Featured in...

the June 2020 issue of
Early American Life Magazine

I'm thrilled to be the first web-based business EAL has as a Featured Partner!
I've loved this magazine since it began in the 1970's.
~ Laurie

Snowy weekend here

...giving me the perfect opportunity to tidy up the wool room! Loads of wool making it's way to the ETSY shop...

Several yards available for some...others just a few washed fat quarters...be sure to check it out!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/woolyredrug
Hope you have a great day, thanks for stopping by ~ Laurie

Morning Harvest...

Evening WOOL...

~ Laurie

For Your Valentine...

3 Hearts Hooked Mat ~ 12" x 15" ~ 100% Wool ~ Over-dyed with Natural Plant Dyes from my backyard...Madder Root and Black Walnut

Love Hooked Mat ~ 11" round~ 100% Wool ~ hand-dyed wool...Schoolhouse Red...Mixed Greens...Maple Sugar

Now available in my ETSY shop...FREE Shipping

For the love of tulips...

Happy Sunday ~ Laurie

Today is...

International Hook-In Day

Are you hooking today?

Rug Hooking Magazine will be blogging about it and posting on their FaceBook page

You can read more about how this "day" came about on TIGHR's page

I'll be hooking in-between many errands today...
Hope you all have a great day... Hook on ~L

For You...

♥ ~Laurie

Snowy Saturday

another peek...
more to follow:)
~L

How much wool do I need? Do I have enough?

This is the dilemma every hooker faces when planning to hook a pattern.

The time honored way to “guess-timate” is to take a piece of wool, fold it anywhere between 4 to 8 times, lay it on your pattern and guess that will hook the area it covers.

I’ve been teaching and selling rug hooking kits and patterns for a long, long time…I always use the “6 layer” method when kitting. I rarely run short, unless the hooker pulls their loops extremely high…or packs their work too tight.

If you are tired of guessing and being nervous that you don’t have enough, I’d like to share a little exercise that will prove a valuable tool for all your future rugs! This is something I have all my design students do before starting to color plan their projects.

If you knit or crochet you will recognize the term gauge swatch…a must do when starting a pattern to make sure it will fit correctly. Everyone’s tension can be a bit different, yarn and needle or hook sizes very…so it is an important step that will save a lot of time and frustration.

We hooker’s have an advantage in that even if we hook with multiple cuts (widths of wool), we usually settle into a similar height and spacing…so a fat quarter wool will usually hook the same size area!

In a few hours you can make your own personal “Hooking Gauge” . A tool that you can use to help calculate wool requirements for all your future rugs! Here is how…

You will need:
* rug backing…if you work on a variety of backings, you might want to hook a gauge on each type. The amount of wool you need may vary depending on your backing. Most people hook tighter on Monk’s Cloth than they do on linen.

* a Fat 1/16th of wool…while you could certainly take the time to hook up a full fat ¼…it is much quicker to multiply later! For those you aren’t familiar with the terms fat 1/16th, fat 8th, and fat ¼…these are measurements hookers have borrowed from quilters. Wool measures differently than cotton, so our measurements are slightly different. Generally a washed yard of wool will shrink to about 32” x 56”. “Fat” means that you are dividing the yard into quarters both horizontally and vertically. If you are a visual learner like I am this diagram should explain it better than I can…

If you are working with recycled wool find a piece or pieces that will equal the area of 16” x 7” (112 square inches).

Cut your wool into strips. Whatever size strip you normally use…#8…8.5…hand cut…whatever size you prefer!

Now hook all of these strips into your backing, making a rectangle. Hook as you would normally hook any project. If you leave long or short tails to trim…or if you hide your tails…it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that this is YOUR hooking gauge and you want it to be an accurate sample!

When you finish hooking, steam your sample so it lays flat. You can trim the excess backing, leaving enough to fold over and hem to the back so it doesn’t fray, or zigzag stitch around your hooking. I fused a piece of wool to the back with a fusible web like Wonder-Under and then trimmed away the excess backing.

Using your Hooking Gauge…
Lay your gauge over the area you want to calculate wool for. You can see in the pictures below that I flip it over and count how many times it takes to cover the motif.

To cover the pineapple it took 2 times my hooked Fat 1/16th…which equals a Fat 8th of wool!
Do the same for all the elements and background on your pattern. Obviously for small elements and area you will still have to estimate.

