I haven't liked this rug until today. It's like that sometimes. If I don't feel the "rhythm" of the rug, I often don't like it. If I'm not feeling "in the groove" of my rug, like colors flowing together well, I have doubts about the rug. Sometimes I haven't liked a rug until the last five minutes of hooking it. Other times I haven't liked a rug at all and I put it in my Etsy shop and it flew out of the shop, surprising me. There's no way of knowing until I'm into hooking if I'll like the rug or not, as much as I might adore the pattern! But now, I'm beginning to like this rug.
I've been experimenting with using black outlining because it's one of the features you frequently see in antique rugs. You will also find black used a fair amount in Magdalena's rugs. Outlining seems to have been used by our fore mothers even when it wasn't needed to increase contrast between motif and background.
In today's hooking world, using black wool is a little taboo. One teacher told me never add black to a rug.... but, I like it so I'm using it.
I'd like to hear your opinions. What do you think? I haven't yet added any black outlines to the hit and miss section at the top of the rug. It's smoother on the eye, no doubt. But the other with the black lines, it "pops" more don't you think? I'm open for input; will I take it and make changes? Don't know about that.... but I'm open for input. Please let me know what you think. Let's do a survey: add black outlines or not?
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| Note the very top hit and miss section has no black outlining. Which do you prefer? |
I love the outlining on this antique rug cat. Isn't he a hoot? So maybe red will be my next big outlining color! Why not?
