Rug hooking creative stitches: Shagging

Today I moved my attention to the area in the lower right. Jane Halliwell Green does a technique called shagging. It’s related to proddy or sculpting. I’m not sure how she came up with the name, but it reminds me of shag carpeting so maybe that is it. [clear]

I hooked a double row like she recommends, but it was too stiff for me so I enlarged it into the entire lower right area. In a prior post, Hooking a Birch Tree, let the wool do the work, I began hooking in this area and experimenting with the rug hooking technique. I add in loops of regular height using the wool for the path. I liked the shagginess of it.

Once I started trimming the loops, I liked the contrast of the wild part at the bottom. Time will tell if it stays. For now, I’m moving on and exploring more about how to hook to refine the design even further.[clear]

I hooked more on the tree and sky, finishing the upper right area. I have not added any other wools. I continued to use the two spot dyes I dyed up earlier. Looks like it may be OK just the way it is.

I added a small patch of flowers behind the trunk of the birch tree. It helps to give the birch tree a sense of distance and it balances out the blue in the lower left, while also contributing to the effect of hooking a natural sky that feels open and harmonious.. I hooked this using two #4 cut strips at the same time, twisting and turning them so the green and blue did not line up perfectly. I used two different greens and so far, two different blues.[clear] It added just the right kind of texture without feeling too planned.

Here’s what the whole piece looks like so far:

Get the pattern here.

Here’s Jane’s Video