I hope this information and exercise have been helpful to you!
Happy Hookin’ ~ Laurie

Autumn is in the air...

Hello My Wooly Friends,
Happy Labor Day...the 1st of September...
and a glorious morning here on the Northern Prairie!

Summer has flown by and I'm settling into Empty-Nest-Hood
A strange territory...but I'm muttling along...

I've been absent here...ticking things off my insanely long to-do list...
with hopes of finishing a clients rug this week...
Shelley has been oh so patient with me!
I'll be at the frame today, pulling the last loops...the binding will come this week...in between days spent helping my folks.

I'm so blessed to still have my parents!
And happy to be able to help them stay in their home...
for months now, I've been there at least 4 days a week...hopefully we are close to getting some help for a couple days a week!
I need to get back in the studio...prep for the Autumn Valley Hook-In...schedule some classes...and just spend some time soothing my soul by creating!

My newest stitch design...Magic Spells...is now available on Early Work Mercantile
I've had fun stitching some small, portable projects...but have the itch to get going on some big rug designs...stay tuned!

Wishing you all a wonderful day
♥ ~L

Beautiful Morning and Thank YOU's

Good Morning,
Thank you all for the congratulations on Nick's graduation and for my birthday wishes! It's been a wild week around here!!!
We just got back from visiting Iowa State University. It's official Nick is registered for Fall term in the College of Design!
Go Cyclones!
It's a beautiful campus...the trees are so lush and beautiful...and the Design building is awesome!
I would so like to spend my days in the textile studio...or painting studio...or pottery...
but I don't think he wants Mom to go to college with him...nor could we afford tuition x's 2;)

So, I'm back to work...sorting thru emails, desk clutter and finally getting caught up on orders! 2nd Saturday Open Hooking and Stitching is tomorrow...it will be great to see everyone!

Hope you have a great weekend...and Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's!
~ Laurie

November 1st...

Hope you all had a BOO-filled Halloween!
In between the trick-or-treaters I was busy finishing up on this month's offerings at Early Work Mercantile
It's the start of our Log Cabin Christmas...

I hope you will take a look at all the handmade goodies...
and consider giving the gift of handmade this holiday season!

..."and would you know how oak trees grow,
the secret may be told,
you do but need to plant the seed,
one acorn in the mould"

...The Story of Mistletoe The story goes that Mistletoe was the sacred plant of Frigga, goddess of love and the mother of Balder, the god of the summer sun. Balder had a dream of death, which greatly alarmed his mother, for should he die, all life on earth would end. Balder could not be hurt by anything on earth or under the earth. But Balder had one enemy, Loki, god of evil and he knew of one plant that grew neither on the earth nor under the earth, but on apple and oak trees. It was lowly mistletoe. So Loki made an arrow tip of the mistletoe, gave to the blind god of winter, Hoder, who shot it, striking Balder dead. For three days each element of universe tried to bring Balder back to life. Frigga, the goddess and his mother finally restored him. It is said the tears she shed for her son turned into the pearly white berries on the mistletoe plant and in her joy Frigga kissed everyone who passed beneath the tree on which it grew. The story ends with a decree that who should ever stand under the humble mistletoe, no harm should befall them, only a kiss, a token of love...
~L

September 25th...My Day...Crazy About WOOL

Good day and a Wooly Welcome
to my stop on the Crazy About Wool blog hop
hosted by Denise of Pieced Brain

If you are a new visitor to The Wooly Red Rug…
I hope you will spend some time poking around here on the blog
to learn more about my wool work…studio and website

Before we jump into the wooly craziness…

I want to wish my Mom a Happy 83rd Birthday!!!
She taught me the love of handwork…
…Mommie, I love you more than words can say!

When Denise asked me to be part of the blog hop I wasn’t sure what I was getting into…
But…Crazy About Wool pretty much describes the typical day in my studio!

On the “to-do” list this week is to kit up the second half of of the 2013 Rug Project…Pines to Prairie…
This is Part One…

participants have been working on this since March…
the Part Two kits will go out in the mail in early October
This is the finished 2013 rug…

if you’d like more information about the Annual Rug Projects
Click here or on the link above…below the header

I’m also finishing up on a rug for an article in an upcoming 2014 issue of
Rug Hooking Magazine
…just a peek…

So…now on to a wooly treat for you…
Like many of you Autumn is my favorite time of year…

living here on the Northern Prairie
Apple~Tyme is my absolute favorite season!

