Chevreul's Laws

While working on my "Going in Circles" rugs I've been thinking a lot about color. I'm trying to use light, dark, bright and dull colors in this rug......sounds easy until you actually start looking at the colors you are choosing. Colors are only dark or light, dull or bright relevant to what they are placed next to.

Since I'm blogging from work today I'm going to try to find pictures from the net as examples of

Chevreul's Laws

The hue, value and intensity of colors change depending on their neighbors. This fact, known as Chevreul's Laws, in recognition of the 19th century French chemist who made many startling discoveries, has applications for rug hooking.

Consider the following points.

· Light colors appear more striking against black or dark colors.

· All colors appear more striking against white or light colors.

· When dark colors are set against light colors, they look darker than they do on dark colors.

· When light colors are set against dark colors, they look lighter than they do on light colors.

· When two colors are placed next to each other, each tints its neighbor with its own complement. For example, complementary colors viewed side by side seem more intense than if viewed separately.

· Dark hues on a dark ground, not complementary, will seem weaker than if seen on a darker complementary color.

· Light hues on a light ground, not complementary, will seem weaker than if seen on a light complementary color.

· A bright color against a dull color of the same hue will appear duller than if viewed against a dull complementary color.

· When a bright color is used against a dull color, the contrast will be stronger when the latter is complementary.

· Light colors on light grounds can be greatly strengthened if bound by narrow bands of black or dark complementary colors.

· Dark colors on dark grounds can be greatly strengthened if bound by narrow bands of white or light complementary colors.

Perhaps this weekend, when I have more time I can do these experiments with wool and post pictures of them.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

On the right track

I'm starting to feel like I'm on the right track...........

.....looking forward......

......looking back.......

Just some pictures I wanted to share with you.....I love playing with photo programs and changing the look of normal pictures...I love the sepia tones....and I have so few pictures of me with BOTH Cleopatra and Lonnie....I love this one above.

Today I spent a big chunk of my day at an educational cardiology conference....tonight I'm hoping to hook on the "Going in Circles" rug. I've got a lot of the drab colors in and I'm hoping to hook in a few shots of bright!

That reminds me of this song here......"Two Shots of Happy"

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Shibori dyeing

A while back I saw some pictures of shibori dyeing on Wanda's blog. She didn't give any instructions for it, but she did say it was done using safety pins.

So, I couldn't help myself.......

I had to try it.....

wing it.....

I checked out books from the library....not so helpful.

Here is my experimental piece.
Not bad for winging it, huh?
I folded my wool (already soaked) like an accordian and then safety pinned those pleats in place.
Then I put it in an empty dye pot on the stove. I drizzled three different coordinating colors over it in a stripe like fashion. Across the pleats...not paralell to them.
Each dye was 1 cup and each cup contained about 1/4tsp of citric acid, but you could use a few glugs of vinegar if you don't have citric acid.
When the wool started taking up the dye, I flipped the wool over to the other side and let it simmer until the water was clear.....then took out the pins and washed and dried it.
FUN!
Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

Random thoughts

I"m having a hard time finding time to hook......

I WANT to hook....I guess I'm just not making it a top priority.

Wanting to bake/cook

Wanting to organize

Wanting to downsize my STUFF....I think this is the key.....less stuff....less organizing....more time to create whether it be hooking, cooking or dabbling!

Wanting to create and dabble in different things....I bought a bunch of wool sweaters the other day at a thrift store.....don't know whether to make something out of them, hook with them or sell them.....I just needed a thrifting "fix" that day.

When do you find time to hook?

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Rugs in Progress

Here are lots of pictures from the group I hook with on Wednesday nights at Simply Fibers. Above....Patti's dogs, Lily and Belle, sitting on her rug that is going in her new Florida home. We are sooooo going to miss Patti and her stories while she is away this fall and winter!
Above, Sheri from Shabby Sheep with her altered art rug hooking. I'm really wanting to try some of this....I have LOTS of transfered images that I'm wanting to work with.
Above, Lauren, Joan's daughter....our youngest rug hooker and quite a talent!
Above, Joan with a beautiful acorn and oak leaf rug that she is working on. Her color choices are stunning!
Above, Betty, working on a rug from Judy Cripps. It's BIG!
Above, Rita is working on a rug from Emma Lou. I just love the green pumpkin!
Above, JoLynne is working on a rug from Judy Cripps. She started this with Nola Heidbreder and it has chain stitching for the lines in the pumpkins.
Above, Rita is working ona colorful bird and flowers rug. I wish you could see the sculpting she is doing on this rug!
Above, Marsha is working on a nice primitive saltbox rug.

