Hydrangeas to Dye For

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower. The blooms are full and lush and call out, “Look at me!” The lacy, star-shaped petals are charming, and the woody stems suggest strength and support. There are more than 70 species of hydrangeas, and the variety of colors means that everyone can find at least one species to love.

For a workshop in July 2018, I had intended to teach hooked hydrangea, but struggled to figure out how to highlight their fullness. Proddy was the answer.

I had tried proddy hooking with both a proddy hook and with a regular rug hook, and I preferred using the regular rug hook. I wanted everyone in the workshop to be able to finish, or nearly finish, their projects by the end of the day, so the question became how to make that possible. Hoop art was the answer.

Now to plan the proddy hydrangeas. I researched the variety of colors of hydrangeas with the help of Google, then began dyeing wool. So much fun!

After dyeing, it was time to prep the wool. I cut the wool into squares and trimmed off the corners to get the hydrangea petal shape. The squares were 1½" in size.