So…today I would like to share my Apple Pin Keep pattern with you!

Click this link to download or print the pattern

I hope you have enjoyed your visit today…
Before you hop on…
please leave a comment…
I’ll be drawing 2 Winners on Saturday September 29th
each will receive one of my hand-dyed wooly bundles!

if you are a follower or sign up to follow along here on the blog
please note that in your comment and you’ll receive an extra chance at winning!
Best of luck…and Thank YOU so much for taking the time to visit
♥ Laurie

Hop on and visit these blogs today…
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Chic n Fish
Maria do Carmo (Pieced Brain will be hosting!)
Selina Quilts
Sunshine Quilting
See my previous post for the full week's list of blogs participating in the hop!!!

May Day Update...

...at Early Work Mercantile Tonight!!!


Spring is slow to arrive this year...rain and yes, snow are in the forecast...

I've been hunkered down in the studio
playing with wool and threads
creating my own Springtime blooms


Needle punched pins for Shepherd's Harvest Festival


And here is a peek at one of the commission mats I've been working on...


Hope the sun is shining in your backyard! ~L

Spring Wool Collection...

is arriving in the studio!
some is already here...some will be here very soon...
wish I could say the same for warmer weather!

It's a cool and drizzly day...perfect for being inside...working on getting the new wools listed on the website and washing some up for the upcoming Hopkins Spring Hook-In on April 20th.

Milestone...We have a Winner!

Well it kind of snuck up on me...we've hit 200 followers here

And the winner of this milestone drawing is...

Chelle(Dana) of Primitive Elegance

Congrats!!!
And a BIG THANKS to EVERYONE for visiting and following along!

There will be another drawing for some fun woolies when we hit 300.
If you are a follower you have a chance to win!

…she lives on the edge of the prairie
where the wheat and the wild flowers grow

she’s called by the swaying pines
and the hills and the valley below…

Welcome to the 2013 LJ Fibers Annual Rug Project…
Pines To Prairie
I’m excited to share my newest design with you!

This year’s project is a TWO part kit…

muted…antique tones and lots of textures
a fun hit-in-miss border…reminiscent of vintage rugs
PART ONE (which will ship by March) contains the hand-drawn linen pattern, wool for the border grid and the center section, twill binding tape (for those of you that like to sew this on before hooking) and a detailed hooking guide.

PART TWO (which will ship in October) contains the wool for the border, a custom fabric label to document your heirloom and a detailed hooking guide.

♥ A limited number of kits are available…
choose between CUT and Un-CUT Wool
♥ Order both parts together NOW and SAVE…
OR spread out the payments and order each part individually
VISIT the website for all the information and join the hooking fun!

Thanks for stopping by today! ~L

2013...

Wishing you all the BEST... ~L

it's a wrap...

Thought I'd share a pic of the finished quilt we gave to my sister and brother-in-law
...the last few stitches were taken inbetween batches of cookies
...and just in time to wrap up for your family gathering on Christmas Day.

We had a great day and I hope you did, too!
My Men-Folk are on vacation until the 2nd...and it is so fun having them home! My "honey-do" list is long...so we will see how much actually gets accomplished...
it's back to the studio for me...
The 2013 LJFibers Rug Project is just about finalized...
This year's rug is called "Pine to Prairie" it will be a wonderful, useable size at 22" x 36"...
most likely done in TWO parts...I still need to get it all figured out...
but will be back soon with all the information...

Until then...
May you have a Safe and Happy New Year's celebration...
and Many Blessings the whole year thru! ~L

Merrie and Bright...

The snow is gently falling...the baking has begun...
the shopping is done and only a few stitches remain to be taken in a special gift...

I feel so far behind...but say that every year...
and it really doesn't matter...does it?

In a year of so much loss...I'm reminded that the stuff is not important...
it's our relationships that matter...our connections to each other...the kindness and love that we share...

So my WISH for you my friends is a Bright and Merry Christmas...
and a Peace~filled New Year! ~L

* ~ the studio is closed until December 27th...
tho' the website is always open ~ *