first row" instructions above for all rows until the outer circle is full.

   



Large Flower - Hooked Center
              About 70 Petals

Medium Flower - Waldoboro Center
​          About 50 Petals

Small Flower - Proddy Center
​         About 40 Petals

​How to finish the flower:
1. On the back side of your flower - rub some glue around the outside of the petals. This will keep the backing from unraveling. Let dry. (See Figure A)

​2. Trim the flower from the backing leaving about 1/2" border of backing around the flower. (See Figure B Above)
3. Fold the border into middle of the flower and baste stitch the backing into the center. 
4. Cut a piece of wool for the back of your flower making it about 1/4" larger than the center circle - depending on the size of your flower from step 1. (Color of wool backing is of your choice.)

​5. Another way to finish the back is hook a circle about 1/4" larger than your center circle. Prepare the hooked back following instructions 1 - 3 from above.
6. Stitch around the edge of the backer piece of wool making sure to stitch to the base of the petals and not the backing. When you have about 1" opening - stuff your snippets inside the flower backer to round it out and continue to close.

Have fun making these Proddy Flowers!  Be creative and display them in different ways. Some ideas are shown below!  
​

Use your flowers in many ways. 
​

           Mount them on a stem and                                               Mount them on 
                  display in a vase                                                               a rusty spring

                                              Attach them to a Proddy Wreath

​                        Share your completed projects on our Facebook page.
                                             "The Gator Rug Hooking Group"

​Waldoboro Instructions:
This technique makes for a strong three dimensional statement.  Works great for Black - Eyed Susan, Shasta Daisies, and Sunflowers. Tweed wool add realism to these centers.
For Waldoboro - break all rules of hooking and never skip any holes when making loops.
To begin, start on the outside of the center circle and hook a row of normal height loops using a #6 cut. (For a softer finished a smaller cut can be used.)
Clip each loop of the first row - making all tails the same size.

​Hook the second row butted up next to first row and raise the loops a little higher than the first row. Clip the loops as before.
Continue making higher rows until the loops "stair step" up to the center.

​Proddy center before sculpted

​Take the pattern off the frame for the next step. (This will be messy.)
 

​Sculpt a smooth and rounded center.
Carefully trim away the edges of the wool to smooth and round the surface toward the center. Placing a finger underneath and push up on the center makes it easier to trim. 

                                  Proddy center after sculpted

Remember it is easier to take more off than put more back on so trim gradually. 
​

Waldoboro does take a little more work, but the end result is spectacular.
​

​

Supplies:
Rug hooking frame or hoop
Rug hooking backing to fit your frame (such as linen, rug warp or monks cloth)
Felted wool (color of choice.) (This is a good time to use up all those little pieces of scrap wool.)
Wire wreath frame - can find them at Michael's or Amazon (Instructions are for a 12 Inch)
Marker
Tape measure
Scissors
Needle and thread
Proddy tool, large rug hooking hook, or surgical hemostat
 
Prepare your pattern:

1. Lay wire wreath frame in center of rug hooking backing. Draw around the inside circle as close to wire as possible. (FIGURE A)  See Below
2. Measure your wire from inside wire across the top to the outside wire. This is how wide your outside circle should be. (FIGURE B) See Below
3. Measure from inside line out the amount determined in step 2 and place a dot.  Do this all the way around the wreath. (FIGURE A) See Below
4. Now connect the dots to make the outside line and make your wreath pattern.

(FIGURE C)
Prepare your leaves:

1. Cut or tear your wool into 1 1/2 inch strips. Using scissors or rotary cutter and mat to cut 1 1/2 inch strips into 3 - 3 1/2 inch lengths. (Note you can lay about three strips together to cut into lengths to save time.) (FIGURE D) See Below
2. To cut leaves fold a strip in half lengthwise, start cutting on fold to form a leave shape. (Note: Cut two layers at a time to speed up this process.) (FIGURE E) See Below
3. (For a 12 inch wreath you should start with about 175 to 200 leaves. You will probably need to add more - depending on how full you want it to be.) (FIGURE F) See Below

 
Getting ready to Proddy:

1. Stitch around the outer and center circle lines with a sewing machine. This will keep the backing from stretching. (FIGURE G) See Below
2. Start attaching your proddy leaves between the two stitch lines. Go completely around your circle. (FIGURE H) See Below

How to Proddy using a large rug hook:
Using a large hook insert it into the backing about five holes away from the stitch line. Holding a leaf strip underneath pull one end of leaf up to the top - skip over a few holes and insert hook into backing again and pull up other end of leaf. Repeat this process until all the backing is filled around the entire circle.

​When using a Proddy tool you will be working from the underneath pushing the leaf from the back to the front.


Looking forward to seeing all these creations.

How to finish your wreath will be the next step coming soon.  Have Fun!
​

                         FIGURE D                                                                       

FIGURE F

FIGURE G

How to clean your Hooked Rugs
 
Cleaning solution recipe:
1 tablespoon granulated Tide (no additives of any kind)
1 cup white vinegar
1 gallon of warm water
Mix vinegar and water together in a bucket. Dissolve Tide in water solutions. Make soap suds. Put suds on rug and rub suds in a circular motion moving from center outward. Let dry and then vacuum rug.
 
Provided by Laurie Manthorne
​

1.    Press and prepare Hooked Rug to be finished. Machine stitch about 1 inch from hooked area all around rug.  Cut linen away from rug along the outer stitched line. Fold the linen edge to the back of rug and press down. See pictures A and B.