I'm so fortunate to be able to hook with this group every other week....they keep me and each other inspired!
Go forth and be creative,
Tammy

The great "TO DO" list

We all have one don't we?

The great "TO DO" list?

How about if we turn it into a great "TA DA!" list?

You know.....like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat.....TA DA!!!

If you're anything like me you have the BIG "TO DO" list.....

paint rug hooking room...I'd really like it to be a color other than beeswax....I"m craving something brighter

clean out closet....it's a mess...summer clothes definitely need to be coming out of there and be packed away....bring on fall and all of it's wonderful colors!

paint utility room cabinets...okay, really not looking forward to this one...but it needs to be done.....especially since they are so close to the fab new kitchen.

you know...the biggies!!!

Then you have the daily "TO DO" list.....

laundry....that's started....putting up the bedspread and getting out the flannel sheets and blankets....those cool nights are here and I"m soooo happy!

dishes....not a big deal, but I still need to unload the washer and get those put away

grocery shopping....not a lot, Kenny does most of that

And the IMPORTANT "TO DO" list....

exercise.....where to fit it in? We walk the dogs every night and now that it's cooler they are walking further so that helps a bit

schedule mammogram.....it's just a phone call away

How is it that the important things get put down at the bottom.....these are things that can really impact our lives in the long haul....I"m guilty....I do it all the time.

So, today I'm going to work on my "TO DO" list and everytime I get something done I'm going to say to myself....."TA DA!"

Let's try it and see if it makes our chores any more fun!

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy

Going in Circles

The last few months I've had a feeling that I've been chasing my tail....going in circles......spinning out of control.

I've been fortunate that my local group of hookers has grown and grown over the past few years and I'm finally to the point where I have to step back and take a closer look at "realistically" what I CAN do and what I WANT to do.

I spend a lot of time dyeing wool.....that's something that I love to do. I love to try new recipes and make up some of my own along the way. I love to take pictures and share what I'm doing here on my blog. However, the length of time that I spend on the computer loading pictures and descriptions to eBay, ecrater and the like has started to become a real "time suck" for me.

I've got the itch to really spend more time on hooking and creating.....so I've decided to take a little hiatus to work on rugs and creativity and move my life around just a bit to make it a better fit for me. Yes, I'll be posting some wools on here as I dye them and from time to time I'll have wools for sale here and my best buddy, Renee, will be keeping the dye pots going for eBay......in all honesty she's been the main person running our eBay store for the last few months while I've been trying to keep my head above water with everything else.

So what's staying, what's going, what's changing?

1) For now I'm putting the ecrater store on HOLD status



2) I'm turning the eBay store over to Renee



3) I'm going to keep blogging...it's a good way for me to express myself



4) I'm going to be hooking a LOT more and hopefully be creating lots of wonderful wools for my bloggers and local girls/guys

Here is a preview of the rug I started last night with the help of Kenny. I drew the squares and he filled them in with circles. It's about 6 foot long and 2 foot wide.
I was inspired to do this after seeing this rug that Debe posted on Wool Snippets. (I hope to be more active there as well)I was in a class with Debe that we took from Abby Vakay and Debe is so inspiring in that she takes what she has learned from a teacher and applies it. Abby told us that for a rug to really work it needs to have dark and light, dull and bright. That is exactly what Debe has done in her "Bent Squares" rug and that's what I'm hoping to accomplish in the "going in circles" rug that I started last night.

I'm hoping that it's the first in a series of "co-created" rugs for my home. My husband is great in the "design arena" and is also working on a series of rugs for our dining room.

Go forth and be creative,

Tammy