The 25th Anniversary Rug: Choosing the wool and getting started

The 25th Anniversary Rug is shown here in the planning states. I’ve got the design, pattern, and sample color plans. Now it’s time to pull it all together.

At the end of the first chapter of this “Story of a Rug,” which began in the September/October issue of RHM, we had chosen the pattern that I would hook. Small Cumberland Crewel, designed by Joan Moshimer, is a great floral design that I will work my way through, learning the ins-and-outs of hooking a crewel floral design as I go.

The color plan was set: Judith chose a dark background with flowers of red and gold, lots of greens in the leaves, and a golden rope on a dark red background for the border. I truly love those colors, too, so I would be comfortable working with the chosen color plan.

My stash has lots of reds and greens, so I was confident that I would have what I needed for the floral and fruit motifs. A few careful purchases at upcoming rug shows would round out that stack of wool. I would have to buy enough dark for the background—a nice dark texture would be perfect, giving a tiny bit of variety in the background. Not too much movement, though, because the pattern itself is so busy I want the background to be calm and not compete with the colorful motifs. The wool I finally settled on is a dark charcoal and black check for an antique looking black-leaning-toward-deepest-green background.

This article is from the November/December 2013 issue. For more information on our issues, check out our issues page.