2.    Cut strips of 3 inch wool pieces to go around the entire piece adding at least 6 inches for overlapping at the ends. It is best to use as long a strip of wool as possible to eliminate having too many seams. Machine stitch ends together making one long strip of wool. Lay cording on the 3 inch strip of wool and fold over about 1 inch.  Machine stitch as close to cording as possible.  See pictures C and D.

3.    Lay the sewn corded wool strip to the bottom edge of the hooked rug. Begin hand stitching about 3 inches from the end of trim. See picture E.  Make sure to stitch between your loops and not through the wool loops. Stitch around the entire piece leaving about 3 inches at the very end for overlapping. See picture F.

​4.    Your finished rug trim should look like picture F at this point.

5.    To finish the corded edge take one end of trim and pull back the cord and place the wool over the other corded end. You may have to trim some wool off the end to make it lay flat. See picture G. Snip the cord ends and place the wool together. See picture H and I. Hand stitch the wool around the cord. See picture J.

​6.    Hand stitch the corded wool to bottom edge closing up your overlap. See picture K.

7.    To finish the corners pinch the wool together and snip at an angle. See pictures L and M.

8.    Hand stitch the corner angles together. See picture N.

​9.    Hand sew the wool binding to the back of the rug. See picture O.

Enjoy your finished Rug!
​

Sibyl Osicka came to Sebastian for a three day workshop on January 21st – 23rd for members of the Gator Group Rug Hookers. A total of seventeen members signed on to the workshop to learn from one of the best McGown instructors in the nation. Her emphasize was on fine shading, however, she stated “Not everyone is interested in fine shading and that is fine, but some of my thoughts can be taken over to wide cut and applied.”

This was a very well organized workshop and many different areas of rug hooking were covered. Sibyl covered so many avenues of rug hooking that it did not matter if you were a beginner, intermediate or advanced hooker, everyone learned something in this workshop.
​
She shared many helpful hints during this workshop. Some of them are listed below.

• Good rule of thumb; hook your loops as high as your cut wool is wide.
• It is very important that you keep the canvas of the rug pattern as tight as possible on the frame. This helps to keep the loops even and enables you to work faster.
• The back of the rug should look as neat as the top surface. Bring all ends to the top.
• Be sure to place the pattern on the frame so it is straight and not on the bias. If placed on the bias it will distort the pattern and will never return to its original shape before or after steaming.
• Wool fabric should be cut with the selvage or on a torn edge, as the threads must run full length of the strip. Material that is cut the least bit diagonally will fall apart.
• When planning a rug pattern, always choose the background color first and build the colors of the design around the background color.
• Remember to hook inside the line of the motif otherwise the motif will become too large and you will lose the shape of it.
• Periodically, all artist step back and view their work from a distance to see if they are achieving the effect they desire.
• NEVER fold your pattern, this will break or weaken the folded area. Roll it on a tube for storage.
• Balance dark colors with light colors.
• Do not store rugs in an airtight bag as this can cause dry rot. Instead roll them right side out, in a clean sheet with some moth flakes.
• Always hook highlights higher and shadows lower. Remember highlights come forward and shadows recede.
• When hooking the background, hook the first row around the motif a little lower. If you do it the opposite way the motif will look sunken in.
• Always date and sign a rug picture. Use a value of one of the swatches in the rug for the initials. Place date on one end and initials on the other end (close to a motif) for balance.
• Fingering with a shaded swatch, is done by hooking two rows of one shade far enough apart at the ends so another shade can be hooked in between and extended farther out than the last shade. Repeat with the next shade so there will be no definite line stopping and starting from one shade to the next.
• Always use 100% wool yarn for whipping. One way to figure how much yarn you will need is to calculate 17 to 20 times the circumference of your hooked piece. (width x length x 2= circumference) For the herringbone stitch multiply by 22 to 24 times the circumference.
• Be aware of horizontal lines that may cut your composition into equal parts. They should be either low or high horizontal lines, but never in the middle of your pictorial.

Many thanks to Judi Overly who organized this workshop for our group. It was a huge success!

“Ode to My Wife, the Hooker”
 By Cyvia Simmons
​
She learned to hook on Monday, her loops were going fine.
She forgot to thaw our dinner, so we went out to dine.
 
She hooked pretty daisies Tuesday, she said they were a must.
They really were quite lovely, but she forgot to dust.
 
On Wednesday it was strawberries, she said the fingering’s were fun.
What highlights!  And what Shadows!  But the laundry wasn’t done.
 
She hooked apples on a Thursday, so juicy, bright, and red.
I guess she really got engrossed for she forgot to make the bed.
 
It was violets on Friday, in colors she adores.
It never bothered her at all that crumbs were on the floor.
 
I hired a maid on Saturday, so my week was now complete.
My wife could hook for hours, yet the house would still be neat.
 
Well, it’s already Sunday, and I’ve gone by the book.
I’ve cursed, I’ve raved, I’ve raged, my wife taught the maid to hook.
Oh Lord, one more project!

​This was a very good workshop. Judith and Marta had many projects to show the many ways Proddy can be incorporated in your rug hooking designs. We had a hands on class where they were very helpful in showing us how to make beautiful Proddy flowers. They both stated that the book “Prodded Hooking for a Three Dimensional Effect by Gene Shepard” is a very good book to learn proddy.  All who attended this class was very appreciative of Marta’s and Judith’s contribution and time spend preparing for this class.